Apr i l2 Berea High Focus

T h e B e r e a H i g h S c h o o l F o c u s The Focus Staff Adviser: Mrs. Marcia Roach

Editor in Chief: Michael AnguilanoCo-Editor: Sophie Hopps-Weber Design Editor: Marriah RodgersCo-Design Editor: Megan Causey

Cover Design: Marriah Rodgers

Staff: Michael Anguilano, Demira Berbiglia, Megan Causey, Janika Cook, Alexandria Fathauer, Jacob Fischer, Patrice Hannon, Greg-gory Henson, Christina Hickey, Keith Hochevar, Savannah Hopkins, Sophie Hopps-Weber, Kelly Johnson, Elise Lipfird, Aaron Martin, Monica Moody, Charlena Rakes, Marriah Rodgers, Robert Rody, Daniel Salzgeber, Bryce Schwandt, Brandon Soeder-Penner, Cadale Thomas, Tiara Westervelt, A’skia Wingfield

Berea High School 165 East Bagley Rd. Berea, OH 44017

E d i t o r i a l P o l i c y The purpose of the Berea Focus is to protect and promote free speech by creating a forum for student expression and a positive educational environment for students. Con-tent of The Focus reflects only the views of the student staff and individual students and not school officials. Therefore, The Focus will not be reviewed or restrained prior to pub-lication. An editorial board made up of students on the staff of The Focus will make all decisions of content for each issue. The role of the adviser is to educate the students about journalism, including laws, ethics, and practices, as well as to guide students toward publication. The adviser is not a decision maker. The students will not publish any material that falls under the category of unprotected speech, and the adviser will help the students to recognize unprotected speech. These areas include libel, unwarranted invasion of privacy, ob-scenity, copyright violations, and a material or substantial disruption of the school day. To find a complete explana-

tion of these refer to the Student Press Law Center website at www.splc.org. Students are able to publish and report any topic within the bounds of protected speech (so long as the re-porters do it in a way that accurately, thoroughly and completely covers the story.) In case of conflict between adminis-tration, adviser and students, students may use the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) for legal help. Any photo manipulation that could not feasibly be done in a dark room must be marked as a photo illustration. Students on The Focus staff reserve the right to accept or reject any ad-vertising.

Apr i l 3 News

Elise KourisStudent Writer

A few weeks ago on April 5, Berea High School celebrated the last ever Braves Day. Featuring classic events such as tug of war, the crate race and the football toss and remarkable hall decorations, all four classes of BHS helped to make the last Braves Day a memorable one.

The Braves Day tradition was established at Fairview High School (FHS) when current BHS teacher Mr. Rice was a student there. As he tells the story, it was called “Red Day,” and every class competed in hall decorations on who could best represent the Fairview Warriors.

“I went to Fairview, and it was a tradition there. I brought it to BHS for the students here, just as a fun high school experience.”

Mr. Rice is proud of the way Braves Day took off in 2009 and became a tradition at BHS, albeit a short one. He also looks forward to transforming Braves Day into Titans Day in the upcoming school year.

After transforming the Warriors style field day to fit the Berea Braves, BHS has made it into a celebration, put-ting the four classes in opposition to fight for the first place title.

With a final score of 46, the junior class was ecstatic on their first place win. Also winning the hall way decorating contest with their “black out” space theme, the juniors were on top of their game.

“It was a great environment, and I loved the school spirit,” Miranda DiBiasio said. She also agreed that the juniors had the best hallway, with their extraterrestrial theme and out of this world design.

The senior class had a close second place with a score of 45. Although some seniors were upset about the loss, most seemed to be happy with the results of the competition. As the last graduating class, seniors chose the color red and the Brave as their mascot. Their class shirts featured a throwback brave from the 1968 year book and their hallways were adorned with red posters, teepees and braves on the war path.

“It was good to finally win some stuff, ‘cause we haven’t done so well in the past.” Megan Williams said. Her favorite event was the bean bag toss because she was able to participate and win some points for her class.

In third place with just 22 points, the sophomores still en-joyed their second Braves Day, and had a great time participat-ing. Their hallway decorations were Monster’s Inc. themed, with a mural of the main characters and lockers with Scream-o-Me-ters from the movie. The third place decoration winners also cov-ered the lights, floors and lockers with blue paper and streamers.

“It was a great day overall, and we dominated tug of war, so it was fun.” Samantha Becker said. She also mentioned that she had a great time decorating the halls and dressing up with her best friends.

“I’m looking forward to joining with Midpark’s soph-omore class and dominating future Titans Days.” She said.

BravesDay

2013 The freshman class had a semi-victori-ous day, dominating three events. They had a total of 18 points, and won third place in the cheering competition.

“Even though we didn’t win big, it was a great day and I had so much fun.” Alex Hopperton said. She was one of the few freshman students who helped decorate their ghost themed hall with fake body bags and ghost cut outs hanging from the ceiling.

The intense games and hallway decorations, the stu-dents at BHS made Braves Day 2013 unforgettable.

Seniors Cody Roys-ter, Brady Spie-gel and Sam Car-son watch as the senior class fights for second place.

The sophomore class decorated their hall way in Pixar style, covering the walls with blue.

The freshmen class watch as the sophomore class dominate the in tug-o-war.

Clashof theClassesChrisitna Hickey

4 News

Some call it the craziest night of the school year while others call it the beginning of the best day ever. Traveling through the “Brave Nation”, going through outer space, land-ing in the world of Monsters Inc. or becoming a ghost, Braves Day 2013 had lots throughout each hallway.

With the one day given to complete the decorations in the hallway, some were staying at school until 11pm. “The only problem we ran into was trying to get other grades to share a ladder so we could hang all the signs up” Alyssa Gardina, a senior at BHS who has worked on decorations for her class each year said.

Each year the night before Braves Day comes, every class gets a hallway that they are responsible for decorating and making it look like the theme they chose. The four themes for this year were ghost, Monsters Inc., outer space and the last brave.

In downstairs Science hallway the freshmen were the ghost and they had a lot of posters on their walls with footprints on the ground.

Up in the World Studies hallway was taken over by the sophomores and the theme of Monsters Inc. with a large poster of the Monster Inc. characters and on each locker was a “scare-o-meter”.

The English hallway was invaded by the juniors with the theme outer space and had a large size alien head with a projector that shinned a picture of a rocket ship.

While the Math hallway was being taken over by the seniors and the idea of the last brave, they had a big “B” on the ground made of tape with a few teepees.

“We had fun working together to make it our best Braves Day and people that never even talked before were working alongside one another,” Gardina said.

The overall winners of the decorations were the junior class.

Staff Writer

Apr i l

5 News

“I’m glad you all gathered in this… jail cell; this evening, it’s somewhat, but not really, pleasant to be here right now” – Lemony Snicket said when he graced Berea High School with his presence on Wednesday evening, April 3rd.

The Berea Library was responsible for bringing Mr. Snicket into Berea Highs auditorium. The Library has planned many “Meet the Author” events in the last few months and with Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen currently on the road, how could they pass it up?

“I thought it would be silly and just for little kids,” Senior Elise Kouris said, “but I had an amazing time. Both Lemony and Jon were funny, and really captured the audience”

Lemony Snicket, or Daniel Handler, has written many “dreadful” books, but his most famous ones include The Series of Unfortunate Events. Snicket creates a unique form of darkness and wickedness in his writing, making the novels easy to identify

His new book “The Dark” tells the story of Laszlo, who is afraid of the dark. After finding that the dark hides mostly in his basement, Laszlo learns to conquer his fears.

Not only was this booked filled with gripping and emo-tional insight, but also beautiful illustrations.

Jon Klassen, Illustrator of the dark, grew up in Ontario Canada. With a love and passion for drawing, he took his talents to Los Angeles, California.

“I just really loved experimenting with new shapes and coloring” Said Klassen during their presentation at Berea High. Klassen has a unique use of shapes in his art, making his own pattern.

Many students were able to converse with the two at the meet and greet and get a few books signed

Senior, Emily Volz, who was a longtime fan on Snickets, described the incident as “Incredible”

“I still can’t believe that I met Lemony Snicket” Said Volz “I’ve read his books so many times, they really made my childhood”

Much like Emily, I remember reading his series over and over again. As soon as I finished the last book, I would start them all over again. It gave me a strange sense of com-fort, like nothing that was happening to me was so terrible

It is true that among Snickets books, A Series Of Un-fortunate Events is the most popular, and with 13 volumes in the set, it is no surprise that most of the books being signed Wednesday night were in fact the ones that involved the 3 Baudelaire children, and their adventures in misfortune.

I knew that I loved a book when I could imagine the char-acters in it being my best friends. That’s how it was with the Baudelaires, which is why I loved reading these books so much, because not only could I relate but they were like my best friends.

“It doesn’t feel real, I can’t believe that all these books came from one person, one person that I can now say I’ve met” Emily Volz said.

It was truly a night to remember for the teens and chil-dren that have been waiting almost a lifetime to meet the man who wrote the books they stayed up all night to read.

Apri l

Apri l 6 News

Save the BestFor Last

ay is a very busy

month leading up to the end of the 2012-2013

school year. Many seniors have Prom and Post Prom

to look forward to, final exams, awards to receive

and the senior class breakfast to attend. But one

of the most important events in these student’s lives

will be graduation. While the last day for seniors is

May 23rd, commencement this year is on May 28th

at 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the CSU Wolstein Center.

Many of the students who attend Berea and also

Polaris career ceter have to make a tough deci-

sion that day—which commencement do I attend?

That’s right; Berea’s and Polaris’ graduation is on

the same day.

“I wish they would change it. Graduating from

Berea and Polaris is equally important—they

should be able to attend both.” Mrs. Fox said.

The administration is well aware of the conflict and

has tried to reschedule both, but the sites holding

the events do not have alternate dates available.

“This conflict resulted this particular year because the Berea City School District’s

school year calendar concludes in May.” school principal, Mr. Ruggiero, said.

There is a mandatory practice for commencement the morning of the 28th and

the actual ceremony is about two hours long. Mrs. Kelley, the school’s senior class

counselor, and Mr. Mucha, the school’s Vice Principle, will announce all of the

names. After, the Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Senior Class President will give

a speech. This year, the Valedictorian is John Cary; the Salutatorian is Ashley

Porach; and the Class President is Daniel Rogerson.

“I’ve started a bit of my speech for commencement, maybe 10 pages so far. I’ll

be talking about the fact that we are the grand finale class, how great everyone

is, and end with a good luck and thank you. I am only a little nervous because I do

not want to let people down.” Said John Cary.

An interesting change has been made in the commencement dress code this year,

though.

Instead of wearing the traditional white stoles around their navy bluegowns, se-

niors will be wearing medals that say Last Class of Berea High 2013 hanging on

a red ribbon.

Demira Berbiglia

Staff Writer

Bob Cistolo said, “No more than wearing clothing from different professional, college, or other high school does now,” about students wear-ing clothes from BHS or MHS causing issues within the student body.

He also thinks that coaches are making an effort to build a Berea-Midpark Titans team which may be the reason for the request to wear certain clothes.

Hopefully these coaches’ thinking is correct and the combination of sports teams goes smoothly, creating a Titans team that is a force to be reckoned with.

Apri l

7 News

ApparelProblems

“…Do not wear school affiliated cloth-ing. Dress comfortably in athletic clothing and tennis shoes, but no Berea or Midpark gear.” This announcement was heard by many Berea High School students and has caused many questions concerning next year’s dress code at the new high school.

During the week of April 8th Berea and Midpark cheerleaders began clinics and held tryouts to compile the squad for next year. Coaches asked girls not to wear BHS or MHS gear.

“I think they didn’t want the girls to separate by schools during the clinics as they wanted us to mingle and be like one team be-cause even though none of us like the merger, we have to be one team.”Junior Kate Hartman commented.

Current sophomore Jasmine Torres thinks that school clothing does not really make a difference and that you can still tell what school students come from even if they do not have BHS/MHS clothes on.

This small request directed toward cheerleading has caused questions regarding the dress code for next year to rise. Rumors have swirled through the school about rules be-ing put in place that would not allow any MHS or BHS clothing at the new school.

Hartman thinks that putting this rule in place would be an unreasonable request and that it would be very difficult for staff to man-

age because so many students own school clothes.

There is no need to worry about having to pack away high school apparel though because Principal Mr. Vincenzo Ruggiero put an end to the rumors.

“[The administration] won’t deny students from BHS and MHS from wearing their schools clothing. It would be ideal for students to all wear Titans shirts on the first day of school,” said Ruggiero.

His plan for next year is to stay focused on Titans and the new school. There would be no suspensions for just wearing a BHS or MHS clothes. He thinks that if restrictions were put in place there would be some resentment and that people would be excluded rather than being drawn in to the school. There were some worries about allowing BHS and MHS cloth-ing may cause conflict between students.

“They didn’t want the girls to separate by schools...even though none of us like the merger, we have to be one team.”

Monica MoodyStaff Writer

With the pending consolidation of Mid-park and Berea High schools in the fall, questions were raised about the unifica-tion processes between the two schools. These cover the differences in the student handbook as well as the student codes of conduct.

Who is in charge of making impor-tant Student Code of Conduct and policy decisions—such as a cell phone policy—for the new school? By what process will the student handbook be changed to re-flect such a culture that will be created?

Berea High School administrators Mark Mucha and Gregory Soos, Midpark High School administrator Michael Rhamy, and BHS Principal Vincenzo Ruggiero pro-vided answers to these questions.

The student handbook, a go-to guide for students regarding the general information of what it means to be a stu-dent at BHS or MHS, is presided over by a review committee known as the Build-ing Committee, administrators concurred. Meeting every two weeks, the committee is made up of representatives from certified staff (teachers) as well as classified staff (secretaries, aids, et cetera), and begin-

ning this spring representatives from the coming teachers from MHS will be joining the discussion, according to Mr. Ruggiero.

“It can best be described as a con-

of BHS, against BOE policy. Because of this onslaught of blatant disinclination to fol-low the set policies set down by the Berea Board of Education, the administrators of Berea High School “reinforced the issue,” and were very strict about it. Because these infractions did not take place at Midpark High School on such a scale at the time, with no precedent set therefore, the enforcement of the policy was not as strictly enforced at that particular school.

“[If a student action] hasn’t been an is-sue, and it suddenly comes up; we’ll need to reinforce it,” Mr. Rhamy, future Berea-Midpark High School administrator stated, talking about policy infractions that could be experienced in the new school.

The discrepancies of implementation of BOE policies between the two schools with the Codes of Conduct will be decided upon for the new school by the administrative staff of next year: Mr. Riccio (from MHS), Mr. Rhamy (MHS), Mr. Mucha (BHS), Mr. Soos (BHS), and Principal Ruggiero (BHS).

The administrators, and it’s surely to their credit, have an important role in these decisions.

“The thing to remember about the Code of Con-duct differences is that once [the ad-ministrators] ease on something, at either school, it’s harder to institute a harsher expectation,” Gregory Soos, current BHS Administrator said.

“The incorporat[ion] of technology and data driven decision making,” Principal Ruggiero said, will be a huge part of the responsibilities of the administrators in the new school.

gress,” Principal Ruggiero said, “with a representative for every ten staff members. They make decisions in regard to the culture and climate of the school,” most notably in student activities.

Braves Day, for example, celebrated most recently on Friday, April 5, was de-liberated upon by the Committee because the event is neither specifically mentioned in the Student Handbook nor is it a part of the Student Code of Conduct. The Student Involvement Period (SIP)—[define]—is also a result of these meetings.

“The discussion [of the committee] cen-ters around the appropriateness of differ-ent presentations, [such as Braves Day or SIP] in addressing needs among the stu-dents,” Ruggiero said.

The Student Code of Conduct, which can be found in conjunction with the Student Handbook, is the set of policies by which students of BHS or MHS shall conduct them-selves whilst within the confines, and within sight, of each high school’s grounds. Due to the fact that both high schools are part of the Berea City School District, the letter of the Code of Conduct and Handbook poli-cies between them agree.

The differences arise due to differ-ences in implementation. One of the big-gest discrepancies between the two schools is the student movement into and out of the school building itself during the school-day. Although the policy states: “Berea High School has a closed campus. No student may leave the building at any time for any reason without permission...”, and it is the same between the two schools as it is a Berea Board of Education policy, there has been some differences in enforcement between the two schools.

MHS Administrator Mr. Rhamy tells about how, several years ago, there was a problem with students leaving the grounds

Apri l 8 News

AND IT’S SURELY TO THEIR CREDIT

D.J. SalzgeberStaff Writer

“ [If a student action] hasn’t been an issue, and it suddenly comes up; we’ll need to rein-force it. ”

*This reporter is the originator of all pictures.

Apr i l 9 News

During the 1919 influenza epidemic, residents of

Berea realized that Cleveland Hospitals were far out of reach and a

$100,000.00 fund was raised. Southwest General Health Center was

founded in the early 1920’s continuing to operate one of the most

active departments like the emergency room in Cuyahoga County. Six

doctors, Dr. H. B. Kirtland as one, created Southwest General Health

Center. Southwest General was one of the first community hospitals

in the U.S. founded by the public subscription and for 60 years, SWGH

received community support through a capital – improvements levy,

supported by six communities: Brook Park, Middleburgh Heights,

Strongsville, Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township. In 1975, the hos-

pital modernized, adding to the 20 acres of land, costing a total of

$15 million in medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric beds, intensive

and coronary – care units, along with an out – patient clinic and pro-

fessional buildings. In 1995, after another expansion in the 1980’s,

the 336 bed facility offered Sports Medicine, a laser center and a de-

toxification unit. Later, in 1994, Southwest General Hospital changed

its given name to Southwest General Health Center.

“Tom Selden’s focus is to be a premier hospital and a

hospital that cares about people. Standing tall as one of the best

community hospitals has been one of our greatest accomplishments

along with receiving many awards, including the top 50 hospitals na-

tionwide. And the current construction will most definitely improve

the hospitals quality and ratings,” Georgette K., a Physical Record

Specialist working in her twelfth year at Southwest General, said.

Working with physicians and with the emergency room, she and

many of her co workers over the years have seen the expansion and

have seen Southwest General do more as far as overall health.

Nothing Like

Noise. . . Char Rakes Staff Writer

“Southwest is a good hospital in their service with maternity, medical, surgical, cardiac,

hospice, geriatrics, rehab and ER services. CEO Tom Selden’s main goal is to be better and care for pa-

tients and their family and friends that come through. The best accomplishments Southwest has seen is

being one of the best hospitals in the area, serving the surrounding areas. Compared to the Cleveland

Clinic and partnering with University Hospital, Southwest does well as a community hospital and has a

fair playing ground with Fairview Hospital when it comes to competition. Southwest General has also

been ranked as one of the best 50 hospitals nationwide for several consecutive years in a row,” Eva H.

stated, an Environmental Services Specialist with eight years under her belt, holding a EVS Certification.

President and CEO of Southwest General Health Center, Thomas Selden, purposed a project

titled “Building for Your Future” and held a ceremony on May 8, 2011. Late in 2011, Southwest General

Health System Board of Trustees members approved a capital investment construction project to secure

the hospital’s place in the future of health care delivery in Northeast Ohio.

“Once the construction is finished, the two phases will provide more to offer the patients

especially on terms of privacy in their own rooms and better care. A new ER department, a two leveled

garage, a new MICU, SICU, CCU, and a ‘going green’ 100 bed tower will be added along with the remodel-

ing of all units like 2 North and South, 3 West etc. into private rooms. With the construction, it will help

improve the quality and ratings at Southwest General. The budget and staff was cut before Southwest

started the construction along with the closing of Pediatrics,” Eva said.

“Southwest General will be adding a new, bigger and better state of the art emergency

room, CCU, MICU, SICU etc. along with a bed tower. There will be a total of two phases in which the

estimate should take approximately four years. However, with all this construction to add these things

I do not think that Southwest General is keeping up with Fairview Hospital,” Georgette stated about the

level three hospital in trauma.

The project will include – expanded emergency room, a new critical care unit and construc-

tion of a patient parking garage on the north side of the main campus. Phase two includes a new patient

bed tower with 100 patient rooms, renovation of current patient rooms into private rooms and a new

entrance for the hospital. Phase two was sought in the fall of 2012 and full completion of the entire

project is slated for late 2015 with an estimated cost of $128 million dollars.

Apr i l10 Feature

“The building is old, so it does need to have things replaced,” Mr. Perkins, head BHS custodian said.

Many things in BHS need to be repaired or replaced, such as some of the heating and cooling units but some of the “old units need replacement parts. But those parts are not made anymore. There are also some steam lines, which regulate the school’s temperature, that run underneath the floors that are ruptured, broken, or have holes in them,” a BHS custodian said. There are many other things in the school that need to be repaired, replaced, main-tenanced or improved.

There are leaky roofs, old water and sewage pipes need replac-ing, the pool needs to be re-grouted, the seats in the auditorium need to be replaced, the control for some of the temperature regulating units need to be replaced.

“The school doesn’t have what it takes anymore,” the BHS custodian said.

It would cost the district more money to fix these problems than to build a new school.

In the school district’s 2011 financial report, the district spends several mil-lion dollars a year to operate. The school district is becoming more difficult to finance.

There was a vote to build a new high school a few years ago, but it failed. Alternatively, BHS was the site of the merger. There are intentions of pushing the issue until it gets passed though.

“It would be great to have a new school built,” Mr. Peoples, a BHS English teacher, said. Mr. Perkins said the same thing. It’s seems to be a general consensus that having a new school built would be beneficial and is a popular idea.

There are some students that are comfort-able with the school though.

“I’m pretty happy here at Berea,” Edward Johnson, a 10th grade student, said.

“I don’t see much wrong except the rooms are a little cold,” Jeremy Runyon, a BHS senior, said.

The building is well kept for its old age and it is manageable, but nothing lasts forever. The dis-trict will have to build a new building soon and the sooner, the better.

Old BuildingNew Problems

erea High School is at an end of an era, but the building will live on despite its old age. BHS as it stands was built around 1929, everything about the original infrastructure of the building is old and is nearing its time to be replaced, or go with a cheaper solution, building a new high school.

B

Cadale ThomasStaff Writer

Apr i l11 Feature

Students Teaching Students

The Art of Student Teaching

As students, teachers can be the thorn in the side, the scourge of society, or the reins holding back creativity. However, there are times when even the teacher is in a maximized learning mode just as their students should be. Therefore, the profession calls them both names; Student Teachers. And there are three student teachers currently at Berea High School, each with different expertise and tombs of knowledge. But what is it like to be a teacher in training? When annually angry students see a fresh face in class ready to take over the teaching duties of the room, a sense of relief comes over the young scholars but also an animalistic mentality that is sure to wreak havoc for student teachers.

“One of the most difficult things is to learn how to take control of a classroom. Before, student teachers were thrown into the class, handed the material, and were told to teach. Things have changed a lot”, said Cynthia Bassani, a teacher for 12 years who student taught at BHS under the former English III teacher, Mr. Gorsuch.

“Student teaching is a much more positive experience now because teachers collaborate with the process more. This change happened over the last 13-14 years, and it really helps the learning not just for the students, but the student teacher as well’, said Mrs. Bassani.

As order becomes easier to keep, so does the maintaining of the curriculum. Student teachers are very fluent in their field, chiseling away at it until the end result is a pillar of knowledge waiting to be seen by young minds. The most important aspect of becoming a teacher is to enjoy the subject that will eventually be taught. Akron University student Sarah Miller is the student teacher for Mrs. Draves, and says that science was her passion even at a young age.

“I love science, and I want students to love it just as much as I do. Science doesn’t have to be a scary subject like most people believe. It can be a lot of fun”, said Miss Miller.

Similar to Miss Miller’s love for biology, Melissa Fannon’s love is math, and that is why she is the student teacher for Algebra and Geometry wizard Mr. Stevens.

“I always loved math. I did well at an early age and in high school. I stayed a grade higher than all of my friends, and they asked for help most of the time. It was a nice feeling”, said Miss Fannon, a Baldwin Wallace University student.

The last, but certainly not least, student teacher at BHS is Kailee Gualtier, another BW student who is taking over the English II Honors duties from Mrs. Roach. Another often dubbed “scary” subject, Miss Gualtier accepts the challenge.

“I love building a relationship with the students, it really makes the class less stressful and altogether easier,” says Miss Gualtier, who did the methods portion of her student teaching at Lakewood High School. But there is one thing that all three of the college-clad ladies have in common: They all love to work with kids.

“One of the most difficult things is to learn how to take control of a classroom

-Mrs. Bassani

“I realized how much I love children, and I want

o be a part of their future selves. I want to make a big impact on their lives”, Miss Gualtier said.

“I have always loved to work with other people, especially children. I wanted a profession where I could do just that”, Miss Fannon said.

“I already love kids, and my time so far at Berea High School has just affirmed that teaching was meant for me”, Miss Miller said.

With their priorities in line, and the kids in mind, obnoxious antics and loaded grading nights will not be enough to derail these teachers in waiting.

Michael Anguilano

Editor in Chief

12 Feature

There was a $1 entry fee, with the money going toward prizes for the first, second and third place winners.

With 23 participants ready to go and a pretty large crowd, the tournament was on its way. The tournament organizers, Kyle Tyler and Mr. Roger O’Connor, set up the four tables and had a match going at each table. The matches were scheduled by the two tournament leaders in advanced in a brack-et form. The first round of matches was played until 11 but thereafter every match was to 21. The loser of the matches would join the crowd in cheering on their favorite participants and the winners would go on the face their next opponent.

The tournament winner was foreign ex-change student, Tomas Prado. He received the first place trophy and a donation from Luna for his vic-tory. Coming in a close second was math teacher, Mr. Rice. Taking third place was Evan Sylvester, who beat Mr. Salata for his position.

Mr. Rice said, “Yes, I absolutely enjoyed participating in the ping pong tournament,” “It is al-ways fun to compete, and there were many students involved and having fun.”

“Maybe a bigger tournament with more people, but the organization was really good,” Pra-do said about what could have been done differ-ently.

It wasn’t all fun and games for the tourna-ment leaders; it was a long, time consuming process.

“I first had to clear the idea of a ping pong tournament with the administrators,” Kyle Tyler, tournament organizer said. “After that, I had to start gathering par-ticipants and money for the prizes. The day of the tournament we set up the ping pong tables in the cafeteria right after second mod and explained the rules when all of the players arrived. From there we did our best to smoothly move players through their matches and keep all the tables running.”

In the end, all the hard work paid off, “I would not have done anything differently. It was the very first ping pong tournament in Berea High School and was very effective in the sense that many people become interested in ping pong club and even signed up for the upcoming doubles tournament,” Kyle Tyler said.

Ping pong advisor, Mr. O’ Connor was satisfied with the tournament overall but sadly he doesn’t see the tournament becoming a yearly event.

“Kyle is a graduating senior and all indications are that I will be teach-ing at the new Middleburg Heights Junior High School next year. Unless Kyle and I recruit not only an underclassman to lead the Ping Pong Club but also a faculty advisor/volunteer for next year, the Ping Pong Club and the tournament will not exist next school year,” Mr. O’ Connor said.

On March 6 BHS hosted its

first ever Ping Pong tournament

during the a.m. SIP. Partici-

pants could be any age or ability

level to enter.

Ping

Pong

Apri l

Tournament

The

The

The

Tournament organizer Kyle Tyler, left, awards champion Tomas Prado, right, with his trophy.

Kelly JohnsonStaff Writer

13 Feature

SpringBreak

acation is a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holi-

day (dictionary.com). This time is not just used for rest. Traveling for vacation can require much prep-aration and this planning can be stressful. Does this planning and stress actually take away from the fun of vacationing?

This year the BHS marching band took a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida over spring break. The marching band students were able to have fun and explore Disney but the vacation was not all fun, the main reason of the trip was so that they could play in a parade down Main Street. They had practices, meetings, and fundraisers to prepare for this trip.

“It was a great trip; I loved not having to worry about doing anything for school or work. It was very relaxed and fun,” Senior Josiah Denson said. The outcome of the trip was still fun and the band kids enjoyed not only the time they had to themselves but the time they spent playing as well. Some trips involve more stress and take more plan-ning than the bands trip.

Students searching for colleges may use spring break as a time to visit nearby universities, especially if a student is looking at out of state schools. This type of trip also takes a lot of prepar-ing; students must be in contact with the school so that they know that the student will be coming and students must be in contact with a student from the university if they are doing an overnight visit.

Senior Anna Render took a vacation to Northampton, Massachusetts to visit Smith College. Render had to have this trip all planned out before she could go.

“I had to meet a girl during her spring break just to meet her and know her before I went. Then I had to get in touch with her to make sure I had a place to stay on my visit. Also I had to contact an engineering student to see if I could attend a class with her one day and to find out the time of that class,” Render said. Even though Render used this time to try to find a college, it is still consid-ered a vacation. She had time off of school and travels in order to visit these colleges. Some people use this rest time to stay closer to home.

Some people don’t like to travel anywhere on spring break, just prefer-ring to stay home and relax. Students don’t have any preparing or planning for this, they just go day by day and see what there is to do.

“Over spring break my friends and I watched movies, went to the mall, ate food, and had fun,” Junior Mckayla Miller said. There is no stress and no planning; it’s a time to just go with the flow.

Other students tend to travel very far away from home; some students even go out of the country. This requires a little more planning and preparing.

“I packed some summer clothes (it was like 100 degrees everyday) and get the papers and passports in order,” Senior Nikita Martin said about her va-cation to Costa Rica. Even though getting the passports and papers around was a lot of work, the overall vacation was fun and Martin and her family had a good time.

Students taking different vacations may have more planning than oth-ers and some students who decide to stay home may have no planning at all, but really in the end no matter how much planning and stress people have to go through, the vacation is fun.

2013Kelly JohnsonStaff Writer

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Apri l

Apr i l14 Feature

The art ofMassage

Tiara WesterveltStudent Writer

assage therapy is one of the oldest methods of healing. It manipulates the body tissue to alleviate pain and tension.

When a person is getting a massage, it re-laxes the whole body, loosens tight muscles, lowers blood pressure, lowers heart rate, and much more.

“I felt relaxed and like everything was better temporarily,” Elise, a senior, said Massages are a temporary re-lief of one’s pain and problems. They are peaceful and can let the mind think about ev-erything that is going on in a person’s life.

“I was lucid, relaxed, and was able to focus on important things,” senior Dan Sal-zgaber said about his mind during massage. When someone gets stressed out, their body does not work the way it was in-tended to. The body gets sore, tense, and weak. These are reasons why people get a massage. They just want to be stress free for a little while. Sometimes people do not want to pay money to go to a massage place, so they have someone give them one at home.

“I get a massage on the couch or on the floor,” senior Marriah Rodgers said. The method of touching is not the only way a person can get rid of their

pain. A different way to get rid of pain is called Energy Transfer. “It’s where someone is putting their hand over the body but not touching it. They’re transferring their energy to your body to help heal it.” Energy transfer is a good idea for people that do not like to be touched but are looking for a way to relieve their pain. Pain is something that no one likes to deal with. People try to find different ways, other than medication, to help get rid of it.

M“I was lucid, relaxed, and was

able to focus on important things”

Apri l 15 Feature

Extra! Extra!Read All About it!

Fatima Lipfird Staff Writer

At Berea High School, a number of different English courses are offered to the students. For the kids that like to read, one class may stand out in particular: Modern literature. The class is centered around reading, and over the eighteen weeks books based around all different topics are read by the students in the class. Two teachers from the English department teach the class: Mrs. Bassani and Mrs. Ferguson. The first book the students read was Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. Other books read include Ella Minnow Pea, Such a Pretty Girl, and the most recent book read was an independent novel: meaning the students got to pick the book they read. Sarah Jenkins said she likes to read fictional books the best, and the class does a great job of displaying that opportunity. “Mrs. Ferguson usually lets us vote on which book we want to read first.” Jenkins was asked about the independent novel and the assignment to go with it. She explained, “I chose It’s Kind Of a Funny story by Ned Vizinni, which was about a boy dealing with depression in a psychiatric hospital. ‘Modern literature explores a lot of different books,’ Jenkins says. Mrs. Bassani taught Modern Literature last semester, and she said they will both teach it next year. Like Mrs. Fergusons class, Bassani’s modern lit class read Whale Talk and Such a Pretty Girl. Mrs. Bassani also has the students pick an independent novel to read based on lexile range. Titles read by students in her class included: Guantanamo boy, Why We Broke Up, and Bunheads. A number of young adult books are offered in the class. Mrs. Scriven, the school librarian, said she thinks it’s good that young adult books are read in the course because sometimes they’re even better than adult novels. “Reading is a very personal thing.” She said. Scriven doesn’t believe that the district should decide on what the students read, especially because the books based around people’s lexile range, may not necessarily be the book the student would like to read. Bottom line, as long as the kids are reading, and it’s appropriate, it shouldn’t matter what book they choose.

Apr i l 16 Feature

To Care,OrNot ToCare Megan CauseyStudent Writer

or many students, Prom night is a magi-cal, once in a life time, event that they spend all day preparing for. It is also an event signal-ing the end of their high school career. Seniors look forward to Prom all year but what many people do not realize, is that a good portion of the students attending are underclassmen.

Underclassmen attending a prom that is not ‘their’ Prom, likely do not go to extremes to prepare.

“I’m not going to prom this year, but I went as a sophomore. I had a dress I liked, but it was short. If I were to go this year, I would want a long dress, go and get my hair done, and maybe my nails too,” senior, Peyton Kranz said.

Peyton did not “break bank” go-ing to prom as a sopho-more, nor is she as a se-nior, but if she were to go, the expenses would have been increased from prior prom that she attended.

Peyton did not go with a boyfriend; she ac-companied a friend. But when Rachel Budzilek, a junior, was asked Prom, the outcome was similar.

“I’m preparing less than next year. I may actually get my dress more than a month in advance,” Rachel said. “My dress will not be as expensive, in other words my price range is smaller than next year’s.

I don’t want to outshine him [Josiah Denson, her boyfriend] for his prom.”

Peyton and Rachel both said that, if they attend, they would prepare differently, and more thoroughly, for their own prom. However, it seems a guy does not prepare much differently

“My price range is the same because I’m spending as little as pos-sible,” junior, Dane Hritz said. Different from a girl’s preparation for prom, all Dane has to do is rent his tuxedo. As Dane said, it is not like there is much difference in the tuxedo he can rent; they are pretty much all the same.

There may not be much difference now-a-days going to Prom as an underclassmen but in the 50s and 60s, going to Prom as an under-classmen was a nice privilege and people acted as if it was their own Prom.

My grandmother, Patricia Winch, has a lot of experience in going to prom as an underclassman. She attended Prom in eighth grade, 1958, as a fresh-

man, 1959, junior, 1961, and a senior, 1962.

“In eighth grade I went to Prom with my roller skating instructor. As a freshman I went with my friend and then my junior and senior year I went with my high school sweetheart,” Pat said. “I got new dresses every dance, and they were always below the knee and poofy. They didn’t have ‘after prom’ so we always just had a picnic the next morning in the park. The only difference between going to Prom as an underclassman and going to my Prom was that I knew more people going.”

Going to Prom is an experience of a life time; no matter how many times someone goes. Although many people only go their senior year, others attend as underclassmen but do not out do them-selves so they can keep some of the special memories for their own prom.

F

“I’m preparing less than next year. I may actually get my dress more than a month in advanced,”

Apr i l17 Feature

Autism SpeaksApril! April! April! Autism awareness month!! On December 18, 2007 the United Nations General Assembly declared April 2nd as WorldAutism Awareness Day (WAAD) What is WAAD you may ask? Well, Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects communications, social interaction, sen-sory impairment, play, and behavior. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identify around one in every 88 American children have ASD. One out of every 53 boys and one in every 252 girls, in total ASD affects over two million individuals in the U.S. Each year on April second, everyone around the globe is welcomed to show their love and support for the people who have ASD by putting blue pinwheels in yards to add emphasis to WAAD’s saying “Light It Up Blue.” Some citizens for the autism awareness month even glow their houses and work-places blue to show their love and support for humans with autism. Autism has become so widespread that public schools have units in their building to accommodate them. BHS teacher Mrs. Melissa Lash works in the autism unit at Berea High School. “Each group of students I have worked with has changed my life. I believe my students this year are helping me grow as a person and as an educator.“ Mrs. Lash said. Being an educator for autistic children is a joy, a challenge, and plenty of fun. “The main benefit of working with an autistic student is the same as working with other students but it seems autistic students are more trustworthy and honest,” Mrs. Lash explained. “The biggest challenge to a student with autism in my personal view is the lack of ambiguity- life is seen or understood in more black and white terms or con-crete matters.” Mrs. Lash said. When working with an autistic student there are some modifications and spe-cific items required. Sensory objects are one of those required items for autistic students. Sensory objects are used for stimulation and calming. Some of these objects in-clude bean bags, bubble wrap, light and water effects, and play doh. Sensory

“objects” do not necessarily have to be “objects.” In BHS’s sensory room they use music, talking tech-niques, and even lights dimming or brightening to provide sensory therapy.

When an autistic student or person does not have these sensory objects there is a chance of a melt-down. It is very simple for an autistic person to have a meltdown for even the weirdest reasons. When an autistic person is about to have a melt-down there are precautions that are needed to follow so they do not hurt themselves or anyone else. In Midvale Utah a family brought their daughter Arianna to Chili’s. Arianna ordered a cheese-burger with pickles and french fries with a choco-late milk, but when it arrived the cheeseburger was cut in half and Arianna would not eat the “broken” cheeseburger. Chili’s waitress Lauren

Alexandria FathauerStaff Writer

Apri l18 Feature

went up to Arianna and calmly explained that she brought her a broken cheeseburger and Lau-ren was going to go cook her a new one. While it seemed insignificant by telling Arianna what Lau-ren was doing, they avoided a meltdown.

Schools and restaurants are not the only places becoming aware of the needs and modifications necessary for autistic people. Movie theaters have also started to modify and accommodate for peo-ple with ASD. Just recently AMC theaters have started something called Sensory Friendly Films. These films will be shown inside the AMC theater with no advertise-ments in a Sensory theme by turning the lights up, and turning the sound down. AMC has their “si-lence is golden” policy down for this occasion. The family will be allowed to bring with them Gluten and Casein free snacks for those who have ASD.

Gluten and Casein free food is a required item that is needed in an autistic persons diet. . Gluten is a type of protein commonly found in wheat and is responsible for the elastic texture of dough, and Casein is the main protein present in milk and in cheese, also used in processed food. By removing Gluten and Casein in the diets of a person suffer-ing from ASD, the people around them will be able to tell a difference in how their disorder affects them.

Out of 2500 cases 66% of autistic children showed a difference when gluten-free and casein-free food was provided for a couple of weeks. Additionally, Autism is so widespread that even the movie industry is helping us learn more about the disease itself. Over the years many different Hollywood directors have thought of millions of movies some ideas that become very famous and popular. One topic that is not usually thought of during the writing process is Autism. In 2007 director Tricia Regan made the documen-tary “Autism: The Musical”. Other movies you most likely have heard of but do not understand the

meaning behind them is the Nicholas Sparks book and Lasse Hallstrom directed movie, “Dear John,” the award winning book and Stephen Daldry directed movie “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”, and the 2001 movie “I Am Sam” directed by Jessie Nelson. In the 2001 movie “I Am Sam” Rita Harrison (Sam’s Lawyer) said to Sam “I just don’t know what to call you: retarded, mentally retarded, mentally handi-capped, mentally disabled, intellectually handicapped, intellectually disabled, developmentally disabled....” Sam answers Rita in the easiest way he can “You can call me Sam” implying that no one wants to be labeled, and everyone wants to be treated equally. We all need to learn more about ASD and many other disorders. There are so many different people in this world, and instead of any label, people should just be called by their name. No matter what disorder a person has they are still a person.

Continued from previous page

Apr i l 19 Sports

Get Ready Get SetRun.

Sophie Hopps-WeberCo-Editor

“I like running track,” Paster said, “The only thing I don’t like is the soreness, but at least it lets me know I am working hard.”

t looks like it is going to be an exciting last year for BHS girls track. Only three weeks into the sea-son the girls have already placed fourth at the Bill Dono Invitational with one student, Junior Kyla Pas-ter, earning MVP honors. “So far I feel that I have done well. I can tell that I’m improving based on my records and time,” Pas-ter said.

This year she has run the 100, 200, and 400 meter dashes, the 300 hurdles, and the four by four relay. She has placed at several meets and aims to run at least a 25 second in the 200 meter dash this year.

“I like running track,” Paster said, “The only thing I don’t like is the soreness, but at least it lets me know I am working hard.”

With very few seniors on the team, Coach Dan Rapp still predicts a strong finish at the conference meet.

“A 4th or 5th place is very achievable... maybe even 3rd.” Rapp said confidently.

There is also some young talent that is predicted to add extra strength to the team this year. Fresh-man Claire Davis (distance), Junior Miranda DiBi-asso (distance), Freshman Taylor O’Brian (sprints), and Freshman Tanya French (hurdles) have all been doing exceptionally well so far this year, and are expected to continue benefiting the team.

At their first meet this year, DiBiasio, who has been running track since the 7th grade, placed first in the 2 mile and hopes to break the women’s 2 mile record time at BHS this year.

One of the common goals of the girls on this team is getting better from meet to meet and throughout the season. For Junior Monica Moody the only thing on her mind is improving.

“Track and Field is a whole new experience to me because it’s non-contact and different setup. I want to PR (personal record) every couple of meets”. As an athlete who is new to track and field she wants to focus on learning the rules and technique to throwing. “This seems reasonable to me because I’m still learn-ing,” Moody said.

As well as improving, the girls have also felt that building team comradery is a big focus of track and field.

“I like running track because I love how close the team is, “DiBiasio said, “I really enjoy the meets, and hanging out with friends. I love how everyone supports and cheers for each other.” The team spends a lot of time together throughout the season with practices every day and long meets most weekends, and manages to have a lot of fun together.

“I do like spending time with the team, the girls and boys,” Moody said.

The team also has good feelings about the merger of the two high schools next year.

“I feel the increase in number of athletes will benefit us greatly” DiBiasio said, “I am really looking forward to the merge, and believe the combination will make us a much stronger team.”

I .................................................................

Apr i l 20 Sports

With track season right around the corner Berea boys runners expect to show everybody that even with-out their star runner Berea finest Donovan Robert-son. Who qualified for states last year and took first. Some runners believe that they too can go to states and be successful and have a great outdoor track season.

Senior runner Vaughn Fultz will be competing in the 200m, 400m, 4x2, and 4x4. Fultz has very high expec-tations for this he wants to qualify for states and he feels and he can do that in for an individual event and in a team event as for whether or not Vaughn plans on having a good season , Fultz said “yes, for sure ball out swipe swipe.”

Senior Dan Zupan long, distance runner, will be com-peting in the 1600m, 800m, 4x800m, 4x4 and 3200m. Dan said that the 1600m will be his best event. He says that he could contest for a state title in this event. Dan believes the team should win conference and contend for districts.

One of the younger members, on the team Justin Har-ris said he expects to have a better year than last year. He said he has improved overall as a runner. His best two events are 100m dash and the 4x2. Harris thinks he has a chance to qualify.He said he believes that Bhs 4x2 has a chance to win it. The team consisting of Marlon Robertson, Vaughn Fultz and freshman Chris Newman. Harris feels he can fill that fourth spot to make the team that much better to win it all.

Coach Nigro believes that they have a few key run-

ners this year who consist of Vaughn Fultz who will be running the 400/ relays, Dan Zupan in the 1600 and Marlon Robertson. Nigro feels like Chris New-man a freshman will be a key runner this year. As for whether or not any runners could finish there year off like Donovan did Nigro believes that several of the top runners could finish the year off being All-Ohio.

Runners,To Your Blocks

Sophomore Justin Harris looks to dominate in the 2013 track season.

Askia WingfieldStudent Writer

Apri l 21 Sports

This baseball season is the last time any of the underclassman and upperclassmen will wear a Berea baseball uniform. Junior Austin Barnhart who has played varsity since his freshman year has big goals for this season. He expects to win defensive and offensive MVP. He also wants to be a part of the SWC first team. Barnhart’s expectation for this season is to work hard and win games. Barnhart feels the team will be an above average team because, “We’re a young group with only three seniors.” Austin feels his role on the team is to work hard and bring the other players to work hard as well. “I believe I can contribute to the team without a lot of errors and getting on base for people to hit me in,” Barnhart said. He thinks the team will finish better than we started and above .500.

Junior Eddie Harper says “I look forward to playing at Progressive Field. It’s pretty cool to play on a major league field. Harper feels he can contribute to the team by being a leader on and off the field. He says “We have a lot of inexperience on the varsity level so being a leader is necessary to have a successful team,” Harpers said. “At this point it’s unrealistic to say we’re going to win the conference, but, however, we have switched our focus and believe that if we can click in these last few weeks we can do well in the playoffs.” He feels so far, “We haven’t been playing as well as we could but the last couple of games we have made huge strides collectively as a team.”

Senior Alan Torres comments on how his senior year is going so far he said.“I feel like I have done ok, but I’m not content with my batting. I could do much better.” That’s how Alan feels he has done as an individual but from a team standpoint

he feels like they can still make a competitive run. “I expect the team to bounce back and be a .500 team,” Torres says.“Even though I’m not one of the most experienced, on the team I still feel like I’m counted on to be a defensive and offensive catalyst.”

Junior Jake Miller says the season is going pretty bad for him early on. Jake said that if they sweep Midpark all of his goals for the season are complete. Jake plays pitcher for BHS. His role is the pitcher and the pitcher only.

Askia Wingfield

Staff Writer

Be r ea B ravesB a s e b a l l

Apri l22 Sports

Berea Softball

Berea High’s fastpitch season is underway and the team is ready to accomplish alot this year after only winning 11 out of 27 games last season.

“We want to be the last Berea High School team competing in the Southwest Conference,” senior Savannah Hopkins said. Since Berea and Midpark will be combining next year the girls really want to make a statement being the last fastpitch team at BHS. Winning the confer-ence would definitely accomplish that.

“Our goals are to be competitive, have a winning record, stay positive, and always be moving forward as a team and as individuals whether it be softball related or in a general way, life related,” Coach Masie said.

“I think we will need to continue working hard in practice every day. We will need to continue having a solid defense and keep our strike outs to a minimum,” junior Megan Causey said. All of this will be crucial for this team to have success this year. Doing the little things will pay off and get the team wins.

“The most important thing for the team to be successful is to always play with 110% effort and work together as a team,” sophomore Jaime Fischer said.

“It’s all about teamwork and making each other believe we can do it,” sophomore Mariah Nemeth said.

“We have really talented Freshman,” senior Savannah Hopkins said. Despite graduating six players from last season the team has acquired some young talents.The team has threefreshman on their roster this year (Kristen Slovick, Vanessa Vodan, and Alex Hopperton). Slovick has a grand slam and Vodan has a homerun only four games into the season.

“Alex Hopperton always pitches well, and I think she’s a little faster than our pitcher from last year,” senior Savannah Hopkins said. These young players will help contribute to the team’s success and also have a tremendous amount of potential.

The Lady Braves have started the season even, with two wins and two losses. Each of their two losses were lost by only one run. The Lady Braves have many more games and will continue to improve throughout the year.

“I am excited about the team, their potential, tal-ent, and future. It’s a great group of student athletes that I look forward to coaching and watching play all season. We have determined players, and I think that will show in weeks to come,” Coach Masie said.

Bobby Rody Staff Writer

Apr i l 23 Sports

Berea-MidparkTitansVarsity Volleyball

This past season, Midpark volleyball beat Berea at home and then Berea volleyball defeated Mid-park on their home court, suggesting that the skill level is pretty even on the soon to be combined teams. With similar skill levels, competition to make the Titans volleyball team will be more fierce.

Open gyms have already started for volleyball and the coaches are already enforcing rules that make the players Titans instead of Braves and Meteors.

“We can’t split up in Berea or Midpark people and we’re not allowed to wear Berea or Mid-park stuff,” BHS junior Mallory Martin said.

Some people don’t like the idea of not be-ing allowed to wear apparel that they have accumulated so much of, but the coach-es have come up with a possible solution.

“We are offering Titan volleyball practice shirts” assistant varsity coach, Ms. Waldon said.

Ms. Waldon will be the assistant coach to Ms. Os-borne for the Titans varsity volleyball team. Ms. Osborne was the head varsity coach for Midpark this past season according to the MHS website.

“She told us that every-

one is starting with a clean slate,” BHS junior Tori Mullins said.

With a new team, comes new apparel, which means fundraising is a must. Ms. Waldon mentioned that players and coaches will be work-ing/running the concession stands and working the rib burn off in May.

Although the seniors from this past season will not be returning to play on the Titans var-sity volleyball team, it does not mean that they have no interest or advice whatsoever.

“ E ve ryone s hou ld have a po s i t i ve a t t i t ude s i n ce i t ’ s a new p rog ram and eve ry -one ’ s ma i n goa l s hou ld be t o c ome t oge t he r a s a who l e, ” BHS senior Jaclyn Thomason said.

Coming together as a whole can be achieved through team bonding.

“Yes! We will have team bonding activities. That is so important!” Ms. Wal-don said. However the team bonding activities have yet to be decided.

Savannah HopkinsStaff Writer

Apr i l 24

In a year where Berea High ath-letes have been ravaged by inju-ries, and the merg-ing of Berea and Midpark around the corner, the

smell of a merger curse is in the air. The most dis-turbing trend about most of these injuries is that they have been very dangerous and are out of the norm for even football players, and almost all of these injuries have happened to our seniors

These are not minor injuries either, these are broken limbs, severe concussions, even scary illnesses that have landed BHS’ senior athletes in and out of the hospital.

The football and Basketball teams came in with high expectations, but were both plagued by several in-juries to seniors throughout the year, and held them back from reaching their full potential in their final year.

The football team finished with a 3-7 record, but missed key seniors such as Danny Medvetz, Cody Royster, and Brandon Haney for several games, which could have turned many of their losses to vic-tories, just having them there. The worst part is these are only three of the several injuries that happened to our seniors in the final year for the merger. The team was likely capable of much more.

The basketball teams had a more successful year, with many talented players on their team, but were always missing key seniors throughout the season, and they were unable to put it all together. They finished with a 15-9 record, coming up just short in their playoff game against North Royalton, but once again the close loss did not come without an injury to a key senior, this time Jake Holecko to an ankle injury early in the second half, who had the responsi-bility of guarding North Royalton’s top player.

When asked how he thought about all of the inju-ries to our seniors this year, senior basketball player Bobby Rody, whose season was cut short after dislo-cating his patella added “Teams would have been a

lot more successful had there been less injuries and health factors. A lot of the injuries took long to heal, and happened to key players”.

The injuries have not stopped at the winter sports, of the three seniors on the varsity baseball team for BHS, two have already been injured and missed games.

While some students and players believe that there is possibly a curse looming, coaches Mr. Rice (football) and Mr. Collins (basketball) take a more reasonable approach to the in-juries, Rice saying “sometimes those things just happen” and Collins saying “Injuries are just a part of the game”

When asked if there is a chance of a merger curse coach Collins replied “Not at all” and Rice said “I believe life is tough and we are given a bad circumstance” but does not agree to the idea of a “merger curse” At the same time, neither coach believes there is such a thing as curses in sports at all, coach Collins added “ People that do (believe in curses) may put too much pressure on themselves in tough situations. And when they fail they may blame it on the curse.”

The thought of a curse may seem a little crazy, but curses have been rel-evant in sports for a long time, such as the cubs’ World Series curse which still exists after over 100 years without a world series. Bobby Rody is a believer in the Merger curse saying “I think there is a curse because it has happened in every sport this year and the craziest injuries have happened. More than what we’ve seen the past four years”.

Whether there is a curse or not, Berea has run into its fair share of bad luck going into the merger, whether or not there is a curse is for the reader to decide.

THE CURSE OF THE LAST BRAVEJake Fischer

Sports