Seneca High School Magnet Career Academy

The Sentinel April 2013 3510 Goldsmith Ln. Louisville, KY 40220 (502) 485-8323

WHAT’S INSIDE

See NEW PROGRAMS, Page 5

New programs implemented show continued success

Jake RichStaff writer

Mrs. Dillard celebrates school achieve-ments with students at pep rally.

Seneca’s Law Program: Attorneys of TomorrowMercedes SneedStaff writer

Seneca students participate in mock court session.

Some may think FFA (Future Farmers of America) is just for the “country kids,” but it is actually a diverse club that is active in school life and the community. FFA is a national youth organi-zation based in middle and high schools to promote agricultural education. Members regularly go to conventions and shows and also interact with ani-mals. Almost every member in the club raves about not only the activi-ties but also when they spend time with other students. One member, Kaitlyn Fortner, junior, expressed, “ My Favor-ite part about the club is being able to interact with animals and work with the other students.” Fortner, who has been a member since March, 2011, aspires to be a veterinarian and feels FFA has helped her prepare for this goal. She stated, “Since joining FFA, I’ve grown as a person and being a member has taught me responsibility and has helped me pursue career goals.” Fortner also encourages all students interested to join FFA. FFA is not just for those who wish to be farmers. Agricultural careers are numerous, not to mention, like in Fortner’s case, those who wish to work with animals are offered a plethora of options. The members of this club are like a family. They help each other when they’re in need. For example, every member brought money for Presi-dent Samantha Shaffer when her grand-father recently passed away. Acts such as this are common among members. The club also participates in many activities and field trips. Just recently, they attended the national FFA convention and The National Farm and Machinery Show. If you are interested in agriculture, this unique club may be for you.

FFA members pose after national convention.

One Big Family of Farmers

“The HIP program has been shown to raise student test scores in one sub-ject after just one hour in HIP by sixty percent.”-Jason Toler, Interven-tion Specialist

Recently Seneca has put in place intervention pro-grams along with prep work-shops in an attempt to help better prepare students for college and career readiness, boost ACT scores, and raise class grades. Through pro-grams like HAWKS and HIP, the administration believes they will be able to aid stu-dent scholastic achievement. With the prep workshops offered, administrators hope to get higher test scores thus allowing Seneca to reach one of our many SMART goals.

Commenting on the benefits of the HIP interven-tion program, Intervention Specialist Jason Toler noted, “The HIP program has been shown to raise student test scores in one subject after just one hour in HIP by sixty per-cent.” When asked to elaborate upon this to show the efficacy

of the program, Toler also commented, “For example any student receiving a fifty percent on a test will in turn after just one hour of HIP a student will raise his/her score to a 90 percent.” Another unknown fact of Hip’s implementa-tion is that is affects more than just a small part of the school. According to Toler, between the months of August through September, HIP has assisted 400 stu-dents. This is almost a third

of the school who have ben-efitted from this program. Whereas HIP is a one hour session used to help students recover content they have somehow missed, the Friday intervention program has been put in place to help students recover a larger are of content for one particu-lar class. Toler made it clear that HIP is meant for a failed proficiency test or similar as-signment, but intervention is designed for students falling behind in entire classes. These intervention classes have il-lustrated well how a little extra time each week can allow a student to recover all infor-

The court is in session in the newly constructed courtroom. On February 14, the current law program students have participated in a mock trial, which included visits from Seneca Alumni and members from the Board Of Education. Dressed as professionals, these students mimicked the confidence and intelli-gence of an actual attorney. Current Advanced Crimi-nal Law Teacher, Emily Fritts, taught students the preparation and integral information needed in order for the trial to function. Plaintiff and Defendant are included, with each side having an eye witness and an attorney, just like a real court session. In addition, the jury consisted of law teacher Mr. Cornell’s fifth period introductory law class.

“To prepare, we discussed proper courtroom etiquette and decorum.” Fritts stated when asked what preparation was necessary for this event. The students’ per-formance in the courtroom illustrated this as students seemed generally prepared and knowledgeable. In this case, preparation doesn’t mean starting merely practice a week or two in advance. This group of students be-gan working on this trial sometime in Janu-ary. This also contributed to their overall sense of confidence. The courtroom provides Seneca’s law students with experience that paves the way to success in the law field. When asked if this hands on experience was ben-eficial, Ricky Davis, sophomore, replied, “Not only is it good for an individual who seeks to practice law, but it teaches logic and reasoning.” JCPS Board members were also impressed with the new courtroom in addi-tion to the students’ performance. “They were well prepared, profes-sionally attired, enunciated clearly, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the assignment and the challenges,” stated Justin Willis,

See LAW, Page 5Crime and Court report-er for a local daily

Charlotte BergerStaff writer

FROM THE DESK OF MR. GRAHAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PAGE 310 WAYS TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY BODY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 6SENECA: THEN AND NOW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PAGE 9

2 ForumReporters Charlotte Berger Haley Davis Rabija Efendira Jenna Meredith Victoria Nyosu Aaron Payne Sierra Phelps Mercedes Sneed Hannah WheelerNews Editor Trent Martin Features Editor Aaron StillwellSports Editor Aaron MeyersForum Editor Jake RichDesign Staff Hannah Wheeler

Photographer Charlotte BergerAdvisor Jill Bickel

Sentinel Staff

Silent Radio is a satirical section. Names used in Silent Radio stories, un-less those of public figures or entities, are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental, uninten-tional, and accidental.

The Seneca Sentinel is proudly associated with The Kentucky High School Journalism Association, Quill and Scroll Society and ASNE/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!The Sentinel would like to publish your work. Please submit any opinion articles, artwork, photos, literary pieces, or ideas for silent radio to Mrs. Bickel in room 330. Or, you can let us know on our Twitter page.

Follow Us On Twitter:@Seneca_Sentinel

That Slang ThangJustice WoodSpecial guest writer

If you’re like me, you sometimes walk the halls of 3510 Goldsmith Lane and wonder how the world has become what it is today. I mean, let’s face it. The vernacular has quickly degraded to an abject pestilence with little more intellectual value than the average episode of Jersey Shore. It literally makes me sick when I hear words and phrases like “ratchet” being thrown around so casually. Since when has the butchering of the English language been accepted? Nay, encouraged? Maybe the Fed-eral Communications Commission should ban phrases like these so Ms. Dillard can warn us of their dangers on the announcements every morning… Actually, why aren’t they banned already? Phrases like these are harshly de-preciative to one’s general intelligence, often even more so than your common curse words. Still, the problem does not exist just within the confines of high school walls. It seeps out into the rest of society so much that even adults find themselves uttering such nonsense like “the most” (which as far as I can tell is used to describe someone or something doing more than is expected or required) or “neck” (which is used as a substitute for the infantile “made-ya-look” phrase). But wait, one of the worst has to be the devolution of the word “brother” over the past decade: 2000: Brother (Proper English shows camaraderie and fellowship).2004: Bro (Short, sweet, gets the point across, catchy among friends)

2008: Bruh (Not really a word, but okay, almost right. Maybe an auto-correct error?)2012: Buh (Seriously? What does “buh” even mean? I don’t even…) Do you know what kind of impression using slang like this makes? Now hold on, save your whiny hipster rant for someone who cares, because the pathetic truth is that people who speak like this seem...well, stupid.

Don’t believe me? Please, I triple dog dare you to schedule an interview with an employer of your choice and have a heart-to-heart with him/her about how “ratchet” last position as a fry-cook was. Do me a favor, and next time you call one of your friends “ratchet,” just stop and remember that you are actually calling them “A device in which a toothed rack or wheel is engaged by a pawl to permit motion in one direction only.” Furthermore, the continual growth of this pandemic makes me wonder if I am one of only few who see this as a real problem. Maybe I just have a weak stomach, but the very thought of this kind of language being passed on to further generations terrifies me. And, some time far in the future, I don’t want our generation to be known as the one that murdered the English language. Do you?

More dependency and less respectAaron StillwellStaff writer

Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show dis-respect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

This quote, written thousands of years ago, still applies to today’s soci-ety and gets at the heart of the matter: today’s youth are disrespectful. The ma-jority of us are ungrateful and take most of what we

have for granted. For example, instead of being thankful for the things we have, we believe that we are entitled to them. This way of thinking is incorrect in that today’s youth are not working for the many things they receive and, therefore, can not appreciate what they have been given. Thus, today’s youth are often disrespectful because they have nothing invested into things given to them. For example, if a boy is given a Playstation 3, he may enjoy it, but he will not appreciate it as much as if he had bought it with money he earned himself. Similarily, this concept applies to education. For instance, an education is a privilege in many countries. However, in the United States, students feel it is their right to receive an education and thus sometimes do not appreciate it.

If people had to earn the privilege of receiving an education, they may look at it differently. Furthermore, statistics reveal that 18 percent of schools in cities, nine percent of schools in suburban areas, 11 percent of schools in towns, and five percent of schools in rural areas all reported that student acts of disrespect for teachers (other than ver-bal abuse) occur at least once a week. This disrespectful behavior is a prime indicator that students don’t value school. Not only are they disrespecting the administration, but their fellow classmates as well. As a result, walking into school each day seems like an obligation for many students rather than an opportunity. Not all young people are disrespect-ful and unappreciative, but those who are generally act that way because they are indifferent to authority. My father champions the idea that I should be grateful for what I have because growing up as a child, he had to work for everything. This loss of working towards the things we want causes disrespect because we can never really appreciate what we have if we don’t work for it. Ernest Dim-net once said, “Children have to be educated, but they also have to be left to educate them-selves.” With self motivation, students can capitalize on the opportunities given to them through education. Hence, if we reevaluate what we have been given and realize what a privilege an education truly is, maybe then we will treat education and educators with a more respectful attitude.

Editorials are the express opinion of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Seneca Sen-tinel, Seneca High School, or Jefferson County Public Schools.

Common hand signal for the word “neck.”

Forum 3From the desk of...

Robert Fulgham wrote his classic, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, in which he explained that kindergarten taught him everything impor-tant in life. Fulgham is an idiot. No, the teach-er in me insists that the greatest teacher is baseball. Baseball has horticulture. Go to a ballgame. Look at the precision with which the field is mowed. Look at the green expanse of grass and understand how that grass remains green isn’t just fancy or fantasy, but hard work. The golf course only has to hold up for four days. The baseball field has to be there—impos-sibly green and no blade out of place—for at least 82 games. Think that doesn’t take some work? How about the humanities? The ballet of a 6-4-3 twin killing is as close to dance appreciation as any sports-minded Manly Man will ever get. The drama of the season—from first hopes of Spring Training to last outs of the World Series—is positively Shakespearean. And what other sport has a song as cool as John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” or Peter, Paul, and Mary’s “Right Field” on its I-Tunes list? Poetry was written about the gonfalon’ Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance double play combination. The Mighty Casey struck out in Mudville; he didn’t fumble the ball at the goal line. Vaudeville wouldn’t be the same without these baseball-themed odes to the National Pastime.

You can compare movies if you don’t believe me. The Natural is a mod-ern-day retelling of the Arthurian leg-end, complete with Robert Redford and inspirational music from Aaron Copland. (You can read the novel—where Roy Hobbs strikes out—but I much prefer the happy ending.) Shoeless Joe is a mythi-cal step through cornfields so that a son can once more play catch with his Dad. Football, meanwhile, has The Waterboy. Basketball? The Fish That Saved Pitts-burgh. (Ask your parents.) Math, you ask? The scorecard was invented by math geeks. It almost takes a mas-ters’ degree to understand the nuances of OPS, WAR, FIP, WHIP, and all the other sabremetric advanced statistics. I learned how to do fractions and averages with batting average. And the pitchers’ ERA is more advanced math than half the homework given in Algebra II. Chemistry is well-received in baseball circles—just ask managers. So, sadly, is biology. I learned more about HGH while listening to Mark McGuire deny he ever took them than in any sci-ence class I ever took. Then again, there’s also law and justice. If a guy gets caught, baseball doesn’t just turn a blind eye—they get punished. Ask Pete Rose. Or Shoe-less Joe Jackson. Or Roger Clemens. All baseball greats—none in its Hall of Fame. Crime doesn’t pay—not in base-ball.

You want history and heroes? No mention of the Roaring 20’s would be complete without the Bambino and his amazing home runs or Lou Gehrig’s courage in facing down the disease that would one day take his life and his name. Moe Berg spied on the Nazis and gauged their atomic capabilities while on a barn-storming tour—as a backup catcher for the Cleveland Indians. And none of this mentions the courage of Jackie Robinson. The modern civil rights’ struggle began (at least in part) with his breaking of the color barrier in 1947. Like geography? How about the Mad Hungarian Al Hrabosky? Or the Georgia Peach, Ty Cobb? Or the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Shane Victorino? You could teach an entire class just with baseball’s best monikers. No, baseball, not kindergarten, re-ally teaches you all you need to know. So, pay attention, people. You have a week off at Seneca so that you can learn those les-sons. Learn them well. Play ball!

“Through my illness I learned rejection. I was written off. That was the moment I thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody's going down.” These are the words of a man who was determined to win and would do any-thing to do it. The question is, why should we fault him for doing just that? In 1996, biker Lance Armstrong was forced to drop out of the Tour de France due to a simple case of bron-chitis. This simple case of bronchitis turned out to be cancer, and not just any cancer. On October 2, 1996 Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer. By the time the doctors found it, the cancer had spread to Armstrong’s lungs, lymph nodes, abdomen and brain. The progno-sis was not good. However, Armstrong was determined to beat it. The very next day he underwent surgery to have the malignant testicle removed and later that month underwent brain surgery to have cancerous lesions in his brain removed. In December 1996, he was declared cancer free- a mere two months after the diagnosis. While he was ill, Armstrong was, for all intents and purposes, writ-ten off by the biking community. No one thought he would survive, much less race again. However, he defied all odds and went on to not only race again but to win the famous Tour de France not once but seven consecutive times. He was unstop-pable.

Lance Armstrong: Forever an Inspiration

Unfortunately, the truth eventu-ally came out. Armstrong admitted he had been using performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. The world immediately reacted. Armstrong stepped down as chairman of the LIVESTRONG foundation (formerly known as the Lance Armstrong foundation), Nike terminated its contract with Armstrong, and Anheus-er-Busch also announced it would not renew its contract with Armstrong after it expired in 2012. Finally on October 22, 2012 the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced the Armstrong would be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, and he was banned from profes-sionally cycling for life. UCI President Pat McQuaid even went so far as to say, “Lance Armstrong has no place in cy-cling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling,” However, I disagree. I maintain that not only should Armstrong forever remain an icon of determination and willpower but also should have been able to keep his titles. I will say what I have always said: the drugs didn’t win the race for him. I can’t express that enough. The drugs did not win the race for him. I know most of you are probably shaking your heads in disagreement and accusing me of advocating drug use, but to further my point, I ask you to riddle me this: how can you condemn a man who, after almost dying from cancer, did whatever it was it took to win?

He had been dismissed and writ-ten off, but he came back from the brink of death and won the legendary Tour de France. With or without drugs, that feat is almost impossible. But he did it again. And again. Is it such a crime that someone who survived cancer used performance enhanc-ing drugs to get into physical shape after, you know, almost dying? Not to mention drugs aren’t miracle workers. He still had to work and work to get good enough to win. The drugs didn’t win the race for him. The work was all him, and he deserves to be recognized for it.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong had his seven time Tour de France titles stripped.

John Graham

Charlotte BergerStaff writer

4 Forum Here’s a scary fact for ya: ac-cording to the National Assessment of Educational Process, no significant growth has occurred in reading since 2009. That means despite the best efforts of your teachers, students are still struggling with reading. Due to reading struggles, when students get to college they are forced to take remedial courses, and studies show that students enrolled in remedial courses are more likely to drop out of college than those who aren’t. So you’re thinking, “I can read, so I’m good, right?” Well…not always. Even students who have a high GPA can

be unprepared for the rigor of college read-ing. I realize the irony of writing about students who struggle to read (ha ha…ha), but the reality is, you can always be a bet-ter reader. This year at Seneca, a literacy com-mittee was created to help students with reading in all of their classes. This group contains Science, Math, ECE, History, Art, and English teachers. These teachers work hard to try to improve reading instruction in all of your classes. So the next time your teacher asks you to annotate some-thing and the whole class groans, thank the literacy committee.

Seneca is making strides to be-come a model for literacy instruction in JCPS. While it may not be very sexy (by this point, it’s a miracle if you’re still here, dear reader), it doesn’t change the fact that big things are happening at Seneca. Keep rising, kids.

Reading on the Rise?

Fa(s)t Food: A growing American epidemicHaley DavisStaff writer

Picture this: your mother prepared your favorite meal for dinner. Everything is cooked so perfectly that your mouth starts to water at the very smell of it. You can eat this… or go get a greasy fast food meal. What’s your choice? In a random sample survey at Sene-ca, 61 percent of students said they eat fast food at least 1-2 times per week. 27 per-cent said they eat out 3-4 times per week, and three percent said they do not eat fast food. However, 70 percent of the same people agreed that this is not quality food. Despite its health risks, people continue to eat it at least once a week. “Though people know it’s fattening and bad, they just think it’s more convenient,” stated Nicole Cros-son, sophomore. “Plus, a lot of people are just too lazy to make their own food.”

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In 1990, the average weight of an adult male was 180 pounds and the aver-age weight of an adult female was 142 pounds. Since then, the average weight for men has increased to 196 pounds and the women’s average has escalated to 156 pounds. I can only believe that this drastic jump in weight is because of fast food.

With a society that relies so heavily on fast food, one might argue that this is one main reason for increasing average weights. But, perhaps one redeeming quality about fast food is that it’s cheaper.

Let’s take a look. At home, you can make four quarter pound cheeseburg-ers and a bag of fries for roughly $7.76 (including tax). At McDonalds, a quarter pounder meal costs $6.28 (including tax). Four quarter pounder meals cost $25.12. But it’s ok; you get 750 calories and 37 grams of fat in your meal, free of charge! Would you like to super-size that? Eating out is often thought of as a treat. In the American Journal of Clini-cal Nutrition, scientists had 160 women record what they ate for ten days. Every two hours, they were contacted about what they had eaten and how they were feeling. The end results overwhelmingly proved that the women were happier and less stressed when they ate at home. Eating at home definitely seems like more of a treat when you look at it this way. Fast food is usually not enjoy-able. Plus, it’s extremely unhealthy, fat-tening, expensive, and it’s likely to make us unhappy. Yes, it is convenient, hence the name “fast food,” but are all the cons worth a quick meal?

What’s Usually Ordered

Best Fast Food Restaurant

Mitch GreenwellEnglish Teacher

News 5

S.M.A.R.T. goals: What are they?Trent MartinStaff writer

Seneca volunteers boost school reputation

Hannah WheelerStaff writer

NEW PROGRAMSContinued from Page 1

mation not formerly retained. English teacher Chris Scherer’s noted that he no-ticed a real improvement and excitement to learn in his intervention class. Scherer stated, “Yeah, the kids have really begun to crave knowledge. They continuously ask questions and are never afraid to read answers aloud.” Another one of Seneca’s numer-ous efforts to keep every child on pace are the Seneca college sessions. These are dates where students may come to school (outside of school hours) and receive free tutoring for the ACT or their end of

course exams. Various aspects of interven-tion programs have proven effective based on research. After its initial practice last year, we saw a rise among ACT scores and Coyote scores. Along with this, more stu-dents passed their finals with higher scores.

The more the students begin to rec-ognize and acknowledge that help is avail-able and begin to take advantage of it, the better the school will become. As for now, the programs that have recently been put in place are crucial and ultimately extremely beneficial to Seneca students. Therefore, students can expect these programs to be continued in future years.

“We just want to stress that improv-ing our school is a team effort...”-Kim Harbolt, Assistant Principal

Recently, Seneca went through its 120th school day of this school year. As a result, the 120 day report card of goals set up by our leadership team was released and evaluated. The leadership team at Seneca, led by Mrs. Dillard, set over 23 S.M.A.R.T. goals which were separated into three categories: academic performance, transforming school culture, and data informed decisions. S.M.A.R.T. is an anagram stand-ing for, Specific, Measureable, Achiev-able, Realistic, and Timely. “We would like to set our goals for as high as pos-sible and in as short of time as possible, but following the S.M.A.R.T. goals, we have to be realistic,” stated Mrs. Harbolt, Assistant Principal. The scale used to evaluate the report assigns green, yellow, or red to particular areas to indicate strengths and areas that need improvement. Out of the 23 goals, 14 were marked as green, nine were yellow, and none were red. Each goal also has a list of strategies suggest-ing how to achieve that goal. Then, each strategy is analyzed to see how it can be monitored for effectiveness. Some of the newest changes to our school directly correlate to the strategies implemented by the 30-day report cards.H.A.W.K.’s was a strategy proposed to help gather data about student goals and

academic progress more easily. The lat-est Enrichment/Intervention period every Friday is yet another strategy implemented to aid students struggling in specific sub-jects. The enrichment class is to further

Core classes focus heavily on ACT benchmarks for college and career readi-ness as measured by state academic standards. Teach-ers, by request of administ-

Lunch and Learn along with H.I.P. are methods used to assist students who need additional academic help. H.I.P. stands for, Hawks Intervention Program, which is an after school program to even further assist struggling students. Lunch and Learn is similar to H.I.P. except it occurs during school at lunchtime. All of these strategies lead toward our school’s overall goals.

ration, take time to put ACT lessons in with their own lessons. Seneca’s goal is to have an average ACT score of 20 by 2015; currently it is 17.

“We just want to stress that im-proving our school is a team effort; no one can improve this school alone and stu-dents are just as important as teachers and administrative staff,” stated Ms. Harbolt. She, along with the leadership team, want-ed to stress how students should show off their school pride and do their best both for their own benefit and to help improve the school.

student’s education in subjects that interest them most.

Sponsored by teacher Adrian Layne, Seneca’s volunteer club recently offered services at the Volunteers of America Soup Kitchen. Participants bought and prepared food, served those in need, and cleaned up afterward. “We will be returning to the Vol-unteers of America Shelter to play with kids and prepare activities for them,” stated Ms. Layne. In order to raise money to buy supplies for activities, the club, along with the PTSA, sponsors school events and organizations such as this year’s talent show. The volunteers also bought some Seneca students turkeys for Thanksgiving this year.

Jessica Jenkins, junior cleans up after feeding the homeless.

“I benefit from this club because the community service looks good on ap-plications for jobs and college. It’s also fun to help other people,” explained club member Jessica Jenkins. The Volunteer Club was originated by a former Seneca student in the 2011-2012 school year during HAWKS class. Student members include: Juniors Jessica Jenkins, Sierra Brooks, Tamara Harris, and Vicki Liveious. Ms. Layne believes that having a volunteer club provides a support system for the members of the club and Seneca as a whole. It is a caring community because it shows everything the students can do when it comes to volunteer work. The student volunteers benefit from the club because they are exposed to persistent community problems of dis-crimination and inequality. It opens their eyes to the plight of homelessness and other instances of social injustice with the Louisville area.

newspaper.

LawContinued from Page 1

Seneca also has an after school mock trial team which includes 12 mem-bers. This team visited Eastern Kentucky University to observe the Kentucky High School mock trial completion. “We presented our mock trial for the school - students, parents, alumni, and incoming pre-law students at a pre-law night,” Fritts stated.

Free cat to good home!!Her name is Little Bit. She is 7 years old, is a very loving calico, and in need of a good home. Her original owners can no longer afford to keep her. If interested please call 502-407-9681

Through this event, Seneca’s law program has proven a success and will only continue to strive forward.

Mock Trial Participants. (From left) Corey Chris-tenson(10), Trent Martin(12), Emily Fritts, Ricky Davis(10), Leon Clevenger(12), Alex Chiara(12)

Seneca volunteers pre-pare to mop the floors at the soup kitchen. (From left) Tamara Harris, Sierra Brooks, and Jessica Jenkins.

Features6

10. Brush your teeth after every meal, especially after dinner- This will serve as a cue to your body and brain that meal-time is over.

10 Ways to maintain a healthy body

1. Eat a healthy breakfast- The energy from a healthy breakfast can carry you through your morning in a more stable way than by eating stimulating foods such as sweets and coffee. These sugary foods give only temporary energy and usually result in feelings of tiredness when they wear off.

2. Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors- Sunlight affects moods positively and is a natural antidepressant. Exposure to sunlight stimulates the pineal gland to produce melatonin which plays a role in proper sleep and has been shown to fight cancer.

3. Don’t eat before bed- Studies have shown that when you eat before bed time, the food that is carried out through your body is transferred into fat because you are not as physically active as you are during the day.

4. Eat lots of fruit- When you eat most fruit, you get negative the calories it has because many fruits burn more calories to chew them.

5. Eat five or six small meals or snacks a day instead of three large meals- A 1999 South African study found that when men ate parts of their morning meal at intervals over five hours, they consumed almost 30 percent fewer calories at lunch than when they ate a single breakfast.

6. Bring the color blue into your life more often- There’s a good reason you won’t see many fast-food restaurants deco-rated in blue. The color blue functions as an appetite suppressant.

7. Eat more spicy foods- Spicy food turns up your digestive fires, causing more calories to burn.

8. Spend 10 minutes a day walking up and down stairs- The Centers for Disease Control says that’s all it takes to help you shed as much as 10 pounds a year.

9. Freeze a pre-portioned dinner- Most of us tend to eat an average of 150 percent more calories in the evening than in the morning. An easy way to keep dinner calories under control is to buy a pre-portioned meal.

Jenna MeredithStaff writer

Band hosts spring festival fundraiserVictoria NwosuStaff writer

Seneca High School’s Band hosted this year’s annual festival on March 9 in hopes of raising money for new band uniforms. Although this is the band’s first spring festival, they held a fall festival in 2011. At the fall festival, the main event was the chili cook accompanied by many booths and games. This year’s festival included clowns, FFA’s petting zoo, jew-elry and food booths, a cake walk, and the famous Giant yard sale.

Clown-e and Dooley (SHS grandparents.)

The Band Director, Alana Aus-lander-Price (known as Ms.AP) plans on continuing the spring and fall festivals in the coming years. She stated, “It’s a fun Family event; there were a lot of kids visiting the game booth and adult enjoying the yard sales. I had fun doing it!”

Bobbi Bridgewaters, Seneca alumni, at her booth, Premier Designs.

Allison Smith, Shawn Daugherty, and Hannah Goodrum work the FFA petting zoo booth.

Children ran about while adults perused the various booths. One booth showcased photography and another booth, My Pampered Chef, distributed food samples to hungry patrons.

7FeaturesSky Zone offers trampoline wonderland

Aaron PayneStaff writer

Playful, exciting, energetic, and fun are just a few words that describe Louis-ville's new open trampoline themed park called Sky Zone. Sky Zone is divided up into four sections. In the basketball sec-tion, you can take turns with your friends to see who can hit the shot first or dunk it better. Then there’s dodge ball, that age-old childhood game that everybody tends to play. The main jumping area is a place where you can jump freely. And finally, there is a foam pit which mainly attracts little kids.

The National Merit Scholar (NMS) association recently chosen itsselected finalists to receive the Na-tional Merit Scholarship.

Riley Nelson: NMS finalistTrent MartinStaff writer

Among those finalists is our own Riley Nelson, senior. The NMS chooses students in three tiers. The original candidates are se-lected from their PSAT scores, and only some of the highest are selected. The next step of student selection is taking the candidates ACT scores, reviewing them, and selecting only the highest. Then, only the highest are selected and move on to the final stage. Currently, Nelson is in this stage and is eagerly awaiting to see if she is one of the 15,000 winners. The announcement of the winners is set for the spring time, but the exact day is unknown. The prize is actually something more worthy than a set amount of money. The award looks so good on your college resume that colleges offer their own scholarships in return Nelson plans to apply to both Birghham Young University and Western Kentucky University after NMS is over. Once she heard the news of her being a finalist, she said she was ecstatic. It makes her goal of go-ing to college all more real since she is paying for most of it herself.

The first thing I did when I went there was attempt to be the first to dunk the ball better. But, of course, that didn’t work out. Then, I went to the main jump-ing area which had me tired out within the next 20 to 30 minutes. This had to be the least exciting thing about the place. Personally, I felt the overall best attraction was dodge ball. With the ability to jump back and forth to evade balls while being hit with plenty at the same time, I felt my adrenaline pumping. In order to go, you must also be prepared to have a waiver completed be

forehand. This must also be signed by a parent. I also highly recommended youpurchase tickets online rather than up front because it sells out quickly on a regular basis.

Staff writer, Aaron Payne enjoys himself at Skyzone.

Addict: A Triumph

Two years ago, many of us were shocked by the news of the infamous Sen-eca audit and what it would mean to the various school programs. As the teachers were relocated, we learned that Seneca’s popular drama teacher, Mr. Hoagland, wouldn’t be returning the following year. As the new year started, we stu-dents were weary of the new staff and suspicious that they would try to change our traditions and corrupt our school. However, we were proven wrong when the new staff hired turned out to be great edu-cators and inspirers. One teacher who is a glowing example of the progress Seneca has made is our drama teacher, Ms. Harris. With her no-nonsense style and obvious dramatic flair, she, in her first year, was able to put on a successful production of the musical Guys and Dolls. Now, in her second year, she has again managed to wow us with her production of “Addict,” the anti drug play by Jerome McDonough. “Addict” is an informative play that shows a series of different charac-ters as they succumb to a life of drugs or alcohol. Most of the stories feature teen characters going through issues, such as peer pressure, stress, loneliness, that most students should be able to relate to. It illus-trates how easy it is to fall into a destruc-tive pattern and how even simple “uppers” and “downers” can lead to dangerous

consequences. The work depicts situa-tions ranging from being pressured to take drugs to driving under the influence, (drugs ranging from alcohol to heroin to crack cocaine.) Even the most perfect per-son can find something to relate to. And let us not forget the students that made this production possible. With outstanding perfromances by students such as Shawn Daughtery, Matt Simpson, Cory Gardner and many others. The drama students dedicate their time to putting on a good show and boy, do they! The students Ms. Harris features in her productions clearly have an aptitude for acting--some-thing they probably weren’t aware of until Ms. Harris taught them how to use it. Congratulations to Ms. Harris and all the drama students for putting on an-other successful show and we hope there will be many more to come!

Charlotte BergerStaff writer

The cast acts out an emotional scene.Cast member delivers a gripping monologue to the crowd.

Addict cast members act out a pivotal scene.

8 Features The Friendship Connection, Sen-eca’s exchange program, is growing from three participants last year to five this year. On March 14 through April 9, five German students stayed with participating Seneca families to get the American experience. The purpose of Friendship Con-nection is to allow German students in America and English students in Germany the opportunity for a true immersion ex-perience. The students learn the languages at school, but through the experience, they will learn much more. “Learning a World Language might start in school, but enjoying such a true intercultural experience makes the learn-ing that much more relevant and exciting,” said German teacher Andrea Gieszl. Gieszl is also a former participant in the program and says she still keeps in contact with the family she stayed with in 1999. Seneca’s involvement in the pro-gram as hosts to international guests con-tributes to our vision of being a model for success in a global society. It is a learning experience for the entire school commu-nity as we make international connections and friendships. Fabian Rottschaefer is a foreign exchange student, who has been at Seneca

all year. He claims he has learned some odd things while here. He stated,“I learned that you have to actually toast, toast. In Germany you can just buy toast.” The students in the exchange pro-gram have learned about many cultural and environmental differences. The five guests participated in whatever activities their hosts participate in, such as going to class, attending games, and going to the malls. Foreign exchange student Philipp Storbak-ken said, “Louisville is very big; there is a lot of land. In Germany, everything is close together.” Many host families took the stu-dents out to see what Kentucky has to offer. During their stay, they saw many cool museums and activities in Louisville. The Seneca students learned how to give descriptions and directions to sites around town with the help of the “Tour Guide” they made in German class. Foreign exchange student, Tom Krusche stated, “I like the ROTC program, it’s very different. I have never had a class like it.” This Friendship Connection offers a direct-exchange option, meaning that those who host someone also have the pos-sibility of traveling to Germany to stay

with their families in June. The full-ex-change is open to students in German III and German IV, and the cost is approxi-mately $1650 for the four-week stay in Germany. If you are interested in hosting next year, be sure to contact Frau Gieszl at andrea.gieszl@jefferson.kyschools.us to be added to the information list.

Foreign exchange students from Germany visit SenecaRabija EfendiraStaff writer

Foreign exchange students represent their home country.

9FeaturesA day in the life of...

Seneca opened its doors in 1957 as Goldsmith Junior High School. That year there were approximately 900 students. This year, we have over 1500. However, enrollment is not the only thing that has changed since Seneca’s conception. Here are some reflections of Seneca students from then and now.

Seneca: Then and NowHaley DavisStaff writer

Parker Howard, senior, poses in his class jersey.

Parker Howard, senior, came to Seneca almost four years ago. His brother went here, so he had a pleasant impression of the school and teachers. He noted that his favorite memory was meeting people on the first day who would later become long term friends. When asked how Sen-eca has changed, Howard replied, “Faces have changed. We have new teachers and administration, but it’s still the same school I walked in four years ago.” If he passes all of his AP tests this year—and he’s confident he will—he will walk into the University of Louisville with over 30 hours of college credit. “Through all of the AP classes,” Parker says, “AP physics has been my favorite class for a combination of two reasons: the way Mr. Hale taught and proving that principles which seemed counter intuitive were true.” He also feels that Seneca has prepared him for his future

of being a physician. “I went into Seneca as a person interested in things that had in-terested me previously, and I’ve become a leader with interests beyond those that are purely beneficial to myself,” he concluded.

Elissa Belak graduated from Seneca in 2005 and now teaches freshmen Civics and Yearbook here. “I came to Sen-eca for the Liberal Arts Program. It was pure luck that I got a job here even though I had dreamt of it,” she stated. Her favor-ite experience in high school was having teachers such as Mrs. Bickel, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Cooksy who inspired her to teach. “My favorite class was creative writing,” she added. “I liked Mr. Cooksy’s teach-ing style and the ability to express myself through writing.” She believes that Sen-eca prepared her for college through the rigor and work ethic. She thinks Seneca has worked to center student achievement toward goals through magnets. She ex-pressed that Seneca has become a part of her stating, “Without Seneca, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

Belak is excited to teach at Seneca.

My mother had always wanted me

to be a doctor,” explained Seneca alumni Mark Perelmuter, 59. “I was a musician and artist; I worked with my hands. I also like science, and dentistry fit all of the above.” While at Seneca, Perelmuter was in Beta Club, National Honor Society, Orchestra, Band, and was a comic art-ist for The Sentinel. His favorite experi-ence was playing in the orchestra for four senior plays. Because Seneca did not yet have a magnet program, he took many electives; his favorite was creative writ-ing. After graduating in 1971, he played clairinet as first chairman in the U.S. Coast Guard Band. After six months, he went to the University of Louisville (on a music scholarship) where he was in pep band and began dental school. Perelmuter later went to St. Louis University, which had the largest orthodontic graduate program, for his orthodontic training and to receive his masters degree. Today, he owns Perelmuter and Goldberg Orthodontics. He still pur-sues his passion for art and his passion for music in his band. He asserted his ap-preciation for Seneca by adding, “Seneca: once you were young, now you are old, but I’ll always be loyal to the red and the gold.”

Perelmuter informs a patient about the correct placement of teeth.

I have always wondered what the life of a security guard is like.

Rabija EfendiraStaff writer

Mr. Jones

So recently, I had the opportunity to shadow Eddie Jones, one of Seneca’s in-school security monitors. The first thing I realized is that his job consists of more aspects than one might think. Mr. Jones makes classroom calls for security and monitors the cafeteria dur-ing lunches. He also checks busses in and monitors the second floor. He says his fa-vorite part of the job is meeting people, but the most difficult is dealing with unwilling students. “My experience at Seneca has been good and I have enjoyed it,” said Jones.

“I subbed as a security guard before I came here and seemed to like Seneca more than most places.” Jones retired from the Auto industry at Ford Company and has since been working at Seneca for over five years.

After school, he goes home to his wife, Jane Jones, who is the principal at Goldsmith Elementary. They like to spend time together by going out to dinner and going on vacations. They also go to coun-try clubs, where they can relax and he can play golf. They have two children, a daughter and a son, as well as five grand-children. One of Mr. Jones’ favorite activi-ties is playing golf and basketball with his son. When all is said and done, Mr. Jones is not unlike many of us. He spends free time with his family and appreciates the time he spends at Seneca.

Sports10

The 1963 Seneca High School Boys Basketball State Championship team was recognized Sunday, March 10 at Rupp Arena for its achievements. Every year at halftime of the Boys State Championship Basketball game, the KHSAA invites the 50th anniversary teams back to the tourna-ment. When asked how he felt about being recognized for this championship so many years later, former player, Tom Duggins, stated, “It was a real honor and thrill. I was excited to see my former teammates and coach, and it brought back memories of when I played in the cham-pionship game 50 years ago.” Duggins would later play four years for the Georgia Bulldogs basketball team and remains avidly involved in sports at the University of Georgia. Wes Unseld, one of the 1963 team’s leaders and later one of the Univer-sity of Louisville’s star players, earned a professional career playing for the Wash-ington Bullets. He boasts awards such as the MVP and Rookie of the Year.

1963 boys basketball state champions honored at ceremonyAaron StillwellStaff writer

When asked how he felt about be-ing recognized, Unseld stated, “It is a great honor, and I appreciate it more now. You learn the value of things you did not un-derstand at the time.” In addition, Unseld added, “Thank you to all those people who remember those days and times.” When asked to describe Seneca in one word, Duggins stated, “Champions.” Seneca will forever remember and cel-ebrate this winning team of 1963.

“It is a great honor, and I appreciate it more now. You learn the value of things you did not under-stand at the time.”-Wes Unseld, 1963 Seneca basketball team leader.

Members of the 1963 team (from right to left): Bruce Dalrymple, Tom Duggins, Mulcahy, John Fleishaker, and Jim Hord.

How well do you know your Redhawk athletes? We asked Junior Sean Playforth’s girl-friend and baseball coach the same six questions. Here are their responses.

11SportsSeneca sports spring into action

On February 12, 2013, Seneca High School’s very own Gerald McCarver, senior, reached a career high of 1500 points. “It felt good knowing I had accomplished a goal that I had set since freshman year,” says McCarver. His goals after high school are to get a degree in communications and reach a college career high of 5000 points. “Hopefully I can make it to the league,” McCarver adds. “This team has strength-ened my abilities and determi-nation not only on the court but also in the classroom.” McCarver has contrib-uted a great deal to the Red-Hawks basketball team, and we applaud his achievement.

Jenna MeredithStaff writer

Gerald McCarver scores 1500

Aaron MeyersStaff writer

With the Winter sports season coming to a close, Spring is upon us. That brings in a whole slew of new sports.

Coming off a 4-32 season last year, the Baseball team hopes to improve with 14 returning players. So far the team is off to a good start and just needs to focus on closing out games. "When we're up on teams, we have to still play hard until the seventh inning," Team Captain Tre Huddleston, senior, stated. "We have too much talent on this team to give up like last year." The team's goals from last summer are to have a winning season and to win their district.

Baseball

Junior William Maddox awaits the pitch.

Softball

The Softball team is also looking to improve on last year's record. However, the team is much less experienced than last year, only returning four players. Junior Hannah Jones hopes to help lead her team towards a winning record this season. In preparation, Jones took pitching lessons and consistently worked to improve her skills.

Lacrosse The Lacrosse team is a mix of Seneca and Atherton girls. They started the season 0-2 but are looking to improve as the season progresses. Senior Samantha Shaffer says, “We are doing a lot better than last year; we just need to work together a little better and we'll do fine.” The team is returning 12 players.

Coach Lavell Boyd is entering his first season as Seneca’s track coach and is excited to get into the sea-son. He has as much praise for star runners John Cain and Manjaro Burch. Junior runner John Cain has set his goals high stating, “I want to do my best in every track meet and make it to state in the 100 and 200m.”

Track

The girls’ tennis team has already started competition and is returning eight players; the goal for the team is to im-prove from last season and get better from every practice and match. Tennis Coach Lorenzo McGill stated, “The players have the capability of becom-ing great if they stay dedicated and keep up the good work.”

Tennis

Naomi Devonish (10) stands ready to hit the ball.

Boys and girls track team warms up before a meet.

Girls

Boys

Goalie Samantha Shaffer, 12, and Ather-ton High School student Micah Egana, 11, defend Seneca’s turf.

Junior Ajdin Pasanbegovic awaits the serve.

Gerald McCarver attempts a free throw.

The boys’ tennis team has also started competition and is returning six players. Junior player Matthew Amores stated, “Tennis practice isn’t just a workout or just having

fun with friends. We work hard to repre-sent Seneca.” Led by Coach Jackson, the team hopes to im-prove its skills from last year.

Ten Random Facts (you will never need to know)• You burn more calories sleeping then you do watching TV.

• People say “Bless you” when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

• There are more stars then there are grains of sand on Earth.

• Bulletproof vests, fire escapes, and windshield wipers were all invented by women.

• Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years.

• Natural Pearls melt in vinegar.

• A quarter has 119 grooves around the edges.

• In Kentucky, it’s illegal to carry an ice-cream cone in your back pocket.

• Odontophopia is the fear of teeth.

• The human brain has the capacity to store everything that you experience.

Three-toed sloths to compete in new Derby race

After winning a contest for BEST OVERALL SCHOOL IN JCPS, Seneca received an invita-tion to enter a horse in this year’s Kentucky Der-by. Noexcusesjustresults, SHS’s horse, has been training rigorously since 2011 and is a top con-tender. Trainer Brian Davis stated of the horse, “I can’t even chase him down the halls anymore…he’s so fast.” Jockey Mr. Ellison added that the horse is not only lightning fast, he also passed his end of course exam with flying colors. Team SHS is both proud and excited to be part of the Derby tradition. If Noexcusesjustresults wins, it may mean SHS will finally be able to remodel the fourth floor pool.

Bored with the fastest two minutes in sports, betters urged Churchill Downs to spice things up a bit. As a result, this year’s races include a competition for the world’s most talented three-toed sloths. The race will consist of the upside down wall hang, a sleeping contest, and an intense game of “nose goes” in which the first sloth to successfully touch his nose emerges victorious.

This year, Churchill Downs is putting a twist on the annual Kentucky Oaks race. The contest won’t only be about who crosses the finish line first but also about which Filly boasts the most outrageous derby hat. Cel-ebrated horse owner Michelle Ising stated, “I’ve been searching for months for just the right hat. I can only hope it doesn’t interfere with all the Senior events I’ve been planning!” Tune in to WSHS Friday, May 3 to lis-ten for contest results.

Horses sport hats on Oaks Day

Seneca enters horse in Derby