Flowers

Any woman loves a good smelling flower. Roses, tulips, daisies, sunflowers… find out your mom’s favorite and send it her way with a sweet, endearing note. Junior Jennifer Price says, “I’m getting my mom a card and flowers. She loves carnations.” Maybe an edible arrangement would be the thing. Though a bit pricey, they don’t sit on the table to wither and they are delicious.

Candles

Any woman loves a good smelling candle. There’s many to choose from. You can go fruity, sweet, floral, or clean but you can also go wrong. I know some women can’t tolerate certain scents and maybe that wrong scent will develop a headache; you don’t want that.  So, people, don’t make a bad decision in choosing her candle. Look around the house for existing candles to get a good idea of what she’d like or ask her friends.

Homemade Gifts

Any woman loves a good homemade gift from her baby. Frame a picture of both you and her together or encase one in a locket. For those artistic, paint/draw her something delightful, then frame that. Make sure it’s something she’d actually want to hang up. This is an easy one for those of you who are broke. Freshman Amy Kalayjian says, “I made my mom some bracelets because I have no money and I already had the beads and wire.” Make use of what you have and make something pretty with it.

Spa Trip

Any woman loves a good trip to the spa. After a long life of cooking and cleaning for you, she wants a massage and a mani-pedi. They will also supply a pillow for her bruised knees- knees that she’s knelt down on to scrub the floor.  This makes purchasing a spa package a good idea. Try to reimburse her energy so she can cook and clean some more.

Dinner & a Movie

Any woman loves a good date with her child. Spend some quality time with her. Treat her to dinner then afterward, see a dramatic chick flick. Yes, guys, it’s not manly, but do it for the sake of your mother’s happiness. She doesn’t want to see Mission Impossible.

Well there you have it folks. On her day, let her know that you’re appreciative.

Sounds contagious and fatal if you ask me, and it just may be.

When some seniors see their friends slacking off due to severe senioritis it may cause them to begin slacking off. It’s called the monkey-see-monkey-do effect. Senior Troy Williams defines senioritis “Its the time to slack off.”

Yes that is right the know annual illness has finally made it’s way to North Augusta. Senior Mitch Redd says ” I KNOW I have senioritis. Sadly it has been with me since freshman year.”

Some symptoms of senioritis may be procrastinating, fighting to get out of bed, lack of motivation, and an extravagant urge to wear sweat pants and old t-shirts. According to Briana Cheathem “Not doing you best, skipping school, and just coming to school for the prize of it” are also symptoms of senioritis.

There has been an increase in the number of students who may be infected by the mind set of almost graduating. Even some juniors can catch senioritis as the year being to come to a close.

For  seniors, it is the mind set of either already being accepted to college or acknowledging  the fact that the twelve years of hard work is finally coming to an end. It can also be a bitter sweet thing at the end.

In addition to that if you say yes to any of these questions you may be in danger of having senioritis:

1. Are you a senior?
2. Have you recently started counting down days till graduation
3. Has any of your teachers recently told you to wake up and take notes?
4. Have you already started packing for college?
5. Have you or a family member noticed your attendance record this semester

If you said yes to any of these questions you may be at risk for a severe case of senioritis. The best thing to do is stay calm and follow the next precaution.

Find a way to balance out work and play.

If you have a easy class second semester than that could be a good thing. It wont be as hard to balance out work and play. If you only have one easy class it might get hard to separate work and play between more than one class. It could become a bad thing to start slacking in a major class you may need. Work now and play later, you would not want to have worked hard for twelve years to not get credit for it. Senior Sydney Herrick has already been accepted into University of South Carolina Aiken and says “I’m ready to go off to USCA this fall. I feel like I’ll be taking the right classes.”

Like Sydney, some seniors feel that since they have an easy class they don’t need that they can just blow it off. That would be the worst thing to do because even though you don’t need the class, it will surely help boost your GPA or even hurt it. ” The classes i take this year are no challenge.” says senior Nick Bull. ” I plan on going to the air forces. I’m just ready to graduate.” Even though the weather has us thinking otherwise, summer is still yet a skip, hop and a jump away but it is coming faster than we know.

It all changed this year.  Students now aren’t allowed to sleep, they cannot talk unless directed to, students are no longer allowed to eat except for their lunch time, and no more allowing students to leave when a teacher calls for them.  What changed?  Well for starters, Mrs. Lloyd happened.

Mrs. Lloyd arrived a little late into the new school year.  She started off by interviewing students, teachers, and administrations on the way ISS had been before.  Students said that they never really followed any of the rules that were in place and they received no consequence for it.

Teachers said they thought ISS was ineffective because students did no work and slept all day, ultimately receiving no punishment.  As one teacher said, “ISS was not a punishment, more like a reward for making my life miserable in class.”

Administration said that they were tired of seeing the same few students  constantly in ISS.

Mrs. Lloyd took all of that information and made the new set of rules.  Now if you don’t do your work teachers send you to ISS, you will either receive a zero for the assignment or you will be called back to ISS until that work is done.   Mrs. Lloyd also added the 300 word essay on “the importance of following rules, what rule said student violated, and their immediate plan of action to fix said rule from being violated again” that you are to complete when your in ISS for the first time.

Mrs. Lloyd gave me the rare permission to read the essays.  Some students thought out what they were going to say and put it in an obviously well-organized paper, while other students made it blindingly clear they did not think the assignment was worth their time.  Some choice bits from what I read include:

“I guess I could say I know not to skip class anymore.  Sitting in a trailer with twenty kids that grunt and say stupid words isn’t my idea of a fun time.”

“I violated said tardy policy on the last day of the semester and would have been five seconds late to class had I been let in.  But luckily I have a wonderful teacher turn me away when I was less than ten feet from her door.”

“Is this really the best form of punishment the school could think of?  Let’s take these kids that barely exceeded the parameters of the school rules and lock them in a room.”

However, some students still enjoy ISS  while others don’t.  Omari Baskett, sophomore, is one of the rising many that dislike ISS, “I don’t like ISS period.  Nobody should like ISS.  It’s less stress this year because she [Mrs. Lloyd] doesn’t yell, but I have no rights and I can’t see my friends and I have to eat cold food.”

A certain sophomore, one who did not want to be named for his shame of being in ISS over tardies agreed with Omari.  “It sucks so much.  You’re bored to death when the teachers don’t send you work.  You want to bash your head into the desk.”

Freshman Alex Trapp said, “I hate it, it’s really boring.  There’s nothing to do.”

Usually there are standards involved with writing a research paper. It has to have this, this, and this. It has to be persuasive or argumentative. It’s all part of the game and the game is long, boring, and hard.

Junior Mark Outlaw was given a choice in subject matter but he says that, “I don’t like choosing the topic because I can’t figure out one but I am looking at writing about the immorality of zoos.” It’s understandable that students can’t handle the freedom. They are used to teachers just dishing out assignments with every restriction and standard attached.

Some teachers don’t give as much leniency. Taylor Lunde, a junior, says that, “The hardest part about my research paper is writing it on a book. She made us choose from five questions and using the book, we answer the chosen one. Mine’s on Gatsby and how he represents the American dream.”

Lupita Brito, also a junior, must write a research paper related to The Great Gatsby. “I’m writing about 1920’s flappers. The worst part about it is that there aren’t many books on it therefore it’s harder to get information.” Bad thing about writing something you enjoy is the possibility of having a small amount of scholarly information and research on the topic. If the source is scant, the student must turn her back on the dead end and ponder on a new subject.

The researching, the citing, the actual writing- all of it isn’t fun to do unless you’re psychotic. But teachers must prove to themselves and maybe to you, that in some way, you can take what you learned in class and apply to a giant research paper at the end of the year.

Good luck in writing them.

The community of North Augusta is learning this lesson. Uriel Diaz, a freshman here at North Augusta, passed away on Easter Sunday. He drowned. This article isn’t a story of his death, in fact this is an article of the lesson he taught all of us.

Many people here, myself included, were always mean and rude to him, and many  people just wrote him off. They didn’t take the time to get to know this boy. If they did they would have realized he was sweet. He helped others when he could; he had a great heart. However, people didn’t take the chance to get to know this side of him, and, instead, were rude to him.

We had a friendship, and Uriel always told me he had feelings for me.  We met in the library where he was a helper.  He just talked to me about anything and everything.  I remember the next time I went in there, he had a poem for me titled “You are My Garden” where he compared me to a garden.  He’d call me beautiful and when ever he’d introduce me to his friends, he’d always say I was his future girlfriend. I wasn’t interested in him that way and every time I told him this, he’d say, “you don’t have feelings yet but you will.” So I tried to push him away by just being a really mean. He never gave up on me though.  He asked me to hang out with him the Thursday before he died and I said. in the meanest way I knew of, that he needed to quit trying to be friends with me because I’d never be interested in him in any way. I told him that until he realized that I didn’t like him, that I would never hang out with him outside of school. The moment I found out he passed, I automatically remembered what I said and literally burst out in tears because no one deserves to be treated that way.

There are others out there who share this feeling. Lizzie Lurley, an 8th grader at North Augusta Middle, said, “He would call me beautiful and wanted to get to know me, and I would ignore him most the time.  Then, when I found out that he passed, I balled my eyes out. I started thinking of the way I, and others treated him. I knew I should of got to know him better and just accept his compliments.”

Aileena Delgado, a sixth grader from North Augusta Middle, recollects how she treated him: “I regret calling him panda bear eyes.  I treated him in person really nice, but when we talked through the phone I was mean because he liked me but  I was going out with his cousin so I treated him like he was the ugliest, but he wasn’t.”

Junior Victoria Lynn remembers, “I treated him like he’s a stranger to me, but  I do feel really bad because he tried to be my friend and i rubbed him off, and I knew he was a really sweet guy.  I remember the first message he sent to me was, ‘let’s be friends tell me everything about you.’  I told him little things about me, and he asked me, ‘What lunch do you have and can I sit with you?’  I ignored that question and then he constantly sent messages like, ‘hey, what are you doing beautiful,’ day after day.  The last message he ever sent me was, ‘ do you have a boyfriend?’  I also ignored that question.  I was shocked when I found out he died.”

Victoria summed up what Uriel was:  ”He’s a sweat heart.”

Lizzie thinks, “he would feel upset but loved” if he knew what people are saying about him now.  She continues, “Upset because why couldn’t people treat him like they are now when he was here.  He probably thought everyone hated him, he had no friends, all that.  Loved because he found out people actually cared and they’d do anything to have him back on Earth. Uriel was a really strong, and nice kid.  Every time someone put him down, disrespected him, he would brush it off and carry on like nothing happened.  And he’d still have no problem with them.”

I think that Uriel’s death has shown me why we follow the Golden Rule. We think that when we say something mean to people, that we can take it back.  Sometimes we can’t.

Knowing what we know now, knowing the regret that we feel, knowing how miserable and mean we were, people have been quick to offer what they wish they could say to Uriel.

Victoria: “I wanted to tell him that I’m sorry that I rubbed him off when he tried to be my friend.  It wasn’t very nice of me, and if I could go back in time, I’d definitely change everything!”

Aileena: “I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you.  You were a really nice boy and I never should have treated you like that.  You should always treat a person like you want to be treated.  Uriel Diaz, I never treated you the way you treated me.  But now it’s too late to change what I’ve done.  Now you’re in God’s arms where people are not so mean and disrespectful to you.  You’ll be missed Uriel Diaz”

Lizzy: “I’m really sorry for the myself and others have treated you.  If there was a chance to go back and say ‘sorry,’ I’d kill to have that chance.  I’m just very sorry and I regret it.”

When asked what required reading she didn’t enjoy, an anonymous Junior answered, “To Kill A Mockingbird. It just kind of sucked in my opinion. I get that it covered important issues, but nothing really happened. There was no excitement.” But this student also admitted that she “skimmed.”

I think a problem about required reading is that students are often quick to judge the book on the first paragraph. Slogging through the following chapters becomes laborious and it is easy to just give up on the book there. I have learned that you can’t base your attitude on the assignment from the first few words. I absolutely hated The Great Gatsby when I read it in class. However, I read it again over the summer and it’s now on a list of my favorites. Sometimes you have to continue putting your efforts into a book despite your original opinions.

A different student, who also wishes to remain nameless, was quick to offer up The Scarlett Letter. “I totally hated it. It was dull. The plot was dragged on. You would have thought they would have written something better by now.”

This was a common complaint:  required reading is not very recent. The reading list is very rarely updated.

“I didn’t like Fahrenheit 451 at all. The plot moved way too fast and I was really confused the whole time,” another anonymous Sophomore added. He told me that he didn’t lazily read the book, but that the plot was just too confusing.

No one was willing to put their name down as hating these beloved works of literature. I believe this is part of the problem when it comes to hating school reading. Students are too afraid to voice their opinions about the books they are assigned. “If you complain, you’re either lazy for not being able to get into the book, or you’re stupid for not understanding,” an anonymous student told me.

There is no question that there are lazy high schoolers. I talked to someone who was proud to inform me that he hadn’t read a single book assigned to him in school. But I don’t believe these students are the vast majority. While pure laziness is to blame for some of the distaste that students have for assigned reading, there may also be a problem with the actual material.  And you know what?  It’s okay–it’s okay thinking that some of the books that we’re required to read just aren’t good.

School reading is not all bad, despite what the jaded high schooler says. It gets students to read classic books they may end up loving. It can make them branch out from the genres they are more accustomed to. And there aren’t many negatives from getting the street cred of scholars. I’d like to think I’m not the only one who gets a sense of pride from being able to say I’ve read these classics. The blame can’t be placed all on the certain titles on the list. There are students who will refuse to read a book simply because it was assigned to them.

I understand that there are things that cannot be changed. I wouldn’t dare try to rid the school of beloved classics or Shakespeare, but with almost every book thrust upon us being older than our parents, it’s hard to find characters and situations to relate to. This can often make reading a chore instead of something to love. Could something be done to the reading list to make consuming these novels enjoyable?

“What makes this show different from past shows is that it’s a lot darker. The music, the staging, the everything,” says Nathaniel Mullis who composed several portions of the show. He continues saying, “Not only that, it tells a story. It’s not just a show with music and drill, but a show with character.”

Titled as “Once Upon A Dream” the theme follows the story of a girl, donned in pigtails and pajamas, who falls asleep and drifts into a nightmare where demons are haunting her. To musically-savvy people, this story can be told just by listening to the music, which pulls its melody from “Mind Heist” by Zack Hemsey, a composition featured in the movie Inception. The show also features parts of the theme song for Freddy Krueger. Creepy.

Even aside from the bold descent into darkness, what makes this show different from the others is that the Colorguard is performing alongside the drumline. This seems somewhat hectic at first. Ten girls, tossing flags and rifles, in close proximity to ten drumline members, all that are carrying various sizes of drums, on a mat the size of a gym floor, all at the same time? Yes, this is crazy and at first, there weren’t many supporters of this decision.

“At first, I was dreading it, but now I can deal with them most of the time,” says sophomore and bass drum player Alex Ward. Well, no pain no gain, right? Even those in Colorguard didn’t necessarily agree with the change.

Sydney Key stated, “I didn’t like it at first, at all. I like it a little better now because it takes some pressure off of the color guard and keeps things fresh.” And with that, the show must go on.

It  begins with a soft, lullaby-like melody played by the front ensemble. (For those of you living outside of the realm of musical knowledge, the front ensemble consists of keyboard instruments–marimbas, vibraphones,  the xylophone. It also features electronic keyboards, synths, a bass guitar, a gong, a bass drum, and other small auxiliary percussion instruments that add color to the ensemble.) The lullaby gets softer and slower as the little girl drifts off to sleep and black-hooded figures circle around her. It’s not until they take off their hoods, revealing their darkened, demonic-looking faces (this even includes the usually angelic face of Abigail Aldred) that the sleeping victim realizes that she has awoken in a nightmare.

Hearing the music alone, one can almost feel a drop in their stomach at this moment. The girl screams and runs in terror from the drumline demons and the music intensifies as if hell has boiled over. Marimbas begin playing like madmen in an insane frenzy of pulsing rhythms. Layered over them are powerful, melodic chords played by the vibraphones, electronic keyboards, and synths. And over them are the drumline, that bang and pound out jarring, driving rhythms. Basically, the show is a concoction of layers and layers of eerie, creepy, beautiful horror. And that’s just the tip of the bloody iceberg. The rest you’ll just have to see for yourself. This all may sound like an exaggeration, but during North Augusta Indoor’s last performance, they ended up making a kid cry (hence, the hide your kids advice aforementioned). At least that’s what band director, Chuck Deen says.

The entire show features interesting techniques regarding both musical and visual perfomance from the drumline and front ensemble. During one part of the show, members of front ensemble quickly reach out towards the audience and lock eyes with someone, then pull in as if grabbing them. In another part, they lock eyes again with audience members and scream. The show requires all of the members to be engaged emotionally in the music and perform not only with their hands but with their body and their face. And of course, the color guard has to be just as lively and intense.

Nathaniel Mullis sums it up well, saying, “There’s a new level of complexity to it [the show]. More emotion hast to go into the show from the players. You have to really make the audience believe they’re in a nightmare or they’re going to lose interest.”

So far, it looks as if the dedication and desire of Indoor members is paying off. Already North Augusta’s Indoor Percussion Ensemble has received postive critiques in competition. They placed second in their most recent competition at T.L. Hanna and hope to do even better at their next competition on March 24th at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, SC.  Indoor Percussion will be performing at the school March 22nd during the band concert for those of you interested in getting  small thrills, and I don’t know…maybe even having nightmares?

Update: North Augusta Indoor Percussion finished their season, winning second place in the Carolina Indoor Percussion Association (CIPA) championships against eleven other schools from around the southeast.

Probably for the first time ever, a “screaming” band placed in the top three. Hard rock duo “Eleven”, made up of Chris and Anthony Weathersbee, were impressive all around. Starting their set with a dedication to the bassist of their band, Troy Johnson, who was and is currently deployed with the United States military, Eleven went on to play five original songs. Their best feature, aside from generally annihilating the drums, guitar, and mic for every song, was definitely how tight they played together. Many listeners commented that the two on stage sounded like an entire band. Even if screaming is not something you normally appreciate, there wasn’t any denying that Eleven more than made up for their missing member.

Playing second in the line up, “The Last Lost Continent” had a lot to live up to, but still managed to set the bar high for the rest of the night. Band members Nathan Leopard on drums, Cody Smoldt switching between guitar, bass, and vocals, Nick Barrs playing guitar and vocals, and Will Harley switching between guitar and bass, played a set that was made most by sheer stage presence. Even though their song choice was good, with “Beverly Hills” by Weezer, “Are You Going to Be My Girl?” by Jet, “Shiver” by Coldplay, and “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire, what made them really stand out was how clearly they all enjoyed playing their songs. That said, they didn’t sound half bad either since they made second place. Particular high points in their performance were “Wake Up” and “Shiver,” both of which were top notch.

For a first place band, “Sons of Shamgar” certainly deserves the credit. If third place was for musicianship, and second place stood out for stage presence, first place was undoubtedly an example of good old-fashioned talent. Made up of Blake Baggott on lead vocals and guitar, Brandon Baggott on backup vocals and guitar, and Josh Phillips on backup vocals and guitar, Sons of Shamgar made it pretty easy for the audience. Three stools and three mics, and then it was just a matter of letting the magic happen. They played a combination of folk and country, bringing in songs “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons, the hymn “Be Thou My Vision,”  “The Weight of Lies” by the Avett Brothers, and classic “Take Me Home, Country Road” by John Denver. While they had a good stage presence, encouraging the audience to sing along to songs they knew, and they played incredibly well, the real experience was in the pitch-perfect vocals. As difficult as it is to make three people harmonize perfectly, that was one thing Sons of Shamgar had no problem with. And because of all of those things, Sons of Shamgar walked away with a well-deserved first place.

While everyone can say this band or that band should have won, I think everyone can agree that Battle of the Bands was certainly an event worth going to. Regardless of winners or losers, all of participating bands did a fantastic job, and together made a great night. So if you know somebody who risked playing at Battle of the Bands, give them a pat on the back and a job well done, because I think every band that played was worth seeing again. Don’t forget that bands need your support, and if you hear that one of them are playing in the future, make sure to be there and encourage your local musicians. But out of all of this, there is one thing that I think is the most important of all; see you next year.

Each year the participants have to go through Districts which were held in Lexington Technology Center of District 4. Some of the different areas of competition are Sports Management, Partnership of Business, Community Service, and Emerging Business Issues. Conner Fowler took 2^nd at Sports Management and Jerryd Curry took 4^th. McKinley Pippin took 1^st in Emerging Business with Paul Liner and Hyuri McDowell. To be considered for State Convention competitors have to place 1^st through 6^th in their competition. All of the students just listed will be going to Charleston with others who place as well.

This year FBLA officers are: Will Harley- President

Matthew Larry- Vice President

Secretary- Kaylee Gough

Treasurer –Hannah Reese

Other areas of leadership would be Parliamentarian: Graham Shuford, Historian: Alaina Miller, and Reporter: Victoria Long.

FBLA also has an area of competition that works with the community, it is called Project TAB. Will Harley, Hannah Reese, and Matthew Larry are all together working on Project TAB which stands for Teaching Adolescents and adults about Bullying. There is another article on the tyjna.com website by Ricky Baldwin that covers this new project.  http://tyjna.com/news/2012/02/14/fbla-labels-bullying-awareness-in-schools-with-a-tab/  [Check this article out!]

Last year in June some of the FBLA students got the chance to go to Nationals and those students were: Maddie Myers, Kyler Childs, McKinley Pippin, Alaina Miller, Kaylee Gough, Will Harley, Paul Liner, and Matthew Watke. It was held in Orlando Florida and they got to do many other activites besides compete. They spent a whole day at Disney World and that is an experience that many students do not get to have on a school event. Paul Liner that “Nationals was the best time that I have had in a long time just being with my friends but also getting a learning experience as well.”

Being in FBLA is not just about competing in events or having meetings after school, these students have made a strong bond with each other. Friendships have been made throughout the conventions and to provide students with the experience of learning and getting to develop new relationships as well.

Photo credit: scfbla.org

Anything you desire the Jacket Espresso Coffee Shop stocks. Menu items span from Hot Herbal Tea to Chocolate Mocha Freezes, the Jacket Espresso can appeal to even the pickiest of fine beverage  connoisseurs. The most appetizing part of all is the prices, hot drinks cost $1.25 and cold drinks cost $2.50. You can even buy a $5 or $10 punch card to use on days when you don’t have cash.

The Jacket Espresso’s staff is composed of students and helpers from all over the school. The station is manned by members of Employment Training classes with assistance from members of Beta Club and FBLA, and other students who enjoy partaking in employment training. That is, at its core, what the Jacket Espresso coffee shop is about. Providing realistic employment training for those who seek to improve managerial or employment skills.

Ms. MJ says, “It is amazing how many useful employment skills can be gained through the Jacket Espresso Coffee Shop.” She goes on to say “Students learn everything from how to measure coffee and ingredients to customer service skills, from training other employees and management, to food safety and sanitation. There is a lot to be learned right here on campus.” Ms. Marks-Johnson is right, so stop by, grab a punch card, and enjoy your drink. Stay thirsty, my friends!