As the days got shorter and thecold started to set in, with it camesome slippery precipitation. Duringthe winter months, a blanket of snowoften covers the ground and whatseems to be a gift to skiers and snow-boarders, is a dangerous problem todrivers. Problems from gettingsnowed in, to sliding off the roadplague drivers all over the Northeast.Although the roads can be slick,there are easy ways to beat the harshwinter driving conditions.Snow tires are an easy way to get

more traction and help stay on theroad, but this comes at a cost and noteveryone can afford the five hundreddollar plus price tag."I feel safe with my all-seasons most

of the time, sometimes I do wish Ihad snow tires, but I just don't havethe money to spend on tires rightnow," said senior Max Trahan whenasked about snow tires. Four wheeldrive is a safe option as well when itcomes to Vermont's winters. Formany the all-wheel drive Subarus area good choice when it comes to driv-ing through the snow."It just makes my life so much easi-

er knowing that odds are I won't getstuck in the snow," and "It's nice toknow it's there if I need it. It's peaceof mind," are just a few things CHSdrivers had to say about their fourwheel drive cars.Much of the time, preparing a car

for winter can be just too expensivefor something only needed for threemonths. Many feel the best way to beprepared is to just buy a “winterbeater.” A car different than theirsummer car bought just for the win-ter.“It’s nice to have a car that I know

will get through the snow and I likethat I don’t really have to care if itgets scratched or dinged. It’s some-thing cheap, reliable, and much better

on gas than my summer car. Allaround good purchase for Vermont'swinters, ” said senior Jared LeDuc.Even with a different car just for

winter, the roads can still be a danger-ous place if drivers don’t know whatthey are doing.With more and more snow, the

roads become a hazardous place.There are many driving techniquespeople can follow to keep their driv-ing safe and stay on the road. A fewtips for driving in the snow would be,go slow, driving in the snow will takemore time. Take the time to thor-oughly brush off the car. Many rushand only clear the windshield, thismeans snow can blow off their carmaking it hard for drivers behindthem to see.Don't slam the brakes, this causes a

loss of traction, take your foot off thegas and allow the car to slow. If brak-ing is needed slowly add pressure tothe brakes as opposed to stompingon them.In a rear wheel drive car it can help

to add some weight over the rearaxle, sandbags being a good option.Although all of these are helpful,

the most important is just being alert,paying attention to both the sur-rounding cars and road conditions.Winter driving is much more haz-

ardous and the students at CHS arenot immune. With the weather cold-er and sub-zero temperatures com-mon, this only means the roads willget icier and driving conditions willcontinue to get worse. As long aspeople drive smart and slow downthe roads will be a much safer place.Winter is a fun season and offers

things to do for all ages, but the joy ofthe first snowfall has just about wornoff for most, as many are asking,“How long until it’s all gone.”

Colchester High School Colchester,VT 05446

The Lakeside VoiceVOLUME 14 ISSUE 2 JANUARY, 2015

Photo contributed by Melanie Laquerre

Photo contributed by Max Trahan

CHS trash on the floor dayPromoting sustainability in Colchester

Colchester High School hasits own environmental club, theCHS Green Team. In October theGreen Team once again sortedtwenty-four hours worth of theschool's trash. Their goal ofdoing this is to promote sustain-ability within our school andcommunity. Involved students gothrough all of the compost, recy-cling and landfill and sort it allout to very specific categories.This is held in the Colchester

High School gymnasium wherethere is enough room to dump outall of the trash.

Every year CHS does this,they compare it to the previousyear to see the progress the CHScommunity has made. This year'sdata showed very low contamina-tion rates, meaning that studentsand faculty are doing a very goodjob sorting their trash into theright bins. The Green Teamreported significant improvement

since last year. This shows thatwe have really buckled down anddone a much better job of sortingour trash.

Check it out next Octoberand continue to help provide amore sustainable environmenthere in Colchester.

To learn more about the CHSGreen Team visit chsgreen-team.weebly.comStudent volunteer, Daniel Demars sorts trash.

Winter driving goes adrift

CHS Senior Max Trahan's car stuck in a snow bank after an early winter storm.

Best Burger

Page 4

New Year'sResolutions

Page 8

WinterSports

Pages 10,11

by Jake Dwinell

by Alexandrea Svendsen

Nightcrawler, an engaging thriller fromthe director and writer Dan Gilroy, deliv-ers a twisted story that’s hard to lookaway. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a young man bythe name of Lou Bloom who on his searchfor any job he can get, stumbles across thedark world of crime journalism and re-porting. He begins freelance filming carcrashes, murders, and general violencewhich he sells to local new stations forcash.He quickly forms a close relationshipwith Nina, an agingTV-news producer whobuys all of his film. Lou is incredibly moti-vated to capture these morbid stories andit quickly lead to an ethical gray area.

The beginning starts slow and re-lies on some montages that could havebeen cut or vastly improved as they addlittle to the movie.This imperfection is wellworth looking past as the rest of themovie is not only written and crafted well,but also beautifully shot. The scenery ofthe underbelly of L.A. creates a very un-settling feeling of unpredictability.The second half of the film ramps up en-

ergy as the plot intensifies and Gyllenhaallooks continuously creepier. Action se-quences begin which engage and keep

viewers intrigued in what happens next.Jake Gyllenhaal serves an un-

nerving and undoubtedly impressive per-formance. His dedication to the role iscertainly impressive as he drops 30 lbs toachieve a sketchy look completed withslicked long hair. He invested in the moviea great deal as he also produced it and did

a decent amount of press and advertising.The complete film is entertaining and

what I think to be one of the best moviesto be released this year. From Gyllenhaal'sperformance, to the impressive directingand original plot, the movie delivers an in-credibly interesting and dark story. I highlyrecommend watching it when you can.

The Lakeside Voice is published by studentsat Colchester High School. Articles are se-lected and submitted by the CHS communityat large.The high school Journalism class is re-sponsible for every facet of the LakesideVoicepublication.Suggestions and ideas for articles, as well as

Letters to the Editor, can be sent in care of:The LakesideVoiceCHS Student NewspaperLaker LaneColchester,VT 05446

The LakesideVoice Staff:Brandon ArelRyan CaseyTyler CootwareJacob DwinellHunter Griffin-BarnesHarrison HolmesZoe LadensackSeth MarakChelsea MeadJazzmin MerchantAllison PilcherGabrielle Rancoud-GuillonMiranda ScorsomeAlexandrea SvendsenHailey ThibaultJackYoung

Rap music madeits true mainstreambreakthrough in the1990's, when artistssuch as N.W.A, Dr.Dre, and SnoopDogg began releas-ing albums. Rapwas introduced ear-lier in the 80's with

hit singles such as "Rapper's Delight"by Sugarhill Gang and GrandmasterFlash's "The Message", both earningnationwide approval but not markingan era. Rap and hip hop genres haveevolved and caught on with musiclovers of all ages, and are now toppingthe charts all over America.With all of the fame and popularityrap and hip hop has gained in the pastdecade, there has been a lot of nega-

tive criticism from people who be-lieve rap has lost its way. Many peo-ple believe that rap music produced inthe 90's is true rap and modern age rapis actually just hip hop and pop music.No matter what era, style or lyricalpreference, rap music is still an artist'sway of conveying messages. Nobodycan say that Tupac was better thanSnoop Dogg, or Eminem can't rap dueto his race, because it's all music thatpeople produce from their own lifeand experiences. No matter what styleof music rap artists produce, the state-ment will always be there.Rap music was believed by many to

be a fad that would die out, but rapmusicians have crafted their art andare now making multi millions of dol-lars a year. Rap truly changed the livesof many minorities, and no matterwhat era or style, will live on through-out history.

Photo from Night Crawler trailer

Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of Lou Bloom in the thriller, NightCrawler.

Lakeside VoiceStaff / ContactInformationby Ryan Casey

A New England Scholastic PressAssociation Award Winning Paper

Night Crawler is darkly entertaining

by Hunter Barnes

From Biggie to Lil Wayne

"Who's your favorite musical group?"

The CHS mathteam continuedto grow this yearunder Ms. Soltau,teacher andcoach. Last year,the team grewexponentially totwenty-five mem-

bers. This year, there are fifty-two!TheMath Team competes in fiveGreater Burlington Area MathLeague meets each year. Knownfor being the most spirited and en-thusiastic team in the league, CHStypically places about eighth outof twelve teams. However, a

larger team brings better opportu-nity to increase scores since onlythe top three scores from eachteam are counted on each test.Tests categories include arith-metic, Geometry, Algebra, Ad-vanced Math, and team. Eachmeet concludes with cookies.Four-year math team memberand team captain JoshWallis said,“I never thought our math teamwould get so big. We’ve gonefrom struggling to qualify fromlack of people to being the largestteam in the league. Math team haseasily been one of the most enjoy-able parts of my high school ca-reer.”Anyone can see what’s up in themath world of CHS by following@CHSmathlete on Twitter.

by Allison Pilcher

Mathletes gaining popularity

The NotoriousB.I.G

New CHSMathlete Shirts

Photo Poll conducted by Jack Young

"alt-J"-Cady Dubuque

"Craig Morgan"-Tate Hamblett

"Goo Goo Dolls"-Officer

Kendrew

"Beyonce"-Isabell Ayer

"Kids TheseDays"

-Austin Simeck

JANUARY, 2015 2OPINIONS / REVIEWS

You never see kids intoday’s society withouttheir cell phone in handor near them where theyget easy access to it.Thechange in the technolo-gies today have led to usdepending on our cellphones and the internet,as well.Everything can be

done on our cell phones,finding information,

checking the weather, listening to music and evendoing school projects.The smartphone has not be-come just an object, but a best friend to teens.Cell phone addiction is growing in the United

States because we are able to use our smartphones for everything we do.We rely so much onour phones from things like constantly textingpeople and maintaining relationships, to breakingup with someone through the phone.At the din-ner table it is becoming normal to check socialmedia.You see kids checking their phones at themovie theatre all the time and when they go tothe bathroom they bring their phones with themto scroll through twitter and facebook while inthere.There have also been incidents where kidscheat on tests using their cell phones.Facts: According to Time magazine's Techland,

84% of respondents said that they could not go asingle day without their cell phones. 50% ofAmer-icans sleep with their phone next to them. 20% ofrespondents check their phone every 10 minutes.Even more than 50% of kids admit they text whiledriving.With all of these example of what people can

do with a cell phone, it is clear to see the reasonwhy kids have anxiety attacks when they don’thave their cell phone within reaching distances ofthem.According to a poll by SecurEnvoy, 70% of

women have cell phone separation anxiety in theUS, while 61% of men has the same. They alsofound that 87% of teens said no to the questioncan you go a day without your cell phone.Yes, there are symptoms for cell phone addic-

tions, which include feeling anxious without yourphone, and constantly checking for updates.There is also Phantom cellphone vibration syn-

drome, which is when you feel your pocket vibratewhen you don’t actually have a text message.It’s coming to the point where there are signs

that state “no cell phone use” in these areas, too.It is becoming a common courtesy to see thesesigns, especially in college where cell phone use isnot allowed on any tests.Addiction can be fixed, but you have to put in

the effort to break the habit of checking your cellphone daily.

CHS 2014Winter Ball was held De-cember 13, in the cafe from 7:30-10:30pm. There were approximately 200 peo-ple at the dance this year, a turnout sim-ilar to previous years. The annual eventis sponsored by the CHS Student Gov-ernment.

Tickets were sold in the guidance/at-tendance office at $10.00 a piece, but ifattendees chose to buy the tickets at thedoor, they were $15.00.

Any Colchester student was able toget into the dance, and taking a partnerfrom another school was acceptable.Anyone the age twenty and under wasable to get in with a signature and ifolder than the age twenty, then studentsneeded to speak with one of the assistantprincipals in order to get into the dance.

This was a semi formal dance, so asuit and tie from the boys and an appro-priate dress from the girls was required.

Students that attended the dance saidthat it was very "fun" and had "greatmusic", others said that is was "lame",

"that it was better last year" or "theyhope next year's is better".This year at the winter ball, there was

no photo booth which upset a lot of peo-ple. Most of the seniors felt the sameway about there being no photo booth.They said that the photo booth was oneof the main reasons that they came to thedance this year and they did not have itso they were a little disappointed.When it was all over, most enjoyed the

Winter Ball and now begin to look for-ward to the Prom in May.

There has been a long debate be-tween music lovers of all kinds towhich music is the best to listen to. I'vefound a large population of the CHScommunity favors pop and rap music,but rock hasn't died yet, either.As a supporter of rock music, I found

it odd that so many would prefer avery crude form of melody over theconnection of rock. When asked aboutpop music a student said,“It is more about the beat of the

music, not the lyrics. You can physi-cally feel it through your body.”Where as a fellow rocker said about

rock,“The passionate wails of the singers

I can really relate to, when every-thing's going downhill I just cranksome tunes and it feels better knowingmore than one person feels this way.”

I Just don't understand how peoplewould poison a melody with such in-tense cussing and then dare to call itmusic. Then again, it's been said thatmusic soothes the soul of many and re-

flects those who write it.It goes to show you that the mass of

CHS doesn't have the greatest of tastebut good taste doesn't die.

Colchester High School is a great school tobe a part of, and we are privileged to have sucha great staff. A great example of that is Mrs.Deschamps who is our schools head nurse. Sheruns Colchester High School Cares (CHSCares), a volunteer club to help out the com-munity through our school. It is a group ofabout 20 to 25 students who help out.Students who are interested in being a par-

ticipant in CHS Cares can also receive NationalHonor Society hours. It is very flexible tocome when you can, and the meetings are usu-ally held after school.They just finished two major projects for the

school which they do every year. The first onewas the preparation and distribution of Thanks-

giving baskets from all the donated food fromthe students and faculty. CHS Cares collectedthat food and made baskets to send out to theless fortunate, and to help the community so nofamily is left behind without a meal for the hol-idays.The next big project they just finished was

the gingerbread houses. As students we madeone with our AT. Then CHS Cares donatesthem around the community. They broughtthem to nursing homes, senior homes, and theUniversity of Vermont Medical Center.Their next plan is to write thank you’s to vet-

erans on Valentines Day in February. Comingup later in the year is also the blood drive thatis held at the school. Its a great club to be apartof and anyone is welcome to join at anytime.

Anything plugged into the walldraws electricity, even when turnedoff. This is is called ghost power,phantom power, or the vampire ef-fect.As a part of the CHS Green Team's

goal to conserve energy, GreenTeam members teamed up withCHS faculty to unplug as many de-vices as possible after school on De-cember 23rd so that they were notdrawing power unnecessarily over

break. Other schools in the area whohave participated in this activity,known as Hibernation Vacation,have reported huge power savings.We don't have data yet, but thetwenty teachers who signed up tohave their classrooms unpluggedknow that this will make a big im-pact. Not only is this project envi-ronmentally-conscious, it also savesmoney!For more information, please visit

http://chsgreenteam.weebly.com/electricity-conservation.html

Photo taken by Dylan Sayamouangkhua

Music tastes debatedAre youaddicted toyour cellphone?

Pop vs Rock

CHS Cares continuesto help the community

Empire State of Mind

by Seth Marak

by Alexandrea Svendsen

by Brandon Arel

by Hailey Thibault

HibernationVacationby Allison Pilcher

JANUARY, 2015 3OPINIONS / REVIEWS

CHS students and staff were recently surveyed on wherethey believe they can get the best burger. Below are the re-

sults.

Ryan Casey: SkyburgerHunter Barnes: Underhill DinerSam Rancound:The ScufferZoe Ladensack: Hoagie HutSam Corman: Steak n' Shake

Miranda Scorsome: GrazersTeagan Alderman: Carl's Jr.

Grant Cummings: Kim's Snack BarCloe Soler-My(France Exchange Student):America

Taylor Losier: McDonald'sMr. King:The Shopping BagAndrew St. Pierre: Five GuysMs. Goetz: Prohibition PigHarrison Holmes:The Shopping Bag

Tyler Cootware: Rozzi'sMr. Giles:The Reservoir

Alex Barrett:Al'sBen Seamen: McGillicudy's

Jared Antoniak: Five GuysJared Rylant: Grazers

Alex Richard: SkyburgerThomas Duggan:The Shopping Bag

Tierra Myers: OutbackChelsea Mead:The Shopping Bag

Jake Dwinell: Ri Ra'sAllison Pilcher: My KitchenTravis Boutin: Johnny RocketsCaroline Claremont: Five GuysLauren Bergen: Five GuysKaylee Gallager:Al'sJustin Evans: Five GuysDerek Sanderson: Five Guys

January, 2015 FEATURES 4

Poll Conducted by Harrison Holmes

Senior, Jack Youngdives into the Rozzi's"Western Burger".

Here'stheBeefAustin Simeck:

Hoagie Hut

Colchester

Liam Mooney:

Kountry Kart Deli

Burlington

Cady Dubuque:

Kim's Snack Bar

Grand Isle

When teachers Tom Preska and JimShields founded the 50 Hour Film Contestin 2005, they had big hopes for the future ofVermont film students.This year they werenot disappointed.

The 50 Hour Film Contest is an annualcompetition for Vermont students, who puttogether a film in a weekend. The catch isthat the prompt, script, characters and someof the dialogue is given out at the beginningof the weekend so teams must be able to beflexible with their plans. This last contest,seniors Tom Condon and Ellis Ignerigathered a group of Colchester studentstogether in order to put together a visualmasterpiece.

The film follows protagonist Timmy Lewisin his attempts to become a spy; aftercapturing a terrorist (played by DakotaLoring),Timmy applies for an opening at a spyorganization where he is assigned the task ofarresting the G.R.E.E.N.F.F.Team.After gettinghis partner, Kevin Desmond, kidnapped byG.R.E.E.N.F.F.Team terrorist Ize Bertoni,TomCondon and Maddy Powell team up withTimmy in order to take down the terroristsafter discovering their location thanks to Dr.Rob Chase. After Maddy subdues leaderterrorist Sam Pakulski and Tom disablesDakota, it is up to Timmy to persuadeConnor Barton to defuse the bomb.WhileTimmy successfully convinces him not toblow up the nuclear power plant, Connorbecomes confused with which wiredetonates and which one defuses and heaccidentally ends up blowing the nuclearpower plant up.

Yada Yada Films production “How toBecome a Spy in 19 Steps or Spy Trying” isone of Colchester High School’s studentsmost successful 50 Hour Film pieces. Theteam was awarded with the honor of Best

Screenplay due to superb writing and actingand the team fell just short of first place, andthe coveted Best Overall Film award, by halfa point.

The film has several actors that haveaccomplishments and accolades outside ofjust the film, itself.Timmy Lewis has starred inmany plays through the Lyric TheatreCompany.Tom Condon and Ellis Igneri bothco-wrote the script to the Junior’s firstvariety night; in which they received firstplace stunning the Senior class. Also, IzeBertoni has made a name for herself bytaking on multiple lead roles throughout heracting career through the ColchesterTheatre Company.

Ellis Igneri described the whole process as

“its own, unique form of torture, but a veryrewarding one.” Igneri said that trying tocome up with an entire story during thecourse of a weekend and then actuallyputting that onto film and in the editingroom is one of the most challenging pieceshe’s had. Igneri joked about being sleepdeprived and having water splashed on hisface in order to keep himself going to finishthe film in the small time frame given.

In the end Ellis said that it was worth itbecause they had this incredible product toshow for it that he was proud of.

This year marks the 11th time CHS filmstudents have won.

FeaturesThe Lakeside Voice

5JANUARY, 2015

Photo courtesy of Yada Yada Films

Snapshot from the 50 Hour Film entry "How to Becomea Spy in 19 Steps or Spy Trying"

Fifty hour film fameby Jack Young

JANUARY:

19 START OF QUARTER 319-23 All classes must be

added or dropped24 SAT Test Date29 Financial Aid Form Night

in CHS Library 6:30pm

FEBRUARY:2 10th Grade Heritage

Project3 AMC Math Test5 Laker Learning

Connections 4:00-7:00pm7 ACT Test Date11 Student of the Month

Luncheon12 Math League Meet @

CHS 3:15pm12 Junior College Night

6:30pm in CHS LIbrary13 SAT Test Registration

Deadline13 Music & Meal Soiree

5:00pm20 Progress Reports Due20 Coffeehouse 7:0023-27 Mid-Winter Recess

CHSDateline

GMO's aren’t a new headline, yet manypeople still remain unaware of them. GMOstands for genetically modified organism.AGM food is created when the DNA ofseeds are genetically altered, usually towithstand increasingly mass amounts ofherbicides, without dying.Another popularform is to insert a protein that mimicspesticides, which the crop reproduces in itsDNA, so it can't be washed off.Accordingto gmoawareness.org, around 80% of ourfood in the US has been geneticallymodified. Meanwhile, over 60 countrieshave harsh limits and bans on thesale/production of GMO's.

When GMO's were firstintroduced here, in 1996, many people inpositions of power in science and politics,tried to point out the potential dangers bywarning of studies from countries all overthe globe, that had enough worrisomeevidence, to require more thoroughresearch before releasing them to thepublic.To this day, not one study has beenreleased that was done on humans, tostudy the effects of GMO's.

In one study, done by Russian biologist,Alexey V. Surov, at the Institute forResponsibleTechnology, a control group ofrats was fed GM soy, which makes up about90% of all soy grown in the US, for twoyears. By the third generation, most ratswere unable to have babies. Other studieshave been done that support these findings.

There are other adverse effects ofGMO's that have been cited in multiplestudies as well, including: resistant bugs/bacteria, intestinal/organ problems,new/unknown allergens/diseases, lessnutrients in crops, unsustainableagricultural process, toxicity from highlevels of herbicides, reproductive problems,etc. There are also many studies andgovernment/corporation funded researchthat claim GMO's aren’t harmful.The truthis, GMO's haven’t been around long enoughto know if and/or what the long termeffects on humans may be.

Monsanto, the company with a patent onGM seeds, filed a lawsuit against the state ofVermont for passing a bill (after holding apublic vote) that will require all foods withGMO's to be labeled. Currently, companiesare allowed to put things like “all natural”on their products, when they are thecomplete opposite.This new law will helpconsumers make informed choices on whatthey purchase. Monsanto claims it unfairlyrepresents GMO’s, in comparison to foodsthat are labeled GMO-free.

Many people who have worked atMonsanto, have also worked in the FDA,like MichaelTaylor & Margaret Miller.Taylorbegan his career as an attorney for theUSDA, in 1976, and held positions betweenMonsanto, the FDA, and USDA for the nextseveral decades, until he was appointed byObama, in 2010, to fill the new position ofDeputy Commissioner. Miller was aresearcher for Monsanto, studying thegrowth hormone given to cows, rBGH. Shegot a job at the FDA during thereview/approval process for rBGH, along

withTaylor, both later returning towork for Monsanto.

By being moretransparent, Monsantocould better educatepeople on GMO's, but theychoose to actively work tokeep consumers in the dark. Byeducating oneself, keeping an open mindand spreading awareness, everyone canmake informed decisions.

Food for thoughtby Chelsea Mead

(Top): A farmer sprays round up (Monsanto's herbicidefor GM seeds), while wearing protective body gear.Photo by article.mercola.com(Bottom): Ben and Jerry's, a big activist/supporter for"the right to know" movement, on labeling GMOs, con-gratulates Vermont on being the first state to pass a la-beling bill, which will go into effect in 2016. Photo bybenandjerrys.com

It is a long since truth that too much of any-thing can be a bad thing, and sugar is one ex-ample that is no exception.Schools around the country know the prob-

lems that too much sugar can cause, and havedecided to attempt to take a stand. Thousandsof schools across all fifty states have bannedsoda from their lunch rooms. Many thoughtthe removal of the sugary beverage would helpreduce childhood obesity and make the schooloverall healthier. The ban removed all soda

from school cafeterias and vending machinesbut left other sugary drinks like sports drinksand sugary fruit juices.The effects of the soda ban were minimal to

none. Thousands of schools looked at theamount of sugary beverages consumed and no-ticed little to no difference. Students who nor-mally drank soda either switched to drinkingother sugary beverages provided by the schoolor just bringing drinks in from the store orhome. Many schools have tried to counter thisproblem by banning all sugary beverages butthis also proved to be minimally effective.A 2004 study shows that students in schools

with the sugar-beverage ban and schools with-

out have identical access to sugary drinks atschool, about 67 percent for both.Many schools have been reluctant to ban the

sugary beverages because the sale of drinksprovides crucial revenue source for schools.Some schools institute the partial ban of justsoda in order to keep money flowing inthrough the sale of drinks. Because of the factschools with the drink ban have the same ac-cess to sugary beverages as schools without, itdoesn't make financial sense to ban the drinks.

If students want to drink soda they will, andthey will drink it in school. With sugary drinksin schools no matter what, why would the theynot take the revenue that would otherwise be

spent at the local convenience store on soda.Each year teens spend $3 billion of their

own money on soft drinks alone, if schoolscould cash in on even a percent of this thenschool funding could be affected greatly. Thesaying, if you can’t beat them, join them ap-plies here, if schools can’t get rid of sugarybeverages why not sell them and make a littleprofit. The only way to attempt to cut downsugary beverage consumption is to raiseawareness about the effects it has on the body,just banning them does nothing.

Mr. Martin's and Mr. Ellingson's exquisite winter vs. summerthemed creation.

Seniors Mikayla, Kiera, Steven, Aleksa, Gabrielle, Alex, Carolineand Miranda constructed their own unique, magical Little Mermaid

Mr. Cannizzaro's magnificent Christmas Tree Farm themed gin-gerbread house.

The sweet truth behind soda bansby Jake Dwinell

At Colchester High School, we areproud and honored to come together inour teacher advisories to design, assem-ble, and decorate our own gingerbreadhouses. This tradition has been going onfor almost ten years now, thanks to ourcreative head counselor, Mr.Hall, whointroduced this unique idea back in2007! Mr.Hall was simply looking for afun way to bring Colchester High Schooltogether and rejoice in the holiday spirit,allowing us to celebrate our own cre-ativity and enjoy some fun competition.We have two hour long periods which

we dedicate to this activity. Once thegingerbread houses are complete thehallways are a blur of excitement; frost-ing covered hands, and enthusiastic facesas our gingerbread house are proudlyraised over seas of students to be carriedto the library for viewing.Colchester High School doesn’t simply

do this for the fun of the competition.The most positive and satisfactory thingabout this whole tradition is that after ourgingerbread houses have been on displayin the library, they are taken away wherethey can be appreciated even more. Weproudly donate our exquisite ginger-bread houses to places like the Chil-dren’s Hospital, Cathedral SquareAssisted Living, the Ronald McDonaldHouse, Starr Farm Nursing Center andGreen Mountain Nursing Home.These gingerbread houses really help

make life more cheerful and bright espe-cially for children that don’t get to gohome for the holidays. They provide amarvelous distraction from illness, anddepression.At nursing homes people love examin-

ing them in detail. One worker fromCathedral Square Nursing Home cheer-fully stated that, “It’s an expectationnow!”We are honored that our very own cre-

ations have become such a big part ofnot only the holiday decorations in theseplaces, but also people's lives. Children,staff, and families are delighted when thegingerbread houses arrive.

by Gabrielle Rancoud-Guillon

Where do thegingerbreadhouses go?

FEATURESThe Lakeside Voice

6JANUARY, 2015

During Colchester HighSchool’s annual gingerbread house com-petition students from all grades com-pete for the most creative house andtheme that they can construct. Aftereach spectacular house has been placedon display in the library, they enter aschool wide competition and the win-ners are decided.Seniors have the unique opportunity of

making their own groups and buildingtheir own houses as they please outsideof their teacher advisories.Previously there have been three cate-

gories, People’s Choice, Open, and Tra-ditional. This year there were only twocategories,Traditional and Open.This year Mrs. Miga’s AT won in the

Open category and Mr. Sharky’s AT wonin theTraditional category.Mrs. Miga’s AT worked really hard and

branched out, producing a really inter-esting Day of the Dead themed ginger-bread house.Mr. Sharkey’s AT chose a more simple

approach.HisAT used a lot of candy andstrived to keep things neat.Everyone had a blast making their gin-

gerbread houses. This activity broughtthe school together and allowed stu-dents to unleash their own sense of cre-ativity and individuality, and what betterway to do this than with delicious candy,and innovative thinking. By the end ourfinal work period our bellies were full ofsugar and the library was blossomingwith our very own splendid, sumptuousand outstanding gingerbread houses.

Pictures taken by Gabrielle Rancoud-Guillon

Gingerbread House Competitionby Gabrielle Rancoud-Guillon

“I don't Speak English” Cloe Soler-My (12)

“I couldn’t find a ride”Teagan Alderman(11)

“I had to walk to school” Sam Corman (11)

“I was too tired to come in” Sophie Joyce (12)

“I forgot we hadschool today” ZoeLadensack (12)

“Senior skip day”Mark Gauthier (12)

“Chipotle” AlexaEddy(12)

“I had a hair and nailappointment” CarolineClaremont (12)

“Sushi dudeee”Shelby Chagnon (12)

“The Neon's batterydied” Miranda Scoresome (12)

“I was going to be late so I just didn't come”Chelsea Mead (12)

“Sorry I was on a Dunkin’ run”Tierra Myers (12)

“I broke my arms”Tyler Cootware (12)

“I crashed my car” Harrison Holmes (12)

"My nose was running and I had to go catch it"Alex Richard (12)

"My grandma wanted to go out to lunch""I needed a personal day" Aleksa Jenkins (12)

"I was hunting" Tate Hamblett (10)

"Euro-carves and powder... Shred life" CadyDubuque(12)

"I was answering journalism questions in cafe"Bobby Hamlin (12)

"I'm really good at sleeping, not so good atmornings" Allison Pilcher (12)

"I was sick" Ryan Casey (11)

"Last night' Austin Simeck (12)

"I was laying down in the nurse's office with a mi-graine" Hannah Spence (12)

"I set my alarm for PMinstead of AM" JordanSchnabel(12)

"I'm going skiing,Peace!" Liam Mooney (12)

"I don't feel good" Brit-ney Isabelle (12)

"I was hittin' on somehot chicks" Jared Rylant(12)

"Chinese food" TravisBoutin (11)

"Girl Problems" DevonWells (11)

"My car was stolen" Dakota Narvia (11)

"I saved a kid from a tree" Tom Condon (12)

"On my way to school, I almost hit a dog, and hadtostop for soda and snacks to relax" Kennedy

Maxfeild (12)

"Everyday is a Saturday" Hunter Barnes (12)

"My cat broke its leg" Seth Marak (12)

"My goldfish died" JackYoung (12)

CHS is home to many an an-nual tradition, but there arefew who really stand out. Oneof the greatest and leastknown of which is the CHSCoffeehouse. This takes placeabout once a month on a Fri-day at 7:30 in the CHS cafe.

It's a happy and relaxedenvironment in which stu-dents and teachers alike cansign up to play music, readpoetry, or tell a story. Theplace is more or less an outletto fully express our right tofreedom of expression and

everyone there is calm and en-couraging.

People often wonder whyit happens to be called a cof-fee house and the answer tothat is simple, coffee housesaround the world often hadperformers of all sorts in theirmidst and as they played, peo-ple sipped on their coffee.This giving CHS the idea forthe name.Next time you dont know

what to do with a Fridayevening come and enjoy thelocal talent. The next coffee-house is scheduled for Febru-ary 20th.

Photo by Zoe Ladensack

Senior, Tyler Cootware reflects on his best (and true) late excuse.

Coffeehouses showcase talent

"Who Would You Invite toDinner Poll?" conducted byHarrison Holmes

Jake Dwinell: Pablo EscabarZoe Ladensack: AbrahamLincolnAleksa Jenkins: Anne FrankAustin Simeck: PoseidonJack Young: SocratesGabby Rancound: JesusKyle Michel: Amelia EarhartCourtney Dessormeau:SacagaweaHailey Blondin: Bob MarleyTavia Francis: ElvisAbby Handy: Marilyn MonroeMikayla Racine: Method Man

Shelby Chagnon: GandhiHarrison Holmes: Bob RossMr. Brown: BenjaminFranklin or Margaret MeadSophie Joyce: Andre 3000Tate Hamblett: Kate UptonDawson Bean: Gengis KhanAutumn Hathaway: HarrisonHolmesDavid Cross: Jennifer Lawer-enceCasey Duclos: Rob DelaneyMr. Giles: My Dad's DadChelsea Mead: JFKTyler Cootware: HamiltonMr. McCannell: John LennonRyan Casey: Carl Sagan

Dinner for two

The best excusesfor missing classby Zoe Ladensack

FEATURESThe Lakeside Voice

7JANUARY, 2015

"I broke bothof my arms, Ididn't even

win the race"-Tyler Cootware

by Seth Marak

Spend less time as Hamilton. -Harrison Holmes (12)

Improve my baseball skillsbefore our summer team goes toNashville, TN. -Derek Sanderson(11)

Do my homework on time. -Alison Davis (12)

Give Tyler Cootware a hugeveryday. -Rob Chase (12)

Eat more kale. -Ben Seaman (12)

Make it to college. -NigelSarrazin (12)

No McDonald's. -Erik Swan (12)

Get accepted to college. -PascalBechade (12)

Eat more fried chicken and workout more. -Emmanuel Ngoma (10)

Eat more noodles and make acake. -Casey Duclos (10)

Try to not be such a ditsy person.-Mckenna Stannard (10)

Grow. -David Cross (10)

Shrink. -Dawson Bean (10)

Be less perfect. -Mirela Poljak(12)

Grow a mustache as baller asTyler Cootware’s -Nick Schramm(10)

Become a better person. -Autumn Hathaway (9)

Shoot more animals. -TateHamblett (10)

Have fun. -Noah Robinson (12)

Not be as fat as I am now and tonot be sleepy in school. -EathanCameron-Vaupel (11)

Become Tricky’s friend. -AlexBarrett (12)

Eat my veggies everyday. -AustinSimeck (12)

Speak English. -Cloe Solermy(12)

Crutch less. -Jared Antoniak(12)

Don’t lose my motivationjust because I get into college.-Aleksa Jenkins (12)

Make more

money to buy more things. -StevenSonntag (12)

To finally catch my nose -AlexRichard (12)

Get better at hockey. -SamCorman (11)

Save money for a car. -ConnorBreen (12)

Be more like Mr. Deane. -Mr.Fiske

Have a winning lacrosse season. -Chelsea Wimble (12)

Not to hit Chelsea in the headduring lacrosse season. -SarahCampbell (12)

Shred every day. -Liam Mooney(12)

Make second semester one toremember. -Grant Cummings (12)

Be a better person. -HunterBarnes (12)

Think about my resolution fornext year. -Jared Rylant (12)

Wear more scarves. -Mr. Gile

Become exactly like JordanBelfort. -Andre Amrain (12)

Stop breaking my resolu-tions. -Alison Pilcher (12)

Graduate. -HythamMohamed (12)

Complete basic training. -ZoeLadensack (12)

Keep up with grades. -MichaelGranai (12)

Become successful while work-ing on my studies. -SamanthaBrunelle (12)

Enjoy the rest of my senior year.-Jordan Schnabel (12)

Spend less money at Chipotle. -Annie Meadows (12)

Grow a mustache like TylerCootware. -Tom Condon (12)

Stay healthy. -CarolineClaremont (12)

Stress less. -Tierra Myers (12)

Do more cool guy things. -Nathaniel Schramm (12)

2015 New Year's Resolutions

Photos L to RHamilton Holmes

Tate HamblettAustin Simeck

Erik SwanZoe Ladensack

Alex RichardNick Schramm

LAKER POLLThe Lakeside Voice

8JANUARY, 2015

JANUARY, 2015 9FEATURES

Winter Wonderland

Photo by Gabe Rancoud Photo by Cady Dubuque

Snow covered Grand Isle trees and flowers

Photo by Gabe Rancoud

Beautiful wood pile covered by a soft bed of snow

Snow filled lifts at Smuggler's Notch

Photo by Gabe Rancoud

Winter view of the Sandbar

Photo by Miranda Scorsome

Snowflakes that look like frost on a window

"Practices have been solid," seniorbasketball player Connor Breenshared about this season's VarsityBoys' basketball team.The early season hard work anddedication paid off as the boysbegan their season with a 55-37 winagainst BFA- St. Albans. Breen washoping for a second win against St.Albans, but they were unable too.The team has seen a lot of enthusi-asm from the underclassmen aswell, and according to Breen, "A lotof energy and focus coming from

juniors and sophomores," promisinga solid returning team for next year.This year's boys' b-ball team is

projecting a few more wins and, ac-cording to Breen, "Hoping to getsome momentum".

The boys have dropped contests totough Division opponents Burling-ton and Spaulding and played a verytight game losing by only four toCVU.The seasons not over though, theboys still have half the season to goincluding games against Rice,Essex, MMU, and St J. All of thesepromise to be very exciting gamesto attend.The season will wind down with

two home games aganist SBHS andSpaulding on February 17th and20th, before playoff seeds are an-nounced for the 2015 tournament.

Alpine Skiing looks to continue to havea good year. With four returners the teamcontinues to be optimistic in how the sea-son will finish.There are only four seniors on the team,but they’re excited to participate. Oftenthe entire team can be found in the weightroom a few hours after school. Trainingbegan with conditioning at the school buthas since transitioned to the mountain.Once at Cochran's the team works to-gether on improving times and techniquesunder the instruction of coaches Kevin

Ose andMatt Giles. The four veterans alsohelp instruct the new additions to the team.“I’m excited to see what we can do. Thechemistry with this group is fun and we allenjoy being around each other.” AbbyHarrington, a skier for Colchester says.“Training is cold and hard, but at the endof the day it’s worth it.”Cold is definitely an accurate statementas training weather often drops belowzero. The temperature doesn't seem to af-fect the team's attitude though as they allseem to be in high spirits going into thefirst few races and hope to carry this win-ning mentality throughout the rest of theseason.

With the ending of all fall sports, avidskiers began to think about the trails.Nordic Skiing being one of the most partic-ipated in winter sports at CHS started theseason with plenty of snow to begin train-ing for the competition ahead.Boys' coach, Mr. Samler ,and girls' coach,Callie Douglass lead this group of skiersthis year and hold a promising outlook onthe season. Getting a good influx of newskiers ,not just freshmen, but also some newseniors has really added to the team spirit.With 25 boys and 22 girls, they headed offto a very strong start and began their sea-son strong by having a varsity race of 7.5K at Craftsbury.Skiers are setting a big goal in rankinghigh this year at states. With the snow notalways looking promising this season, theteam is hoping they get more skiing time on

snow then they have had in previous years.This will help beginners and returning ath-letes a chance to get more comfortable andconfident with getting on skis and also mas-tering the skate and classic technique.Even though the nordic team is mostlyseen as an individual sport these athletescome together and stand in the cold for eachother just to see their teammates cross thefinish line or just get up that last big hill.They are a tight knit team who travels to-gether and are proud to call themselves agroup.Nordic Skiing is a difficult sport to get thehang of and needs a lot of dedication to suc-ceed. These high school athletes end uppracticing five days of the school week towork on skill and then race almost everySaturday to show their improvement in thesport. These skiers put in a lot of effort to dovery well and represent the Colchester HighSchool team in the best way possible.

Photo by Hunter Barnes

Noah "Tricky" Robinson sinking three's before he begins practice.

Nordic skierson successful slope

by Hailey Thibault

With lots of key seniors leaving from lastyear’s team, the girls' varsity basketball teamstruggled to find their first win early on andsit with a record of 2-7 as of ExamWeek.With only two returning players, Kacey

LaBonte and Alex Richard, and with a toughDivision I schedule, the team is beginning tofind chemistry and balance with all the newplayers this year. The girls began their season0-7 opening with tough games against strongopponents including CVU, Burlington, andBFA St. Albans, and losing in overtime toSpaulding. They then picked up two wins ina row against Vergennes and Middlebury.The Lady Lakers are a young team, with

two freshmen and two sophomores and onlytwo seniors. It’s a building year for the team,as only two players have been on the team inprevious years.Senior player, Kacey LaBonte says, “It’s

getting better, it’s a grind and we’re workingthrough it. We all enjoy each others companyand are having fun while also trying to figureout our strengths.Senior Alex Richard says, "We’re working

hard as a team and still trying to figure outeach others movements and strengths.”The girls are working hard to figure each

other out being that they are basically a brandnew team. They hope to finish strong as thewinter season moves on into February.

Girls' basketballmixes in young talent

by Brandon Arel

Alpine Skiingcompeting to win

by Ryan Casey

Boys' basketball maintains focusby Hunter Barnes

Laker SportsThe Lakeside Voice

10JANUARY, 2015

Photo contributed by Cross Country Ski team

Nordic Skiers after a chilly race on Mt. Hor Hop in Westmore, Vermont.

This year’s DanceTeam of fifteen in-cludes a number of newcomers.Danceteam is unique in that the one team in-cludes students at all four grade levels.You may have seen ourdance team perform atbasketball games, butthat is only practice forthe real competitions.This season CHS willcompete in the pom andjazz categories.The first competition

of the season washosted at Colchester onJanuary 10. Colchester placed first forboth pom and jazz!

At each competition, judges evaluatethe dance and award points for chore-ography, musicality, technique, creativ-ity, synchronization, appearance,anddifficulty. Dance is unique in that it re-quires both artistry and extreme ath-leticism. Senior dance team member

Steven Sonntag says "Wea super competitive, butlove to have fun! It's anamazing feeling to dancein general, but dancingwith good friends is afeeling that can't be ex-plained."No matter how much

sparkle is involved, danceis still a highly competi-

tive winter sport!

The girls' hockey team looks a littledifferent this year. Since numbers havebeen low in past years, Colchesteropened their girl's hockey program toBurlington students for the 2014-2015season. With this addition of girls, theteam now consists of a combination offemale student athletes from Colch-ester, Burlington and one from Milton.The team underwent a uniformchange to go along with the rosterchange this year. The team displays a Band C intertwined on the front of thejersey. The B being blue and the Cbeing green. On both shoulders is theschool logo from the schools. Theseuniforms represent two school districtscoming together and working as one.

The lady Lakers are hoping for a suc-cessful season to go along with the newroster. The teams leaders have a posi-tive out look on this season.Colchester senior Alison Davis says,"At the beginning of the season, I did-n't know what to look forward to be-cause it was a new roster with somegirls that had played together and somegirls that were new to the team." Shewent on to say, "Being one team fromdifferent schools, I thought it was goingto be difficult to bond with each other,but everyone on the team soon realizedthat we made connections quickly. Forthe rest of the season, I definitely lookforward to continue building these re-lationships with teammates."The girls have a record of 3-7 goinginto mid-January and continue to buildthe foundation for future success.

With winter in full stride, fallensnow brings out a few of Ver-mont's most avid winter sports'fans. Ski and snowboarding arejust some of the things that makethis state great, but not everyonehas the opportunity to make itup to the mountain. That’swhere the Ski and Board Clubcomes in. Students pay to ridea weekly bus that takes them upto the mountain after school forfive Thursdays and get dis-counted tickets. This programworks great for students withoutlicenses or cars, many whowouldn’t get the chance to enjoyVermont's most popular activi-ties. It is clear that many enjoythis great program because eachyear more students sign up.

"Not having a car makes it hard to get upto the mountain. Ski and board allows meto get up to the mountain more often whichis awesome."

Photo contributed by VT Sports Images

Senior members of the combined BCHS 2014-2015 team.

Lakers and Seahorsesskate together

-Steven Sonntag

We are supercompetitive,but love tohave fun!

by Tyler Cootware

The Laker Boys' Hockey teamlost a total of six seniors from thegraduating class of 2014 who pro-duced much of the offensive tenac-ity during last years season. Thisseason, the team consists of mostlyyounger students including fivefreshmen and eight sophomores.These young athletes are confidentthat they will thrive as the seasonmoves forward.According to senior Mark Gau-thier "We're working really hard.We're a young team this year. Ithink that we're getting bettereveryday and grinding through the

six am workouts".The upperclassmen on the teamconsist of seven juniors and onlythree seniors, Mark Gauthier, JaredRylant and Jared Antoniak. WithJared Antoniak (a first line de-fenseman) being injured for his lastseason of high school hockey,many of the returning players knowthat they have to step up to theleader position this season.The boys' have posted some im-pressive wins through mid-January,including defeating a previouslyundefeated South Burlington andalso beating rival Rice.Their record going into the finalphase of the season stands at 3-7-1.

Young team featuredon boys' hockey roster

by Miranda Scorsome

Dance it outby Allison Pilcher

Laker SportsThe Lakeside Voice

11JANUARY, 2015

Austin Collins

"It's great program and the students seemto love it."

Ms. Danielle Wolf

"It a great way to spend time with friendswhile having a good time."

SkiandBoard Seth Marak

Senior Seminar NightThe Lakeside Voice

12JANUARY, 2015

Senior Seminar Celebratedby Jack Young

The importance of activism whether social or political is something thatcan be hard to highlight from just the front of a classroom. Some are activiststhrough their music like John Lennon, others are through their actions likeRosa Parks, but all activists take a stand against something in which theybelieve is unjust in their society.

Every year seniors participate in a class in which they must construct aproject that deals with an issue they passionately believe. During this processstudents do community service, set up interviews, conduct research, and putall this work into an appealing end of the year project. At the end theseprojects are displayed during a night where students' families and friendscome in to learn about what the students have been working on throughoutthe course.

Topics vary widely among students because the choices are veryopen; sometimes they’re very controversial like legalization of marijuana, whileothers are a little more light-hearted like senior stress levels. No matter whatthe topic is students spend an extensive amount of time researching tobecome an expert in their area of study. The goal of the class is to makestudents realize their potential of being in an active community rather thanjust sitting in a classroom.