Gervais High School

INKLINGVolume 5 Issue 2 December 2010 300 East Douglas, Gervais, OR 97026

What’s Inside...What’s Inside...

The Roar................................2 Features..................................3 Winter Holiday Spread.....4-5 Activities.................................6 Sports..................................7-8• Solem Speaks • Campus Humor • ASB Travels to Seaside

• New Staff Features • Crystal Apple Awards • Dave Beebe in Administration

• Gift Ideas • Hot Fashion • Holiday Traditions

• Winter Music Concert • Águilas de Oro Dance • Class and Club Beat

• Fall Sports Banquet • Wrestling, Cheer, and Basketball • Staff vs.. Senior Volleyball Game

“GERVAIS!!!” the crowd cheered every time the words, “we are”, appeared on the screen during the slideshow that introduced the Coin Drive at an all school assembly Friday, Nov. 19. It showed us hungry people all over the world. When students in America think of hunger they usually think of places outside of the U.S. like Africa, but it’s not only there, it’s here too, even in their own neighborhoods. Oregon is currently rated second highest in the nation for hunger, which means that there must be a lot of people in close proximity that go to sleep each night hungry and longing for some food in their stomachs. This assembly kicked off the coin drive and put kids in the mood to give. Last year we did well, raising $1500, but this year, Activities Director Bob Martin announced that the ASB officers set the goal at $3000. Martin bribed the students with a challenge that if they reached their goal, he would shave his head and beard, but not his eyebrows. Referring to the main point of this fundraiser, Martin said, “The important thing is that we’re reaching a hand out to our own community, not someplace else.” To get this thing rolling, everyday, the class officers take their money collecting buckets out from Martin’s room, where they store them for the night, and start taking them from class to class. The containers, which this year tended to be made from ice cream buckets or Halloween baskets, are passed among different classmates as they move from room to room throughout the day and is returned to the class officers who then store them in Martin’s room for the

On Wednesday, Nov. 10, Ger-vais 5-12 School had the oppor-tunity to hear from one of our country’s Great War heroes who not only helped us win WWII, but also helped shape equality for all races throughout America. At the conclusion of the assembly stu-dents recognized Alex Jefferson, a Tuskegee Airman, by a standing ovation for his outstanding heroic experiences. During his talk he said, “You can’t play football with the rules of baseball.” Relating to that statement, he complimented GHS as a group of people from dif-ferent cultural backgrounds, and emphasized that the school is one community. He encouraged students to play as a team by the same rules to achieve their goals. Jefferson was born in 1921 and became one of the first African- American pilots in the military. His training took place in Ala-bama along with other first-time

Tuskegee Airmen. Jefferson wrote what it was like not only to be an African-Ameri-can pilot flying during WWII, but also what it was like being a prisoner of war in Germany. While he was flying above Ger-man territory, Jefferson was shot down and was immediately taken captive by German soldiers. He was held as a prisoner of war for 9 months.

It was a cold Saturday night December 4 until 4:30 p.m. when the Gervais Middle School doors opened offering warmth to those attending the Gervais community dinner and Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Families from all around Gervais, to-taling more than 350 individuals, flooded inside the school’s cafeteria as they waited in line for a hot meal. Rigo Piñeda, former Gervais student and owner of the El Guacamole Mar-ket, which also does catering, donated two-thirds of the cost for the meals, which were served by members of GHS Na-tional Honor Society and Gervais community. After everyone had filled their stomachs, they moved on into the gym where there were many different activities for parents and kids to enjoy. These included booths run by the after school program activity leaders where people could participate in several activities such as making candy cane reindeer, paper snowflakes, and decorating gingerbread men, along with face painting by the Águilas de Oro club. There was also a special appearance made by the one and only Santa Claus. Laughter filled the gym as kids ran back and forth to each station putting their creativity to work. At 6 o’clock everyone thought the fun was over, but an announcement was made for everyone to move down to Fourth Street for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, where Mayor Shanti Platt welcomed everyone. As everyone gathered around they were asked to write their names on a small slip of paper that was then put in a bucket for a drawing. The winner was chosen randomly for the privilege of lighting the tree. After Mayor Platt initiated the countdown, the large red handle was pulled to the cheers of everyone when the tree lit up. While adults and children gazed at the glowing tree and sang a carol or two, Santa made another appearance taking pictures with those who wanted them, and passing out small gifts to all the anxiously waiting kids.

Audience gives standing ovation to WWII hero

Tree lighting ceremony involved Gervais community in celebration

by Mareamia Snegirev by Rachel Bernhardt

by Mark Chilcote

Holiday decor contest

Above: Spotter Bob Martin points out the winning senior bidder. Left: Auctioneer Jeremiah Koop seals the bid for $85, selling Gabby Rodriguez to freshmen Cristol Cabrera.

Coin drive continued on page 6

A cotton Santa and the North Pole caught HOAP director Shandel Jumps’ door second place.

GHS has many winter holiday traditions, one of which include a door decoration contest. This is where staff use their imagination and holiday spirit to design a festive door design. This year, Language Arts teacher, Kristy Swans’ warm fireplace and collage of humorous holiday pho-tos earned Swan first place of the contest.

Language Arts teacher, Lois Thurton received third place with her gingerbread house made out of candy and sugar. Several other staff members received honorable mentions as well.

Gervais raises money for the hungry with fun and games

Jefferson continued on page 2

The Roar 2

Letters to the editor, feature stories, poems, story ideas, and art work are wel-comed. Minor corrections will be made as needed. Submit a copy, preferably on a flash drive, to advisor Lois Thurton in room 3 or to editor Leonid Snegirev.

Inkling - December 2010

Inkling Staff Editor in Chief

Leonid Snegirev

Program ConsultantKameron Wolfer

Assistant Page EditorsEmily Sanchez, Megan McKinley

Contributing ReportersSam Martin and Betsy Paniagua

Advisor:Lois Thurton

Reporters, Feature Writers and Photographers

Diego Arellano, Rachel Bernhardt, Mark Chilcote, Ricky Diaz-Mametiev, Polya Egoroff, Victoria Hernandez, Christina Kalugin, Domnika Kolmogoroff, Nicole Pacheco, Cassi Ruiz, Emily Sanchez, Ivan

Savelieff, Zacariah Sites, Mareamia Snegirev, Beverlyn Stott.

Proofreader: Michele Paton

His memoir, written by Lewis Carlson, is titled Red Tail Cap-tured, Red Tail Free. His book is rare and important as it provides an unvarnished look at life behind barbed wire. A fellow veteran, Ken Buckelles, known by principal Mike Solem, was responsible for bringing Jef-ferson from Detroit to Gervais 5-12 after being contacted by Solem.

In the last story I wrote for the Inkling’s editorial page, The Roar, we discussed the candidates who were vying for the Oregon gov-ernor’s position. In the article for this issue I thought that we would discuss how there is no longer any doubt or uncertainty for our candidates, that they could once again breathe. Though, one would breathe a breath of victory and tri-umph, while the other’s breathing would be a breath of pride for his lost gains that included his chance to work hard at competing in the general election race. Both, in my opinion, enjoyed battling with each other. Knowing his place and hearing the people’s voice calling for him, Democrat John Kitzhaber, stepped up Thursday morning, Nov. 4 about twelve hours after Republican Chris Dudley forfeit-ed. Dudley had waited for all of Multnomah County’s votes to be

counted. To help bring support and votes for Kitzhaber’s democratic cam-paign, President Barack Obama came to Portland on a tour. While here, Obama said, “I hoped, I expected, that we could move beyond the game-playing and the partisanship and the bickering that had dominated Washington for so long, roll up our sleeves, and get to work, because, although we are proud to be Democrats, we are prouder to be Americans, and all of us have a stake in creating a bet-ter future.” This was among other important things that he said. He added that, “When John was gov-ernor, this economy grew, created more than 120,000 new jobs…When John was governor, he in-vested in education and improved Oregon’s public schools.” By Wednesday evening Nov. 3, honest with himself about the

peoples’ voice, Dudley conceded to Kitzhaber and said, “I’ve had a tremendous opportunity. I just feel so blessed to have gone through these past 11 months”. However, towards the end of the week, Dec. 6-11, Republican Chairman Bob Tiernan called for a recount in Multnomah County, Oregon’s largest county. Usually a recount is done when the race is too close to call, or there is evidence of some inconsistencies in the vot-ing process. Tiernan is probably hoping to find enough evidence of inaccurices to warrant a recount. It appears to the Republicans that the majority of Oregon counties cast a vote for Dudley and conse-quently it was Multnomah’s count that swayed Dudley to concede. Therefore the vying for governor hasn’t really come to a rest in the mind of at least the Republican party leader.

Kitzhaber won election but Dudley’s party wants a recount

It’s November at the Oregon Coast – what is there to do? Take a stroll on the beach while the wind howls and the rain falls sideways, play golf, go fishing? Well, this November, twelve GHS student leaders attended the Oregon Association of Student Councils’ Leadership Conference in Seaside for stu-dent leaders around Oregon. This year’s conference was attended by 1500 people – both student leaders and their advisors. Betsy Paniagua, Sam Martin, Maya Jaramillo, Adam Jaramillo, Anne Jungwirth, Alice Jungwirth, Mac Martin, Colton Herinckx, Selene Ortiz, Angela Kudrna, Amy Stott, and Charlotte LaFollette made up the GHS delegation. Their advisor, Bob Martin, was in attendance as well. Along with being the advisor for Gervais, Mr. Martin also serves on the adult executive board for OASC. They had the privilege of hearing two guest speakers – John Beede and JC Pohl. Beede spoke on the im-portance of setting goals and achieving those goals, and Pohl spoke on the issues of bullying and on-campus violence. Students at the conference had the opportunity to watch Pohl’s award-winning video, “Teen Truth Live: Bullying and School Violence”.

Everyone who watched the video commented later on how powerful it was, and how they wanted fel-low students to experience it as well. The weekend wasn’t limited to work and guest speakers. The first night included a dance with DJ Koup – the same DJ who will be working the Winter Semi-Formal Dance. Attended by almost all of the 1500 attendees, it made for a vibrant and crowded experience.

If you want to experience an OASC Conference, run for ASB officer or class officer for the 2011-12 school year!

I hope that each of you has an opportunity to spend this winter break with those that matter the most in your lives. This has been a fun filled fall with a lot of ac-complishments shared by everyone in the school, which included the passing of “AYP”, receiving an “OUT-STANDING” on our school report card, and being an audience to a powerful presentation from Alex Jeffer-son, of the “Tuskegee Airmen”. It is my hope that this is just the beginning of great presentations and reasons to celebrate. Along with spending time with family and friends during winter break, it is a great time for individual rejuvenation both mentally and physically. I encour-age each of you to take advantage of this opportunity. Those of you that need to use the break to catch up on school work, I encourage you to strive for excellence in academics and in all that you do. Once again I wish each one of you a fun, exciting, and safe Christmas break! I will see you all next year.

Sincerly,Mike Solem

Leadership, taking the lead to the seaside conference

by Zachariah Stites

All the students seemed to really enjoy their experience with Jef-ferson while hearing stories about his life. The students showed their great respect the day of the assem-bly by wearing red, white and blue which really impressed Jefferson. Solem would like this to be the beginning of annual events that recognize those who have served our great country.

by ASB officers

Jefferson continued from page 1

The 11th annual GHS Doernbecher pageant had begun! On the morning of Nov. 18, the nominees were informed that they were chosen for this year’s pageant. The guys were Connor Bowmen, Elvis Lopez, Leonid Snegirev, Kameron Wolfer, and Tony Ruiz. The ladies were Gabby Stricker, Maddy Bowmen, Riley Rush, Betsy Paniagua, and Angela Kuderna. Terry Witter held a breakfast to start the nominees on a “new service proj-ect”. Little did they know it was a big project. The next day the school body was informed. Thursday, Dec. 2, a meeting was held to inform parents of their child’s involvement. Information was given about the requirements and they had to sign a com-mittment sheet. They also had to state what their talents would be. Besides signing necessary forms they had to write letters to corporations or relatives to solicit donations for Doernbecher.

Mr. and Mrs. Gervais pageant contestants announced

While working at GHS as a student teacher, Mrs. Nancy Cruz Muñoz said, “It really makes me want to teach more, I want kids to succeed and have opportunities like me.” Cruz Muñoz not only wants to be a high school ELD and Spanish teacher, but also a counselor in the fu-ture. She chose teaching as a career because she enjoys working with high school students. She added that her high school teacher inspired her to become a teach-er. She said, “From her, I learned a lot.” In her spare time, Cruz Muñoz likes to walk, draw, paint, knit, watch movies and hang out with friends and family. Recently Cruz Muñoz got married in July, after having been with her husband for seven years. Some memories that she has about her life is just laughing at random things that have happened; trust me, it’s a lot,” she said. Her favorite foods are posole and calzones. She also finds amusement in anything she thinks is entertaining. Cruz Muñoz graduated from South Salem High School, and graduated from Western Oregon University on Dec 11 2010. She graduated with a bachelor of Art degree in Education with an ESOL endorsement. GHS Language Arts and ELD teacher Lois Thurton said, “I think she has a good understand-ing of the Latino teen culture, and she uses that to develop creative methods to enhance her teaching.” From what Muñoz can remember of her high school years, she said that high school has changed mostly in the way that teachers teach. She added that while teaching at GHS, she has

learned a lot and every teacher has taught her something different. Cruz Muñoz said, “As a teacher, you learn to take a little from every-one.” Teaching is only one of her many goals. After teaching ELD and prob-ably Spanish too, she would like to go back to school in order to become a high school counselor, and, of course, while doing all of this, she also wants to have a happy life with her husband.

Features 3

Inkling - December 2010

Four Gervais School District em-ployees received the Crystal Apple Award. West Coast Bank sponsored this award ceremony along with a special dinner, which was held at Wellspring on November 4. The key-note speaker, Tim Sinatra, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, presented the Crystal Apple awards to Maria Guerrero, Jan Houghton, Terry Long, and Helen Warberg. Gervais Telephone Company spon-sored Maria Guerrero to receive this award for her tireless dedication, and in recognition of her grace and professionalism as the always smil-ing secretary at Brooks Elementary School. Jan Houghton, sponsored by the Silverton Hospital, authored her own book while teaching and counseling younger students at Brooks and El-driedge Elementary Schools. GSD administration feels very fortunate to have such a caring and giving person on staff. Helen Warberg received the Crystal Apple Award, sponsored by Wal-Mart, for not only being a super tall and superior teacher, but also, because she really tries to get to know her students by be-ing involved with them and their families. The fourth sponsored person from GSD was Terry Long for being one of the most respected business managers in the state. She received a Crystal Apple Award for extreme dedication and professionalism, while maintaining the GSD budget.

After being a student teacher and a part time teacher at GHS for two years, Kristy Swan came back this year with a wide smile teaching full time and supervising Xcel plus. Many students were glad to see that she was back and described her teaching as “less boring and more fun,” said Mark Chilocote, who is a senior, but others said differently. “She pushes us a lot and expects us to do stuff we’re not sure we can,” said freshman Domnika Kolmogoroff, who seemed to express a slightly different point of view. Swan is a very well organized person and both teachers and students respect her for that. Since she was a student not long ago herself, she knows what high school students enjoy.As Mrs. Paton stated, “She’s able to build relationships with her students.” Joining our staff not long ago, she’s already teaching Xcel plus and helping struggling students pass their classes. Her goal, she said, is that those involved would end the semester passing all their classes. “She’s very motivated, great attitude, very energetic, and has a great curriculum,” Language Arts teacher Bob Martin said when explaining why he believes she will be successful as a teacher.

Cruz-Muñoz goes from student to teacher

Is Dave Bebee just a teenager at heart?

Swan’s tough but she’s fun

This year the Águilas De Oro club needed a new adviser. Laurie Stott, wife of GHS teacher Ken Stott, has taken this spot gladly. Senior Crystal Colores, the club’s president, contact-ed her around October and asked her if she would be interested in being the

club’s adviser. Stott accepted this job with the purposes of expanding the club and finding something to do with the time she had open. She had more free time than she previously had and was looking for something construc-tive she could be doing. The club doesn’t take too much time away from her regular life, depending on what the club has planned. Cinco de Mayo will require much more time to organize. Outside of that, the club only takes a few hours a week. She had been working as a substitute teacher in and around the district since 1991. She knows most of the kids within the Gervais School District and be-lieved that she would be good for the job. She brings to this position multiple experiences with the kids around the school and within their Latino culture. Stott is bilingual, and has traveled to Mexico quite often. Her daughter has also been involved with the traditional baile folflorico. Also, for many years, she spent her spring breaks in Mexico as an interpreter and building houses. Some goals that she has for the club are to expand it, encourage the Latino group of kids to know more about [the history of their] culture and be proud of it. She believes kids should be proud of their race and where they have come from. She wants to help the club with their projects, advise them as best she can, and reach out to the community. She mentioned that in years to come she might possibly help the club make goals to get involved with other things as well.

Mrs. Stott to be Águilas de Oro’s new adviser

Addicted to mystery novels, holding a fifth degree black belt, and learning to play the guitar, Dean of Students for Building 5-

8, Dave Beebe, has now received his doctorate. He began working on a reading endorsement, with 13 other teachers in the Gervais School District, through George Fox University, when he and GHS Language Arts teacher, Bonny Atwood decided to go ahead and apply for the doctoral program, as well. They began classes in the Spring of 2005 and now after five years

he has doctorate in education with an emphasis on reading. Atwood is in the final stages of complet-ing her doctorate as well. Bebee holds masters degrees in teaching and Medieval Poetry. For his doctorate, he focused on how to scaffold instruction through af-fective elements such as story and the use of imagination, testing the validity of the theories of Dr. Ki-eran Egan. Beebe took courses during the summers, as well as one or two each school term, and he felt he had no life. The study of his dis-sertation took about six weeks and writing his research thesis took about eight months. His pur-pose for earning his doctorate de-gree was to help him be a better teacher. He is in his tenth year of teaching at Gervais and has been teaching for 10 years as a second career.

Karen Jeffers, a special education teacher at GHS went to Portland High School and got her graduate degree from Pacific University. Jef-fers picked the field of education, because she likes to work with kids and the kind of people who like to teach.

She said, “I like to teach at Gervais because it is a small community at-mosphere and everyone is working together.” Living in Beaverton with her cats, Jeffers likes to spend time with her kids Dan, Sara, Ainsley, and Tess. They support her by being very self-sufficient and not demanding.

Christine Williams, inspired to help by personal experience

Jeffers enjoys small com-munities and team work

Jeffers continued on page 6

Gervais school district employees receive

Crystal Apples

by Mareamia Snegirev

by Nicole Pacheco

by Rachel Bernhardt

by Brenda Gonzlaezby Nicole Gates

by Nicole Gates

by Rachel Bernhardt

Christine Williams, special education teacher at GHS, works with Karen Jeffers, also a special education teacher. Before becoming a teacher, she graduated from The Dalles High School, went to Western as an under graduate, and graduated from University of Oregon. In choosing to enter the field of education she was inspired by her own child’s special educa-tion teacher. Williams said, “She encouraged me to be a special education teacher, because my child has special needs.” She had also been an art teacher.

She taught at Salem, Stayton, Molal-la, Gervais Middle School, and now GHS. Teaching at GHS, Williams said she loves working with her stu-dents. Life outside of school for Williams involves her three sons, Casey, a

crew chief for Columbia helicopter pilot, J-R, a construction worker, and Hank, a lineman. All three of them support her by helping with whatever she needs. Williams also loves to spend time with her grandkids on her small farm out by Silver Falls State Park.

Williams continued on page 6

Inkling - December 2010

4

Getting the right gift for somebody can be hard. There are many types of people in this world and many types of gifts to satisfy those people. Getting gifts for holiday celebrations can really burn a hole in your pocket. Then again, it doesn’t have to. I am

quite a bargain hunter myself. I am always looking for good deals. You can be a bargain hunter too. It’s not hard. That is why god

granted us with the wonderful Wal-Mart. Okay so you’re laughing but, Wal-Mart has a wide selection of electronics, fabrics if you’re

a crafty person who likes to make homemade gifts, they have kitchen products, and clothing. You can buy your favorite cousin a cheap twenty dollar video game and your older sister a new pair of

headphones.

Second Hand Shops and Big Lots

Wal-Mart

When Britt Reid finds out his father is dead, he realizes his life is going nowhere. Britt then meets one of his father’s employees, Kato; they both decide they want to do something amazing. Kato builds an indestructible weapon, the Black Beauty, an ultimate car with every weapon imaginable. With the help of, Lenore Case, they learn the criminal for all the cities crimes is Benjamin Chudnofsky. He has united all the gangs under his power but, Britt and Kato are stand-ing in his way!

Movie Review

The movie is very interesting. You have to hold on to every word. It’s laugh out loud funny. The story is part suspenseful because sometimes it makes you say, “What’s going to happen next?” Mega Mind is somewhat like “The Incredibles” because it has the whole Bad Guy/ Good Guy plot. I personally feel this would be a good movie to see with either friends or family. It’s too funny to miss.

Movie to See By: Domnika Kolmogoroff

HOT

HOLIDAY FASHIONS

Polka Dot Slippers$6.80Get cozy with these cute polka dot slippers!

Turtleneck Top$8.90 A timeless closet staple, this turtleneck features long sleeves and a fin-ished hem.

Sweetheart Lace Tier Dress $27.80Lace tiers craft the skirt of this strapless woven dress featuring a lightly padded bust and sweet-heart neckline.

Woven Shorts$22.80These woven shorts are the perfect complement featuring a cuffed hem, knife pleats, and a two pocket front.

Button Tab Peacoat$24.50

This double breasted peacoat fea-tures a soft woven construction and but-

ton tab details at the pockets and sleeves.

Rose & Pearlescent Bracelet$4.80 This two strand bracelet features a lac-quered rose accent and an elastic band.

Polished Flower Earrings$5.80 High polished metal earrings with circle-shaped petals and a large prong-set rhinestone center detail.

Holiday Gift Ideas For Family and Friends

Mega Mind and Metro Man have been rivals from the beginning. On the opening day of Metro Man Museum, Mega Mind captured Roxanne Ritchi and trapped Metro Man into destroying him. Mega Mind was challenged to take hold of the city and therefore he had to eliminate his lifetime enemy and he also had to save the city from his own creation.

The Green Hornet (PG-13), January 14

Mega Mind (PG), November 5

by: Nicole Pacheco

Other places to get good quality gifts without the big price tag would be Big Lots. Big Lots has lots of sales around this time of year. They have gifts to satisfy you and your budget. Now also don’t rule out Goodwill and Value Village. They always say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? Recently, second hand shops have been cracking down on what they will accept so you are guaranteed to find gifts that will satisfy.

Inkling - December 2010

5

Getting the right gift for somebody can be hard. There are many types of people in this world and many types of gifts to satisfy those people. Getting gifts for holiday celebrations can really burn a hole in your pocket. Then again, it doesn’t have to. I am

quite a bargain hunter myself. I am always looking for good deals. You can be a bargain hunter too. It’s not hard. That is why god

granted us with the wonderful Wal-Mart. Okay so you’re laughing but, Wal-Mart has a wide selection of electronics, fabrics if you’re

a crafty person who likes to make homemade gifts, they have kitchen products, and clothing. You can buy your favorite cousin a cheap twenty dollar video game and your older sister a new pair of

headphones.

Pawn Shops

Mexican Chicken KievPrep Time: 30 min. Cook Time: 30 min. Ready In: 2 hrs.

Original Recipe makes 8 servings Ingredients8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts2 green Chile peppers, cut into 8 strips1 (8 oz.) package Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 8 slices1/2 cup butter, melted1 cup Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs1 1/2 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese1/2 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. ground cumin1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

DirectionsPlace chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper. Pound with a mallet until flat.Wrap cheese in green chili strips; wrap chicken breasts around the strips. Secure with toothpicks. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, cumin and pepper. Roll chicken pieces in melted butter, in bread crumb mixture. Place chicken breasts in a 13x9” baking dish; don’t crowd. Drizzle remaining butter over breasts. Refrigerate 1 hr., or freeze to bake later (if frozen increase baking time 5 to 10 min.) Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C) bake 25 to 30 min. Chicken will be white and juices will run clear.By: Erin Clifton “This is a wonderful slightly spicy version of the classic Chicken Kiev. The kick of green chilies will make your family want more!!! You have to use strip green chilies not chopped.”

by Mareamia Snegirev

American Christmas:

The typical Christmas for an American family means decorations, stockings, the dinner, and presents. Decorations are usually done before for Christmas. It is a time for families to decorate the whole house like Santa’s North Pole so that they can get into the Christ-mas spirit. Stockings are where Santa puts in candy, gum, fruit and little gifts. Another important Christ-mas tradition for many families is when they sit down with each other and have a nice ham or some other kind of meat dinner. Many people might say that presents are the favorite part of Christmas because it is so exciting. On Christmas Eve, junior Charlotte Lafollette and her family begin their holiday celebrations with a brunch and then head to their grandma’s house in the evening to celebrate two of her cousins’ birth-days. That evening, she and her brother, Daniel are allowed to open one present. On Christmas Day, they either stay at their house, go to their grandma’s or aunt and uncle’s house. For them, it is different

every year. They open presents on Christmas Day and then have a big dinner with a salmon ball and deviled eggs as part of the

appetizers. Her grandma throws in her cinnamon rolls, and special dinner rolls along with a fruit salad to make the traditional ham or turkey dinner a festive one. Dessert consists of pies made by

her grandma and aunt, while her Aunt Ardel makes her famous pecan pie. If Christmas

is on a Sunday, they usually attend church. Now that a lot of their family is spread out, Christmas is the main time that everyone gets together, so that is always a

great time.

German Christmas:

The Ifft family, senior Tucker, sophomore autumn and freshman Sierra, celebrate with some German tradi-tion for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. On Thanksgiving they get together with family and celebrate with a feast of turkey, stuffing and sweet po-tatoes. Thanksgiving is a day for them to be thankful.They celebrate Christmas on the usual day, December 25. However, they open their presents on Christmas Eve, which is a German tradition. They also again get together with family and have a feast of ham, mashed potatoes, roast beef, cranberry sauce, clam chowder and sweet potatoes. Though, the family doesn’t have a Christmas tree Sierra’s favorite part of the holidays is the food and not feeling bad about pigging out.

Somalian Christmas:

The two Somalian sisters Nimo and Faysa Jama, who are new to GHS, celebrate the seasonal holi-days. In their religion, they don’t celebrate Christ-mas or Thanksgiving. They celebrate Ramadan, Eid Al-Adha, and New Year’s. In 2010, Ramadan was August 11 but it varies from year to year. They celebrate the holidays by going to mosque to pray. On Ramadan, they eat rice, chicken, baked cakes, and lots of sweet things. Instead of decorating a tree, they decorate their house. They don’t exchange presents during December but they get gifts on Eid Al-Adha which is November 16. On this day, they eat meat, poultry, and pizza. On New Year’s they have fireworks. Nimo’s favorite part about New Year’s is that it’s her birthday, so they get to celebrate New Year’s and her birthday.

Holiday Traditions Around the World by Nicole Gates and Domnika Kolmogoroff

Holiday Recipe

Holiday Gift Ideas For Family and Friends

Russian Christmas:

Christmas for Russians is later than most peoples’ Christmas. Their Christmas is January 7th because they go by the Julian calendar, which preceded the Gregorian calendar that is used in most Western countries like the U.S. All the days are the same though. The Gregorian calender was named for Pope Gregory the 12th. The calender came into use in 1582 but wasn’t adopted in the American Colonies until approximately 150 years later. The way Russians celebrate is pretty intense. On November 28th they start fasting for 5 weeks. The things they eat usually consist of fruits, vegetables, beans, rice and bread. After the 5 weeks has ended, on January 6th, people head to church at about 5 p.m.. The service is about an hour long, then they go to church again at around midnight and may pray until 5 or 6 a.m. on January 7. The clothes they wear are the usual dresses for Russians but a little more festive. Families go home after church to feast on the foods that they were not permit-ted to eat for the previous 5 weeks. The women and children prepare the meal for the rest of their family. The food usually is whatever the fam-ily desires. After breakfast, everyone is free to do whatever it is they please. Most people go to sleep, although some go out to spend time with friends and relatives. Gifts are not a large part of the Russian Christmas, although some Russians do exchange them. Before modern times, presents did not mean so much to people because everyone had so little, but now everyone it seems has obtained a gift giving tradition of some sort. The younger Russians are more likely to receive and give gifts than the elder Russians, who are trying to preserve their unique ways and traditions.

Also, don’t rule out pawn shops. Pawn shops can be hideous on the outside, but inside they can have treasures for every personality and person. So don’t let the holidays start a fire in your pocket. Do a little bargain hunting and I guar-antee that you will have a great Holiday season.

For your friend who’s a

little bit of a bookworm I would suggest you make a trip into Borders for all your nerdy needs. They have a large selection of books in every genre, from children’s books to Mangas (manga is a Japanese comic book). You can get mom that cookbook she’s been wanting. You can even get CD’s and DVD’s.

Borders

by Megan McKinley

Activities 6

Águilas de Oro club held a dance Friday, November 5, after the football game. This dance was to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. Originating in Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos celebration lasts for five days during which time people put up decorations and place food and candy on their families’ graves. The dance was held in the GHS cafeteria, so about a week before, the club decorated it in a similar way with flowers, candies and artistic portrayals of graveyard symbols. The Águilas de Oro club organized this dance for fun, and also to help families. Everyone who wanted to go to the dance had to pay $5 in order to get in and the money collected went to local families in need. Al-though not a lot of people attended the dance, those, who did, danced the

night away. The cafeteria was full of very high spirited students as they danced to the mu-sic provided by DJ Oscar Colores, GHS alumnae and brother of senior Crystal Colores, Águilas de Oro president.

Gervais High School FFA experienced an exciting and eventful packed four days at the beginning of the school year. From Sept. 16-19, they participated in festive activities during the Mt. Angel Octoberfest, a four day cultural event based on a German celebra-tion. The GHS FFA drove trollies from a parking lot to the main festivities as its main contribution to the event. The next week-end, Sept. 26-27, the six person Gervais FFA officer team competed with other local chapters to see which chapter could present the best opening and closing of a meeting. The officer team consisted of FFA President AJ Burkholder, Vice President Dillon Tjernlund, Secretary Emily Sanchez,

Treasurer Brad Allen, Reporter Konnor Kelly, who are all juniors and Sentinel Miguel Navarro, who is a freshman. Senior Ashley Warren also attended to support the Gervais FFA. Along with team building activi-ties and officer workshops, they played games and had a great time. GHS took third place. “We had fun, learned a lot of new skills and learned to work together,” said Burkholder. Ag Teacher and FFA adviser Jeremiah Koop took his Ag 1 and horticulture students to the District Soils’ competition, where they took third place. This third FFA event for the fall is where students judge soil for texture, rust and water drainage problems. GHS hosted the event just outside Silverton. Gervais took fourth place at the Ag Sales, a compe-tition where FFA members tried to sell Agricultural related items to judges and made a presentation to advertise products. Juniors Burkholder, Allen, Tjern-lund, and Phillips made up the four person team. Before Winter Break on Tuesday, Dec. 14 FFA members helped with the Food Drive. They set up ta-bles and separated canned food for helpers later to put together food boxes at Sacred Heart Catholic School.

by Betsy Paniagua

Fall days for FFA are full of fun packed events

After football dance celebrated Day of the Dead

To prepare for the GSD Winter Concert, Gage worked daily with music students to perfect perfor-mance, sent letters of invitation to parents and families, and then along with the custodian, Gustavo Morano arranged the cafeteria. The concert was held in the morn-ing of Thursday, Dec. 16 with the Concert Band playing New World Symphony and Pachelbel’s Car-ols. The audience was silenced by the band’s beautiful music and then burst out into spontaneous clapping and cheering. Band stu-dents looked professional in their white shirts and bow ties.

Winter Music Concert entertained morning audience

ASB Advisor Bob Martin: “Our goal is to build a better commu-nity at GHS.” We started off with a great atmosphere. We are trying to bring the school spirit up and get our student body more active.

Águilas De Oro President Crystal Colores: “We are helping a fam-ily in need [during Christmas], in our community.”

FFA Secretary Emily Sanchez: “We a currently working on the mural in the horticulture shed, we also have our Leadership CDE on Thursday, Feb. 10 and we have one officer that went for the State Degree Application.”

NHS Made a billboard that greet-ed the GHS students entering the school for the whole month of November to bring the spirit of Thanksgiving to the school. They also held a blood drive on Thurs-day, Dec. 16, which attracted over 54 donors.

Class of 2012 President Kira Ch-uprov: “We are planning to have a raffle before Valentines” The winner will get free movie tickets and dinner to a restaurant.

Class of 2013 President Lauren Fleener: “The school year had been going good. ‘I am really excited because we just started a fundraiser dealing with the bas-ketball program in hope that it will bring in money.

Art Club Advisor Ruth Becker “The club is doing well; officers are planning more activities that have to do with art and were team-ing up with the FFA for a mural, in the horticulture shed.” The Art Club is selling cupcakes on Sat-urday, Dec. 18, at the basketball game. They are also making plans to make a logo for club t- shirts.

Class of 2011 President Abigail Lopez: “We are planning to start the café shop during the week of finals.” The seniors just finished their poinsettia sale and their can-dy cane fundraiser.

Class of 2014 We recently did concession stands for the basket-ball game.

Inkling - December 2010

When she has moments for herself, she reads, and one of her favorite books is The Phantom Tool Booth. Types of movies that she likes to watch include ballroom scenes. On weekends, she likes shopping and listening to music on the radio such as jazz, soft jazz, afro-pop, classical, folk, and other kinds too. She considers traveling and hiking exciting to do, because exploring and seeing new places captures her attention.

At home, her dog and cat keep her company, while she enjoys watch-ing her favorite movie, “The Great Escape”, GT shows, grumpy old men, landscaping, and gardening. While Landscaping she likes to re-lax by getting her hands in the dirt. For quiet times, Williams enjoys reading books by James Mitchner

in which history plays a big part in stories such as his ones about Texas and Hawaii. When listen-ing to music, Williams jam is all about Country, Western, and Rock & Roll. Williams can’t get enough of “The Long and Winding Road” which is her favorite song by the Beatles.

The Concert Choir sang A Carol Festival with solo by freshmen Jaime Jensen, A Christmas Tril-ogy with Soli by juniors Kira Ch-uprov and Hina Gostevskyh. Gage said, “I love being the choir teacher because I am work-ing with seniors every day and this allows me time with other students.” She added that they all felt a little nervous and excited before they performed. Freshman Beverlynn Stott said, “I like to sing and my favorite song was What Child Is This?” She added, that in choir, she was learning how to sing.

Classes had no limit to the num-ber of containers, but each class tended to use only one. Martin, who always has words of wisdom said, “We can’t feed ev-ery person in the world, but we can make sure that our family, friends and classmates don’t go hungry.” Motivated by his words, students continued to put coins into their

favorite buckets, which slowly became heavier throughout the month of December. Then the challenge of an anonymous do-nor came giving $400, which was equally divided among the classes. This donation was just the boost the classes needed to pick up mo-mentum. The ASB kept a daily running total and going into the

last week of the drive before Win-ter Break they announced an over all total of $976.91. As of press time the juniors were ahead with $263.68 for their buckets. Motivated students entered the gym excited for the Freshmen Auction Tuesday, Dec. 14. Twen-ty two nervous freshmen waited in line as Ag teacher Jeremiah Koop started the bidding. Freshmen in the bleachers tried to rescue their classmates by bidding against the seniors, while sophomores and ju-niors got a few bids in too. Senior Tony Ruiz was second highest bid, $65 on his sister, Olivia. ASB held basketball half-time ac-tivities and a Winter Formal Friday, Dec. 17 to increase donation totals. As of press time it was around $1,285.51, which, also, included coins students brought for the specific purpose of halting chosen teachers’ instruction during the Penny Roll on Friday, Dec. 10.

Williams continued from page 3

Jeffers continued from page 3

Coin drive continued from page 1

by Victoria Hernandez

by AJ Burkholder and Zachariah Stites

by Victoria Hernandez

Sports Inkling - December 2010

7

Coaches honored athletes at Fall Dessert night, Tuesday Nov. 9 in the GHS gym. A slideshow put together by Tyler Lemon showed highlights of all sports during the fall season. Between the slideshow and the award presentation, FFA served cake to the guests. During the evening, GSD Superintendent Rick Hensel recognized all who had assisted with the fall athletic programs. Special recognition was given to Jeannine James for keeping all the sports stats and for taking pictures. Athletic Director Tim Bowman introduced each coach, who then proceeded to present the all-league awards. Presenting first was Girls’ Soccer team coach, Michael Mulkerin, who recognized senior Rosie Cam for wining 1st team all-league; junior Charlotte LaFollette for 2nd team all-league; and senior girls Gina Lemon, Katia Loya, Katie Brant, and Jessica Godinez for honorable mentions. Next was Cheer Squad coach Corinda Craig, who mentioned that the cheer squad supported every team’s game and that they were amazing. Football head coach, Dan Lever, recognized freshman Austin Garcia for receiving 2nd team all-league punter; and recognized for honorable mention were seniors David Wright and Connor Bowman, juniors Angel Martinez and Marady Chun, and sophomore Anthony Scott. Then Volleyball coach, Becky Miller, recognized senior Gabby Stricker for receiving 1st team all-league, senior Maddy Bowman for receiving 2nd team all-league, and senior Riley Rush for re-ceiving honorable mention. To climax the evening Boys Soccer coach Eve Castro awarded Senior Anuar Cortes 1st team all-league award, and gave honorable mentions to seniors Venancio Cortes and Edgar Delgado; and juniors Pedro Cruz-Cruz, Pedro Bartolo and Nick Topp. Athletes and guests were dismissed to separate rooms where individual recognition was given by team coaches and players.

Athlethes recognized for their achievements in fall sports

The annual “spike” of fun and comedy made its way onto the gym floor Monday, Dec. 13. The senior class and staff brought “their game” to the court, but just what game, that was the question everyone spent a dollar to

find out and three to answer. The seniors faced their opponents with skills in hand and tricks in mind. Their secret weap-on for winning the game was to have seniors Artemio Piñeda and David Wright come on

the court first with a high level of enthusiasm. They sprinted, jumped, and hit the volleyball along with the three senior varsity volleyball ladies in pink and the soccer girl in green shoes. Since Piñeda and Wright are well known for their comedy, both seniors made a difference on the court to the level of spirit that the senior team possessed, and thrilled the crowd when they stripped down to their spandex shorts.. The second secret up the seniors’ sleeves was

the “double vision admission”. They snuck in a seventh player on the court while the referee, sophomore Maria Toran, turned a blind eye. The final attempt to win the game came when the seniors pulled the “all-in” move, and rushed onto the court to try for a win. Unfortunately for them, it turned out to be unsuccessful and they still ended up losing. The staff, on the other hand, played all of their players hard throughout the whole game. With enough players on the team, the six that came out always brought with them the fierce-ness that they had been saving for this compe-tition. They played serious, smart, and most importantly fair, so when each unfair call was

made on them, they yelled at the student refs. On one play a blind call was made and GHS secretary Julie Lemon received a red penalty card. Because of their strength on the court, they dominated the seniors. ASB advisor, Bob Martin, announced the game with witty comments like, “ We’re the only volleyball team playing in slacks”, refer-ring to the staff and to the senior comedians, “ I think the spandex are too tight, its cutting off the circulation to their brain.”

Senior wing back and defense backer Connor Bowman’s family, friends and cougar pride motivated him to play hard. His favorite mo-ment was making his first rushing touchdown against Dayton, and get-ting eight solo tackles against Sheridan. Connor’s plan for next year is to attend OSU, to pursue his career of becoming an athletic trainer. Tight end and line backer senior David Wright’s favorite moment was during his last game, when he rushed over 115 yards and scored his first touchdown. David’s plans for next year are to attend OSU to work towards becoming a pharmacist. He said, “I am glad that I played football for my last year with this team. I love this team, and I see them as if they were my own family.”

Soccer forward senior Rosie Cam [top left] said, “I felt good and happy to win something [All League first team] my senior year.” Forward junior Charlotte LaFollette [far left picture], who made All League second team, said, “ I felt excited. I had wanted to get 10 goals [for the season], but got 12. I couldn’t have done it without the team, and I wanna thank them.”

Austin Garcia: “I felt good that I accomplished my goals for this year’s football season, and a good job to all the linemen for their excellent work.”

Senior soccer defender Anuar Cortes [first on left] said, “I felt honored to receive this award my senior year, it now gives me something to remember when I graduate.” Senior soccer forward Edgar Delgado [third from left] said, “It felt good [to be recognized] because my goal was to work hard, and I accomplished it.”

Senior volleyball outside hitter Riley Rush, middle and outside hitter Gabby Stricker, and setter Maddy Bowman said, “We enjoyed playing together on the team, and look forward to more mo-ments to share in different sports too. One quote that we will always remem-ber is, There’s two pains in life, disci-pline and regret. Choose your pain.”

by Kameron Wolfer and Emily Sanchez

by Ricky Diaz

Staff dominate seniors at annual spike

The roar of the Girls Varsity Basketball team was heard from miles away when they won their game against the Delphian Dragons. Giving them their first win in the pre-season warm-up everyone was excited. Support-ers of GHS can see that great things are going to come out of this team during the league season. Coached by Dave Matlock the Lady Cats hold a 3-3 record defeating Delphian (57-13), Vernonia (36-33), and Faith Bible (60-12). Matlock had already coached most of the varsity girls last year, so the team was decided quickly at tryouts. Two new additions to the team were junior Stephanie Oral and sophomore Joanna Martinez. Hav-ing a limited time to practice before their first game, the girls had to play with the experience they had last year against Kennedy High School on Dec. 1. Though they worked hard, they still came up short and lost. The girls also lost their second game against the East Linn Eagles, but bounced back up with a win Dec. 7 against Delphian (57-13). Jessie Rush and Maya Jaramillo are currently in-jured. Since Jaramillo is injured, she is supporting her team and learning more about the game. When they come back they are going to give 100% effort on the court. Matlock expects 3 things from the girls. First; to represent themselves and their school with class and sportsmanship; second, to work as hard as they can in the classroom and on the court at all times; and third, to have a great attitude about everything they do and get along with each other. When asked what she thought about the season so far junior Vanessa Villegas responded, “So far we have done very well, and I can’t wait to start playing the league games.”

Again this year, GHS Varsity Boys’ Basketball shows off their great skills on the court with Paul Henderson as coach. Henderson’s goal for the season is to win more games in league than last year which was only one league win in four years. Friday, Dec. 3, they played their first home game against the East Linn Eagles. Crowds of fans for both schools filled the stands as the game began. While warming up to the sound of the fans, the varsity boys got pumped. The tip off started the Eagles out with possession of the ball, after putting a few points on the scoreboard, the Cougars caught up with great defense. The first quarter was tough; they had a challenge on their hands. By halftime the team was down only two points. A pep talk by Henderson inspired the boys to keep their heads up and not give up. Senior co-captain Connor Bowman said, “He’s always giving good pre-game and half-time talks to get us ready, this one

wasn’t any different. He said what we did right, what we needed to work on, and what our second half strategy was going to be.” Though the Cougars consistently gave it all they had, the Eagles started to pull away. When the last buzzer went off, the Eagles held the victory. Junior Mark Belleque said, “We did alright for our first home game, even though we had lots of mistakes. We fought hard and kept our heads up.” Now with a win over Faith Bible on Tuesday, Dec. 14, Cougars are 3– 3 and have played in the Damascus tournament where they took third. Coach Henderson said, “The losses were because of rebounding, that’s it. If we rebound better and fight for the ball, we win ... It’s just something we need to work on as a team.”

Sports 8

Inkling - December 2010

Fall cheerleading is out and winter cheer is in. Because some cheer-leaders were leaving the squad and other girls wanted to join, coach Corrinda D. Craig made a decision to hold winter cheerleading tryouts from November 13 to 15. For those that cheered fall season, it was no big sweat, but for girls wanting to join, it was a nerve-racking and an exciting moment. Junior Nicole Gates said, “It got our hearts pump-ing and our spirits high.” Twelve competitors tried out and they all showed what skills they had by bringing them to the table. Unfortu-nately, Coach Craig had to make a decision. Nervously they waited outside the door to see who had made the list, and as soon as the door swung open, they anxiously ran forward to check it. Those making the GHS Cheerleading team for the winter season were juniors Nicole Gates, Hionia Gostevskyh, Araceli Guzman, freshmen Bai-ley Bichsel, Raquel Luna, Carrie Mariano and Mad-die McPherson. Though, a cheerleader last season, this season Sandoval will represent GHS as its mascot. At the first practice for this squad, they had to immediately work very hard for their first performance, which was that Friday’s pep as-sembly on December third. GHS cheerleaders came together, though, and threw some round offs that fired up the crowd. After showing their team spirit for the winter sports, “Boom Boom Pow” by The Black Eyed Peas came over the speakers and they got their groove on. They are excited about leading the great Cougar fans in cheering on the Cou-gars to a winning season.

Date Event Site12/18 Scio Tourney Scio1/8 Bob Bishop Willamina1/14 Jefferson Tourney Jefferson

1/22 Cougar Classic GHS1/27 District 3-way GHS2/3 District 3-way Corbett2/10 District 3-way Warrenton2/18 & 2/19 District Champs Rainier2/25 & 2/26 State Championships PDX

Wrestling 2010-11 Schedule

Gervais wrestlers gain valuable experience at tournament

The Cougar Wrestling team traveled Friday, December 10, to the annual Willamina Dual Tournament. As a team the Cougars placed sixth, but that doesn’t measure the amount of experience gained for a mostly inexperienced team. Iban Gomez wrestled tough, winning three of his four matches. The biggest win came against sixth ranked Skyler Voigt of Willamina. Junior Sam Martin finished the night winning two matches by pin and gaining another victory

by forfeit. The other Martin brother, Mac, won all three of his matches including a pin over eighth ranked Cody Heidt. Sophomore Angel Figueroa defeated one of his opponents to finish with two wins and one loss on the night. Angel’s other win came on a forfeit vs. Warrenton. Another sopho-more, Trifily Martushoff, ended Friday with one win and a heart breaking loss to sixth ranked Justin Rosenberry. Unfortunately, the rest of the Cougars ended the night winless, though everyone had personal victories because

all of the Cougars, winning or losing, wrestled hard and never gave up. Saturday, Dec. 11, the Cougars competed at the annual Colton Invitational at Colton High School. They placed fifth with 92 points. Gomez took first, M. Martin second and S. Martin third. Look for some great things this season with fun for Cou-gars and supporters. The Third annual Cougar Classic will be Saturday, Jan. 22, and league meet Thursday, Jan. 27.

Seven contestants selected for winter cheerleading

Date Opponent Site

12/18 Culver Home1/4 Westside Away

1/7 Dayton Home1/10 Amity Away1/12 Willamina Home

1/14 Colton Away1/18 Horizon Away

1/21 Sheridan Home

1/25 Westside Home1/28 Dayton Away

1/31 Amity Home2/2 Willamina Away2/4 Colton Home2/8 Horizon Home2/11 Sheridan Away

Date Opponent Time

12/21 Nestucca @ Home

1, 2:30, 4, 5:30

12/28 & 12/29

Cougar Classic @ Home

11, 12:30, 2, 3:30

Basketball 2010-11 Schedule Winter Break Basketball

by Sam Martin

by Emily Sanchez and Connor Bowman

by Nicole Gates

by Domnika Kolmogoroff

Gervais High School’s basketball teams, making wins left and right

It got our hearts pump-ing and our spirits high.

-junior Nicole Gates