november 28th, 2011
DESCRIPTION
November PaperTRANSCRIPT
November 28, 2011 • Volume 9 • Issue 3 Northridge High School • 2901 Northridge Road • Tuscaloosa, Al• 35406
Interview with the new superintendent
Jah’meka Baxter
Infographics Editor
Students who enter the science and social studies wings can find interesting bar codes that they can scan to help them understand assign-ments and keep up-to-date on classroom activi-ties.
These bar codes are called QR (Quick Re-sponse) Codes. They are two-dimensional bar-codes that allow someone with a mobile phone to take a picture of the code and access the web-site that the code is connected to. The codes were originally created in Japan by Denso Wave in 1994 to track Toyota vehicles during the man-ufacturing process according to Wikipedia.
Neilann Thomas, librarian, learned to make QR Codes from the webinar First Friday that was provided by the state of Alabama.
She has used what she has learned to help some teachers at the school create their own QR Code for their classroom.
The senior meeting that took place on Tuesday, Oct 18, allowed students to scan a Balfour QR Code to access the website for additional graduation information and an opportunity to have their own personalized QR Code with a graduation message hidden within the code for family and friends.
QR Codes can be found in magazines such as Elle, Time and Seventeen. Companies are now using QR Codes to allow customers to find spe-cial deals and help boost advertising.
Students have the opportunity to create their own QR Codes with personalized colors and buttons from websites that provide help with creating them.
Aasiyah SullivanStaff Reporter
What was the process of becoming superinten-dent?
Tuscaloosa City Schools uses Ray and Associates to find a superintendent. They open the position and nar-row it down to eight people. In a period of a month, I went to three interviews for superintendent.
Why did you decide to come out of retirement and work for the Tuscaloosa City Schools Board of Edu-
cation?I have a son in college, and I didn’t want to move while
he was still in high school. My thoughts when I left was that I would want to work somewhere with
a big university in another city or state.
What are some changes that you would like to see occur in the city school system?
To have more acceleration in elemen-tary schools. To get more AP classes in high schools because Alabama is the only state that doesn’t have many AP classes. Also to have more training for the new teachers.
What are some positive outcomes that you would like to see this 2011-2012 school year?
Well, the first year for a new superintendent is really rough because you have to try and fix things that the other superintendent has messed up. One positive thing I want to see this school year is to try to fix things dealing with AYP.
What are some obstacles that you had to face to get this far?
I wouldn’t call them “obstacles.” I would call them chal-lenges. Having 40 to 50 people to apply for the same job is really hard. It is really important to get the training that I have because many people have the same training that you will have, and they can get the same job as you. The biggest challenge for me is getting the experience, going to school, and actually going into the field that you went to school for.
Why is education so important to you with this grow-ing generation?
Simply without education, you will not survive. The world has gotten smaller simply because technology has gotten so large with this generation. If you do not have an education, you will not be able to get a well-paying job. You can’t look at graduating high school as like it is the end. Without getting a more advanced education, life will get tougher.
QR Codes provide easy link
Alex Hauser
Editor-in-Chief
Between school, homework and studying for tests, it’s a wonder that students have time for anything else. But some students also have to work.
Jacqueline Hudgins, counselor, said jobs are a great way for students to understand the amount of work that is needed to earn just a few dollars.
“When you have to work 20 hours a week just to put gas in your car and pay your monthly cell phone bill, you gain a better understanding of what it is like to be responsible with money and learn to make choices as far as spending goes,” she said, “Also, it helps develop respon-sibility and opens doors for career opportuni-ties.”
Junior LaJessica Duncan works at Sonic on weekends and select Fridays as well as par-ticipates in Beta Club, Spanish Club, SGA and color guard.
“I sometimes pull up to 15 hours on one week-end,” Duncan said. “Balancing school and work is difficult, but I maintain time by studying at work. It’s all about managing time.”
Duncan said other employees help her study when they have down time.
“Sometimes we play a game [at work] to study. One of my coworkers calls out a defini-tion, and I have to say the word in less than 5 seconds. It makes it fun,” she said.
Duncan said she uses all her extra time to study so she can keep her grades up.
“I use time during school to get a few more
minutes to study,” she said. “My mom tells me no bad grades or no job. And I love my job.”
Balancing school and work can be difficult, but Duncan said that as long as priorities are kept straight, it’s not impossible.
“It’s very difficult [finding time to study] be-cause you work long hours, get tired and then you become lazy,” she said. “It sometimes [af-fects my grades], but overall it motivates me to work harder.”
Will Pritchett, junior, works at Newk’s and advises that students not work too much on weekdays.
“Jobs look great and wonderful, like marriage. The paychecks are definitely awesome,” he said. “[But if anyone] gets a job try not to work more than three days a week and make sure one of those days is on a weekend.”
Hudgins said students need to assess their work load and adjust their work schedule ac-cordingly.
“Students who play sports typically find their work days to be Saturdays and Sundays. Stu-dents who balance heavy course loads may need to consider the same option. A student’s full-time job is simply that - being a student. The part-time job should work around the demands of the full-time job.”
Duncan said working puts her in a better mood and would recommend anyone getting a job to pick something they love.
“Working tells a lot about yourself. It makes you feel good when you realize that you can keep good grades, have a job and have clubs you participate in after school,” she said.
or In the newsplay
DreadsPage 3
Claire PetitPage 7
Photo by: Nick Motz
Jobs look great and wonderful, like mar-riage. The paychecks are definitely awe-some. But...
Will Pritchett, Junior
“”
Paul McKendrick,
superintendent
QR code
Working students must manage time
2 3The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011 EntertainmentOpinion The Northridge Reporter
November 28, 2011
NSPA 1st Place Best of Show 2011 • NSPA 5th Place Best of Show 2008 NSPA 8th Place Best of Show 2008 • NSPA 9th Place Best of Show 2006 CSPA Silver Medalist (2003, 2004) • CSPA Gold Medalist (2005-2010)
SIPA All-Southern (2003, 2005–2011) • ASPA All-Alabama (2003–2011) NSPA All-American (2004, 2008, 2011) • Best SIPA Newspaper in Alabama (2003–2007)
NSPA News Story of the Year (2005) • SIPA First Place News Story (2007) SIPA First Place Review (2009) • Rick Bragg Award for Feature Writing (2009)
Editor-in-Chief:
Opinion Editor:
Feature Editor:
Entertainment Editor:
News Editor:
Sports Editor:
Beat Editor:
Business Manager:
Photographers:
Copy Editor:
Art Editor:
Artists:
Infographic Editor:
Web Master:
Alex Hauser*
Raiha Bajwa*
Renu Pandit
Jane Yu*
Trent Clanton*
Alexandra Stewart
James Roberts
Raiha Bajwa*
Nick Motz, Sarah Katherine Barnes, Rand Schille, Candace Wiggins
Renu Pandit
Trent Clanton*
Jane Yu*, Parker Evans
Ja’’’’’’hmeka Baxter
Rand Schille
*Denotes state, regional and national award winners
Northridge High School2901 Northridge RoadTuscaloosa, AL 35406
(205) 759-3734 ext. 235
Tuscaloosa City Board Policy: It is the official policy of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, disability, sex, religion, national origin, age or creed, be excluded for participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subject to discrimination under any program, activity or employment.
Advertising and Subscriptions: Contact The Northridge Reporter Staff at (205) 759-3734 ext. 235 or [email protected] to advertise in or subscribe to The Northridge Reporter.Editorial Policy: The opinions in The Northridge Reporter are those of the students and not of the faculty or administration of Northridge High School or the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education. It is the policy of The Northridge Reporter to publish all non-obscene, non-libelous, signed letters to the editor, regardless of the opinion expressed in them. All letters must be submitted to Mrs. Newell in room 109 or emailed to [email protected]. The Northridge Reporter reserves the right to edit letters and verify allegations.
Staff Writers:
Sarah Katherine Barnes, Parker Evans, Ebony Hughuley, Emma Jackson, Nick Motz, Tyesha Pinnock, James
Roberts, Brianna Shaw, Aasiayah Sullivan, KeamBria Washington, Candace Wiggins, Rand Schille
Our ThoughtsStudents who manage jobs, schoolwork are applauded
Along with the responsibilities of everyday school-work and extra-curricular activities, some students also have added the responsibility of holding a part-
time job. Be it for gas money, extra allowance, or a contribution to the
household bills, students choose to work for different reasons. Some may even be motivated simply for the work experience or because they enjoy it.
Working teaches them responsibility, time management, grants them a bit of independence and prepares them for prac-tical life after graduation.
But the tricky part is managing to give both school and work the time and attention they each need.
This is a difficult feat, and one that many may fail at.The Northridge Reporter applauds students who manage to
balance a job and hectic schoolwork. We strongly urge everyone not to sacrifice their education
for the sake of a job. As advantageous as a job might be at the moment, it should
not be allowed to jeopardize one’s chances of a job in the fu-ture by taking away from your education.
agree (19) disagree (0)
Visit us on Facebook
and check out our website at
Northridgereporter.wordpress.com
Your Thoughts
Dear Editor,By the time this letter runs in the next edition of
the Reporter, our administrative team would have added yet another policy that most students will choose to ignore and that some faculty and staff will choose not to enforce – Identification Badges.
Terrific! We can add this to our list of policies and rules that very few follow and even fewer en-force. It can be like the policy, “shirts and blouses should be tucked into pants and/or skirts” or “stu-dents are required to use clear book bags”. Or how about the one, “students are not allowed to wear or carry caps or hats”. Or the classic, “cell phones must remain in the power off position at school and on the school bus”. In case you’re wondering, my personal favorite is “the maximum speed limit any-where on campus is 5 mph”. Have you been in the student parking lot at 3:22??
Thank goodness the citizenry of Tuscaloosa are
School policies continue to be ignored by studentsReprint with corrections
Jane YuEntertainment Editor
I have always been scared of balls. When I was in the seventh grade, I went to a softball game for the first time and saw a person right next to me get hit on his head by a ball, so I decided to watch sports only on television.
Despite my fear, I went to a baseball game on Oct. 29. This sur-prising phenomenon can be traced back to the Key Club. We decided to help the Miracle League; a base-ball league for the disabled. As a ball-phobic, I decided not to volunteer.
As time passed, I almost forgot about the event until Zoe Bakker, junior, told me that volunteering at Miracle League was mandatory. I still did not want to volunteer but the word “mandatory” forced me to do it. So I had to set foot on a baseball field after four years of avoiding it.
When I arrived around ten o’clock, the first game had already started.
Within a minute, I noticed something odd.There was no such thing as a ‘strike.’ Every play-
er was given unlimited time to hit the ball. Also, ev-ery player had someone running right next to them,
Yu
(for the most part) not like our student body. They realize that rules and laws are created for the great-er good and, like them or not, they are inclined to follow and obey them. Imagine how unsafe the community would be if the citizens showed the same disregard for the rule of law as our students show for school rules. ANARCHY!!
Also we are quite fortunate that local law en-forcement (again, for the most part) do not pick and choose which laws they want to enforce and which laws they choose to ignore like some of our faculty and staff seem to do. Chances are if you run a stop sign with a cop, a sheriff, or a trooper sitting there, you will be pulled over and punished for your over-sight. I believe students would be hard-pressed to break the rules if every adult in the building was equally hell-bent on enforcing them.
-C. S. Johnson
and their running buddy continuously cheered as they ran. Most importantly, every player made a home run. The balls that players hit were magically missed by opponents.
As I sat on a bleacher, I felt something tingling in my heart; warmth. I had not felt anything
pierce my heart like that in a long time.The second game was between two
teams with disabled members. Despite their difficulties, players hit, threw and caught the ball precisely. They made numerous home runs. Their phenomenal plays made me oblivious
of their physical defects.I bet it took them hundreds of practices
to hit a ball and a lot of time to create a strong bond as a team. At the end, happiness compensated for their hardship. They played fantastically.
As they played, I realized something. Their every movement told a story- a story of their struggle; a story of their life.
I admired their persistence. Also, watching them was an opportunity to look back at my 17 years of life. I have always complained about everything like a baby, while those players made the best out of their given conditions like an adult.
At the end of the game, I gave them chocolate and a medal. They smiled. They smiled beautifully.
Junior works with disabled, is touched
Jane Yu
Adviser: Susan Newell*
2 3The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011 EntertainmentOpinion The Northridge Reporter
November 28, 2011
http://www.panamconsultants.com/
We offer our clients efficient and cost
effective solutions to their cultural
resources permitting needs.
Sarah Katherine Barnes
Staff Writer
It’s around eight o’clock on a Monday night as I step into the dimly lit atmosphere of a record store on 14th Street.
Earth, Wind, and Fire’s Sep-tember is playing low in the back-ground – a song you’d expect to hear as you flip through albums by Gowan, Cutting Crew, and Jim Croce, which, on a typical visit, is exactly what you’ll find amongst fifty or so other vinyl records crammed in one old cardboard box after the next.
However, this particular Mon-day night, I didn’t just come upon Chicago’s tracks on the “C” shelf - I found an album by… Chris Brown?
Never Ending Decade Lady Gaga, Sean Kingston,
Ke$ha, Jason Derülo – they’re all artists I found littering the shelves of the supposed “vintage” galle-ria.
For those who don’t spin, own turntables, or spend their after-noons searching pawn shops and garage sales for relatively un-scratched vinyls, you probably don’t realize what it means to see T-Pain’s singles under twelve inches of album cover.
Well, it’s essentially the same concept behind the high-top con-verse and off-the-shoulder sweat-shirt trends.
The 1980s has returned.Statistics show that approxi-
mately every three decades, soci-ety’s eyes turn to look back at the glory days of its former reality, and in nostalgia, America says
to itself, “Hey, look how cool we were thirty years ago!” Thus be-gins a phenomenon of fads that resemble the ones from years before. It’s a cycle that’s always changing decade-to-decade.
Fashion, entertainment, ad-vertising – even our lingo is in-fluenced by these trends. For in-stance, do you remember when being “fresh” got you in deten-tion, or when that burger you just ate was “the bomb”?
Ever seen commercials with the digitally modified version of the Alka-Seltzer Boy or the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man? Do you play games like Pac-Man or Tet-ris on your phone? Chances are you do because you’re living in the essence of a world run by yes-teryear.
Vintage is the new mainstream.
Photo from MCT Campus
Vintage style reappears on the runway. Students who praise the return of 1980s
also dress in Vintage style.
Keambria Washington
Staff Writer
Dreads are one of the latest trends.
Mostly males have them, but also a few females.
C h r i s Lee, soph-omore, has been grow-ing dreads for about four years.
“Dreads are a fam-ily thing b e c a u s e my whole family has them,” Lee said. “I got my tips done just because I wanted to.”
Teddy McMullen, senior, has been growing his for about a year and nine months.
“I wanted a new look, so I got dreads,” McMullen said. “My mother usually does it by twisting my dreads counterclockwise.”
Some people have not been growing their dreads for long.
Tevin Riddle, senior, has been growing his for about five to six months. Every two to three weeks he gets them re-twisted by his friend.
“I got dreads because I thought they were tight. It’s just me big dog T-raye,” Riddle said.
He said no one could get his dreads to stay locked un-til he let his friend do them for him.
KanJalla D a n c e r , s o p h o -more, has d r e a d s g r o w i n g all the way down her back.
She has been growing her dreads for four years now.
“The longer you have them, the more the tips change color,” Dancer said.
She said growing dreads was just something that she wanted to do.
Photo by Nick MotzLandon Church, junior, smiles with his dreads.
The 1980’s have returned to our mp3s, closet
Fashionistas grow dreads
NeedToBreathe brings concert to Bama TheaterAlex HauserEditor-in-Chief
After the fourth time playing in Tuscaloosa and the second play-ing at the Bama Theatre, NeedTo-Breathe performed in a sold-out concert the night before the big-gest football game in history.
I got to the Bama at 6:00 p.m. to wait in line, so we could get good seats, but 30 minutes before the door opened, they shifted the line to the other side, making us lose our great spot in line.
After getting over the disheart-ening feeling that we wouldn’t get front row seats, we devised a game plan, taking into account that I stand at 5’3” and wouldn’t be able to see over the standing crowd if we were too far back.
We darted to the balcony as soon as we were let it, bypassing the mob trying to get front seats on the main level.
We got amazing seats where we could see the whole stage per-fectly.
The opening act was Ben Rec-tor. I’ve never quite liked his mu-sic much, but his performance changed my mind.
He is truly a great performer, even with improv. He took a sub-ject from the audience and cre-ated a song on the spot.
I was impressed, especially with his extensive knowledge of cacti.
During his last song, his pia-nist and guitar player busted out a keytar, giving me a new life goal.
I will learn how to play the keytar. I haven’t been so fascinated in my whole life. It is a truly fabulous instrument.
NeedToBreathe finally began. I was entranced.
They started with “Devil’s Been Talking,” a song from their brand new album, “The Reckoning.” They mostly played songs from their year-old album, “The Out-siders,” and performed a couple from their older albums, “Day-light” and “The Heat.”
One of my favorite songs they played was “Washed by the Wa-ter.” They played the opening riffs for a while and the audience sang the song for quite a while.
Bear Reinhart interrupted by saying, “I’ve never had to ask the audience to stop singing. So I won’t” and started singing the song.
They put a twist on the song by flawlessly merging into the Roll-ing Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
The only song I was both disap-pointed and sur-prised they didn’t play was “Slum-ber,” which was the first single to be released from their new album and argu-ably their most famous.
I’ve worked lighting at the
Bama several times, and it was amazing seeing the traditional building transformed into a rock concert with just some strategi-cally placed lighting. It was sur-real how different it looked.
Because the concert was the night before the Alabama vs. LSU game, it was great seeing the Bama sold-out.
Bear and Bryant “Bo” Reinhart were both named after Paul Bear Bryant. They grew up as big Ala-bama fans.
They made-up fans missing any pre-game festivities by taking the time between the set and the encore to play the Alabama fight song and having Big Al come on stage.
It was such a great experience being from Tuscaloosa, and I can’t wait until their next concert here in Tuscaloosa, which will hopefully be moved to the Tusca-loosa Amphitheater.
Photo Illustration by Jane Yu
Phone number: 1-205-792-1339
Jim McCoy’s Landscaping
Even as I write, I find myself pulling my hand from the key-board every few minutes to push my Ray-Ban Wayferrer eyeglass-es further up my nose. Yes, even I, individual as I am, conform to a degree of the decade fad.
Some say these trends are the effects of a disintegrating creativ-ity on the Hollywood producers’ part; that many find themselves slacking on new ideas for movies and as a result, steal plots from old TV shows like The Smurfs and Star Trek.
Some just enjoy revisiting their high school years in sweet nostal-gia – which, all in all, would be marvelous, besides the fact that I walk in on my bald father sport-ing his beloved novelty mullet-style wig more frequently than I’d like to.
HIGHLIGHTS4 5The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011 FeatureFeature The Northridge Reporter
November 28, 2011
Administrators reflect on pasts, look forward to change
Nick Motz
Staff Writer
At the start of the 2011 school year, junior-high students took-
their seats at Rock Quarry Middle School. Some attended for the first time, and others for the last.
However, one new face is not a student. Andrew Maxey, former Northridge administrator, took over at Rock Quarry as the new principal.
In charge of around 470 stu-dents, Maxey said, “Being a prin-cipal is as different from being an assistant principal as water is different than ice. Exactly the same, but totally different. Simi-larly, describing the differences between middle school and high school students is like comparing
Jane Yu
Entertainment Editor
When students see Jennifer Box, as-sistant principal, in
the hallway, they sometimes feel distanced by her no nonsense ex-pression.
However, Box once was a high school student, too. She went to high school in Lamar County.
“I grew up on a farm in the countryside,” Box said.
She said that unlike Northridge, the school she went to was “small” and had only “60 graduates” the year she graduated.
“Everyone is involved in every-thing in a small school like that,” Box said. “I played volleyball, softball and basketball.”
She also did cheerleading, bal-let and dance.
“For my senior beauty pageant in my high school, I did ballet,” Box said. “It was great fun.”
Ironically, the girl who loved sports wanted to enter the medical field.
“Having my dad as a physician and my mom as a retired nurse, I always wanted to be a physician as a young child,” Box said.
As she recollects her child-hood, she said her childhood was “blessed” by her “great parents and siblings.”
“My dad always left the home first to work,” Box said. “And my mom made a breakfast for me and my siblings.”
Box’s dad was a “hard disci-plined” father who told her to cry only if she was bleeding.
“When I was really young, I bought Mickey Mouse ears with my name on them in Disney World,” she said. “My dad got mad at me for losing them.”
Box said she is more like her “emotional” mom than her “hard- disciplined” dad.
“I am so emotional,” Box said. “I even cry over a touchy dog food commercial.”
Box has three siblings: Greg, Rebecca and Lyles. Lyles is her “closest” sibling. Greg is eight years older and Rebecca four years older.
“With Lyles, I rode four wheel-ers and went fishing,” Box said. “We also enjoyed sports, includ-ing Alabama sports.”
Box not only enjoyed hanging out with her family but also with her best friends, Bobbi Roberts and Jennifer Kingry.
“Bobbi was a cheerleader in Lamar County with me and still lives there,” Box said. “Jennifer used to teach science at TMS.”
Box, Roberts and Kingry would ride around town after football games on Friday or drive to Co-lumbus, Mississippi on Saturdays for a movie or dinner.
“I had my most amazing time in high school,” Box said.
Along with her friends, Box also remembers her favorite teacher.
“Brenda Gartman was my his-tory teacher for four years and a senior sponsor,” Box said. “She cared about what she did.”
Another important person for Box during her high school years
relative difficulty levels of being a shepherd and a lion tamer.”
“Both are exciting, both in-clude the risk of rebellion, both are more than a lot of people are willing to put up with. There is one way in which high school and middle school are exactly the same: I get paid to pour my heart into human beings in ways that have a positive impact on their entire future. I am quite certain that no other profession comes close,” he said.
According to Maxey, having what it takes to be a grade A prin-cipal of an industrious, high class middle school involves genuinely loving your job.
“I love being the principal of 470 of the most interesting, en-ergetic, and hard-working young people in the state,” he said.
was her boyfriend at that time.“He kind of led me to be an as-
sistant principal,” Box said. “He knew me well.”
She said she wants to help stu-dents realize the opportunities they have in high school.
“I love to organize, work on staffing issues and enjoy my job,” Box said. “I like having less stress than a principal,” Box said.
She said she is a “loyal, hard-working and empathetic” person.
She said she is grateful to work with Dr. Espy and at Northridge.
“I think [Northridge] offers great experiences to students academically, and it is the best school in West Alabama.”
Carrie Nyugen, a senior, said Box seems stricter and more dis-ciplined than Maxey.
Elizabeth Tiley, counselor, said she has known her since 2006. She said they both got pistol per-mit over the summer.
Jackie Hudgins, counselor, has known her for six and a half years. She said Box is “a lot of fun and likes to laugh, eat out and shop.”
“When I started to work here, she [Box] was the first one I started to develop a relationship with,” Hudgins said. “She took me out to dinner.”
Hudgins and Box love to make cheesy jokes.
“The only thing I did not tell you is my blood type,” Box said. “It is B negative.”
“No Ms. Box,” Hudgins said. “B positive.”
Box gives peek to her past
Old assistant princi pal talks about his new job
Photo by: Nick Motz Andrew Maxey, princi pal at Rock
Quarry Middle School, sits in his new
office. He said he enjoys his new
post and loves enlightening children. Photo by: Lucy Box
Jennifer Box swings at Box Lake on a tire swing that
her father made.
Photo by: Lucy BoxWhile at her farm, Jennifer Box holds her pet goat,
Chocolate.
Photo by:
Lucy Box
During her senior beauty pageant, Jennifer Box, assistant
princi pal, dances.
HIGHLIGHTS4 5The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011 FeatureFeature The Northridge Reporter
November 28, 2011
Administrators reflect on pasts, look forward to change
Raiha Bajwa
Opinion Editor
You may have been caught in the hallway with-out a pass, with inappropriate attire, or trying to sneak by the vending machine during lunch;
Wenneta Stallworth, head of security, seems to be all over the school putting students in their place.
Even though she may seem strict, it’s only part of her job.
Stallworth has been at the school since it first started, origi-nally part of Central High School, which later broke into three schools.
“I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them,” Stallworth said. “I try to be nice and talk to the kids, but I still have to do my job.” Chris Walker, senior, said she’s “cool but can be strict.” “I think even though she’s strict, she does her job really well,” he said.
When she tells students that skipping class isn’t the best idea, she speaks from past experience.
“I had a bad habit of skipping class back in high school,” she said. “I would skip my home-economics class because I thought it was stupid. I had to go to summer school in order to get the credit and graduate.”
She said that in the long run her teacher’s decision to fail her helped her make a change in her life.
“It changed me, that teacher helped me,” she said. “I didn’t like it at the time, but I appreciated it later.”
She focuses on encouraging students by giving them words of advice.
Devonte Robinson, senior, said he finds her advice useful.
“She talks about real stuff, like getting to class on time and working hard,” he said. “Stuff that helps you in the long run.”
April Ross, Stallworth’s daughter and a substitute teach-er, said people underestimate the work Stallworth puts into doing her job and how important her advice is.
“When she talks to these kids, they better listen because what she’s tell-ing them is going to help them,” she said.
Stallworth has come up with a few tactics to help her get through to students. Even if she knows their names, she is known for calling fe-male students ‘Lucy.’
“When I started at Central West I noticed that the fe-males most of the time were aggressive towards me, and I thought to myself about what I could do to make them
less offensive,” Stallworth said. “My mum had ten kids and a lot of girls so she used to call us girls Lucy. It was a term of endearment for her, so I started using it. It breaks the ice.”
“Teachers ask me how the stu-dents know I’m calling them, and I say that the one who’s doing some-thing wrong is going to be the one
who turns around,” she said.Coming from a large family, Stallworth said she’s al-
ways been involved with kids.“I’ve always loved kids, and I love working with them,”
she said. “I come from a big family, so I’ve been baby-sitting my entire life.”
She first moved back to Tuscaloosa from Miami, Florida in 1974, right after having her first child.
Strict but experienced security guard gives advice based on past“Summer after high school, being foolish, I got preg-
nant,” she said. “I had a few family members here, and my mom lived here.”
A single mother most of her life, she has three children of her own, and was also a foster mother for her sister’s
children.Ross said her mother did her job
right.“She worked very hard and [took
care of ] everything, and made sure we were taken care of,” she said. “She was never very strict. She let us do what we wanted. She just didn’t want us to go to jail or have a baby. She trusted us, and we never did anything wrong.”
“I can always talk to her. Even when I was a teenager, I could always talk to her about any-thing,” Ross said. “She’s an awesome mom.”
Stallworth said God has always been an important part of her life, so she pursued joining the ministry and now holds a position as an Elder-elect at Guiding Light Wor-ship Center, as well as holds a license as an international minister.
“I was raised in a traditional Baptist church, and I left when I was called to the ministry. We found a church that accepted women, the FACC, and I stayed there for four years,” she said. “Now I’m an Elder, which is the last posi-tion before Bishop, which I have no plans of becoming.”
Having been influenced by her mother greatly, Stall-worth said she has always had a firm belief in God, despite a break she took from attending church.
“[My mother] always had a scripture to give to you when you needed uplifting,” she said. “At one point, I didn’t go to church for a year or two, and I didn’t like how my life was at the time, so I went back, and I’ve stayed ever since.”
Photo by: Teresa Meissner
Stallworth stands in front of the jaguar as she patrols the courtyard.
“I had a bad habit of skipping class back in high school,”“
”-Wenneta Stallworth, security gaurd
“When she talks to these kids, they better listen because what she’s telling them is going to help them.”
“”-April Ross, Stallworth’’’s daughter
The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011News6In the news
Parker EvansStaff Writer
The school is flawed. Literally. There are leaks in the library, the auditorium and various classrooms.
Marcia Irvin, librarian, said the roof in the library has leaked, “since the beginning of time, or it feels that way. It’s been leak-ing since the school was built, but hurricane Ivan made it worse. After Ivan the carpet was soaked. We had to dry books out by hand.”
If you walk into the library after a good rain, you can see the stains on the ceiling and feel the damp carpet. Tarps and buckets have to be set up.
Donna Wright, drama teacher, said the auditorium has also been leaking “since the school opened.”
“It got worse with Katrina. The leaks are in front of the light and sound booth,” Wright said.
Leaky ceilings cause problems on campusIn addition to these, there are leaks in classrooms.Patsy Lowery, math teacher, said that she has a leak in her
closet that she first noticed after hurricane Ivan.So after eight years, what has been done? Irvin said that the library has had workers from a company
called “Service Masters,” but there has been no visible advance-ments.
Nothing has been done about Lowery’s room or the audito-rium.
“I’m never sure if [the men coming in] are here to look and see what the problem is or to fix the problem,” Wright said.
Isaac Espy said there’s only so much that can be done.“When it rains vertically, we’re fine. It’s when it rains diago-
nally that it gets in. Every year we get about two or three Biblical rains,” Espy said.
Espy said the “outstanding maintenance staff” has been fight-ing the problem.
Leaks in the ceiling in the library show on the ceiling tiles. The library isn’t the only place with leaks; the auditorium and some classrooms also have
them.
Jane Yu
Entertainment Editor
Some students saved a life by donat-ing blood.
Jesse Parker, senior, donated his blood for the first time at the SGA sponsored blood drive on Nov. 1.
“I wanted to help unfortunate people who need blood,” Parker said.
Parker said that it felt like nothing.“I got a bruise on my arm,” Parker
said. “I think it looks really cool.”Angela Shaw, SGA sponsor, said do-
nating blood is important.“And at some point in everyone’s life
he or she may need blood,” Shaw said.She said the worst part is pricking
the finger and putting the needle in.Shaw said she also has another rea-
Parker Evans
Staff Writer
The weekend of the LSU game, three freshmen were stopped and held at gunpoint by the police. Several minutes later, they were let go without a second thought.
This “misunderstanding” was a result of Joseph Mohabbat simply running to catch up with his friends Faulcon Fitts and Trey Cauthen.
“We were running across the front area of the stadium, when these two cops started chasing after us and told us to get on the ground. I got up, but they pushed me back down,” Mohabbat said.
Fitts didn’t know whether to take it seriously at first. “The cops ran up and told us to put our hands on our heads.
We had no idea what was going on. We thought it was a joke until one of the cops pushed Joseph back down, and I got a gun pointed at me,” Fitts said.
“I was calm because I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong,” Mohabbat said. “I wasn’t worried.”
It turns out there wasn’t anything to be worried about because “another cop came up and said we were the wrong guys. They
Jah’meka Baxter
Staff Writer
The step team which originally consisted of an all-boys team is now a merged step team that includes girls. This is the first time that girls have been on the team. The girls and boys step team practices Monday thru Friday to learn new steps and improve their team.
Philip Cunningham, junior, said the step team will perform at various events out-side of school and at step shows around the city.
Cunningham said that they want the step teams to be similar to college fraternities and sororities with a strong sense of dedi-cation.
Freshman Tyesha Pinnock, captain, said she enjoys her position on the team because it gives her a sense of leadership.
“It feels really empowering [to be cap-tain], and it makes me feel more mature,” Pinnock said.
She said she hopes that her leadership will inspire her team members to grow as people and that they will inspire others with their steps.
Regina Travis, co-captain, said that be-ing on the step team is the same as being on any other team at the school.
Travis said the best part of being on the team is that they are growing together and earning respect for themselves.
Marcus Eberendu, member, said he en-joys having the girls on the step team and thinks they help the overall experience.
“They help the team to be louder in their performance and show the audience how proud we are as a team,” Eberendu said.
He said that he likes the dedication and the confidence the girls show in practice, and when they perform.
“[The step team members] can tell who wants to be a part of the team based on how well they dedicate themselves to the team.
The step team will perform among other student groups at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair on Thursday, Dec. 8.
said they got a call right before they saw us about a group of kids vandalizing the campus,” Fitts said.
According to Mohabbat, when the third cop came up he said, “when we see someone running we think it’s the suspect.”
“After the other cop came up and said we were the wrong ones, they just walked away like they didn’t care what they just did,” Cauthen said.
Photos by Nick Motz
Police use force on students after LSU game
Freshmen Trey Cauthen, Joseph Mohabbat, and Faulcon Fitts were accidentally stopped by police on the night of the Alabama-LSU game.
Photo by Rand Schille
son for donating.“I have a disorder where my body
does not metabolize iron well,” Shaw said, “so giving blood is essential for my health.”
Katie Plott, senior, had health con-cerns that prevented her from donating this time.
“I have given blood twice before, and I felt fine,” Plott said. “However, my iron level was too low this time.”
Plott lamented when she figured out she could not help those in need.
“I wanted to help Tuscaloosa County which currently has a blood shortage,” Plott said.
She said she appreciated many people showing up to donate their blood.
“They [students] showed their com-mitment to our society,” Plott said.
Blood Drive helps people in need
Girl ’s perform with boys team
UNIVERSITY ORTHODONTICS
Robert C. Haraway, Jr., D.M.D., M.S.
CHILDREN & ADULT ORTHODONTICS
University Orthodontics, PC
641 Helen Keller Boulevard
Tel: (205) 553-2524
Fax: (205) 553-6617
Stepping
7The Northridge ReporterNovember 28, 2011 Sports
208 McFarland Circle N.Tuscaloosa, Al 35406
Office:(205) 345-7000
For Appointments:(205) 345-2000
boutique
Vintage Vibe
406 Queen City Avenue East
Renu PanditFeature Editor
Claire Pettit, senior, seems to manage juggling track, family life and her educa-tion with ease.
“This will be my fourth year running track,” Claire said.
She said she took track because she used to take gymnastics, and that would make her a better pole vaulter.
“I’ve always been interested in trying something new, especially sports, so I did.” Claire said.
However, track isn’t the only thing that Claire can do.
“I used to take dance, cheer and run track. Once that became to much, I knew I had to stop one, so dance was the first to go. I had to give up cheering last year due to our first indoor season in track coming up because there would be too much conflict with the two sports activities,” Claire said.
She said it can be difficult balancing school and sports, especially during the season because of the meets every week-end.
“I try to stay really organized and always plan ahead, so I can stay on track, pun in-tended,” Claire said.
Pam Pettit, Claire’s mother, said Claire’s athletic ability showed through at an early age.
“Claire was only three years old when she started swimming and four years old when she began tumbling. Right away, I noticed she was incredibly strong and co-ordinated for her age,” Pam said.
Pam said that she’s extremely proud of Claire, and that it’s an amazing feeling to watch her pole vault.
“It’s a blast to watch Claire gracefully sail through the air when pole vaulting. She is so intense and always determined to jump as high as possible, but I hold my breath and hope for a safe jump every
With school and sports, Pettit manages to stay on track
Emma Jackson
Staff Writer
For the cross country team, Nov. 3 was the last meet of their season. For those who have never run cross country this is what cross country is.
You bend your body and feel your muscles comfortably stretch. You take deep breathes and try to conserve en-ergy while you run a warm up lap.
Your coach calls your name and tells you to line up.
You stand in your box and look around at people all are around you. You won-der if you can beat any of them. Your heart races, and you feel sick.
You hear your teammates say, “You’ll do fine,” and “You got this;” you hear them, and it makes you feel ten times better.
A man with an orange sleeve tells you the rules and guide lines; he holds up a gun and you get in stance.
Emma JacksonStaff writer
The Cross Country team has dedicated the last two to three months to running.
They all get together to run whenever they can.
Rain or shine, hot or cold, in pain or not, they wake up early on their Saturdays to show off how fast they are and how much stamina they may have.
Kristi Cooper is the head coach of the cross country team.
“Overall, the athletes performed very well for having such a young team and athletes who haven’t run cross country pre-viously. The boys team bonded well and worked extremely hard. The girls team was much smaller than the boys, but it didn’t keep them from practicing and competing. Overall, a great start to an improving team in the future,” Cooper said.
The cross country team competed in eight races. Most were out of town with
Hard work, devotion pays off
4810 Harkey LaneTuscaloosa, AL
(behind McDonald’s on Rice Mine Rd., near Lake Tuscaloosa)
about 250 other runners.Kelsey McNeil, junior, has run cross
country since the seventh grade. She said, “I like running, and I get to
hang out with friends six days a week.”After a race cross country members eat
together. “We like to eat out at Cracker Barrel as a
team after a meet,” McNeil said. The cross country team has about 11 run-
ners, Cooper said. They had enough to make a boys team
but were a little short on making a girls team.
They all run varsity races, but the girls ran as individuals and not as a team.
“I hope to get word out about cross country for next season in hopes of recruit-ing new athletes to make the team bigger. We will still be in the growing process, but hopefully year by year we will continue to add a few more. Hopefully, words passed on from the former athletes will encourage others to join,” Cooper said.
The gun fires. You’re half way down the field and
you know the first turn is coming up. You’re sweating, your feet are throb-
bing and your muscles are screaming at you to stop running, but you know you can’t stop now. There are three more miles to go.
Two miles later your face is red and your throat is hurting from breathing so deeply. You see your coach and team-mates on the side of the trail cheering you on. You know you can do this.
You can see the finish line.You start to sprint and use any energy
you have left. You have run 3.1 miles, and now
you’re almost done.You have just crossed the line. You are
shoved into a line, and your number is taken and put on a string, so they know who came after who. Someone hands you a cup of water, and you realize how exhausted you really are.
This is Cross Country.
time,” Pam said. Pam said Claire is an amazing young
lady.“Her athletic training and ultimately
athletic success have given her a strong sense of self-discipline and confidence,” she said.
Jeff Sparks, track coach, said that Claire is a dedicated athlete.
“Claire is the top worker in our pro-gram both in event work and in the weight room,” he said.
Sparks has been coaching Claire for the four years she’s been doing track. He said that she has made improvements every year.
“In ninth grade [Claire] cleared 10 feet in the pole vault and finished fifth at the state. In tenth grade [Claire had a] broken ankle, and missed the season. In eleventh grade [Claire] cleared eleven feet and six inches, which was a new school record in pole vault and jumped five feet and six inches in the high jump. She finished third in the state meet in both events,” Sparks said.
Anna Lee Pettit, Claire’s younger sister, said Claire is constantly busy.
“She is always doing something, whether it is track, baby-sitting, homework, dance, or anything you could possibly think of,” Anna Lee said.
Anna Lee said that despite her busy schedule, Claire is still a great older sis-ter.
“She is amazing. She always takes me to a lot of places, makes me breakfast, helps me with my homework, and keeps me focused in school. She’s my motivator,” Anna Lee said.
Anna Lee also said that Claire “strives to be the best.”
“She is always working out, and she’s really good at pole vaulting. She could do any sport she wanted and still be great at it,” Anna Lee said.
Sports Column
Claire Petitt, senior, pole vaults at a track meet. When she was a junior she broke a school record
with 11 feet and 6 inches.
Photo by: Beth Allaway
Cross country team practices hard, finishes season
This is Cross Country: the experience of the race
Dr. Arti Pandey, MD Internist
8Beat
The Northridge Reporter
Novem
ber 28, 2011
November
28, 2011
Volume 9 Issue
2
http://northridgereporter.wordpress.com/
The b
oom o
f the b
and
Page 8
Photos by: Beth Allaw
ay
Emma Ja
ckson
Staff W
riter
TOM
S, a shoe brand created by entrepreneur B
lake Mycoskie, m
akes a point in their motto
“One for O
ne.”A
ccording to the TOM
S blog, Mycoskie vis-
ited Argentina as part of “The A
mazing R
ace” TV
show, and after seeing the poverty and need for shoes in the country he thought of a plan to open a shoe com
pany that would donate a pair
of shoes for every one sold.K
ayla Moore, sophom
ore, wears TO
MS.
“I like the fact that every time you buy a pair
of TOM
S, a child in need gets a pair. I have one pair now, but I plan on going back to get another pair. I’ll keep buying them
if they keep
making different styles,” M
oore said.M
ycoskie wanted to give aw
ay shoes be-cause he w
anted the children to be protected
from a disease called Podoconisis, or “m
ossy foot,” w
hich affects lymphatic system
s in the low
er leg. Shoes can prevent this disease.A
ccording to its website, TO
MS have donat-
ed shoes in over 20 countries. By Septem
ber 2010, they had donated their 1,000,000
th pair of shoes.
Kinnucan’s is a store in M
idtown V
illage that sells TO
MS. K
elly Morrison, a w
orker at K
innucan’s, said there is no demographic for
the fact that everyone loves TOM
S.“Black canvas are our m
ost popular or hound-stooth if you’re from
around here,” she said.TO
MS w
ill host “One D
ay Without Shoes,”
a day to show the difficulty of living w
ithout shoes to raise aw
areness for the relief effort. They w
ill release the date soon.
TOMS b
uyers w
ear sh
oes fo
r comfort, ch
arity
Parker Eva
ns
Staff W
riter
You may not have heard of them
, but you have definitely heard them
. They’re the march-
ing band’s tuba section.Jam
eson Hubbard, junior, Jim
my H
ill, ju-nior, and M
ichael Bearden, freshm
an, make up
the tuba section.John C
ain, marching band director, said he is
proud of his tuba section.“I w
ould put our tubas up against anyone else in the area,” C
ain said. “Jam
eson and Jimm
y have been playing together outside of the band, and they w
ork w
ell together. While M
ichael doesn’t have the sam
e experience, he has learned a lot in his first year,” C
ain said.H
ubbard started playing the tuba in the sixth grade as a hobby. H
is brother, Ben, w
ho gradu-ated in 2010, also played tuba in m
arching band.
Hubbard also plays harm
onica, baritone, jaw
harp and some guitar.
Jimm
y Hill, junior, has been playing tuba
since 8th grade, but he started out playing sax-ophone. H
e also plays trumpet, trom
bone and
piano in addition to tuba.“W
e are the boom of the band, w
e are the pulse. W
ithout the pulse, everything dies,” H
ill said.M
ichael Bearden, freshm
en, has been play-ing since 6th grade. H
e said he started playing because “it’s fun, and I just liked the band.”
How
ever, some people m
ay not appreciate the w
ork that goes into playing the tuba.M
ary Leigh Derry, sophom
ore, never re-ally gave it any thought.
“At first I thought it w
as easy, until Taylor [G
oodall] told me otherw
ise. I have a lot of respect for them
, and now I really appreci-
ate what they do. You can alw
ays hear them
over everyone else. The band wouldn’t be the
same w
ithout them,” D
erry said.Taylor G
oodall, junior, is a person that actually know
s what it takes to play tuba,
having spent a lot of time around the tuba
players when he played drum
s in the middle
school band. “It takes strong lungs for the am
ount of tim
e that they play, and it takes determina-
tion and practice,” Goodall said. “The band
would be nothing w
ithout them.”
Wil Ledbetter, senior, said the tubas are
his favorite section of the band.“They alw
ays get me pum
ped up at the pep rallies and the gam
es,” Ledbetter said.
Marching band’s tuba section plays big part in pum
ping up students
TOMS shoes
are
a fashion tren
d risin
g in
popula
rity. They
were
created
with charity
in mind.
Freshman M
ichael Bearden and junior Jimmy Hill perform
as part of the tuba section at a football gam
e. “We are the
boom of the band, we are the pulse,“ Hill said.
Big
ro
le
, little
cr
ed
it
Photo by
Beth Allaway
Photo by Anu Panditt