Giant Word

by Toni Fitzgerald, Reporter

The upcoming play, The Bermuda Triangle, has cast members energized for the opening night. They have been practicing for months now and are getting anxious.

Cast member and freshman Victoria Kelley, said, “The play is really weird but in an awesome and fun way. I think people will love it!”

Actors rehearse a scene from "Bermuda Triangle Getway." From left, Grayson Hamilton, Kendall Billups (back), Scarlette Harris, Wayne Cody, Bobby Parolisi, and Taylor Hines look on as aliens attack. Performances will take place at Louis Spilman Auditorium March 31-April 2. (Photo by Amy Tripp)

“They all have been practicing really hard and I know they are ready to perform,“ said director Mrs. Dianne Truslow.

The play takes place as a plane headed for Hawaii crashes and lands on an unknown island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle and all goes crazy fromthere. It’s a hilarious performance full of unlikely, extravagant and improbable situations, according to cast members.

“Plays aren’t just for fun,” said Kelley.”You can gain a lot of skills from them, actually.”

Sophomore Kendall Billups said, “The hardest part of being in the play is memorizing your lines.”

The cast is made up of a wide variety of students in WHS but all have an outgoing, fun personality and are very talented. Everybody seems to get along and have a lot of fun throughout practice and off stage.

“I get along with everyone and am just all around at practice. It’s fun,” said Billups.

Being a part of such a social after school activity helps to gain immense personality skills and is a great way to make friends. As they rehearse, they offer each other much encouragement. When someone made a mistake they’d laugh about it but then get serious and keep trying until it was done right. Offstage during breaks, cast members laugh and joke with each other. Everyone seems to be comfortable while in practice because it gives them a chance to express themselves.

Freshman Rachel Laurin said, “The play is extremely fun. I’ve met a lot of new people.”

The play’s debut performance will be on Thursday

Waynesboro High School drama department will be performing "Bermuda Triangle Getaway" Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM in the Louis Spilman Auditorium. Ticket pricing will be $7 for adults and $5 for students.

, March 31 in the WHS auditorium. They will also perform on April 1-2.The cast would love for everyone to come watch and encourage them as they have their first performance of the wild play, The Bermuda Triangle Getaway.

“Everyone has worked really hard,” said Laurin. “All we want is a big audience to support us.”

By Joshua Oakes,  Reporter

At Waynesboro High School, the dress code is fairly simple: don’t come to school naked, wear a shirt, pants, and shoes, and don’t wear a hat. Other than that, students are free to wear just about anything their hearts desire. Now in Las Vegas or Greece, this might seem a little harsh. However to a student coming from a school with a rather stringent dress code, Waynesboro’s code – or lack thereof – comes as a welcome relief.

Students have enough on their plate without the dress code to worry about. It is amazing what a difference a little thing such as the dress code can make. It is so much more relaxing to come to a school where one is not handed a detention for not having a belt or forgetting to tuck one’s shirt in.

However, there are certain things students cannot wear at Waynesboro. Nothing promoting drugs, alcohol, vulgarity, sex, or racial slurs is allowed. Gang related clothing and possessions are also not permitted. The gray areas of the dress code include the length of shorts or the depth of a shirt top.

The lack of a strict dress code is often taken for granted at a place like Waynesboro High. Students complain of not being allowed to wear hats in the building or being told by a teacher to put an iPod away during class. What these students do not seem to realize is that they have it easy. Most of them have probably never been to a school where a strict dress code was enforced. One can look around and see everything from football jerseys to polo’s to just an average t-shirt, jeans, shorts, and athletic pants and variety of shoes. At Grace Christian School in Staunton, anyone without collared shirt, dress pants – or skirt – dress shoes and a belt is handed a work detention. The dress code is strictly enforced.

“I like it [Waynesboro’s dress code],” said sophomore Nathan Crumley.  “It makes me feel free as a bird in the sky.” Crumley comes from Grace Christian Middle School in Staunton, Virginia. This is a summary of Waynesboro’s dress code:

A student’s dress and appearance should not be such that

it causes disruption, distracts others from the educational

process or creates a health or safety problem. Students must

comply with specific building dress regulations and of which

students will be given prior notice.

The following link leads to Grace Christian’s dress code. As a warning, Grace’s dress code is five pages long.

Students at Waynesboro High School do not realize how lucky they are to have a vague dress code that is not strictly enforced. Students do not have to worry about teachers or faculty hounding them around the clock because they failed to notice the corner of their shirt was un-tucked or they had forgotten to shave the night before. It is nice being able to come to a school where one is allowed to wear what is comfortable and not worry too much about the style.

[Photo by Meredith Sledge]

by Courtney Reid, Reporter

From the very beginning of Obama’s election, Americans have been well familiar with his promises of “Hope and Change.” His communication skills and what he represented for America created an open door to engage people around the world. Aside from his charismatic posture and his well known slogan, “Yes We Can”, exactly why was he elected, and what has he done for our nation?

“I think that Americans became weary of the Republican Party because of what happened while Bush was in office,” senior classman Denzel Minnis said. “Everyone was ready for change no matter who represented it.”

“A lot of people voted for him because of his title, “First Black President of the United States of America,” and his promises to help change our nation,” sophomore Jaquan Chisholm stated.

Indeed, Obama would be our first African American president and make United States history. However, it was important to remember that we were electing someone to help get our country back into shape, not just make American history. Appealing words and a memorable image are not going to benefit our society. But he told us what we wanted to hear.

“He shouldn’t have made people all those promises if he didn’t know he could keep them,” said senior John Haliburton.

Obama did make a lot of promises. For example, he has promised a better health care plan, and a new tax plan to financially help the middle class. Some people agree that this has helped our society, but I feel that he is only helping a certain percentage of Americans. He promised a lot of “change” for our nation. I do agree that after all the issues that happened while Bush was in office, as in our recession and the war in Iraq, people were ready for change. Nevertheless, people don’t always look into the facts; a lot of voters do not even know much about who they are voting for. A majority of their knowledge comes from media and public opinion.

“Few Americans can point out all 50 states,” Minnis said. “How are they supposed to know who is most qualified to run our country?”

I could not agree more. Not all voters are well aware of what they are voting for. They see what is on the surface but few really dig deeper into the issue. I know that if we had taken a better look at what he was promising, we potentially would have realized the truth behind his promised “change”. Which I believe is the promise to help a certain percentage of Americans, spend money that we don’t have, and give more control to the government through the economy.

“He never said whether it would be a good change or a bad change,” senior Jordan Vela said.

Subsequently, statistics are showing that not many Americans are agreeing with this new “change”. According to a recent tracking poll, 45 percent of voters strongly disagree with the way Obama is handling issues. But in his defense, he was placed with much pressure coming into office. He had the economy to deal with, tax cuts, and many unemployed Americans to help.

“At the time, people felt like Obama’s ideas were better since McCain represented more of what Bush had done,” senior Bobby Ross said.

Things were bad by the end of President Bush’s terms, and I do think that in order to get back on track our nation will have to suffer a little more. But my point remains, that Obama’s perspective on change has not done much to help America. His health-care plan costs more than he said it would, and although it might be helping a percentage of Americans who need it, where are we getting all this money from? The “stimulus” bill has done nothing but put our nation in more debt, gives more control to his government, and helps maximize the pockets of the richest three percent of America.

So do I feel that Obama has helped change America? Yes I do. However I do not feel like it has been beneficial to our nation’s needs. Obama is a convincing speaker with a slogan “Yes We Can.” He did a great job influencing Americans that he was the man who could give us the hope we needed to change America. Contrarily Obama’s hope- filled words get old and tiring when there are no strong actions that support them. We do need a good change for our nation. But who are we going to get it from?

By Deion Nabors, Sports Editor

Last week I wrote an article entitled “Wake Up Seniors” encouraging the senior class to strongly finish their final year. I released some statistics and explained the decline in the senior class numbers. I implored the senior class to tough it out and finish with a bang. Now I am writing to shed some light on scholarships and how it’s not as difficult to get into college as some may believe.

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to college is how students are going to pay for it. Stressing over getting in can be scary enough, but add the five-figure price tag and you’ve got a certified nightmare.

However, Waynesboro High wants to see its college-bound students get to the schools they want to attend. In the guidance office, next to Ms. Heather Haney’s office, there are red and white notebooks filled with a veritable plethora of national, state, local, and special program scholarships.

“We definitely want students to apply for local scholarships,” said guidance counselor and scholarship expert Mrs. Deborah Watson.

Students wouldn’t know unless someone told them, but there is money everywhere just waiting for students to fill out applications. While there are deadlines and due dates, Waynesboro High School tries to makes sure that students are always informed about scholarships.

“It doesn’t just go to the top five seniors,” said Watson. “Last year 34 students received almost $50,000 in local scholarships.”

Watson wants students who are interested in scholarships to check with guidance regularly for due dates and information. She also recommends students go to Fastweb.com or Collegeboard.com to further their search for scholarships.

“The money is huge,” said Watson. “Online scholarships are much more competitive, but don’t let that discourage you.”

The money is there. It’s just waiting for you to take it.

[photo by Meredith Sledge]

By Jorie Logan, Editor-in-Chief

If people take the time to explore Waynesboro’s ever-growing business areas, it is more than likely that they will run into one of Waynesboro High School’s own students. Several teens in the workforce currently struggle to keep up with school activities while staying on par with their responsibilities at work. Senior Logan Hamlyn knows this first hand.

“I’m involved in a lot of extracurricular activities so it’s hard to make time for everything I have to maintain,” says Hamlyn.

Presently, Hamlyn works at the Waynesboro Public Library and is recently employed by Zeus Digital Theaters.

“I got my first real, legal job when I was 15 at Sonic Drive-In and I’ve consistently had a job since then; I’ve never been unemployed,” says Hamlyn.

However, despite Hamlyn’s busy work schedule, the rate of teens in the work force is gradually falling. According to a 2009 New York Times statistical study, the number of teenagers in the workforce has dropped by around 25 percent; this leaves an estimated 1.64 million teenagers unemployed who want a job since the recession began.

Contrary to these harrowing facts, Hamlyn seems to be unaffected.

“I don’t think teens need a job,” she says, “My mom always said that teens have the rest of their life to work and I agree with that.”

Clearly, Hamlyn does not follow in these words and the hard-pressing economy has not struck her. With two jobs by age 17 and a sporadic school schedule, she certainly has a lot of time management on her hands.

“I have three separate schedules that I try to update: I have a dry erase board at home, I have a handheld planner for schoolwork, and I have a binder to keep track of my jobs,” she says.

On the bright side, not everything is so bleak about the workforce. Despite the fact that Hamlyn’s schedule is hard to keep up with, she still enjoys what she does.

“I really like the people I work with. At the library, although I’m the youngest, there are a lot of people I can connect with—a lot of different backgrounds,” she notes.

Academics paired with working can be a controversial topic, but in the end the student will ultimately have to make a decision based on his or her needs. Prioritizing, time management, and organization are all key factors in the consideration of balancing schoolwork with a job.

In the words of Hamlyn: “School needs to be your absolute priority. It is mine, mainly because I know I won’t have as good of a future without it.”

[photo by Allison Graves]

By Coral Whitaker, Reporter

It is an experience most people dread. You’re called to the guidance office, then confronted on bad grades or behavior by a counselor. If you’re lucky enough to talk to Ms. Heather Haney, the experience may actually be pleasant.

Haney’s road to counseling was not an easy one. It took hard work, dedication, and determination to be the counselor she is today. First of all, she went to college at the University of Cincinnati for her bachelor’s in counseling and the University of Dayton for her master’s in education.

She then needed to put her education to work. Haney was at first a rehab counselor. She liked it, but wanted something different. She interned for a year at Pickerton High School in Columbus, Ohio. She soon decided youth counseling was something she wanted to pursue.

“My interest in counseling has been building for many years. Part of the interest was based on my high school experience and the way my counselor had an influence on me and other students. My work for the rehab was very emotional, while my youth counseling is mainly academic,” she said.

She started looking for a full time counseling occupation and was instantly drawn to Waynesboro.

“I really liked the close proximity to the parks, mountains, and bigger cities,” She said.

Once she started, her love of Waynesboro only increased.

“I love the high standards we have for our students and faculty,” she said.

Haney is dedicated to the youth here at Waynesboro High School, she regularly inspires the many teens she helps.

“Mrs. Haney is really positive, and just cool,” said freshman Toni Fitzgerald.

By Coral Whitaker,  Reporter

If you walked through the halls of Waynesboro High School and saw Alisha Sharpe, she would blend in with most freshmen. But everyone has a story and they are all different, including Alisha’s.

Alisha Sharpe was born June 7, 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her parents, Ginger and Kenny Sharpe, were, of course, ecstatic.

“My parents are like the best ever, they’re very understanding,” said Alisha.

The family soon welcomed two more children, Kelsey in 1999 and Julian in 2001.

“I love my brother and my sister, but we barely get along,” Alisha said.

Sadly, tragedy soon struck the Sharpe family. Alisha’s father, Kenny, died in a car accident in 2008, leaving the once happy family destroyed.

“I really didn’t know what to do, so I did the things that I already did, but in bigger doses,” Alisha said.

Alisha soon consumed her life with heavy loads of school, friends, and family. Since devoting effort and time in school, her life only improved. She had numerous honors classes and awards in academics the following year.

Her life was quickly gaining normalcy, in and out of school. It was then that her mother decided to move the family to Waynesboro.

“I didn’t really want to move. I mean, that was all that I knew so moving was sort of weird, but everything turned out good,” Alisha said.

Alisha quickly got serious about her eighth grade academics at Kate Collins Middle School, still taking honors classes. She slowly grew to be comfortable and confident in Waynesboro during her first year.

“Now that I’m here I feel like I’ve been here forever,” Alisha said.

Although she has been through tragedy and confusion, she is moving on, living her new high school life.

“I’m fine now. I’ve just moved past all of that,” Alisha said.

By Zach Jones, Sports Editor

Cross country is probably one of the toughest sports at Waynesboro High School:  three mile runs every day, plus a meet somewhere in the week.  Some people think cross country is just running, but there is a lot of strategy in it.

“We have to keep a steady pace, keep your miles even, and keep an even pace so you don’t get tired,” sophomore runner Luke Lovelady said.

“Keep going, don’t stop, and keep a steady breathing pace is what I always keep in mind when I’m running,” said freshman runner Katie Mullin.

When people hear about how many miles these runners have to do, they think they must warm up slowly and very little.  That’s not the case with cross country.

“To warm up, we have to jog half a mile, stretch and familiarize ourselves with the course,” Lovelady said.

Like most sports there is a girls’ and guys’ race.  The girl’s have their race first and the guys have their race after the girls have finished.  But in a sport so similar for the girls and guys, what makes them different?  Mullin said and Lovelady agreed that the only major difference is that the guys are a little faster than the girls.

Compared to the beginning of a race, where everyone is nervous and excited, the runners don’t have that expression and the end of a race.

“I feel so terrible when I finish.  It feels like my legs are going to fall off and I can barely breathe.  When I’m done, I look forward to getting lots of water, sitting under a shady tree, and to muse at the previous race,” Lovelady said, breathing very heavily.

Most runners have different ways of starting a race. Because matches take about 20 minutes the runners have to decide whether they’re going to get ahead or stay behind and conserve energy.

“I like to stay ahead of everybody, but I also like to conserve my energy.  Anyone who can successfully do those things will be very successful in cross country,” Mullin said.

People watch in amazement as the runners wear themselves out.  It takes about five minute for the runners to cool down.  They have to walk around for a little bit after the race, so they can slowly get their heart rate back down.  How could they possibly love running and wearing themselves out like that?

“Cross country is the best.  You could only know that if you were actually a runner,” Lovelady said.

When compared with football, cross country doesn’t get as much recognition.  Many more people show up to football games, than to cross country races.

“I think we get enough recognition.  We have enough people that are not just from family members,” Mullin said.

“I think we get enough recognition from everyone but the school.  I think the school focuses on just football mainly and not enough of the other sports,” said Lovelady.

Cross country is a very gruesome sport in which it takes dedicated participants to do.  It is not just about running, it’s about strategy, teamwork, and other skills that make cross country runners special.

By Shayla Meadows, Reporter

The one and only Homecoming is coming up. Only a few more days left to wait. It’s an event where students and even some teachers can come and enjoy themselves, and have a great time. They will also have snacks, drinks, and music.

The Student Government Association will be decorating and preparing for the dance. SGA member Courtney Reid, a sophomore answered a couple of important questions for mainly freshmen, but also others who were wondering about the details of Homecoming.

Question: “When is the Homecoming going to be?”

Courtney Reid: “Homecoming is going to be October 2^nd.”

Q: “What kind of music are they going to play?”

CR: “Leadership class is putting together songs that are   going to be put on a CD since last year’s DJ didn’t do too well.

Q: “Is there a dress code and if so what is it?”

CR: “Yes, dress formally, and look your best!”

Q: “I know students here who are wondering about bringing students from another school to the dance, so how does that work?”

CR: “You would have to go get a permission form from the office then get your parents to sign it, and next the office would have to approve.”

Hopefully this answered some of your questions about this years’ Homecoming. On October 2 look nice, bring a friend from WHS or another school, and enjoy great music all in one night!

Written By: Allison Graves, Reporter

Many Americans’ lifestyles are built upon Christian teachings that make it hard to accept same-sex marriage.  Although many people have taken a stand against same-sex marriage, many seem to tolerate it.  It might go against Christian teachings but, “it’s not like I wouldn’t love someone who is gay.  It’s just what I believe,” said a student who wishes to remain anonymous.

From the start of the 21^st century many debates have arisen about same sex marriage.  To say who is right or wrong is a matter of opinion.  Whether a matter of religion or basic freedoms, the question still remains, should same sex couples be allowed to marry?

“Because of my faith I believe that a man and a woman should be together.  But that doesn’t mean I judge other people’s views of what marriage should be,” said the student.

But in our society where gay relationships are becoming more open in the public, will we have to learn to not only tolerate same-sex marriage but accept it as normal?

While speaking about legalizing same-sex marriage, the student argued, “It would upset me that people in our state would be accepting something that goes against Christian teachings.  And once it’s made official it will never go back to how it is now.”

Junior Wayne Cody, disagreed.  “That’s why people are in this country [America], to do what they want. I think it [gay marriage] should be accepted like heterosexual marriage.  Marriage is a choice,” he said.

According to Cody, America is a place where people come to exercise their freedoms.   The government should allow the same rights and benefits to all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation.

“I feel like it’s the right thing to do.  Who can really define marriage? The more states that open that option up is a step in the positive direction,” said Cody.

Same sex marriage is also an issue when it comes to children of gay or lesbian parent(s).  Amanda Jones, a junior said, “My mom has been openly gay for about ten years and has a girlfriend.  I personally enjoy having ‘two’ mothers.”

Jones said she would like to see her mother marry her partner.

“If that’s what makes her happy, then absolutely,” she said.

Nationwide, 39 states including Virginia follow the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as state law, which prohibits gay and lesbian marriages. A  few states have legalized same-sex marriage, including Connecticut , Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

On a high school level, same-sex relationships and marriages affect the lives of many students, whether it is religious views, personal experiences, or concern with equal rights.

Drawing provided by Junior, Tanner Walter.