the bolt january 2009 edition

8/7/2019 The Bolt January 2009 Edition

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Edsel Ford High SchoolJanuary 2009 Dearborn,MI

The BoltEF Drama Department

Brings Les Misérables to LifeBy DANIELLE AGUIRRE—EDITORIAL

Edsel Ford’s

Performing

Arts Depart-

ment worked extremely

hard this year to give

everyone a magni-

cent production of Les

Misérables—School

Edition.The musical is based on

a novel by Victor Hugo.

Les Misérables is an “epic

story which recounts the

struggle against adversityin 19th century France.”

The participation to pro-

duce such a story was

overwhelming. Students

of Edsel Ford were not the only ones involved in the

play. Students from DuVall, Whitmore-Bolles, and

Stout worked in this production, many making their

debut on stage or just adding another production to

their young resume.

Along with the incredible orchestra, directed

by Mrs. Voelkner, and the extravagant set design,the spectacular cast made the epic plot come to

life, all with the direction of Mr. Doyle. Nick Can-

dea, 12, played the remarkable ex-prisoner Jean

Valjean, who was in a constant struggle to live an hon-

est life. The relentless Inspector Javert, played by Eric

Vega, 11, makes a perfect villain in contrast with the

noble Valjean. Candea and Vega made an amazing and

believable “hero vs. villain” pair.

Along with the classic battle of good vs. evil, alove story arises between Valjean’s adopted daughter,

Cosette, played by the talented Amanda Roush, 12,

and Marcuis, played by Bruce Brown, 10.

Comparing Educations pg. 4

Girls Basketball pg. 6

Confict in Gaza pg. 7

The Cast of Les Miserbales

continued on pg. 3

Winners of the Mock Election pg. 3



January 2009

Current EventsEdsel Ford High School

By GABBY TOUPIN

If you can’t get your hands on a paper issue of The Bolt , there’s no need to worry.

The newstaff team is coming out with a web version of The Bolt . All of the articles that are featured in

The Bolt can be found on the website.

As of right now, The Bolt

staff is in the process of building

and updating the page with new

information daily. We hope to

have it up and running with all

of the bells and whistles addedwithin the next few weeks. In the

mean time come check us out at

http://thebolt.dearbornschools.

org.

In order for The Bolt staff to

make this web page the best that

we can, we need your feedback!

Feel free to send us your sugges-

tions.

“This website is going to put The Bolt ahead of the average high school newspaper. There is so much poten-

tial for this newspaper to grow and become the main news source for Edsel students,” said Donovan Golich, 11.

New: The Bolt Website

The 44th President of the United StatesBy HANAN MURSHED

Barack Obama was ofcially sworn in as the

44th president of the United

States of America on Jan. 20,

2009.

President Barack Obama and Vice

President Joe Biden and their families

participated in the traditional inaugural

ceremony. After president Obama gave

his inaugural address he escorted former

president George W. Bush out of the

ceremony, nally marking a new presi-

dential term.

January 12 was the last press confer-

ence for former president George W.

Bush. He admitted some of his mistakes and apolo-

gized. The banner that said Mission Accomplished

on the aircraft carrier was one of the mistakes that

Bush apologized for and said it sent out the

wrong message for the war in Iraq. He also

said that not nding the weapons of mass

destruction was an extreme disappointment

On the eve of the inauguration the 2009

Presidential Inaugural Committee hosted a

series of bipartisan dinners honoring Mc-

Cain, Powell and Biden. These three din-

ners took place at the National Building

Museum, Union Station and, the Hilton

Washington.

The day after the inauguration Obama

did not only attend the Washington Cathe-

dral for the traditional inaugural prayer but it was also

his rst full day as President of the United States.



January 2009

Current EventsEdsel Ford High School

Mock Election WinnersBEST BODY BEST SMILE CUTEST COUPLE

Danny Licata Yassar Sufyan Joey Martinez

Rosie Hartshorn Lindsey Weclowski Hannah Steen

BEST LAUGHMOST MUSICALLY IN-

CLINEDMOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED

Devin Poisson Jonathan Frantz Dustin Goncharoff

Emily Rodman Dania Berjaoui Annika Doner

MOST ARTISTICMOST LIKELY TO BE ON

BROADWAYBEST EYES

Louis George Nick Candea Mikey Wall

Marissa Johnson Kim Mattern Katie Jesulaitis

MOST ATHLETICCOUPLE MOST LIKELY TO

BE TOGETHER IN 10 YEARSMOST LIKELY TO BE LATE

FOR THEIR OWN WEDDING

Austin Masalskis Danny Licata Kyle Tomalak

Michelle Gaedke Lauren Houghan Gina Clem

BEST DRESSED FAVORITE TEACHER TEACHER’S PETCedrick Gulley Mr. Tyler Joshua Morrison

Iraqiah Musaad Mrs. Reiter Madeline Grendel

BEST HAIR BEST SENSE OF HUMOR MOST SCHOOL SPIRIT

Andrew Main Jonathan Frantz Andrew Lyon

Amanda Roush Katrina Koehn &

Roudah Almujahid

Kelly Mihalik

The 2009 Flight yearbook staff would like to formally announce the winners of the 2009 Mock Elections.

Winners were selected by the senior class and will be in the yearbook. Congratulations to all!

As a love sick Eponine, played by the also talented

Kim Mattern, 12, longs to have

Marcuis for herself.

In contrast to the more seri-

ous roles, the colorful Thénardier

couple, played by Christian Ryan,

11, and Kathryn George, 11,

added a touch of humor.

“Everyone puts a lot of energy into the musical. We

get tired, frustrated and lose some patience with one

another, yet we stick together. We become a family in

a way. Everyone has a good time and

it’s always great to see all our hard

work and time pay off,” says Madi-

son O’Rouke, 11.

And becoming like a family is

what seems to have made this pro-

duction of Les Misérables so remark-

able. All in all the play can proudly be called a suc-

cess.

Les Misérablescontinued from pg. 1

“Everyone puts a lot

of energy into the

musical.”



January 2009

FeaturesEdsel Ford High School

Our SchoolsIn 2006, only 17.5 percent of Zambian stu-

dents completed grades one through twelve

compared to the 70 percent of students that

graduate high school in the United States.While I was there I spent some time trying to get to

know the high school aged people that I encountered.

Before jumping into the “do you know Jesus?” talk we

would try to get to know the people that we were talk-ing with. In doing so, I asked a young man what his age

and grade was and his answers shocked me. He was

18 years old and in grade nine. At rst I just let it blow

over, not thinking anything of it, but when I returned

to the hotel that night and really thought about what he

told me I was close to tears. Mathematically, I would

graduate college before he would graduate high school.

This young man had high aspirations and wanted to go

to the seminary to become a pastor, just like his father.

The hardest part was knowing that the life expectancy

is around 37 years and that this boy may not live toachieve his dreams.

To most students school is not the place that they

want to spend their time. Our education has been gra-

ciously given to us by the government and it costs stu-

dents nothing. The one time we have to pay for school-

ing is if we choose to go to any post-secondary schools

There are a few expenses to purchase our own supplies,

but its nothing too outrageous. In Zambia, it can cost

up to $350 a year for any student to go to school with

inadequate supplies that are worse than the Pre-Calc

books that have missing covers and pages. The govern-

ment cannot afford to pay for education so families are

forced to pay and when they can’t their children suffer.

Most students don’t even make it past grade seven.

We are used to having buses coming and picking

us up for school, if there is no other possible way for

students to get to school. Buses are supplied to school

districts so that they can transport students to school

from the outermost communities in their district, giving

the opportunity of an

School boys and myself

Sign for the University of Zambia

Another member of the team talking to some boys

about soccer

By MEGAN FILIPOWSKI



January 2009

FeaturesEdsel Ford High School

...or Theirs?education to everyone. Those who don’t have to ride

the bus have a short drive or walk. Some students in

Zambia have to walk at least ve miles, one way, just

to get to school. Not only are they embarking on a

long trek to obtain an education, but they are doing

it without shoes on unpaved roads. They put truth in

the saying, “I had to walk 10 miles barefoot just to

get to school.”

There is often complaints about how there is no

one-on-one time with class sizes that are reaching the

mid-thirties. Comparatively, in 2005 Zambian class

sizes were approaching 50 students per one teacher.

Imagine how little one-on-one time those students

are getting. The classrooms that we nd ourselves in

for six hours a day can be spacious enough to have

thirty or so people in one room. The classrooms that

the students in Zambia are forced to learn in are

about half the size, if not less, than ours. We also

have the wonderful benet of temperature control ineach room.

The teachers and administration have to make a

decision about if we get to go into the next grade

or not. Zambian students must pass a test at the end

of the year and if they don’t do so they must repeat

the grade. Most students will repeat the grade until

they can pass the test, however the longer they are

in school, the more money that their family is go-

ing to have to pay. Pressure is put on the students to

pass the end of the year exams and the teachers use

the whole year to prepare for this test. It seems likeour nal exams, but it is more than that—these tests

determine their future and if they will succeed or not.

Its one test, pass or fail, no other grades are averaged

in, what you get is what you get and the students

don’t have the power to change that.

If the class of 2009 was in Zambia only about

21 of the 351 students would have completed their

education through grade twelve.

More children gathering around for a picture

Children gathered in the courtyard of their school

A school’s all girls choir sings for our group



January 2009

SportsEdsel Ford High School

Girls B-BallBrings the HeatBy NINA TOUPIN

Christmas break was

nothing short of excit-

ing for the varsity girls

basketball

team and

their partici-

pation in the

Second An-

nual Mayor

Guido City

Basketball

Tourna-

ment.

In the

rst game

of the

tournament,

the girlscompeted

against last

year’s city

title holders,

the Di-

vine Child

Falcons.

The game

was close from start to nish,

but the Lady Thunderbirds

were able to come out on topand take the win, leaving the

Falcons to compete for the third

place spot.

“It felt so good to beat DC,

we were all so pumped up to

play against them after losing to

them in the rst place game by

so little in the tournament last

year,” said Olivia Amend,11.

Next, the girls would have

to play against their long time

rival, Dearborn High for a shot

to win the city

title for the

second year in

a row.

“We all re-

ally wanted to

end up play-

ing against

Dearborn in

the rst place

game because

we don’t get

to play them

anymore and it

was the teamthat we wanted

to beat most of

all,” said Rosie

Hartshorn, 12.

Going into

halftime the

Thunderbirds

were in the lead

by a signicant amount and the

Pioneers were left with a score

of less than ten. This same trendcontinued through the remain-

der of the game, and the Edsel

girls ended up with their rst

city title.

“Beating Dearborn is always

so exciting, especially this time

since it was in the city tourna-

ment and it is my senior year,”

said Michelle Gaedke, 12.

Charisse Carr stretches for the tip off

MonroeMeltdownBy MIKE BOETTGER

The girls’ varsity basketball team

played one of the toughest games

of the season, against last year’s

Mega Red Division champs, Monroe

High School.

Both teams brought the intensity.

Monroe drew rst blood but did not

hurt the Edsel Ford girls any. The game

remained close all the way until the end

where Monroe took it home with a nal

score of Edsel 55, Monroe 59.

“We knew it was going to be a tough

game. They were the defending Mega

Red champs,” said Coach Smith.

Charisse Carr led the team with 17

points on the board, Michelle Gaedkeadded 13 points, Olivia Amend and Lori

Boettger both put up 12 and Danielle

Cowart added ve.

Monroe accomplished the victory with

some good free throw shooting. They

went 11 for 14 in the fourth quarter. Their

shooting also contributed to their victory.“We knew they had good shooters but

we left them open. We brought good de-

fensive intensity but they went to the free

throw line too many times,” said Coach

Smith.

The season is far from over and the

girls are still looking good with a strong

record of 10-2.

“We knew it was going

to be a tough game.”



January 2009

EditorialsEdsel Ford High School

Confict Continues in GazaBy DEANNA SULEIMAN—EDITORIAL

How do we solve the problem that is

Gaza?With tanks,

bombs, and guns? Apparent-

ly so. It seems that the deaths

of hundreds of Palestinians

and the violence going on in

the large prison that Israel

has created inGaza is going unnoticed.

I refuse to believe that

Israel is just defending itself be-

cause the bodies left to die are

Palestinians, because the civilians

standing outside in below freezing

weather due to their homes having

been demolished are Palestinians

and because the bombings done by

Israeli soldiers in largely populatedareas are not done by Hamas but by

Israeli soldiers “protecting” them-

selves from Hamas.

I do not support Hamas in any-

way but Americans and the rest of

the world should look at the

facts before judging.

First, the United States

pushes for democracy upon

Palestine and it is all good

until the people they leastwanted to win, do: Hamas.

Then they completely strip

democracy away from them

because the choices the Pal-

estinians made did not benet

themselves or Israel. How is that supposed to make the

Palestinian people feel? They no longer have control

over anything in their lives, even the person running

their country.

Then Israel breaks ceasere, wreaking havoc on th

Palestinians. And what does the

United States say? Negotiation?

End the violence? No, more like

“go get them.” Hamas is blamed

entirely and Israel is innocent

while less than a half of the

amount of Israelis die in com-

parison to the amount of Palestinians. Not to mention the fact that

a large portion of the bombs and

weapons have “U.S.A” stamped on

them and every politician echoing, “W

will not tolerate terrorist behavior.”

While all the while Palestinians, young

and old, say prayers preparing them-

selves for death. But if Hamas was as

lethal as everyone made them seem,

then I would not blame Israel in the

least. But comparing the weapons that

Hamas is using to the weapons that

Israel is using is like comparing re-

works to an atomic bomb— there is no

comparison.

Again, I do not support

Hamas in any way. But what do

Israelis and the United States

expect? They practically strangl

civilians in the Gaza strip, block

ing them from food, water andmost importantly hospital care.

Civilians are massacred by the

hundreds daily while politicians

argue over who are right and

wrong. We are facing a humani-

tarian crisis and no one cares.

This is no way to handle Hamas— no matter how

dangerous. Israel has no excuse for killing so many

civilians, and the United States has no excuse for al-

lowing it.



January 2009

EditorialsEdsel Ford High School

Head Honcho: Rydzik

Editors in Chief: Megan Filipowski, Lauren Vallee

Copy Editor: Deanna Suleiman

Managing Editor: Lindsay Finnerty

Sports Editor: Amber Kolts

Layout: Megan Filipowski, Donovan Golich, Scott Werth

Reporters: Danielle Aguirre, Rana Alhadi, May Askar, Mike Boettger,

Emilee Curran, Alyssa Girardi, Kafah Hussein, Safa Kaid, Andrew Lyon,

Cari Moore, Hanan Murshed, Gabby Toupin, Nina Toupin

STAFF 2008 MISSION STATEMENTThe Bolt staff is committed to bring the Edsel Ford student body and administration

newsworthy articles that will inform, educate, and entertain in a reliable and timely fashion

while maintaining the district wide core values and contributing to the overall pride of our

school.

Editorial Policy for Letters to the Editors

The Bolt welcomes your opinions on stories or editorials featured within the paper. The

editorial staff reserves the right to print and to edit letters. Authors of edited letters will be

contacted before nal printing. Anonymous letters will not be accepted.

“I was born under unusual circumstances…” and so begins the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the latest box ofce hit, staring Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button

and Cate Blanchett as Daisy.

Based off the 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the story

of a youngster born as an old man who ages backwards. After his mother died giving birth to him, Benjamin is

abandoned by his biological father when he nds the infant to be shriveled and horrifying. Benjamin is found

by Queenie, an employee at the nursing home where Benjamin is raised. It is here he meets the love of his life,Daisy, the granddaughter of a resident of the nursing home. Despite their age difference, they get along and stay

friends through letters and postcards. In the meantime, Benjamin joins a crew on a boat during the war, and

Daisy takes on ballet in the hopes of becoming a famous dancer.

As Benjamin grows younger and Daisy grows older they seem to meet in the middle and from there their

love story begins. Benjamin, the not so ordinary man, is faced with quite the dilemma of growing young alone.

He has to watch as his friends and family die and he lives on. Along his path of discovering himself, he meets

new people, nds true love and learns the meaning of sadness.

The difculty of their relationship is revealed as Benjamin ages backwards and Daisy gets older with each

day. Pretty soon, the age difference is hard to ignore and Daisy is forced to make a difcult decision. Melan-

choly, love, and derangement are twisted into a memorable movie that will touch all kinds of viewers leaving a

daunting, yet pleasant reaction.“This movie was awesome, I enjoyed every minute,” says Roxy Musaad, 12.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has it all, a heartwarming romance, drama, and of course, Brad Pitt.

The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonHits the Box OfficesBy KAFAH HUSSEIN—EDITORIAL

the bolt january 2009 edition

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