The Hilltop Echo Chardon High School News

October 1, 2010

Homecoming theme should be voted on by all studentsBy Kelly Bergenstein As most high school students can agree, the first homecoming dance they at-tended was definitely a mile-stone in their teenage years. Something about the ridicu-lous dresses and mainstream music just sticks with you. The glow stick stain on your dress shirt will always remind you of those four hours you spent in the high school gym, doing the “Cupid Shuffle” and drinking excess amounts of Fruit Punch. A lot more thought goes into these types of events than most people realize, but instead of having Student Council make the decisions, shouldn’t the en-tire student body be calling the shots? After all, the dance is open to all four classes. It has recently been said on the morning an-nouncements the theme for this year’s Homecoming dance will be “Escape to Paradise”. This makes me wonder, could we have chosen anything more predictable for a Snow Belt school? I’m sure that by allow-ing students to vote on what the theme of the dance will be, we can attempt to reach a compromise. Or if that’s too

much to ask for, I propose that we just combine every theme we can think of, and call it a day. Let’s keep everybody hap-py. Who wouldn’t want to go to a Masquerade Wonderland Cultural Paradise Black Tie Affair? Freshman Matt Liggett disagrees, explaining that he thinks the tropical theme suits

us well. He believes that in a city with so much snow ev-ery winter, pretending to be in Paradise for a night helps the students’ state of mind. Student council member and sophomore, Maddy McClus-key has said, “I really like this year’s theme, but setting it up and taking it all down is really a

thankless job. We put so much time into decorating—weeks before, the day of homecom-ing, and the morning after. Nobody seems to appreciate the work be do for them”. If more people were involved in the decisions, I can guarantee that the help Student Coun-cil receives would increase.

Other than the deco-rations, another topic of con-cern is the very music we are dancing to. For some, the idea of pre-recorded music gives us more of a variety. They don’t have to worry about hearing something they don’t know, because they can hear every song on repeat on Kiss FM, all

day, every day. Others, myself included, think that having a live band perform would bring just a bit more energy to the crowd of teenagers. It seems that it would be hard not to get into the songs with some-one parading back and forth with a microphone directly in front of your face. The costs we pay in getting a DJ could be put towards finding a band to entertain us. Who knows? They may take re-quests, and cover songs that they might not play normally. Though the procedure we follow with each year’s dance is similar, if not identi-cal to the year before, most students can honestly say that they enjoy themselves. I have yet to hear complaints from students within any class years. To be honest, for some Char-don kids, you could stick us in a cafeteria with a radio and a mix tape, and we would make our own fun! Sometimes, the circumstances are irrelevant. All you need are your friends, and the opportunity to find enjoyment doing something simple, like attending an an-nual dance in the same room you take Physical Education in.

By Caitlin Merz Homecoming is an exceptionally festive and exciting time of year for Chardon High School students. Once the theme is picked, everyone revolves their thinking around that theme. Decorations for the dance are picked, spirit days correspond, and most importantly, the floats are decorated to fit this theme as close as possible. So, what happens when the theme is controversial? The 2010 homecoming theme is “Escape to Paradise”. More than likely, we all get positive feelings when we hear the word “paradise,” but our thoughts of what paradise actually is tend to differ from person to person. With all of these different mindsets, the floats are projected to be very unique to each class and their personalities this year. The freshman class’ idea of paradise must be a low-key, secluded location. It’s so secluded that the majority of

the freshmen don’t know what it is like. It is very difficult to get any information out of the class of 2014. Whatever they

are planning is confidential even to many of their own clan. This kind of hidden strategy should definitely add to the excitement of the big revealing at the parade. The sophomores are going with a “wild, tropical” type of paradise according to class officer Maggie Grau. To match their tropical theme,

they will be showcasing some southern wildlife. Grau said we can expect to see four-foot long, talking alligators and

teletubies among other guest appearances. The sophomores are thinking optimistically; their float is said to be “better than anything in existence today”. The class of 2012 is going for a whole different approach when building their float. They are going for an anti-tropical mood. “It will be all igloos, snowmen, and stuffed

Classes take different stances on Homecoming theme

“This year’s parade should definitely prove to be

unique and exciting. Come support your class and

check out the other floats tonight at 5 p.m.”

In this issue:News

• CHSparticipatesinservicedayatHigh-brookLodge

Editorial• LocalAkroncom-paniesassistingincleanupofBPoilspill

Entertainment• Localbandreview:TheBlackKeys

• Newshows:Melissa and Joey andLife of Jenks

• “EasyA”moviereview

• Halo:Reach-agamer’sreview

Feature• Thisyear’sHome-comingCourt

• MeetthefournewforeignexchangestudentsatCHS

• Mr.Sedlak-thenewviceprincipal

• SuccessfulChardonalumniareinductedintotheHallofFame

Sports• VarsitygolfteamwinstheP.A.C.championship

• Juniorvarsitygolfhasundefeatedseason

• Varsitybasketballisinneedofanewcoach

• Varsityfootballsea-sonstartingtolookup

penguins” says junior class officer Brittain Elswick. They are hoping to obtain a snow machine as well. The juniors, like the sophomores, have planned guest appearances. They are currently trying to contact Usher in hopes that he will accompany cousins Justin (pop star) and Nick (junior) Bieber in their performance. Eskimos and a large, bearded man named “Santa” are also possibilities for their float. As for the senior class, they began work yesterday (September 30, 2010). It looks great so far and they are hoping to finish after school before the parade. Hopes are high for a class of 2011 victory as they have said that it is definitely up to par with their float from last year. With all of these very different floats, this year’s parade should definitely prove to be unique and exciting. Come support your class and check out the other floats tonight at 5 p.m.

2 NewsInteract club organizes day of community serviceBy Laura Louden On September 24th, Chardon High School held a service day, organized by Mr. Scott Brown, advisor to the Interact Club. Taking the ad-vantage of a district waiver day, volunteers worked at Highbrook Lodge. Highbrook Lodge is a summer camp for the visually impaired, run by the larger organization the Cleveland Sight Center. The camp saved money on facility maintenance with the help of student work, so now more money can be spent on camp-ers and activities for next season. Volunteers were busy with tasks such as drywall repair, painting, wall papering, weeding, trimming, mulch-ing, assembling beds, oiling hinges, and refinishing floors. Luckily, the work was evenly spread: numerous CHS clubs were in attendance, which created a student workforce of about 180, divided into teams of ten. In fact, so many volunteers showed up that “We had three bus loads,” explained Mrs. Weaver as she paused from her painting du-ties. “The kids tripled up on

the bus so everyone could fit.” The large quantity of volun-teers made a happy Mr. Brown report that “everything was going great,” as he watched over a group of students pre-paring to assemble beds. “To-day is a great day, the weather turned out to be very nice, and working with a great group of kids is fun.” Numerous stu-dents looked to be enjoying themselves while producing results at the same time. Se-nior Interact Club President Matt Perkins was thrilled with the productivity of the group. “It’s awesome. People are be-ing really efficient. I saw a before and after of one area, and it looked really good.” Such productivity aids the one maintenance worker High-brook Lodge has for the whole grounds. Mrs. Ricci noted that the “kids worked amazingly hard, without one complaint, without hesitation.” It was easy to tell by the output of the volunteers that they all wanted to be there, not that they had to be. Senior Louis Seiler, found pressure washing a patch of a path that had once been black, said he just came

because he “likes doing stuff like this” and with an inevita-ble smile he elaborated, “And I get to use a pressure washer!” He went on to say that other service projects should be done throughout the year when students have off from school because people will take the opportunity. Mr. Gary Convertino, Director of Volun-teers at Highbrook Lodge, explained the opportunities the camp brings to the visually impaired. They strive to “bring nature to those vi-sually impaired and blind, help them es-tablish a routine of exercise and nature that they might not have access to.” When asked how much the CHS volunteers would im-pact the camp, it was evident just how appreciative he was. “Oh huge, to say the least. Just looking around, everything is cleaner. They made new trails and everything. It really helps us get ready for next year…a big thank-you to CHS.”

Campers have a week of fun activities planned for them, and all activities have been accommodated to fit their needs. All ages, from “zero to ninety,” adults, singles, kids

and families are served at the camp. Trained staff mem-bers, consisting of juniors and seniors in college, mostly equipped with degrees focus-ing on people with disabilities, design the programs so that “no one will be hindered from doing them.” Programs include the likes of camping, trailblaz-ing, swimming, bowling, sing-ing, dancing and much more.

Mr. Convertino laughed and said “the list just goes on and on.” Highbrook Lodge also puts on theme nights for their guests, such as Purple Night, where everything becomes

purple at camp, and Circus Night. Mr. Convertino finds his job be-yond rewarding; he only takes jobs in his life “that are mission-fo-cused; this is a mission-focused place.” There is no doubt that CHS volunteers also found their time at High-brook Lodge ex-tremely reward-

ing. When asked if it should be done again, freshman Remy Nering said, “Yes we should, it’s actually fun!” Senior Brit-tany Niehus agreed, stating that “it’s a great experience and I think we should do it again.” She also examined the possibility of a service day for our own school because “we’d get so much more done.”

2010 Homecoming court more representative of Chardon studentsBy Sarah Brown On Friday, Septem-ber 18, CHS chose this year’s homecoming court. The con-tenders for Homecoming King consist of Cody Griffis, Jacob Hollinger, Collin Lopez, Matt Stevenson, and Brian Vadakin. Running for Queen are Stephanie Bartol, Phoenix Cooke, Rachel Gilbert, Cait-lin Merz, and Maria Vrenko. The requirements for being on court were changed last year in an effort to showcase Chardon students. Homecom-ing Court nominees have to be a participant in at least one extra-curricular, and maintain a 1.5 grade point average. The goal of these new guidelines was to create a homecoming court that was representative of Chardon High School as a whole. Incidentally, it also cut out 1/3 of the senior class boys. This year’s Court is filled with candidates who are all very involved within the school.

Stephanie Bartol is a member of the basketball and track teams at Chardon High School. She is the president of NHS, a member of Student Council as well as Interact Club and the Freshman Mentoring Program. Phoenix Cooke enjoys spending most of her time on her horse. She is a member of the Ohio Professional Horseman’s Association and the United States Equestrian Federation. Phoenix is ranked second in the state and 15th in the

country for Hunter/Jumper. Phoenix is also a member of French Club. Rachel Gilbert is well known for her strength on the varsity soccer team. Rachel is a freshman mentor and very involved with Life Teen, her church’s youth group. She is also a strong advocate against breast cancer. Caitlin Merz has been a cheerleader since she was six. She’s also the senior class Vice President and a freshman mentor. Caitlin is a member of Student Council, Interact, CHS Activities Council, and the choir. She too is also very involved with Life Teen. Maria Vrenko is best known for her vocal talents. She won Chardon Idol in 2008, and recently came in second place in Cleveland Top Talent. Maria recently sang the National Anthem at the Cleveland Indians game on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Maria is involved in the Freshman Mentoring Program, Chamber Choir and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Cody Griffis is a member of the CHS band and plays bass drum in the marching band. Cody is involved in the Freshman Mentoring Program, the Interact Club, Men’s Choir, Free Harmony, and Drama. Jacob Hollinger has been a member of Interact since freshman year. He’s also an NHS officer and a freshman mentor. Jake has run track and played on the basketball team all throughout his high school

career. Jake is currently the sports editor for the Hilltop Echo. Collin Lopez, a member of the CHS football team and a FCS TA, is also involved in the Freshman Mentoring Program. Collin is a defensive lineman on the varsity team. Matt Stevenson is a member of marching band, and the CHS Swim Team. He is also a Freshman Mentor and very involved with Interact, NHS, and Drama. Matt is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank a boy scout can achieve. Brian Vadakin is an NHS officer and one of two Hilltop Echo co-Editors. He has been involved with high school newspapers for his entire High School career. Brian is a member of Envirothon, Science Olympiad, the Freshman Mentoring Program, and Interact. He enjoyed participating in the One Acts last year, and plans to do so again this year. Brian has also played piano for seven years outside of school. With a Court filled with so many members who are very involved in the school and such good students, choosing just two of these candidates to represent the high school is a tough task. This year, the Homecoming Queen will be announced at the homecoming football game on October 1st. The King will be announced the following night during the dance.

By Madeline VanScoyoc Choosing a college to go to is one main concern for almost all junior and seniors. But with so many options out there, it can be a stressful and confusing decision. Luck-ily there are ways to make your important decision easi-er. Students have to keep in mind some important factors that can help when choosing a college. First, think about what you want to do as a career. What you excel at and enjoy can help determine your deci-sion. If you like working with animals than maybe a career as a veterinarian is for you. Or, if you love playing school sports, than maybe you would be in-terested in becoming a profes-sional athlete. Career choices are endless; the key is to find a college that offers a degree in the field you’re interested in. If you are still un-sure, a college fair could help

with your decision. Lakeland Community College is hosting college fairs at its local cam-pus. Students can go and get information on colleges they are interested in, or perhaps even find a perfect college to attend that they didn’t know about before. Over one hun-dred colleges and universities in state and out will be rep-resented. These include: Ohio University, Penn State Univer-sity, and The Ohio State Uni-versity. Smaller colleges like Cuyahoga Community Col-lege and Kent State University- Geauga and Ashtabula Cam-puses will be represented too. All students can take advantage of three exempt absences for college visits. By doing so you can be positive that the college you’re inter-ested in is the right one for you. Students can find more information and specific dates on college fairs in guidance.

Upcoming college fairs

Feature 3 Welcome change for the foreign exchange

By Kristen Morgan Konnichiha! Guten Tag! Olá! Regardless of the language, hello is understood as a warm welcome around the world. Every year Char-don High School has been fortunate enough to host outgoing and friendly for-eign exchange students, and this year is no exception. The four foreign exchange students have come from around the world to spend a year in the United States. Mari Kyono is from

Japan has loved her experi-ence so far. She is staying with the Case family. Mari has many siblings in her host family as well as in Japan. The only big difference in family life is the kind of food they eat. So far Mari is enjoying high school in the states. “I really like it! The teachers are friendlier here and there is more free time. In Japan, there are more people and it is all work,” she says. Mari also explained that she prefers the shorter school days in Chardon. “School starts

at 7:30 and goes until 4:00,” claims Mari, so getting out at 2:30 is a real treat for her. Be-sides enjoying all the social interactions at school, Mari is also very involved in af-ter school activities as well. She is an ex-ceptional piano player and currently plays for Free Harmony. Our Brazilian foreign exchange stu-dent, Renan Carvalho, is another popular commodity at Char-

don High School. He is staying with the Willis family and gets along with his two host sis-ters. Back in Brazil, Renan lives only with his parents, so the added siblings are defi nitely a change. Renan loves to travel and was excited to come to the states. His time at Char-don has already been great. “In Brazil, school is much different. It’s a lot smaller and we don’t choose our schedules,” Renan explains. “We don’t eat lunch either.” Renan spends his time after school running with the

cross country team. “I didn’t run in Brazil but I did boxing and climbing,” he says. Renan also has a passion for tennis and plans on playing in the spring. Maiko Kulich is one of our foreign exchange students from Germany. He is staying with a single parent named George Dennison. Here in America, Maiko is an only child, but back in Germany, he lives with his parents and his two brothers. Maiko likes Chardon so far but is still adjusting to his different life. “In Germany, everyday is a different sched-ule. Also, the teachers change classrooms but the students do not,” Maiko explains. Do-ing the complete opposite in the U.S. is quite an adjustment for him. He is also getting used to our system of homework. “The German government doesn’t believe in homework. They think we should do our school work in school. Home-work is only necessary for practice,” adds Maiko. While Maiko gets accustomed to his new school, he has seemed to fi t right into the CHS March-ing Band. He is also excited

to play basketball and base-ball during his stay in America. Lara Scharnowske is also from Germany. She is currently staying with the Witosky family. She wanted to come to America because her sister was a foreign exchange student too. Just like Maiko, Lara is experiencing all of the different customs in America. “It’s very different here but I like it. Sports are taken very seriously in school here. In Germany the schedules are different and we have more breaks,” says Lara. The biggest change, though, is the language. She explains, “It’s hard for me to speak but I’m getting better. In Germany we mainly wrote English so speaking it is more diffi cult.” In Germany, Lara spent most of her free time rid-ing horses. This year she looks forward to playing basketball. All the foreign ex-change students are adjusting well to their new surround-ings and seem to enjoy CHS so far. They are very optimistic about the new experience and hope to have a wonderful year.

New teachers walk the halls of Chardon High SchoolBy Megan Whitney This year at Chardon, we welcome several new staff members to the Chardon High staff including, Michael Sedlak, Vice Principal, Allison Morgan, math teacher, and Jill Carpenter, science teacher. This year we have gracefully accepted two new teachers and a Vice Princi-pal. Our new Vice Principal is Mr. Michael Sedlak. He was born in Northeast Ohio, but moved out west to Las Ve-gas, Nevada where he taught English and was granted the position of a Public Educa-tion Foundation Ambassador. Eventually he chose to move back here to our quiet little town of Chardon not only to be closer to family but also to have a more suitable place to raise his daughter Kassidy. When he came, he applied for the job of Vice Principal. Now that he has the job he says, “[It’s] tough to improve a school that’s already great, but it would be nice to have excellence with distinction.” In other words, he wants to increase student achievement and have Chardon be more in-

volved in the community. But life isn’t all work for this man; when Mr. Sedlak fi nds the time he enjoys traveling and spend-ing time with his family. He lived in Brazil for some time and thinks it was probably the nicest place he has ever been along with Germany, where he compliments the history, culture, and food. Travel is nice but it does not compare to fam-ily time. Mr. Sedlak loves his wife and daughter Kassidy, who likes to be read to. Even though the vice principal has a soft side don’t try any tricks when sent to his offi ce. Unless you are going in for a friendly chit-chat or a school-related problem, you are not getting away unpunished. Mr. Sedlak takes his job seriously, and whether he is helping students out with their problems or telling them to “knock-it off”, he seems like a great addi-tion to Chardon High School along with the new teachers. One of the teachers to take a new job this year is Ms. Allison Morgan, who cur-

rently teaches math. Ms. Mor-gan is not new to Chardon High School. She previously helped in Guided Study, but applied for the job of the math teacher when the position opened up. Ms. Morgan was inspired to teach by her own

teachers at Eastlake North High School and Ohio Univer-sity. “My favorite part is work-ing with students who need more help,” she said. She tries to teach the concepts of math by example and give accurate examples during her class. She tries to be very approach-

able and would like all her students to know, to not be afraid to ask questions. After school, however, she prefers to run and read. She enjoys running marathon relays and will be participating in a mara-thon relay with four teachers

in Akron soon. She also enjoys reading especially books by Nicholas Sparks and other authors with a similar style. But when it comes to school the only way to pass her class is by doing your work. A second teacher to join the staff was Jill Carpen-ter, who teaches science. Unlike Mr. Sedlak, Mrs. Carpenter has always lived in Northeast Ohio except for one year, when she lived in Virgina Beach, where she got her fi rst teaching job. After that

year she returned to Ohio to teach at Lake Catholic High School, which she says was no better or worse than Chardon, just different. She loves teach-ing and was inspired to pursue a career in education because she had great teachers. Mrs. Carpenter always wanted to

return to Chardon High and fi nally saw her chance when her mother told her what the open position for a science teacher. She applied right away and got the job only a week before school started. She attempts a guided and open teaching method that seems to work well as students seem to like her class. But she did not always have the desire to watch teens’ faces light up when they fi nally understand something. As a young child she dreamed of being the fi rst woman president but that dream faded when she no-tice her love of teaching. That dream died away when she learned what she wanted to do was teach. Her time out-side of school is spent with her daughter Tatum and her husband, shopping at The Lim-ited and Aldo’s, and running or hiking. When it comes to sports, Mrs. Carpenter loves to watch football, supporting the Browns and Ohio State. As open and fun loving as she may seem, there is only one way to pass her class and that is, like Ms. Morgan, to do your work.

4 FeatureHall of Fame inductees share lessons to studentsBy Melissa Trykowski As students walk through the 200’s hallway perpendicular to the fresh-man hallway, they may notice all kinds of things, including crumpled-up paper crinkling beneath their feet, echoes of Mr. Ricci’s energy, and even the spreading stench of Mr. Mizen’s room during dis-sections. Sometimes these things are more noticeable than what hang on the walls in this hallway everyday: the portraits of and the plaques for Chardon High School gradu-ates that have been inducted into our Alumni Hall of Fame and Athletic Alumni Hall of Fame. However, a true Hill-topper should not simply no-tice these portraits and carry on; a true Hilltopper should learn about the successful alumni that have fostered this school’s positive reputation. “Chardon High was a great place to go to school and grow up in, but I’m ready to leave,” says senior Georgia Fuerst. “I feel like my time here is up and I’m ready for bigger, better things.” Many students of Chardon High School look to leave this town behind when they graduate and move on to “bigger, bet-ter things” as Georgia says.

These aspirations are far from fantastic; one person can ac-complish many great things regardless of where he or she grew up. As shown at last Fri-day’s football game, many CHS graduates have morphed into successful adults. Four men were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame by the Chardon Alumni Association including: Robert Cooper, class of 1950; Thomas Goodrich, class of 1950; Ronald Wilmot, class of 1956; and Abram Sloan, class

of 1957. Two men were also inducted into the Athletic Alumni Hall of Fame: Mitch Hewitt (a current history teacher at CHS) and Scott Mackar, both class of 1999. Ronald Wilmot is many things besides a Hilltop-per alumnus; he gives back to the community through service and as a volunteer missionary. Wilmot was also a devoted environmental-ist, naturalist, and educator throughout his career. Abram Sloan was an educator as well (a master teacher). Sloan is also a talented woodworker and participates in African-American graduate programs.

Robert Cooper, an-other inductee, spent much of his career with infrared, low light photography, volunteer-ing his skills for schools and museums. Mr. Cooper was a medical school professor in biomedical communications and was active in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserve for 42 and a half years. He graduated from Ohio University with a master’s degree in fi ne arts (a major in art history and a minor in English). Mr. Cooper

thought someone was play-ing a trick on him when he found about the award, for he claims he was a horrible student in high school, yet he played baseball and the trum-pet in the band. He much en-joyed sports and woodwork-ing in his shop class. Cooper was inspired most by his shop teacher and baseball coach Mr. Jackson because he was sim-ply “there to teach” and “Pop” Canfi eld, because he “knew what was going on in the real world”. He felt that some of his biggest achievements were teaching to all grades besides kindergarten and helping to develop the smart bomb dur-

ing his time in Korean War. “It was my turn,” he said when asked why he joined the army. Mr. Cooper claimed that he didn’t know very much when he graduated from Chardon and that he was isolated from people that were different than him. His options were more limited back then and he recommends that students take more foreign language classes, but his biggest advice to students is to “keep your ears and eyes open and your

mouth shut.” Mr. Robert Coo-per currently lives in Washing-ton and has three children, all of whom are college graduates. Thomas Goodrich is yet another alumnus that was inducted into the Hall of Fame that takes part in community affairs. Mr. Goodrich was very pleased, very thankful, and very honored to be inducted. He was a leader in Chiroprac-tic Radiology with a dedicated career in Chiropractic medi-cine. Having the opportunity to teach about Chiropractics on campus post-graduation for 20 years was what Mr. Goodrich felt was one of his greatest accomplishments. In

high school, Mr. Goodrich was involved in football, basketball, baseball, and track. . “Pop” Canfi eld, Mr. Goodrich’s uncle, was also his most motivating teacher since he expected more from him than perhaps any other teacher. Although he was quite good at chemis-try and physics in high school, Mr. Goodrich knows now to “work a little harder in the studies,” and his advice to CHS students is that we should take advantage of the educa-

tion that is offered since it is the “foun-dation” for our lives. His biggest les-sons learned in high school

were to “accept responsibility for one’s own actions” and to enjoy friendships. He misses friends and fun most about high school, although he still meets with his friends from high school every Wednesday morning at Heinen’s for cof-fee and camaraderie. Mr. Go-odrich is currently married. to his fellow inductee’s (Robert Cooper) sister. Thomas Go-odrich has four children who are all in their 50’s now. His two sons are maintenance en-gineers and he has one daugh-ter that works in the medical fi eld assisting in quality control, and another daughter that ...See ‘Alumni’ page 6

“It is encouraging to know that I added value to the teams I played for, the teammates I played with, and the school

and community which I represented.”-Mr. Hewitt

EditorialBy Justin Tager For a long disas-trous fi ve months, the oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico and has been spread-ing over 1,000 miles of life containing water. The oil has been leaking 2,604,000 gal-lons per day. The oil spill is obviously one of the biggest problems we’ve come across historically and environmen-tally. There are many United States citizens who don’t even consider this as a problem be-cause they fi gure it won’t af-fect them in any way. Many of these people still buy from BP and are willing to support it. Many kind-hearted people have come forth to say they’re willing to help clean up this mess. Particularly two companies in Stark County are helping to make a difference. They are currently using man-ufacturer machines to create

fl oating barriers to help keep the oil from spreading. I think it’s wonderful to stand up and realize that there is a major problem in our country and to do something about it is crucial if there are any hopes of saving habitats and recreational spots being destroyed even if your on the other side of

the country. Their efforts to clean up the spill are im-pressive. They have goals to clean contaminated areas that are threatening to the

Cleaning the BP oil spill environment and the BP oil spill is their opportunity to make an impact. There are many people In the United States who are against the oil spill and want to boycott BP. On that subject, there should be much more responsibilities and actions taken from BP. Senior Dan Price says,”More things should be done to help all the wildlife that has been hurt.” There are many things being done to help at the moment, but there can never be enough help to clean up such a wide spread mess. I think that everybody should consider the fact that a problem of U.S. citizens is a problem for all of us. Many citizens should realize that they can make a difference too whether it’s going online to make a donation or if its helping organizations made to do things that clean the contamination.

“There are many things being

done to help at the moment, but ther can never

be enough help.”

Halo: Reach proves interesting and differentBy Evan Morissette As many are aware of, Bungie’s fi nal game in the Halo franchise came out on September 14th. I was among a few who bought the game the day it came out, although I didn’t pre-order it. I’d like to address some of the aspects of the game here.

I haven’t made a great balance of multiplayer and campaign. As such, I’m only on the seventh mission of campaign. The campaign starts out pretty lax, but it eventually picks up. In the next mission you’ll be blowing stuff up with the new focus rifl e (a powerful, scoped laser) and encountering a few of the game’s new additions. One of which a wraith and ghost hybrid called the revenant. It is highly mobile, it yet shoots a slightly weaker version of the wraith’s mortar. There is a brief space fl ight section that completely leaves the classic Halo formula, and resembles

something more akin to a jet fi ghter game. However, it is a blast to play and is well-crafted, making it more akin to a brief fi ghter game than something like arcade Galaga (though Galaga is a timeless classic). In general, the missions try to change gears regularly to keep boredom down, and it works.

My main focus was on multiplayer, and for good reason. Bungie has implemented a new part of your abilities called armor load outs. These will give you a unique capability, such as a jetpack or invisibility. This allows you to have an edge as soon as you spawn, as long as you know how to use said “ability”. This doesn’t mean you can just spawn and kill everyone, but it evens the odds a tiny bit. You are also allowed to spawn on teammates positions, away from general spawn points...

See ‘Halo’ page 6

Entertainment 5The Black Keys: a local band worth checking outBy Rachel Teuscher Most people wouldn’t consider Akron, Ohio as a fo-cal point of rock ‘n’ roll, but Akron is actually home to fa-mous bands like the Pretend-ers and Devo as well as rising indie stars like The Black Keys. The Black Keys formed in 2001 and have remained prominent with the underground scene in Northeast Ohio by sell-ing close to a million records. Their fi rst album, The Big Come Up came out in 2002 and (bearing in mind they were a new independent band) it did very well. The Black Key’s entire fi rst album was supposedly recorded on an 8-track tape recorder. After four more successful albums, they also collaborated with a number of famous hip hop artists, naming their project Blakroc. “Pat and I have been preparing for this record since we were sixteen,” Dan Auerbach, the lead singer, said on the offi cial Blakroc

site. Some of the artists on the album include Mos Def, Ludacris, Q-Tip, Jim Jones, and a very famous rapper whose name is slightly too inappropriate to publish. In the early 2000s, drummer Patrick Carney created a locally-based record label called Audio Eagle. Patrick Carney helped release albums for other local bands like Other Girls, Beaten Awake, Houseguest, and Gil Mantera’s Party Dream. The Black Keys’ newest album is called Brothers and was released in May of this year. The album was recorded in Alabama’s well-known Muscle Shoals studio. Brothers ranked third on the Billboard Album Charts, selling 73,000 albums in its fi rst week available. The fi rst single off their album was “Tighten Up” and the song’s music video won a 2010 VMA for Breakthrough Video. Another one of their songs,

“Ohio” shows respect to the Black Key’s home. Another noteworthy song of theirs is “Chop and Change”, which was also featured in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. The last time the two-man band performed in Northeast Ohio was in late July this summer at Cleveland’s Nautica Pavilion, while touring with Kings of Leon. In a recent interview with Interview Magazine, they were asked if growing up in Akron, Ohio has affected their music in anyway and Dan Auerbach said, “Growing up in Akron made us bitter, but it also made us competitive.”

The Black Keys have said on

numerous occasions that their goal is to be able to pay their rent with their music. Lead singer Dan Auerbach said, “That’s the indie dream—actually that’s the American dream—to be comfortable. We’ve already exceeded any expectation I’ve ever had.”

Melissa and Joey reviewBy Brooke Bender The new comedy series “Melissa and Joey” fi rst aired on ABC Family on August 17th and had 2.15 million viewers. The sit-com is about Mel Burke, a single woman who is involved in poli-tics. When her sister goes to jail and her brother-in-law fl ees the country to run from the law, Mel is left to take care of her niece Lennox Scanlon and nephew Ry-der Scanlon. Because she is un-able to take care of them and do her job at the same time, she is forced to hire a nanny. She ends up hiring Joe Longo temporarily as the “manny” when in a time pinch. Joe is a former employee of Mel’s brother-in-law. Because he lost his job, he is in the pro-cess of also losing his house, wife, and most importantly (to him) his car. Mel originally plans to hire a real nanny to take his place when one becomes available.

Lennox is a troubled teen who has a hard time adjusting to living with her aunt. She gets into trouble at school for writing a bad poem about her principal, and disappears when it is time for her to go with Mel to apologize. Mel goes to the meeting by herself, but Lennox soon shows up with a guilty conscience. Later when Mel discovers that Joe convinced Lennox to help out her aunt and helped Ryder with basketball, she decides to keep him as their “manny.”

Mel Burke is played by Melissa Joan Hart, who can be recognized from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, the popular show that she starred in. She has also had many other roles in various TV shows and movies. Joey Lawrence, who plays Joe Longo, has also starred in many TV show and movies, and is working on a pop album expected to be released in 2011. Lennox Scanlon is played by Taylor Spreitler, who modeled as a child and began to explore the world of acting in 2005 with a guest role on the TV show Law and Order. Nick Robinson, who plays Ryder Scanlon, is fairly new to acting.

The show has become very popular for many reasons, but mainly because it has an attention grabbing plot, skilled actors, and hilarious comedy. Jordan Mikulandra, a sophomore at Chardon High School, said that “Mel and Joe have good chemistry. They play well off of each other.” She also agreed that the plot was believable, easy to follow, and keeps the viewers’ attention. Chrissy Savides, another CHS student in grade ten, said she liked the comedy because it was “relatable to reality.” She also boldly stated, “I defi nitely think [the show] should be continued because it’s hilarious.”

In new movie, “A is for awesome”By Seanna Sicher

Easy A hit theatres Friday September 17, 2010, holding second place at the box offi ce and racking in $18.2 million dollars opening weekend. Emma Stone, whose feature fi lm debut was the 2007 hit Superbad, steals the screen in this upbeat comedy as Olive Pendergast.

Olive is a seemingly invisible high school student. She says herself that “Google Earth couldn’t fi nd me if I was dressed as a ten story building.” But in a plot to avoid a weekend camping trip with her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) and her crazy parents, she concocts a story about losing her virginity to an imaginary community college student. Unfortunately, Marianne, the school’s local Christian activist, played by Amanda Bynes, spreads the rumor around the school like a wildfi re.

Instead of denying the tale, Olive further weaves her tangled web of lies and uses the rumor mill to advance her fi nancial standing. She accepts offers from the schools misfi ts and losers, saying that she hooked up with them in exchange for gift cards to T.J. Maxx, Home Depot, and the like. Each time Olive helps their reputation yet hurts her own.

As the rumors grow, Olive’s reputation begins to

resemble that of Hester Prynn in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, which she happens to be studying in English class. Finding a friend in Hester, Olive follows her lead, and embracing her new reputation, sews a red “A” on to her wardrobe, which at this point consists mostly of corsets.

The fi lm offers a pretty honest and witty take on high school in the Facebook era, and includes a comical twist on a classic story. It manages to effortlessly weave in the prominence of technology and the role it plays in our lives while capturing a quirky take on the modern family.

Although Emma Stone is a bit of a newcomer to the big-screen, she effortlessly holds her own among this all-star cast featuring: Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet, Malcolm McDowell, and a cameo by Fred Armisen.

The movie also plays homage to a few ‘80’s classics directed by John Hugh, such as 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Easy A was a funny lighthearted movie, as well as a brutally honest parody of today’s teenage lifestyle. Although the fi lm skirts around controversial subjects, it is still an enjoyable experience. As Emma said herself, “A is for Awesome.”

By Carli Sensibello Arizona-native, front man, and guitarist of the band ‘Fairline’, Kevin Fisher is often described as a singer with a “Coldplay vibe”. Fairline has been featured on music-based websites such as Absolute-Punk.com, and even though they’re new to the music-in-dustry, the singles posted on their MySpace have gotten thousands of hits since the song’s debut in March 2010. Following that, they released their fi rst four-track CD, ‘Free Is Fair’ in the summer of 2010, which has also been popular among their fans. In late July, they re-leased a remix of their song ‘Need a Way Out’.

Although Fairline has a relatively small fan base and i n d e p e n d e n t style, don’t let that restrain you from listening to them. Fairline has been touring with bands across the country, spreading their contagious lyrics and catchy beats. “My hopes for Fairline are to change the state popular music is currently in,” Fisher says, “I want to continue writing powerful songs and continue growing as a person, and [as] a musician. If we are able to support ourselves by doing [that], there isn’t more I could ask for.” When asked about his high-school career, Fisher said that the one thing he regretted in high school was

“not being involved in many discussions.” Fisher also states, “I regret not being as outgoing as I am now.” In high-school, Fisher says that he dressed differently than most of the other guys, and as a result he got teased for it. However, he still maintains that, “The most important advice I could give to someone in high school is to not base any part of who they are to fi t in to a specifi c group for popularity or acceptance. They should always be who they are and follow what they feel passionately about—regardless of what anyone thinks about it!”

When talking about the music that he listens to, Fisher says that one artist he would never put on his iPod is Nickelback. Fisher started playing guitar when he was f o u r t e e n , and became interested in singing when he was seventeen.

He also says that some of his favorite artists that haven’t hit the spotlight yet were LIGHTS, States, and Andrew Belle.

Fairline will be touring with their brother-bands like The Maine and This Century in the upcoming months, and you can probably see them when they come to Cleveland or other nearby cities. If you’re into heartfelt lyrics, upbeat tunes, and well-dressed guys, Fairline is defi nitely a band you should check out.

Interview with lead singer of independent band Fairline

“My hopes for Fairline

are to change the state popular music is

currently in.”- Kevin Fisher

6 JUMPChardon varsity football gains confidence after shaky startBy Graham Zimmerman After a long and gru-eling summer of workouts and preparation, the Char-don Hilltopper Varsity foot-ball team kicked its season off against rival West Geauga. The build up for this open-ing game really began back in the spring when the team fi rst convened for workouts and it continued to grow all the way up until game time. The Hilltoppers, with their rejuve-nated passing attack lead by senior quarterback Dan Bel-liveau, felt they had a good chance to come out on top against the Wolverines, who recently underwent a coach-ing change. Unfortunately for Chardon the game didn’t go as they had planned and they fell to the Wolverines 42 to 14. The next week the team came back against Kenston and gave the Bombers all they could handle. In what was a much more complete performance than the previous week the Hilltoppers and Bombers were tied heading into the half. When play resumed the Toppers scored a go ahead touchdown after a strong drive, highlighted by the running of junior Zach Barry. Unfortunately for Chardon the Bombers quickly struck back with a lengthy touchdown pass on third and long that tied the game at 14. The rest of the game was highlighted by successful movement of the ball by the Chardon offense only to be stopped by self-infl icted blunders. Had the team not been infected with a bad case of “butterfi ngers” the game may have had a completely different outcome. With a total of six fumbles on the night it was no

surprise the team ended up losing by a score of 21 to 14. Although the Toppers found themselves looking at a winless record through the two games, the improvements experienced from the fi rst game to the second were very encouraging, not only to the coaches and players but to the spectators as well. The next game for Chardon wasn’t until the following Saturday

night against a favored Benedictine team. Benedictine has long been known as a powerful football school and is very used to having winning seasons and making playoff appearances. A win against a team with a reputation like the Bengals would do wonders for the confi dence and morale of this Hilltopper team. With an extra day of preparation, the team made the trip out to Bedford feeling as though they were ready for the challenge. In a game many are calling one of the best high school games they’ve watched in a while the Hilltoppers shocked everyone in attendance and drove down the fi eld in the fourth quarter to score the go ahead touchdown and defeat Benedictine for their fi rst victory of the season. With a win like this under their belts the Topper’s confi dence was as high as it has been in a long time and the hopes for a competitive and winning season have

returned not only to the halls of Chardon High but also to the city of Chardon.

“I feel like we have the talent and the drive to fi nish the season with a winning record and get to the playoffs,” says Daniel Belliveau. With the players’ confi dence soaring, the Hilltoppers rolled into Euclid to go head to head with the football team of Villa Angela Saint Joseph. This team from Saint Joes was no push over and it appeared as though Chardon was going to be in for a rough smash-mouth football game, which is perfectly fi ne by them. After VASJ went up by six points early on in the game the Toppers took the lead on a touchdown run after suffering a holding penalty the previous play. The lead only grew from there after the opening drive to the second half was a display by the visitors on how the wing-T offense is ran. The drive was capped off with a touchdown by Zach Barry and the lead was then 13 to 6. The game ended with that score and the Chardon team got on the bus with their fi rst winning streak in nearly a year. The following week saw John Adams coming out to Memorial Field to go head to head with the Hilltoppers. A minute into it, the game was decided when Chardon quickly scored the go-ahead touchdown and never looked back. After that, the game was mostly a highlight reel for the Toppers and ended with a fi nal score of 43 to 0. Five games into the season, Chardon has a winning record and looks to fi nish well up the rankings in the Premier Athletic Conference.

works in accounting person-nel management.

Scott Mackar played basketball and football in high school as a four-year letterman in both. In basketball, he currently holds the second position in Ohio’s history for a season by making 53.4 percent of three-point fi eld goals in his senior year. During high school, Mackar scored over 1,100 points, averaging over 20 points each game. As for football, he played seven different positions his senior year, was chosen as the Most Valuable Player on the 1998 Division II State Runner-Up football team, and earned All-Ohio honors. He still takes the third position in state history with a total of 75 consecutive extra points earned. Mackar was also chosen as one of the 50 “Athletes of the Decade” by the News-Herald and earned a letter in football all four years at Mercyhurst College.Mr. Hewitt was also a part of the same football team (as a senior captain) as Scott Mackar that earned second place in the Division II State Championship, next to Lebanon. “I was excited [to be inducted into the Hall of Fame], but more excited to know that my best friend and the best man of my wedding was also being inducted,” he

commented. Hewitt said he was proud to be chosen as Co-Defensive Player of the Year in Division II, a fi rst team All-State defensive player, as well as Runner-Up for Ohio’s Mr. Football award, but he feels his greatest accomplishment was being named a captain his junior season. “This was the only time in his career that Coach Doyle awarded a junior with that distinguished honor,” Hewitt explains. Coach Doyle had the greatest impact on Mr. Hewitt’s athletic and personal life. “I still consult with him today regarding coaching issues,” he continues. He was also a three-year starter on the varsity wrestling team. Mr. Hewitt then moved on with a full-athletic scholarship to Bowling Green State University as a four-year starter, and was chosen by his teammates to be a captain his senior year. Mr. Hewitt could not attend the football game to receive the award, but he said “It is encouraging to know that I added value to the teams I played for, the teammates I played with, and the school and community which I represented.” Mr. Hewitt sums up his athletic career as “a true blessing.”

‘Alumni’ continued from page 4

‘Halo’ continued from page 4 These two abilities

combine to make it much harder to spawn kill. Also, there are a few new game types including Invasion, my favorite new game mode. Invasion has two types, the standard pitting Elites (aliens) versus Spartans (humans), with one team on offense and the other defending. In the beginning the offensive must take one of two positions. Same for the second round. In the third, offense must steal a protected item (basically a

fl ag) and bringing it to a waiting ship. After defense or offense wins, the teams switch sides. The other version is has the aliens versus humans in a 100-kill deathmatch, but it’s pretty lame in comparison. The single player (lone wolves) offers many variations as well, but Reach is more of a team game anyway.

Halo: Reach is a great game. Its campaign is good (a lot more variety this time around), but the online is the heart of this great game.

By Chris Skiba World of Jenks is a new television series on MTV. It features a young fi lm maker who enters the life of extraor-dinary people every week, in hopes of capturing their strug-gles and the difference in their lives. From the fi rst episode you, can already tell that An-drew Jenks is an extraordinary human being himself. A white twenty-four-year-old from the suburbs, he has a great sense of humor and a love for people that make him an awkwardly

NewMTVshowprovesintriguingcharming, front man for a fresh new series. For each person he meets, he enters their lives and participates in everything they do. However, he is not a typical TV host on a typi-cal reality show. In each epi-sode he makes an impact on each of the people he meets. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind and will even tell people when they are doing some-thing wrong. As you watch, you can clearly see that Jenks is there to learn from these people, and show the world

what they are going through. The concept for

World of Jenks started from an idea that Jenks had involving himself, a camera, and a nursing home. He decided he would live in an assisted living facility to fi nd out what it was really like. He taped the whole experience and named the documentary Room 335. Eventually someone at MTV saw this documentary and called Andrew with a proposal. They wanted him to enter the life of one person and live with them for a year. He wanted to choose a famous rapper but also thought that documenting the same person every week would get old. So Andrew and MTV decided that he would enter the lives of new people every week.

In the fi rst episode of World of Jenks Andrew enters the life of a well known rapper

named Maino. Andrew makes it known that he wants to get past the money and the fame and discover who Maino is as a person. The episode is very powerful and even shows a confrontation between Maino and Andrew that leads to Andrew being slapped in

the face and grabbed by the throat. By the end of the episode Maino and Andrew have become good friends and have learned from each other. The confrontation began after Andrew asked Maino why he sticks his middle fi nger

at the camera knowing he has so many young followers that look up to him. He later realized that if Maino changed his personality for the spotlight he would be looked at as a sell out and in some sense a traitor to where he came from. “If he was very proper and walked around in a suit, then the people he was trying to inspire would feel like he’s changed. He’s no longer the Maino they knew. I thought that was an interesting perspective I certainly hadn’t thought of,” said Jenks in a recent interview.Once each episode comes to an end, there is unmistakable amount of love that Jenks has towards these people that will leave you with a smile on your face. He is truly an amazing human being and his new show, World of Jenks is defi nitely something to check out.

Sports 7Varsity golf clinches P.A.C. championshipBy Dan Belliveau

Over the last 20 years, Chardon has always been seen as a football school, but with this group of talented individuals, the Chardon Varsity Golf team is arguably the best team to hit Chardon in years. Led by senior Chad Sanders and junior Holden Pahr, the Varsity Golf team has been destroying records in almost every match. This group of guys has just broken the school record for the team match score by shooting a 145 with four players.

The number one spot on the team is held by Holden Pahr who has shot nothing higher than a 39 in all of his matches this year. He also holds the record for shooting the lowest round of 18 holes in a tournament. It was a sunny day at Asterhurst and Holden said that he had a good feeling going in. He was rested and ready to go after a nice nap on fellow teammate Chad Sanders’ shoulder on the bus ride out. He started the round with a par, but after a great 40-foot birdie on the second hole, his round was nothing less than spectacular. “Everything just felt good that day, and after I sunk that long put on number two I knew it

was going to be my round. I hit my irons good all day and made some big puts” he said. He ended his round with a 15-foot birdie to put him at a 72, one shot better than teammate Shane Swick. Shane Swick also has had some rounds to remember this year including tying the school record for 9 holes with a 32. He shot this round at Lost Nation Golf Course which has a par 36, making Shane four shots under par. “With the players on our team you just never know who is going to shoot the best round. Today it was me but we all have the ability to come out and put up the best score,” Shane stated after his great round.

The golf team started their 2010 season competing in fi ve tournaments. These tournaments each had about 15 other teams and Chardon played well enough to win

them all. In the end, they won two tournaments, took second in two, and a fourth in one behind a couple of powerhouse teams. “We got the start we all wanted but we are not done yet” claimed senior Chad Sanders. “We put a lot of hard work in over the summer to get to where we are now and our team believes that we have what it takes to get through sectionals and districts and eventually play for a division 1 state championship.” The team holds a record of 11-1, losing only to P.A.C. foe Riverside. Although the top two spots are locked with Holden and Chad, the three four and fi ve spots change frequently with Shane Swick, Louie Seiler, and Mike Maxwell all of whom are seniors. They all have their strengths and help the team in different ways. Mike Maxwell will take the 3rd spot if the team is playing on a long course because of his huge drives. If the course is a shorter one, Shane Swick will take that spot because of his short game. Senior Eric Peace wraps up the team with consistent play at the sixth spot. He is a good enough player to be a number one or two on almost any other

school in the state of Ohio but with this group of guys he has to play the 6th spot. “It does not bother me at all to play in the sixth spot. I am just glad I get to play on this team. If we play our best we feel like we can go wherever we want,” said Peace. The team just beat Willoughby South in their last match of the year. They carried that momentum into the P.A.C. tournament at Stonewater where they shot a 315 to clinch the P.A.C. championship. “After the P.A.C. match, our season really starts. We really have to step it up and play the best we can, but we can do it,” said Sanders. The team competes in their section on October 5th and will advance with a top four fi nish. Then they will move on to regional play and again will advance with a top four fi nish for a chance to play for the state championship.

CHS girls volleyball team having a winning seasonBy Adam Benjamin The girls’ volleyball team here at CHS is one of our best teams. The varsity team, whose members include captains Julie Poyar, Melissa Schmul, and Sarah Spaulding as well as Brooke Suszynski, Raquel Smiddy, Lizy Golias, Taryn Douglas, Jenny Stamberger, Dani Proce, Melanie Buckovec, Jessica Parker, Courtney Ross, and Kristen Heslop, is a tightly woven group who, according to Brooke Suszynski, are as much a family as they are a team. Jenny Stamberger also describes the team as, “one big family.”

Coming off an impressive win against their rivals of Geneva and heartbreaking losses to NDCL and South, the Lady Toppers hold a record of 6 and 5 overall and 3 and 2 in the PAC. This is not a coincidence by any means. Practices for the Lady Toppers are intense, but Brooke says they are also fun. They normally consist of a warm up followed by lots of passing with some

hitting or playing. The Toppers concentrate a lot on defense, meaning passing is one of the most important parts of their game. A pass is a bump where the ball touches the forearms at about waist level, or an o v e r h a n d pass where the ball is touched by the fi ngertips. This is a great strategy from Coach Bobby M c Q u o i d , who Jenny says, “cares a lot about the team.” It is great to see that the volleyball coach is as dedicated to the game as the players are.

Jenny says that some of the Toppers best defensive players are Sarah Spaulding, Brooke, and Melissa Schmul. Passing is very important because not only does it prevent points from being scored, but sets up a good attack as well. The Topper’s attack must be great as well, since many points were

scored in their victories. Jenny says that some of their best offensive players are herself, Sarah, and Taryn Douglas. It makes sense that her favorite part of volleyball is hitting since a spike and serve are

two of the most effective ways of scoring points. A l t h o u g h there are always star players, all players are v a l u a b l e members of a winning team.

A team can’t be successful unless all players are working together for the singular goal of winning. This is not diffi cult at all for the Lady Toppers. Their great teamwork and talented players insures that this will be a season fi lled with great wins and hopefully a spot in the playoffs. Come support your team when they play Riverside on October 7th and South on October 11th at home!

“The Lady Top-pers hold a re-cord of 6 and 5 overall and 3 and 2 in the

PAC.”

Varsity basketball team in need of coachBy Andrew Rebara As the school year begins, the students and fac-ulty become excited and overwhelmed with the school events such as varsity football games, varsity golf matches, and of course, the unforget-table Homecoming night. As it seems not to be an important issue at the moment, students tend to forget about the fu-ture of the basketball team. As we speak, the team is weak in staff and players. The numbers of returning juniors and se-niors is lower than expected and the head coach has re-signed. When I went to see how some of the key players were feeling and expecting at the start of the new sea-son, senior Jake Hollinger re-plied, “Not having a coach is a hassle; we are losing valuable team bonding time as we have done nothing yet as a team. I hope we can get a coach that knows our team’s history and helps us create a better team.”

The previous Head Coach, Coach Moran, stepped down as head coach as he needed to spend time with his newborn child. This is understandable, but instead of remaining a hard-working Hilltopper, Moran unexpectedly left to become a Cougar. Junior Nick Ruckel

says he understands Moran’s position. “Basically, I miss the guy because he was a good coach while he was here,” Ruckel said, “and he was my coach for my whole high school basketball career. I also understand that he had to leave because of his family, but I’m disappointed because he went to coach for an opposing school.”

The players seem to be on both sides of the issue, some saying that they understand why the coach left, but they are still hurt and disappointed at the fact that he now coaches for another school and left without saying he would coach for Lake Catholic. I understand the circumstances for why Mr. Moran left, but he should have

either stayed with Chardon, or at least told his players that his intentions were to go to Lake Catholic, so the players wouldn’t have been surprised near the beginning of the next season that their coach was coaching somewhere else.

The point is that the varsity basketball team has a fair amount of work to do in order to be ready for this year’s season, as it will not be an easy one. With teams like Lakeside’s Dragons, University’s Preppers, and Mentor’s Cardinals, the Hilltoppers must be ready to go hard this season in order to have a winning season, unlike last year.

With hard work and determination, Chardon will undoubtedly be able to overcome their obstacles with coaching staff and dedicated players. To the varsity basketball team’s happiness and surprise, they recently discovered that the new coach for Chardon Varsity Basketball will be Nick Gustin, who was the JV coach at Chardon for the previous three seasons. They must rebuild as a team and work on a relationship among all of them to be able to be ready for the challenging season ahead.

8 SportsJunior varsity golf undefeated this seasonBy Holden Pahr Over the last two years the junior varsity golf team has made a name for themselves. With a very solid varsity golf team, many would think the JV team would be lacking talent. This is not the case. Led by many very good golfers, the team has accu-mulated a 27-2 record over the last two seasons includ-ing a remarkable 13-0 this season. This is a very im-pressive feat for the team. In Chardon, the golf program doesn’t always receive many acknowledgments for their accomplishments, but recently the JV golf team has been thriving under Coach Ed Mugridge. He says the team is anchored by junior John Martillotta, sophomore Jack Glaser, sophomore Bret Bender, and sophomore Brandon LeScoezec. Going into the year, Mugridge expected big things from these young stars, and they have lived up to the expectations. They all have averages in the low 40’s, and they have led the team to the undefeated season. I talked to Captain John Martillotta and he commented on his season individually and said, “We have had a very good year. I am happy with the way everything has gone. Individually I have struggled a little, but feel like I am getting better everyday.” Martillotta also said going into the year he was worried about the depth of the team, but many young players have stepped up to the tee and performed for the Toppers.

John took the leadership role and acted as a mentor to many of the young Hilltoppers. He set a good example, taught proper etiquette, and brought a competitive nature to every practice and every match. These young players include sophomores Brian Kiss and Austin Marthe. Neither was on the team last year, but have made significant contributions to the team. Freshmen John O’Brian, Trevor Marthe, and Chandler Ross have all added to the depth of the undefeated golf team. John Martillotta talked about these young players, “Many young guys came in this year and stepped up big. They have a lot to be proud of.” This is an understatement considering the team did not lose. Some experience and some new, young talent elevated the team to the undefeated season.

Just because the team didn’t lose doesn’t mean that they don’t have a good time. Jack Glaser also talked a little about the team chemistry, “I love the guys on the team. We all get along and have a

great time.” This could be a factor in the consistency of the team. The season has been consistent for Chardon, but there have definitely been highlights. I talked to Coach Mugridge about some of these highlights. He talked about a match against Geneva in which the team had lost John Martillotta and Jack Glaser (they had been playing for the varsity team). Everyone thought the undefeated season would have ended, and it almost did. The team was losing with only one player left for the toppers. Trevor Marthe, a freshman on the team, was the Topper,s last chance. He was the sixth man on the team and an unexpected hero on this afternoon. He came in with a solid score of 49 which lifted the team the victory. Coach Mugridge was very proud of the young golfer on that September afternoon. He stepped up and kept the undefeated season alive. The winning streak may not go on for forever, but for now the JV golf team has rolled to an undefeated golf season.

CHS girl’s soccer team combines teamwork and friendship to winBy Jacob Hollinger “The key to our suc-cess is the way we work togeth-er; it’s not one person doing all the work,” said senior outside midfielder Kirsten Morgan on the team’s success this year. The Lady Toppers are 8-2 overall, and 2-0 in the PAC, falling in non-conference play to the state ranked West Geauga, and Avon Lake teams. They have all the talent and desire to win the PAC title this year. Led by seniors Colleen O’Brien, Rachel Gilbert, Kristen Liggett, Devon Beckwith, Kristen Morgan, Corey Baumgart, Megan Keppler who is toughing it out, and playing with a slowly healing ACL injury, and Vanni Pikus, they are off to the conference-play start they wanted by beating North. The Toppers also have a strong talent in junior Kelsey Glaser, who is the teams second leading scorer. “Our goal this year is to win the PAC, and go pretty far in the tournament,” said senior defender Kristen Liggett. Last year the team left the postseason earlier than expected, losing to NDCL in the third round. “We definitely want to go further this year, we felt extremely disappointed leaving the tournament that early,” said Liggett. In the past week, the Toppers had 3 games, won two out of three three against Lakeside (12 to 3), Madison (4 to 2), and lost to state

ranked Avon Lake (1 to 4). This year, the team is also balanced with a mixture of young and veteran talent. According to the seniors, there are some very talented sophomores, and even freshman that have potential to be extremely good soccer players. One of these young players in particular, Stephanie Ferrante, is a freshman that has started games at the varsity level, and is touted by teammates as a fantastic developing player. “With this kind of underclassmen talent we have the potential to be really good for many years to come,” said Kristen Morgan. Not only are the teammates great players and people, they are also great friends. Off the field, they enjoy spending time together, and often do activities as a team, such as tie-dyeing for a day, and having a team scavenger hunt. They hope to continue their friendships in college where some of the players plan to continue their soccer careers.

The Lady Toppers would also like to thank the fans. They have had great crowds, and this year at the Kick For the Cure game, a match against Berkshire which the Toppers won 6 to 2, they raised money to fund cancer research. The players said this was the largest crowd they had ever had, and they thank all the fans that came out to support the team, and helped fund cancer research.