Jacket Buzz (03/25/10)

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The J acket buzz starkville high school 603 Yellowjacket Dr. Starkville, MS, 39759 www.shsjacketbuzz.com VOLUME XVII, No. 5 03-25-10 Did you know SHS has a bowling team? ... Feature on Pages 6-7. By Taylor Bowden Contributing Writer On March 2, the Starkville school board voted 5-0 to pass the new dress code (uniform) policy. Now, the Starkville High School administration is taking steps to implement the policy for next school year. “The whole process is go- ing to be a learning curve for me,” principal Keith Fennell said. “I’m entering this routine with limited, if any, experience in my back- ground. I’ve not ever come from a school that had uni- forms, so I am going to be prepared to learn as we go along.” One of the major set- backs in the policy’s appli- cation is the confusion that surrounds the topic. “I think it’d be good for everyone to understand what all the options are,” superintendant Judy Couey said. “I think there is still a great deal of confusion, even though the policy has been released.” The policy states that tops must be collared shirts, blouses or turtlenecks, and are not allowed to have lo- gos other then the ‘yellow jacket’ logo. Pants must be either black or khaki colored dress pants, and pants with belt loops will require that a belt be worn. The policy also states that each school will adopt colors of shirts with input from parents and students. In January, the Student Government selected black, white and gray as the designated colors for the tops. However, both Fennell and Couey want more stu- dent involvement in the fi- nal decision. “I’d like to get more feed- back from students and parents about what they would like in the way of colors and stuff like that,” Couey said. “I think every- thing was too up-in-the-air about whether we were go- ing to have the policy or not that perhaps everyone didn’t get enough input. I want to make sure every- one has that opportunity.” One of the larger tasks at hand is to find a list of vendors that sell clothing that passes the dress code requirements. While students and par- ents are not required to purchase clothing from specific vendors, the dis- trict is planning to work with a few businesses to provide reduced costs for the specified clothing. A controversial subject since its conception, reac- tion has ranged from out- rage to agreement. Although a rare find with- in the student body, there are a handful of students who agree with the dress code. “I think its one step closer to making Starkville High School a better school disciplinary-wise and even maybe a little safer for fu- ture students,” senior Jacob Jordan said. “I can’t think of any negative outcomes from having a dress code.” Of course, there are nu- merous students that dis- agree with the dress code itself and the reasons be- hind it. “I think they should wor- ry about other things like books,” sophomore Ra- chael Damms said. “They need to stop worrying so much on what people are wearing and pay more at- tention to the actual educa- tion that the schools pro- vide.” But it is not just the stu- dents that are being affect Mandatory dress code passes for fall of 2010 The Starkville school board, pictured above during a Feb. meeting, voted 5-0 to approve a mandatory student dress code on March 2. Photo by Ruth Brown. SEE “DRESS CODE”, PAGE 2.

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The Jacket Buzz is the student newspaper of Starkville High School.

Transcript of Jacket Buzz (03/25/10)

Page 1: Jacket Buzz (03/25/10)

TheJacket buzzstarkville high school • 603 Yellowjacket Dr. Starkville, MS, 39759 • www.shsjacketbuzz.com • VOLUME XVII, No. 5 • 03-25-10

Did you know SHS has a bowling team? ... Feature on Pages 6-7.

By Taylor BowdenContributing Writer

On March 2, the Starkville school board voted 5-0 to pass the new dress code (uniform) policy.

Now, the Starkville High School administration is taking steps to implement the policy for next school year.

“The whole process is go-ing to be a learning curve for me,” principal Keith Fennell said. “I’m entering this routine with limited, if any, experience in my back-ground. I’ve not ever come from a school that had uni-forms, so I am going to be prepared to learn as we go along.”

One of the major set-backs in the policy’s appli-cation is the confusion that surrounds the topic.

“I think it’d be good for everyone to understand what all the options are,” superintendant Judy Couey said. “I think there is still a great deal of confusion, even though the policy has been released.”

The policy states that tops must be collared shirts,

blouses or turtlenecks, and are not allowed to have lo-gos other then the ‘yellow jacket’ logo.

Pants must be either black or khaki colored dress pants, and pants with belt loops will require that a belt be worn.

The policy also states that each school will adopt colors of shirts with input from parents and students.

In January, the Student Government selected black, white and gray as the designated colors for the tops.

However, both Fennell and Couey want more stu-dent involvement in the fi-nal decision.

“I’d like to get more feed-back from students and parents about what they would like in the way of colors and stuff like that,” Couey said. “I think every-thing was too up-in-the-air about whether we were go-ing to have the policy or not that perhaps everyone didn’t get enough input. I want to make sure every-one has that opportunity.”

One of the larger tasks at hand is to find a list of

vendors that sell clothing that passes the dress code requirements.

While students and par-ents are not required to purchase clothing from specific vendors, the dis-trict is planning to work with a few businesses to provide reduced costs for the specified clothing.

A controversial subject since its conception, reac-tion has ranged from out-rage to agreement.

Although a rare find with-

in the student body, there are a handful of students who agree with the dress code.

“I think its one step closer to making Starkville High School a better school disciplinary-wise and even maybe a little safer for fu-ture students,” senior Jacob Jordan said. “I can’t think of any negative outcomes from having a dress code.”

Of course, there are nu-merous students that dis-agree with the dress code

itself and the reasons be-hind it.

“I think they should wor-ry about other things like books,” sophomore Ra-chael Damms said. “They need to stop worrying so much on what people are wearing and pay more at-tention to the actual educa-tion that the schools pro-vide.”

But it is not just the stu-dents that are being affect

Mandatory dress code passes for fall of 2010

The Starkville school board, pictured above during a Feb. meeting, voted 5-0 to approve a mandatory student dress code on March 2. Photo by Ruth Brown.

SEE “DRESS CODE”, PAGE 2.

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ed by the change. Families will have to reexamine their clothing budgets and make the adjustments needed to purchase what may be, for some, whole new ward-robes.

“I have mixed feelings,” art history teacher Marcy Smith said. “I don’t think it will solve any safety is-sues, and the policy we have in place now isn’t be-ing enforced. As a parent it’s just going to be an extra expense and burden.”

While some see it as a bur-den, others see it as a good change for the district.

“We have students that are competing with cloth-ing, buying name brand items that cost ridiculous sums of money that their parents have to pay for,” math teacher Rick Cham-

bers said. “And then you’ll have the kid whose parents cannot afford to pay for expensive clothing and it does make them feel bad. It’s just not a good envi-ronment to be in.

“If everybody is wearing khakis and a button-down shirt, then you eliminate that class distinction.”

Although there are those who disagree with the Cou-ey’s reasoning, SHS school

resource office Sammy Shumaker states that safety has been a problem in the past and that having a dress code policy will help in the future.

“Most people don’t un-derstand some things that have happened,” Shumaker said. “When we have in-truders on campus, as we often do, if our student body is wearing a certain kind of clothing apparel,

intruders are that much easer to spot.”

Several guards from oth-er districts that have had uniforms say that it does greatly affect the safety of the school.

While there are still those who push for its removal, both Fennell and Couey agree that what needs to happen within the district to get things back on track

and improve the Starkville Schools is unity.

“I’m in it with you,” Fen-nell said. “I’m in it with the students to learn this pro-cess and make it as efficient as possible.”

Couey is just as ready to move on.

“I think it’s time we come together as a district,” Cou-ey said. “We have more is-sues at hand.”

Arlena Fischer and her brother Arlington Fischer protest the dress code policy at a recent school board meeting. Photo by Ruth Brown.

DRESS CODE, CONT’D FROM PAGE 1.

“When we have intruders on campus, as we often do, if our stu-dent body is wearing a certain kind of clothing apparel, intruders are

that much easier to spot.”

- Sammy Shumaker, School Resource Officer

Supt. Judy Couey speaks at a recent Public Forum on the student dress code issue. Couey presented a slideshow detailing the effects of the policy on campus safety. Photo by Ruth Brown.

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www.shsjacketbuzz.com 03-25-10 • Page 3News

By Tess LongEditor-in-Chief

It’s almost summer yet again, and that means it’s time for spring musical at Starkville High School.

SHS has performed an annual musical since any-one can remember, and this year director Mandy Kinney had a treat ready for everyone.

This year’s musical is a little different from those in the pre-vious years. However it is sure to offer yet another w o n d e r -ful theatre exper ience from the SHS drama department.

This year S t a r k v i l l e High School students will be performing the musical Zombie Prom.

“[Zombie Prom] is a lot cheesier. Last year had a lot of deep themes; this musi-cal is all about having fun,” Davis Richardson said.

Richardson plays Jon-ny Warner, a boy in high school who falls into a vat of nuclear waste, and is the play’s lead male role.

Just as Richardson said, as opposed to last years musical, Children of Eden, which had many deep and religious themes, Zombie Prom is all about fun and crazy situations.

“It’s a hilarious script,” stage manager Laura Kath-ryn Lindsey said, “so we

definitely laugh a lot. It’s a less serious type, one we can really just mess around and have fun with. MUCH cheesier!”

Not only is SHS drama department hoping to pro-vide an entertaining expe-rience for all who watch their performance of Zombie Prom, but they also hope to create a fun and supportive cast for those involved.

“My favorite part is form-ing a family with all the cast,” Lau-ren Hughes said. “Ev-ery year you have a dif-ferent expe-rience and it has a lot to do with the differ-ent cast m e m b e r s . Seniors are

always leaving and new freshman coming in.”

Not only do the cast members work with each other and Kinney in this musical, but also with Tom Jenkins who is the music director at First Baptist.

Jenkins has been helping with the music for the past several musicals at SHS and also played the role of God in last year’s musical, Children of Eden. The cast of Zombie Prom has also been working with Haritha Nannapaneni, who has been helping with the cho-reograpahy.

Zombie Prom will be play-ing at the SHS theater April 15 -18.

Zombie Prom sure to bring laughs

“We definitely laugh a lot, it’s a less serious type, one we can really just mess around

and have fun with.”

- Laura Kathryn Lindsay

The cast of Zombie Prom works with choreographer Haritha Nannapaneni to perfect their dance moves for the performance in April. Photo by Brooke Underwood

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By Cheyenne UnderwoodStaff Writer

Formal gowns, tuxedos, limos, party buses, dates and booking dinners have become the talk of stu-dents as prom is a little over a month away.

Starkville High School’s prom will be held on April 24 at the Starkville Sports-plex on Lynn Lane.

In previous years, prom has been held at the Union on Mississippi State’s Cam-pus.

However, with the prob-lem of parking on cam-pus during Super Bulldog Weekend, the school fac-ulty and staff were worried about the safety of the

students and decided to have last year’s prom in the school’s gym instead.

Regarding this year’s prom location, students and parents seem to ap-prove.

It will allow everyone to have more space, a stage and enough parking.

This year’s theme is a “masquerade,” which is an elegant, formal and so-phisticated look, not to be confused with Mardi Gras.

While decorating for a masquerade theme may pose a challenge, junior-class faculty sponsors (Wendy Brewer, Kimber-ley Killen, Denise Tay-lor, Wanda Monroe, Mia Eichelberger, and Carolyn Goodman) have done ma-

jor planning for the event. “It’s just a matter of get-

ting it all together,” Brewer said. “We have some great decorations and we’ve spent a considerable amount of money already.”

Tickets will be sold two to three weeks in advance but there have been no set prices yet.

“We’re going to try to keep costs as low as pos-sible,” Brewer said.

There has also been no set DJ, and as for food, there will be delicious va-rieties, with something for everyone.

All in all, junior sponsors are working hard to make April 24 a night to remem-ber for this year’s junior/senior prom.

School prepares for ‘masquerade’ at sportsplex

Sophomore Hannah Fischer searches for the perfect attire for this year’s prom’s masquerade theme. Photo by Cheyenne Underwood

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www.shsjacketbuzz.com 03-25-10 • Page 5News

By Ryan EnglishStaff Writer

On March 12, 2010 Starkville High School’s wind ensemble and the symphonic band went to Pearl High School for the state band festival.

The band prepared for the contest with a pre-fes-tival competition on Feb. 25.

Director Shawn Sullivan brought different band di-rectors from around the state to watch his band perform and then to judge them.

Sullivan has been band director since the begin-ning of the 2007-2008 school year.

The trip to Pearl was not

without its share of prob-lems. On the way there, the symphonic band’s bus broke down several miles from the school.

The band had to be load-ed onto another bus and hauled to the school, just in time for their noon per-formance.

Symphonic band per-formed under the direc-tion of Phillip Martin, who kept the band calm by joking around and be-lieving in them.

The symphonic band scored a 2 in concert, and a superior rating in sight-reading.

“Other than the bus breaking down, my most memorable moment would be the sight-reading,”

freshman symphonic band member Nicholas Estrada said. “It was strict.”

The SHS wind ensemble performed later in the af-ternoon under the direc-tion of Sullivan.

Sullivan kept a smile on his face even though he had so much stress on his back.

That smile paid off, as the Wind Ensemble made all superior ratings on both sight-reading and concert.

The was also one of only 20 Sweepstakes winners statewide.

“Sight-reading was pret-ty easy and we did a good job,” senior Mallory Mc-Cain said. “I was glad we did well for our senior year.”

Band wins Sweepstakes

Jeffrey Jinkerson performs in the Starkville High School band during a rally for the basketball team. Photo by Ruth Brown

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By Ruth BrownStaff Writer

The Starkville High School bowling team is a force to be reckoned with.

Many people are not aware of this, but bowling is the fastest growing sport in the United States.

The team at SHS has cur-rently been operating for four years, although it has only re-cently been recognized as an endorsed sport by the Missis-sippi High School Activities Association.

Currently, SHS plays host to about three very supportive bowling coaches, Jim Philam-lee, Dr. Walter Gonsoulin Jr., and principal Keith Fennell.

Philamlee, although he is not officially hired by the school, is

the brains of the operation. He has 52 years of semi–pro-

fessional bowling experience and currently oversees bowl-ing at Henderson Intermedi-ate School as well as Starkville High.

Gounsoulin is the school-re-quired coach and Fennell is the self-proclaimed “bus driver.”

Another supporter of the bowling team is Supt. Judy Couey, who, along with Phil-amlee, took the bowling team under her wing.

With practices every Thurs-day from December to Febru-ary, the team has gained no-table accomplishments in the 09-10 season.

The team as a whole made regionals, and the varsity boys went on to play in the state championship tournament.

The game was held in Jack-son, where the team finished in 5th place.

“I like it,” said bowler Ste-phen Gunter, “Practice hard, and you will get good.”

Gunter is currently the top anchor for the boy’s team.

Notable members of the boy’s varsity are Stephen Gunt-er, Emmanuel Moore, Adam Hays, Chris Crosby, Andrew LaFrance and Rob Montgom-ery.

Notable members of the girl’s varsity are Ashante’ Pritchard, who is also the girl’s anchor, Kereema Ward, Bernesha Pope, Arlena Fisher, Lillian Kennard and Donterea Bonnor.

At the end of this year, the bowling team will be graduat-ing four seniors: Emmanuel Moore, Decorey Williams,

Bernesha Pope and Lillian Kennard.

These seniors, and those who will be seniors in coming years, all hope to win bowling schol-arships that will give them op-portunities in college.

The scholarship tournament for this year is set for April 8 at Bulldog Lanes.

The bowling team encour-ages the community to attend and cheer on the SHS bowlers. Scholarships for bowling re-ceive generous donations from the Tuesday Night Men’s Bowl-ing League.

The school would like to en-courage students who might be interested in bowling to tryout for next year’s team.

Anybody who is interested should stay updated for tryout dates.

Jackets bowl to fifth-place finish at State Meet

DeCorey Williams attempts to hit a strike in a recent bowling team practice at Bulldog Lanes in Starkville. Photo by Brooke Underwood

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By Ruth BrownStaff Writer

The Starkville High School bowling team is a force to be reckoned with.

Many people are not aware of this, but bowling is the fastest growing sport in the United States.

The team at SHS has cur-rently been operating for four years, although it has only re-cently been recognized as an endorsed sport by the Missis-sippi High School Activities Association.

Currently, SHS plays host to about three very supportive bowling coaches, Jim Philam-lee, Dr. Walter Gonsoulin Jr., and principal Keith Fennell.

Philamlee, although he is not officially hired by the school, is

the brains of the operation. He has 52 years of semi–pro-

fessional bowling experience and currently oversees bowl-ing at Henderson Intermedi-ate School as well as Starkville High.

Gounsoulin is the school-re-quired coach and Fennell is the self-proclaimed “bus driver.”

Another supporter of the bowling team is Supt. Judy Couey, who, along with Phil-amlee, took the bowling team under her wing.

With practices every Thurs-day from December to Febru-ary, the team has gained no-table accomplishments in the 09-10 season.

The team as a whole made regionals, and the varsity boys went on to play in the state championship tournament.

The game was held in Jack-son, where the team finished in 5th place.

“I like it,” said bowler Ste-phen Gunter, “Practice hard, and you will get good.”

Gunter is currently the top anchor for the boy’s team.

Notable members of the boy’s varsity are Stephen Gunt-er, Emmanuel Moore, Adam Hays, Chris Crosby, Andrew LaFrance and Rob Montgom-ery.

Notable members of the girl’s varsity are Ashante’ Pritchard, who is also the girl’s anchor, Kereema Ward, Bernesha Pope, Arlena Fisher, Lillian Kennard and Donterea Bonnor.

At the end of this year, the bowling team will be graduat-ing four seniors: Emmanuel Moore, Decorey Williams,

Bernesha Pope and Lillian Kennard.

These seniors, and those who will be seniors in coming years, all hope to win bowling schol-arships that will give them op-portunities in college.

The scholarship tournament for this year is set for April 8 at Bulldog Lanes.

The bowling team encour-ages the community to attend and cheer on the SHS bowlers. Scholarships for bowling re-ceive generous donations from the Tuesday Night Men’s Bowl-ing League.

The school would like to en-courage students who might be interested in bowling to tryout for next year’s team.

Anybody who is interested should stay updated for tryout dates.

Jackets bowl to fifth-place finish at State Meet

DeCorey Williams attempts to hit a strike in a recent bowling team practice at Bulldog Lanes in Starkville. Photo by Brooke Underwood

Page 8: Jacket Buzz (03/25/10)

The Jacket Buzz

The Jacket Buzz is published three times each semester by the Journalism Department at Starkville High School.

The Jacket Buzz is a student-run publication committed to providing the students of Starkville High School with objective and

informative coverage of events involving or affecting the student body.

The Jacket Buzz serves SHS as a forum for student expression and thought. Content decisions are made by student editors.

Factual errors will be corrected by a retraction in the next issue.

Opinions expressed are those of students and do not necessarily reflect the views of the adviser, administration,

Starkville High School faculty, or the Starkville School Distict. Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Jacket Buzz staff.

Letters to the Editor are accepted and published, excluding those that are deemed libelous, malicious, hurtful or disruptive.

Unsigned letters will not be published, and all letters are subject to editing. Please email all letters, or other comments/concerns, to

[email protected]

Tess LongEditor-in-Chief

Collin WhittenAssistant Editor

Volume 17, Issue 5

R.J. MorganAdvisor

Staff Writers Ruth Brown, T’Keyia Davis, Ryan English, Leena

Mrayyan, Ty Ringo, Ebony Robinson, Jimmy Sherrod, Brooke Underwood and Cheyenne Underwood

ContributorsTaylor Bowden and Michael Mosley

Statement of Policy

We, the staff of the Jacket Buzz, would like to congratulate the SHS boys basket-ball team for their spectaular win on Satur-day, March 6, over Meridian in the 6A State Championship game.

In recent year’s the boys basketball team has worked hard to make it to the state championships. In previous years, the Jack-ets came very close on several occasions to becoming champions, but have not made it since 1961. Coach Greg Carter shared his teams excitement, as he’s been coaching at SHS for nearly a decade.

The Jackets won 57-51 against Meridian, the second win against Meridian for the Jacket boys this season.

The next week, the boys also won the Mis-sissipi Grand Slam Tournament, which is a competition between the state champions of all six classifiactions.

We feel that their victory at the Mississip-

pi Coliseum in Jackson will create a better mood for the rest of the 2009-2010 school year. A sense of pride comes from know-ing that Starkville High School is the best at something.

That pride grew even more when on the same weekend the JROTC drill team won a meet in Louisiana.

For years the boys’ basketball team has been working hard and have played count-less winning games. They’ve become better and better at working as a team, and with this year drawing to a close, they’ve proven themselves to be a truly great team.

To all the players who worked extremely hard to achieve success at state, congratula-tions on a great championship game.

To the seniors, we wish you luck in your endeavors after high school and thank you for ending your high school career with a bang!

EditorialThe editorial below is a written collaboration among all members of the Jacket Buzz

staff. Ideas expressed represent the majority opinion of the staff.

Congratulations to SHS basketball on state championship

Page 8 •03-25-10 www.shsjacketbuzz.com Opinion

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Page 10 • 03-25-10 www.shsjacketbuzz.com Sports

By Collin WhittenAss. Editor

The Jackets and family. These things, combined

with a history in Starkville schools, were the reasons Dr. Stan Miller decided to apply for and become Starkville School District’s new athletic director when Bill Lee, also Starkville High School’s head football coach, announced his plan to retire after this school year.

Miller, a New Jersey na-tive, is by no means new to sports or academic ad-ministration, particularly in Starkville.

Not only has Miller held a number of positions around the South as assis-tant and head coach and superintendent, but he also served eight years as prin-cipal of Starkville High School and six years as as-sistant principal.

Miller hasn’t worked in Starkville schools since he took the position as super-intendent of Pearl schools in 2000.

Miller has a strong sense of Jacket pride, and with family in Starkville and a love for athletics, returning as athletic director was an appealing opportunity for him.

Miller views the road ahead with a unique com-bination of optimism and realism.

“I think I can contribute to making the jackets bet-ter; we’re great, but we can

always be better,” Miller said.

Miller has hit the ground running in his vision for the athletic program, posing significant questions.

“Where are the strengths, and where are the weak-nesses? And more impor-tantly, how do we improve those weaknesses?” he said.

Early on, Miller plans to get improvements to facili-ties under way, with a field house, a new track surface and an all-weather surface for the teams and band to use holding high priority.

“We have a great track team, but we have yet to host a meet because we don’t have a suitable track…We won the state champion-ship in basketball, so let’s have a state championship facility,” Miller explained.

Possessing a wide range and impressive depth of experience, Miller was approved by the school board against a number of qualified candidates to take on half of Lee’s position, which the school board announced early-on in the search would be split after Lee’s retirement.

Miller plans to work closely with administra-tion, coaches, and players to bring the Jackets to-gether as a team and will officially take his position as athletic director at the end of the school year.

Ambition is a defining quality of Miller’s plat-form, and it will likely be-gin to show as early as the

fall of next school year.With the remaining half

of Lee’s position left un-filled, Miller’s first task as athletic director is to name a new head football coach for SHS.

Miller, with the aid of a screening committee, has narrowed down the num-

ber of potential candidates from 27 to 8.

In regards to naming the Starkville High’s new head coach, Miller could say very little.

“We’re very close, but right now that’s all I can say,” he explained. “I’m hop-ing to announce the new

head coach by the end of March.”

The Starkville Daily News has reported that the head coaching job has been of-fered to Itawamaba High School head coach Jamie Mitchell, but at the time of print, this hire has not-yet been approved by the

school board. Mitchell was 13-1 last year

at Itawamba and took his team to the Class 4A finals before losing to Lafayette County.

Look for updates to the situation on www.shsjacket-buzz.com.

Former principal Miller returns to SHS as new Athletic Director

“I think I can contribute to making the Jackets better; we’re great, but

we can be better.

- Stan Miller, SHS Athletic Director

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www.shsjacketbuzz.com 03-25-10 • Page 11Sports

By Lammi MichaContributing Writer

Not many of the Starkville High School athletic teams get to go on week-long trips out of state.

But the baseball team gets the opportunity to go to Florida every year to play ball, relax and even hit the beach.

Even though the boys saw it as a vacation, Carlisle said that he was going to be on duty 24 hours a day making sure they behaved themselves.

“The boys live together for a week to build up team unity and trust,” head coach Danny Carlisle said.

Before the trip, Carlisle

seemed extremely pleased with the team’s 2-0 record.

“They’re playing pretty good,” he said, “but we still have a long way to go be-fore the season is over.”

Carlisle was more than satisfied with Samuel Big-ham’s pitching in the first two games, which he re-ferred to as a “pleasant sur-prise.”

The boys left Friday, March 12, to go to Florida

and got right down to busi-ness with two games on Saturday.

From the get-go, Chuck Tillery knew that the team had to win games.

“We know we have to take care of business and win three games,” he said.

First baseman Reggie Campbell had the same goal in mind.

“Of course I expect to have a good time,” he said,

“but I also expect to win those three games. Not just to play, but to win.”

After their first game in Florida, the boys were in a comfortable position as fifth in the state. But after a disappointing loss in the second game, they dropped to 43rd on the chart.

They played two games Saturday, took Sunday off, played two games Monday, two on Tuesday, and took Wednesday off for some relaxation and to visit Fort Walton Beach before re-turning home on Thursday.

The Yellow Jackets re-turned home with a 2-1 trip record.

The Jackets also beat Co-lumbus 7-1 at Columbus on Tuesday night in both

teams’ district opener. Senior pitcher R.J. John-

son recorded 15 strikeouts and also reached base four times.

They will play the Falcons again tomorrow, with a ju-nior varsity game at 4 pm and the varsity game at 6 p.m.

Last Game

Next Game

7-1 win vs. Columbuson Tuesday

Tomorrow, March 26 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

SHS Baseball Field

SHS (6-1, 1-0) vs. Columbus (7-7. 0-1)

Baseball bonds, wins on spring break trip“Of course I expect to have a good time, but I also expect to win those

three games. Not just to play, but to win.”

- Reggie Campbell, first baseman

For a night of Miracles

and Molecules....

April 15-17, 20107:00 p.m

April 18, 20102:00 pm.

SHS TheaterCost: $7

Page 12: Jacket Buzz (03/25/10)

Sports buzzThe

By Ty RingoStaff Writer

1961. The last boys basketball

state championship was won forty-nine years ago.

Now, it’s 2010, and af-ter a 57-51 victory over Meridian in the finals of the State Tournament, the Yellow Jackets can once again say that they are No. 1.

“It feels great,” coach Greg Carter. “Hard work really paid off.”

The game also feels great for senior Rashad Perkins.

“It feels really good,” Perkins said. “I just want-ed to do whatever it took to help out my team.”

Perkins, along with se-nior Edward Townsel, made the all-tournament team for Starkville.

Perkins had 25 points and 14 rebounds against Meridian, and Townsel scored 11 points on the night.

Carter and Perkins agree that the win against Meridian wasn’t because of just one player.

“It was a team effort,” Carter said. “Without ev-erybody we couldn’t have won.”

On top of winning the 6A championship, Carter and his boys also won the Grand Slam Tourna-ment, which matched up the state champions of all six classifications again in Jackson.

Carter has been the head coach for the Jack-ets since the 2002-2003 season.

Out of those eight years, the Jackets have been to Jackson five times, and to the championship game twice.

Last year the Jackets barely missed going to Jackson, losing to Green-ville at home.

This year, the Jackets took no chances losing only two games on the season.

Jackets win 6A championship, Grand Slam

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Personally Yours,

Insurance Associates of Starkville,

Starkville Athletic Club

CHAMPS!Photo courtesy of Mediagraphix Photography