Junior Taylor Dedrick, a Prosser student who recently won a state championship in culinary arts, gives tips to students who are interested in becoming more involved in the kitchen.
Read more about Dedrick’s honor in the May 13 print edition of The Bagpiper.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QICfAn8otyc&feature=youtube_gdata]
By Amanda Millea
Before you start reading this, there are a few things you should know about me:
1. My iPod consists of mostly 90s pop music
2. I have a loud, unique laugh
3. I smile… a lot.
4. I live for my NBC Thursday night line-up (see #5.)
5. I am in love with Tina Fey
These five things are a huge factor in who I am today. However, today the purpose of this article pertains mostly to my number five: Tina Fey. To you, she may be no one. To me, she’s “Tina Fey: The female writer and actress that changed my life.”
I recently read her book. It was amazing that a celebrity could speak to me as much as she did as I was reading her book. From her going through the same self-esteem issues as every other teenage girl, to her views on being a comedy writer in what she thought to be a man’s world, saying Fey is my hero is something I would consider to be an understatement.
I have always known Fey to be a strong, independent female. I knew her as the first female head writer on Saturday Night and writer of the movie every teenage girl should be able to quote “Mean Girls.” She taught me there is nothing wrong with being myself. I can be whatever I want as long as I strive to achieve it.
Specifically, here are the lessons I took from Fey:
I’m going off to college in August. I’ve thought a lot about the person I am, the person I want to become. I want to become a writer. I will not make money, but I will be happy as a clam doing what I love. I want to inspire others through comedy writing, even if some may not appreciate my sense of humor. It may work out, it may not. One can only hope for the best. I am completely okay with the fact not everyone will like me. I’m me and I’m not changing for anyone. I will laugh until my voice goes out, I will break out my un-coordinated dance moves whenever I please, I will sing as loud as I can (because, in the car, I know I’m good enough to have my own record deal), I will continue to obsess over dry-witted television shows, I will smile until I might as well be a Barbie, and I will ALWAYS be in love with Tina Fey.
My name is Amanda, and I love who I have come to be.
By Devin Bloomfield
Athletic director Bill Pierce has worked in the educational system for the past 41 years, both as a teacher and athletic director. Throughout his long term Pierce has met many students and teachers that he adores and respects. This year was Pierce’s last and he is more than excited to retire, even though he said he will miss his “dysfunctional family” here at FC.
“I will miss all the people I have gotten to work with these past 15 years. We are like our own little dysfunctional family. I have grown to trust them and I am proud to be able to call them ‘my people’,” said Pierce.
Though he will miss the job, Pierce plans on enjoying his retirement.
“I have been going to school since I was five years old and I could probably work until I am 70, but it just gets tiring sometimes and it is time for me to go. I will be seeing my grandchildren a lot and still come back and watch some games. I do not really have a set plan, though. I have had a great time here though and I am proud of what this school has become,” he said.
Taking his place next year will be Jeff Cerqueira, who is currently at Charlestown Middle School as an assistant principal. He has been there for the past 12 years. Along with his administrative experience, Cerqueira also has been the assistant baseball coach here for 15 years. Cerqueira is not only going to be the athletic director, but he is also going to be an assistant principal.
Pierce said Cerqueira’s connection with FC will be an asset as he steps into his new position next year.
“Jeffrey has always been a part of the Floyd Central community, so I am really pleased to keep this job in the family,” said Pierce.
The application process for this position was extremely long and detailed. According to principal Louis Jensen, there were 35 applicants, of which 13 were interviewed. The last three finalists spent a day at FC to shadow and observe the school.
“He will be doing more on the teaching side of things because of his administrative background, but I am excited that he was the one to get the job,” said Jensen.
Cerqueira graduated from FC, taught at Scribner and Hazelwood Middle Schools, and now is at Charlestown Middle School, so he has an extensive background already in this school district.
“Jeffrey is really excited and gung-ho about the new position. There are a lot of people that will be here to support him in the beginning so that he becomes comfortable with the work,” said Pierce.
Pierce said that despite his retirement, he would still help with the transition in the athletic department.
“I consider Jeffrey one of my own and I will be more than happy to come back and help him in the beginning,” said Pierce.
Jensen said that Cerqueira will begin July 14 and at that time he will just be getting familiar with the system and people he will be working with.
“Because this is a new position, tying two into one, it will take some getting used to, but Jeff is the man for the job and we are all excited to bring him back here,” said Jensen.
By Avery Walts
The two short, cherished months of summer for high school students are usually spent at the pool or on the couch. However, the theater students at FC spend their summer preparing for upcoming shows, competing at Internationals in Nebraska, and this year competing in Scotland. Yes, Scotland.
The International Fringe Festival held in Edinburg, Scotland is the largest arts festival in the world. To say FC being invited for the fourth year is an honor would be a grand understatement.
“I received an invitation saying that a college had submitted our name as a high school with an exemplary theatre arts program and they hoped we would apply to be considered for the Fringe Festival,” said theater teacher Chris Bundy.
Only one school from each state is selected after the evaluation process to represent the United States.
“The process for being invited is not based on a single show, but rather they look at a three-year period of work by the school, theater offerings within the school, community support of the arts, etc,” said Bundy.
The real work for the festival began earlier this school year. Despite a few sightseeing excursions along the way, the main focus of the trip will be the group’s production of “E.A. Poe…Into the Mind of Madness.”
“We have just started work on ‘E.A. Poe’ so most roles have not been cast as of yet. The roles that are cast include junior Zach Hebert as Poe, senior Tyson Woolf as his adoptive father Allan, and Ryan Bickett as the young Poe,” said Bundy.
From past experiences at the Fringe Festival, Bundy noticed original plays fare better with the critics.
“I settled upon an American icon, Edgar Allan Poe, who is certainly well known throughout the world. We wanted to approach the show not only using some of his stories as a basis, but to really ‘get into the mind’ of Poe and what might have influenced his macabre nature,” said Bundy.
Along with the Scotland trip is FC’s 13th trip to the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. The students will be performing the smash hit “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
“It will be performed before 2,800 theatre kids from all over the country and they are the best audiences a school could hope for,” said Bundy.
Each year, hundreds of schools enter their shows to be considered for an invitation, and only five shows are given the evening slots to perform. FC is one of those shows.
Internationals also includes hundreds of workshops conducted by professionals from around the world as well as college scholarship auditions.
None of these prestigious festivals would be possible without summer rehearsals.
“The main issues with rehearsing during the summer is balancing everyone’s schedules. It is always hard to get everyone on the same page,” said Bundy.
With all the hurdles of summer schedules and stressful roles to perfect, Bundy finds any extra practice beneficial.
“Any opportunities to hone one’s craft outside of school hours is both useful and important in being the best one can be,” said Bundy.
By Garrett Receveur
It plays out like a scene from a “Modern Warfare” game. Four helicopters, full of U.S. Navy SEALs, land outside a compound, surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire. One of the helicopters malfunctions, so another helicopter is called in to replace it.
The SEALs, knowing the risk, rush into the home while waiting for the replacement helicopter. Two Arabic guards situated at the compound open fire on the SEALs and are easily taken down. The SEALs storm into the building, searching room to room for their target. They find their man on the second floor and, after he refused to surrender, they shoot him in the left eye, killing him.
Before the man’s fatal shooting, a woman, who was caught in the crossfire, called out his name, the name of America’s most wanted terrorist: Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden was the leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. He was the figurehead of the organization and the mastermind behind the attacks, along with fellow member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In fact, it was Mohammed’s torture at Guantanamo Bay which had given the federal government the information needed to plan a successful raid on bin Laden’s compound.
Newspaper printers stopped all across the country, printing new headlines, photos, and stories about this momentous occasion, many headlines proclaiming “We got the bastard!”
Soon after President Barack Obama delivered the news of bin Laden’s death to America, cheers and enthusiastic celebrations broke out across the nation. Thousands of people converged on the White House and Ground Zero, hugging each other amid cries of “U.S.A!” knowing that justice had been done.
As much as I would have liked to, I did not watch Obama’s address to the nation concerning the plot to kill bin Laden. I was asleep at that time.
However, I did happen to be on Facebook. I was checking it before I went to bed and I saw that one of my friends had posted a status saying “Osama bin Laden is dead. Thank God!”
When I first saw this, I didn’t know what to believe. I thought they might be the lyrics to a song by a really obscure band that I had never heard of. Needless to say, I checked all the news sites I could. Sure enough, bin Laden was dead.
If I wasn’t so tired that night, and if I lived in New York or Washington, D.C., I would have jumped out of bed, ran out to hug someone, and shouted patriotic phrases myself. The day after I found out, I was enthusiastic. Former president George W. Bush claimed that justice had been done the moment bin Laden was assassinated. Frankly, I agree with him. Bin Laden was the world’s most wanted terrorist up until his assassination, and for good reason too.
Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were the masterminds behind numerous attacks against America and other nations. Embassies worldwide have been targeted by Al Qaeda for years and Middle East-inhabitants have to struggle with suicide bombers and car bombers daily. Though, to us Americans, all of that pales in comparison to the horrifying events of Sept. 11.
Yet many Americans are hesitant to celebrate bin Laden’s death, saying it’s not right to celebrate the death of a fellow human being no matter how evil he was.
While in most cases, I would agree with this statement. However, in the case of bin Laden, I completely disagree.
Bin Laden and his organization were responsible for the deaths 2,998 people on Sept. 11 alone. I’m sure bin Laden’s followers were celebrating that day with no concern for the thousands of lives that ended so abruptly. I’m sure there were many followers hugging each other in the streets and burning American flags, shouting “Death to America!”
How, then, is it not right for Americans to celebrate the death of one man who caused so much grief and misery during his lifetime?
Besides, Al Qaeda is not yet completely destroyed. All the Navy SEALs did was assassinate the leader, which surely will not be the end of the terrorist organization; they just crippled it for the time being. Al Qaeda itself promised us this much.
We have kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest. A couple hornets came out and stung us, so we went in and squashed the queen. However, soon, whole hordes of hornets will rush out of the nest and sting our bodies until they are completely covered in raised red bumps.
The Al Qaeda threat is not going away anytime in the near future, much to my chagrin. A new figurehead will rise up to fill bin Laden’s spot and gain control over the organization. Perhaps even someone worse than bin Laden. Perhaps the attacks this new leader has planned in order to avenge bin Laden’s death will cost even more American lives than Sept. 11.
Nevertheless, America has fulfilled its promise and that is an occasion to celebrate. What Bush started, Obama finished. Both men, along with the Navy SEALs responsible, deserve credit for the successful assassination of a deadly figurehead for an even deadlier organization.
Nothing will ever be able to bring those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks back from the dead. For most families, the pain of the loss will never leave. While bin Laden’s main goal in the attacks was to destroy the American social structure, he did a lot worse. He tore family after family apart with each plane his terrorists hijacked.
Earlier in the year, I wrote a column that ended with how I’ve always imagined the Sept. 11 attacks. The vision always centers around a little boy whose feet dangle precariously above the floor of the plane. He is clutching the plastic Mickey Mouse ears strapped to his head and is screaming as the plane he is riding collides with the World Trade Center.
I still think about this little boy, but now I imagine something different. I imagine that this boy is still wearing his Mickey Mouse ears, but he is no longer in a plane nor is he screaming in horror. Instead, the boy stands in the middle of a New York street, filled with a multitude of other people waving American flags. Suddenly, a military man, chest adorned with medal after medal, scoops the boy up onto his shoulders and gives him a small flag to wave. The crowd starts chanting “U.S.A!” when, all of a sudden the boy with the Mickey Mouse ears starts singing and the whole crowd eventually joins him, ending in a spine-chilling finale.
“Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave for the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
