Freshman Iris Cessna is a Staff Reporter for the Harrisonburg High Newsstreak. Along with writing for the newspaper, she runs cross-country, and, when she finds time, indulges in creative writing projects. She also participates in Envirothon at HHS. She spends much of her free time reading, spending time with family and friends, hiking, backpacking and watching Netflix.

Christian Rodriguez is a junior at Harrisonburg High School. This is his second year on the Newsstreak Staff as a page editor. Aside from journalism he is also a member of the XC team as well as the Varsity swim team at HHS. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outdoors, and escaping to the beach as much as possible.

Likes:

Socialized medicine, dark roast, yoga, sushi, Jesus, bikes, singing in the shower, poetry

Dislikes:

The color yellow, loud people with bad opinions, standardized testing, life decisions, lactose, Windows 8

Lily Gusler is a freshman at HHS. This is her first year on Newsstreak staff. She enjoys being on swim team and hiking in her free time.

A Bowl of Good, one of Harrisonburg’s first “farm-to-table” restaurants, celebrated HCPS’s Farm to Table Week by serving free samples to the students of Keister Elementary School on Tuesday.

A Bowl of Good’s rotating menu of international and ethnic dishes is made exclusively with local ingredients. Jan Henley is the catering and procurement coordinator at the restaurant. This means that among other duties, it is her responsibility to develop relationships between local farmers and A Bowl of Good.

“I know where all our food comes from,” Henley said. She stood behind a table in the hallway, scooping vegetable soup and beef chilli into cups, and cutting loaves of freshly-baked bread into bite-sized squares. 90% of the vegetables used at A Bowl of Good, and most of their grains, are locally grown. Henley says there are many advantages to using local ingredients.

“You know what you’re eating… and it’s important to support our local farmers. It keeps our money local,” Henley said. She adds that eating fresh, local ingredients can make people feel better, and healthier. Plus, when A Bowl of Good develops relationships with farmers, there are business advantages. For example, A Bowl of Good can request certain crops from the farmers. It’s also easier to plan the restaurant’s specials when Henley and her coworkers know exactly what ingredients are available. It’s the valuable relationship between local farmers and A Bowl of Good, however, that Henley emphasizes most.

“It’s a very beautiful thing… Why would we not support the gorgeous farmers right here in our backyard?” Henley said.

As the KES students emerged from the cafeteria after a lunch also made from local ingredients, they were greeted by the thick scent of homemade bread. Classes of elementary schoolers gathered around Henley’s table to listen to her explain A Bowl of Good, and the importance of local ingredients. She explained the offerings laid out in front of her sometimes in English, and sometimes in Spanish. All the while her hands were moving as she poured more soup into plastic cups.

“At A Bowl of Good, we make 300 loaves of bread per day. We have someone that only makes bread and cookies,” she said. Then she described the “happy cows and big, fat tomatoes” that had helped make the food in front of her. The kids lined up to take bread and soup. A boy in a bright blue t-shirt waited impatiently in line, singing the word “chilli” over and over again. He danced to the beat of his improvised song, grinning.

Within minutes of receiving their food, boys and girls sported smiles on their lips and bread-crumbs on their chins. Two kindergarteners clinked their plastic cups of soup together in a toast. A boy tasted his chilli and shouted in surprise and gratitude, “This is really good! Miss, this is really good!”

Henley said A Bowl of Good came to KES in order to let students experience fresh, organic, “homemade” food that had been grown in the community. Her efforts were met with appreciation; classes left Henley’s table with enthusiastic thank you’s, and faint red soup-mustaches above their upper lips.

Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, visited Rockingham County Fairgrounds to hold a rally on Oct. 5. As a part of the crowd, I learned more about Trump supporters than about Pence.

Leading up to Pence’s arrival, there was much anticipation from the crowd. Nearly everyone was holding up a ‘Make America Great Again’ sign. Amongst the crowd, there was much chatter of the vice presidential debate that occurred the night before. Many of them were dissatisfied with the amount of times Tim Kaine had interrupted Pence.

Deafening screams erupted when Pence finally arrived. Pence covered everything from the debate to the military. Much of it consisted of insults to Hillary Clinton, and the rest of Obama’s administration for their actions in the last eight years. To this, hecklers would yell, “Hillary for prison!”

I went around and asked people at the rally why they were voting for Donald Trump, and the number one answer that I received was, “the economy.” I had thought it would be more about deportation or picking a conservative supreme court judge, but it was not. Many of these people truly believed that Trump can bring jobs to America and eliminate the national debt.

What these people don’t understand is that unemployment is on the verge of being too low. If it gets much lower, it will cause wage-based inflation, while Trump has claimed that the unemployment rate is upwards of 42%. This false number is used to make people think America is in horrible conditions and appeal to people that have lost their jobs. The 42% actually represents the percentage of Americans that are not working. This includes students, stay at home parents and retirees. The true definition of an unemployed individual is someone who is looking for work, but does not have a job. The real unemployment rate of America is 4.9% (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

“The change in America is what we need. America is in a terrible condition. My job moved to Malaysia… we were a manufacturer of industrial air conditioners,” a supporter said.

Trump has also said that he would cut government spending to get rid of the debt, which is something that resonated throughout the crowd, but part of his plan is to defund schools and Planned Parenthoods. Many inner-city schools are already struggling with their current funding. Look at Detroit schools for example, where mold and mildew are growing all over some schools, and they can’t do anything about it due to lack of funding.

Although nearly everyone there was a Trump supporter, he was often times not their first choice. Many of the people at the event were Ted Cruz supporters, but after he lost, they filed in behind Trump.

“We started out supporting the surgeon, Carson. Ben Carson was our top guy, but when he fell out, then we went towards Cruz or Rubio. Those were all top contenders, but as it narrowed on down, we ultimately said, ‘Okay, Trump’s the man. That is who we are going to support,’” Dave Riedel said.

Freshman football played on Oct. 7 and lost with a score of 16-10

JV volleyball won their first game of the season against Waynesboro.

James Madison University football is going to demolish any competition in the CAA. The Dukes have a 3-1 record as of Sept. 24 with their only loss being to the North Carolina Tar Heels, which was expected. The Dukes have outscored their opponents 195-104 in the first four games of the season because of the powerhouse offense led by senior running back Khalid Abdullah and junior Cardon Johnson. The defense has been pretty outstanding, not allowing over 21 points except against the Tar Heels. The only real challenges in the schedule are going to be Villanova, Richmond and William and Mary because of their high scoring offenses. If the Dukes maintain the momentum that they’ve had so far, those games should still end up resulting in wins.

As the team continues to grow, they can develop junior quarterback, Bryan Schor, and tune up the rest of the team. By the time the playoffs come around, the Dukes will be one of the top teams in the CAA and teams are going to fear facing them. The Dukes are going to plow through the other CAA competition that is left on their schedule.They’ve made it quite clear that the teams they have faced so far are not even competition for them.

The Dukes have been helped out with the new coaching of Mike Houston and his staff. Houston has turned the team around since they burned out at the end of last season. Houston has adapted to his new environment has helped the Dukes by sticking with the run game. Houston has yet to let Schor loose because he is still pretty inexperienced as a QB, but I believe by next year the Dukes will have a ground and passing threat in their offense.

Overall the Dukes have a really strong program now, and it’s only getting better. This year is a big year for James Madison, and I believe that they will take advantage of the playoffs and win the CAA. If the Dukes keep the momentum that they have going a CAA championship is in their near future.

The football team came out of the away game at Spotswood with a 21-18 victory. In a game with no field goals, Spotswood’s failure to convert any points after touchdowns lost them the game

After a dropped punt by the Streaks, Spotswood’s Chris Zangus recovered the ball. Later that drive, the Blazers scored a touchdown with 6:20 left in the first, bringing them to a 6-0 lead. They then went for the extra point, which was blocked by Harrisonburg’s Ethan Harris.

Harrisonburg responded with a 70 yard touchdown drive of their own. Quarterback AC White ran the ball to set up the Streaks in the redzone. On 4th and 2, Marcus Robinson-Jenkins ran the ball across the goal line for the touchdown. The extra point by Roberto Gonzalez was good, making the score 7-6, with 9:58 left in the first half.

The Streaks defense ended a Spotswood drive by Stedman Clark, brought up fourth down and led to a Spotswood punt. Harrisonburg got the ball back with 2:36 remaining in the half. White had another run, to set the Streaks up for the touchdown. From the Blazer’s 42 yard line White threw the ball to receiver Keeshawn Perry for the touchdown. After kicking the extra point, the Streaks increased their lead to 14-6 with 1:02 remaining in the half.

As Spotswood came up the field at the end of the half, the quarterback threw an interception to Robinson-Jenkins, until it was called back by officials for pass-interference. Shortly after, David Gamboa came up with another interception with 7.4 seconds remaining in the half.

With 4:39 left in the third, the Streaks recover the fumbled football on their own 14 yard line to end the Blazer’s drive in red zone. After coming up to the Streaks’ 48 yard line, White throws a short pass to Perry, which he ran into the endzone. Streaks lead 21-6 with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

With 11:46 left in the fourth quarter, the Streaks’ punter drops the snap and is recovered by Spotswood’s Trey Tomasi on the Harrisonburg 1 yard line. Off of a quarterback sneak, Spotswood scores a touchdown. The Blazer’s went for the two point conversion, but the pass was incomplete. The score is now 21-12 Harrisonburg.

After a punt by Harrisonburg’s Roberto Gonzalez that placed Spotswood on their own 1 yard line, the Blazers came all the back down the field for a 99 yard touchdown drive. After the touchdown run by Spotswood’s Brady Dodson, the score was now 21-18. Spotswood went for the two point conversion which was an incomplete pass, but there was a penalty on Harrisonburg. They go for it again, and similarly fail to convert.

With 1:43 left in the game, Harrisonburg fumbles the football, and Morris of Spotswood recovers on his own 49 yard line. While in Harrisonburg’s territory, Spotswood threw multiple long passes but came up short. On fourth down, they went for the win and threw the ball, which was incomplete.

Harrisonburg finished the game with kneel, improving their record to 3-3.

Just minutes before the match was about to begin, the setter of the JV volleyball team, sophomore Andrea Osinkosky, was rushed to the trainer.  Two days later, the game of the season approached against Turner Ashby, and with two of the six starters gone, a new rotation was taught and replacements were arranged.

“I was jumping up to hit the ball in warm-ups, and I landed on the outside of my foot,” Osinkosky said. “[I knew something bad happened] because I heard and felt it crack. I felt like something was wrong. Sometimes I’ll just roll my ankle, but it didn’t feel like that. As soon as I went to the trainer, she told me it was at least a bad sprain. When I saw it, it was dark purple. I thought, “Oh no. This isn’t just a rolled ankle. It’s definitely worse.”

Osinkosky resulted in having a hairline fracture on the fifth metatarsal bone in her foot. She will have to be on crutches for a week and has to wear a boot on her foot for three weeks. Osinkosky will then have to get an x-ray and get informed on the condition of her foot.

“I was really looking forward to playing more games and working with the team more, growing as a team, so it is kind of hard. It’s good because now I can watch our team and other teams, so I get more of the observing part of volleyball, rather than just the playing,” Osinkosky said.

Due to the sudden changes, Osinkosky had concerns about the game against Turner Ashby because there was only one practice to learn the new rotation.

“Figuring out the rotation [was the most difficult part with two people out]. I was wondering about the rotation and what we would do about that [during the game], but we really did a really good job with that. I saw the last couple of games and just going for the ball, I’ve seen a lot of that, which is great. We really needed that, especially if we don’t know the rotation very well. You definitely need to at least have that passion.”

Following that, seconds before the game was starting, the middle hitter for the team, freshman Lily Harmison, hurt her ankle.

“We went to shake hands with the other team and I was in the back. I was running and I stepped on the back of Ella’s shoe. My ankle gave out and it popped, so I went to Glazer and she said it was sprained,” Harmison said. “We had the game [the night of my injury] and I played the game. I went [to the trainer] the day after. I really wanted to play that day and it didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal to me, but seeing now that it is a big deal and I’m playing with tape and I had to miss practice, I probably should’ve taken the day off.”

Harmison had worried about the team’s ability to pull through the Friday night game against Turner Ashby.

“I was really disappointed because I really had wanted to play the game on Friday because it was a big game and lots of people were there,” Harmison said. “I was scared for, not necessarily our team and not the way we were going to play, but how [the team] was going to handle it. It was a big transition, going from having Andrea, who is an awesome setter, and one of our middles. I thought, “Oh man. Are we going to be able to transition and get used to this?”

Even though the team did not win against Turner Ashby, Harmison was still proud of the team’s ability to overcome the sudden teammate injuries.

“I think that the team did amazing and coped with it really well. They made the switch and transition really fast.”

HHS is involved in the creative side of education, and Imprint magazine is a part of this. Imprint, a literary arts publication that combines writing and visual art, has placed first two times on the VHSL state level since 2013, and this week the magazine may have another chance. The 2016 issue of Imprint received 997 out of 1,000 points from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association review panel and earned an All-Columbian status in three categories: writing, art and design. This is a first for the magazine, which is going on its eleventh year of publication. Five students are state finalists in the 2016 awards.

In the visual art division, senior Piper Sattva (“Butterfly Effect”) and HHS alum, Ava Reynolds (“Dear Future Generations”) are finalists. In the writing division, seniors Rachel Snyder (“Mother Tries”) and Zoey Fox (“Szet Esoben”) and junior Martin Beck (“White Noise”) are finalists.

The stories and art chosen by the VHSL judges come from a variety of topics.

“[‘White Noise’] is about a cabbie who sits in his car and reminisces and drinks bottled water.” Beck said.

Senior Piper Sattva, a finalist in the painting division, was chosen for her piece “Butterfly Effect.”

“[‘Butterfly Effect’] is about how the smallest thing, even something as small as crushing a flower in the woods, can affect everything vastly.” Sattva said.

This is Sattva’s first year as an Imprint state finalist.

“It makes me happy that people are still looking at that piece because I didn’t think they would be. I’m just really proud that it’s gotten so far.” Sattva said.

Martin Beck has been a part of Imprint since his freshman year, and this is his second consecutive year as a state finalist; both years he competed in the short fiction division. Last year he was nominated with a short story titled “Pavel’s Unlikely Fortune.”

“I write short fiction because I don’t have the discipline for long fiction,” Beck said.
The junior has been an active member of the English department since he entered high school.

“Freshman year I did Newsstreak, which was interesting in that I’d never really ventured into non-fiction writing, much less journalistic writing, and I got to explore a different side of things. With Imprint, I was exposed to a whole new world of competitive writing that I didn’t know existed.” Beck said.

This comfort with putting his work into the world was helped by his experience in the Fine Arts Academy.

“The showcases definitely provided a forum for introducing people to my work, and that was odd because I never really had anticipated reading my work to an audience, and lo and behold, there I was, up there with a microphone.” Beck said.

Sattva, a fourth-year member of the Fine Arts Academy, describes her experience similarly.

“Throughout middle school I didn’t really take my art seriously, but I was good at it, and I did it to pass the class. My sophomore year of high school, I came to HHS and joined the Fine Arts Academy, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is my life.’ I finally started figuring out who I was and what I was doing. I began developing a style and putting together a portfolio. And I realized this was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.” Sattva said.

Both artists, along with seniors Zoey Fox and Rachel Snyder, will discover how they placed in the competition on October 6, after school. The judging will be held in Fredericksburg, and Imprint adviser and creative writing teacher Richard Morrell will be present for the results.

Why some choose not to participate in athletics is beside me. Sports have so much to offer, from providing the body with a suitable amount of energy, to allowing one to revel in glory following the completion of a goal.

It’s in your DNA.

Humans were originally nomadic, living peripatetic lifestyles. They were made to hunt, track and compete for survival. When that wasn’t the case, humans were constantly moving around and living off the land. Nowadays we sit around and have the luxury of grocery stores and supermarkets. With this luxury comes the suppression of our hardwired tendencies; to compete and move. Hence the need for sports to allow us to compete and exercise our desire to survive (win).

Not only are sports part of what make us human, they also improve the lives that we live on a daily basis. Here are a few ways sports can improve your life:

Improve academics

When participating in a sport, your body starts to produce more energy in response to the uptake in physical activity. This allows for the body to stay awake and focused during school, leading to a better understanding of what is being taught, and in turn leading to better grades.

Find new friends

When joining a sports team you will be surrounded by new people who share a common interest. Not only will you be surrounded by these people during practices, you will also be competing with them. This forms a special bond you will only find on a team.

Set goals

After joining a new activity, you often have an idea of what you want to accomplish, therefore setting a goal for yourself. This gives you something to work towards, which can increase motivation and create a healthy drive/ work ethic.

If you are reading this and are thinking to yourself,  “I would love to play a sport, but I’m not athletic”, or “ I’ve never played a sport before”,or “I don’t know which one is for me.” Don’t fret, there is a sport for everyone. As of now, there are 442 internationally recognized sports anywhere from football and swimming, to pool and aeromodelling. You just have to find one that you enjoy.

A Sport for Everyone. Find yours.

http://www.topendsports.com/sport/sport-list.htm

As it is for many children under the age of 10, fresh vegetables are not something these kids want touching their taste buds. The first-graders at Spotswood Elementary School are no exception. As part of the annual Farm-to-School Week, Lindsey Lennon and Sam Berenstain, workers for the nonprofit educational farm Project Grows, are looking to change these students’ minds. At least, some of them.

“We are tasting peppers and we’re going to also show the kids green beans…they’ve seen them broken up or out of a can, but the fresh, whole vegetable is a new experience sometimes,” Lennon said.

Project Grows is a 10 acre farm located in Augusta County, just south of Harrisonburg. Lennon, the educational coordinator of the group, enjoys helping out the community.

“We started as a place for kids to come out and learn about where food comes from, how it’s grown. Our goal is to have food education, distribution and access into the community,” Lennon said. “We sell to farmers’ markets and restaurants, but we also donate a large portion of our food to events like this; for schools, to a food bank, to the Boys and Girls Club, anyone in the community that would want to eat our food.”

Oct. 7 marked the group’s first time in a Harrisonburg school, though they have previously done many tastings with Staunton City, Augusta County and Waynesboro City Schools.

Lennon and Berenstain made their way around each lunch table during the first-graders lunch, both with a heaping bowl of colorful peppers in hand. Despite some of the kids’ persistence in trying the vegetable, many others took the leap of faith, a few of the kids even giving a double thumbs up after biting into their bright pepper.

“[We want them] to try something new,” Lennon said. “A lot of times, depending on what produce we bring in, it’s sometimes a thing the kids have never eaten before, never tried… Yesterday we did some taste tests with similar peppers as we’ll do today, and a parent who was there said ‘I could never get my kid to eat a pepper before, but he ate two peppers today’. So just getting them to experience [produce] in a new way, and getting them outside their comfort zone a little bit to try something new, getting them used to fresh fruits and vegetables [is the goal].”

JV Volleyball Team Wins for First Time in Two Years

For two years the JV girls volleyball team has had no success in ending their losing streak, but finally the team switched up the rotation and the team was determined to defeat the Waynesboro Little Giants on Thursday night. Freshman outside hitter Abby McCollum was on the team both last year and this year, making this her first official win.

“[The win] just felt really satisfying. We’ve been working for it for so long and then we finally did it,” McCollum said. “[The reason the team hadn’t been winning was] silly mistakes. I think we have really worked hard, so it was time we got a win.”

Compared to the previous year, McCollum thinks the team had improved in many aspects of the game.

“Definitely all of our hard work [caused the team to win] and so much communication. We also switched some stuff around, so we changed it up a little bit, and I think that really helped us,” McCollum said. “We’ve definitely worked a lot more on serve receive and on serves too, so we’ve been doing a lot better.”

Reflecting on the game, McCollum said there wasn’t anything difficult about the game.

“[The best part about the game] was definitely winning and all of us coming together at the end, all cheering together. It was such a team effort and all just felt so good,” McCollum said. “We had a really strong back row and had the highest passing average that we’ve ever had before and so that was really amazing. We got a bunch of kills and a lot of really good serves.”

Last year the team had lost against Waynesboro and earlier in the season they had lost to Waynesboro.

“[Losing to Waynesboro last year] pushed us down a lot because we knew that we could beat them, but in the end it didn’t happen.”

McCollum has confidence in her team to win more matches.

“I hope [the record by the end of the season] will be the rest of the games won,” McCollum said. “[The goal from here] is to keep doing what we did tonight; get more wins and keep on pushing to make a better team.”

For sophomore left back row passer Anne Penrod, who also played last year, the victory against Waynesboro was unlike any other win she had participated in.

“[The win] was so great…an amazing feeling. I’ve been on teams where we’ve gone undefeated and winning those games, it was great, we enjoyed it and didn’t take it for granted, but there were no words to describe how great it felt that we won tonight. I don’t think you can get that feeling unless you’ve been on a losing team before,” Penrod said. “I think our energy was really good and it really clicked for a lot of us in terms of passing, hitting and setting. Something happened. We wanted to beat this team for a year now.”

Penrod described how the team had been trying to improve on certain difficulties, but finally seemed to work them out.

“We’ve been having some struggles before about talking and encouraging each other and a couple days ago we had a team talk without the coaches and that got everyone thinking about how they can encourage people on the team, even if they’re not playing very well,” Penrod said. “Volleyball is just as much as a mental sport, as it is physical. We would get in our own heads and we wouldn’t get ourselves out of that funk and we wouldn’t get our teammates out of that funk either.”

This year, Penrod believes that the team is much closer than last year, and mentally, they are stronger. During the game, Penrod recalls of a moment where the team received a boost of encouragement.

“When we were on the court, I looked at the varsity girls and instead of them being on the bleachers, they were down on the floor and Jessica Denton was leading them in a cheer. That was just a really awesome experience to see that not only was the bench cheering us on and the crowd, but the varsity team too,” Penrod said.

As an upperclassman on the team, Penrod’s advice to her teammates is to stay positive even when things are going wrong.

“[The goal because of this game] is to keep pushing and not think we can win the next one because we beat Waynesboro. [We need] to have everyone play their best and just give one hundred percent each game,” Penrod said. “I’ve definitely thought about when I want to stop, I can’t stop, not only for me, but then the other girls can give up. It’s not just because I’m captain, but I think everyone should have that same mentality because if you give up then your teammates are not going to want to keep pushing and not going to want to try.”

A change from last school year are the melodies floating through around the cafeteria during the lunch periods or at random times throughout the school day. The new addition of the piano in the gym commons has allowed for this, the instrument being moved from the choir room. Principal Cynthia Prieto is one of those hopeful for the impact it will have on the students.

“I see lunch as a break time and many people get peace from playing while many get peace from listening. I hope it brings people together to mutually enjoy lunchtime as a brain break,” Prieto said. “Personally, I love hearing someone is at the piano and admire how much talent we have in our kids.”

Administrator Joe Glick had the idea of putting the piano in the cafeteria in the first place, inspired by their placement in an older section of Lancaster, PA where there was a piano on every block in front of coffee shops and restaurants. He loved the idea of music being somewhere it usually isn’t.

“What I hope is that the students recognize that this is their piano, and it’s something that is old, it’s something that is beautiful, it’s something that needs to be maintained and taken care of and it’s an opportunity for kids to come together,” Glick said. “And that’s one of the things I’ve seen, and that’s really cool to have someone playing the piano and four or five kids would be standing around, watching their friends being able to provide music for the students in an environment where you don’t tend to hear piano.”

Senior Brian Bratton has been one of multiple to take advantage of its placement and has performed multiple times for various lunch periods, pleasing people’s ears and all the while gaining confidence.

“I used get nervous just playing for one or two people, so it’s like, you know, if I started playing for like 20, 30, 40 plus people that I don’t even know. But I play here in the cafeteria, it’s a lot different, so I want to find more people to play with and share music as well,” Bratton said.

Usually, Bratton plays his two favorite pieces “River Flows in You” and “May Be” by his favorite composer, Yiruma. Despite his total comfort with the songs, Bratton has always struggled with nerves. Now, though, because of his performances, Bratton can better handle this issue.

“I don’t get as nervous when I play. The first time I played, I could barely play; my hands were shaking,” Bratton said. “It was so bad, but it’s like, now, no matter who’s watching, I’ve gotten better at finding my peace so that when I play, I can play from my heart. I’m not making mistakes, and I can enjoy what I’m playing.”

For Bratton, the ability to present is a crucial part of musicianship.

“I guess I just wanted another place [to play.] [It is] one of the biggest gaps between people who can practice and perform. You just have to get used to being able to play at your top ability or as good as you can when people are around and like no matter who’s there and who’s not,” Bratton said. Bratton has bridged that gap for himself by playing not only at lunch, but also at Clemintine’s’ open mic night and for friends.

So far, Bratton has been told good things about his music at lunch.

“At first people clapped a lot which was nice, but usually it’s positive feedback. People say that I’m really talented, or they love hearing me play,” Bratton said.

These comments mean a lot to him considering he has only been playing since the beginning of the year. Bratton taught himself how to play by ear after attempting to replicate pieces he had heard by Yiruma in his mother’s car. He took the pieces he heard, copied them, then moved on to more and more.

“People say that I can play pieces that take such a long time to learn how to play, and they say I sound like I’ve been playing a lot longer…I can’t read sheet music at all. I’m playing by ear and by videos and my own love for music, so it’s like, you know, I wouldn’t want to put any level on where I can play. I just play it as best I can,” Bratton said. “I am glad that people can hear what I’m playing and feel something, because that’s why I’m playing in the first place.”

An example of one of these times was when his playing impacted our lunch ladies.

“On the very first day that we had [the piano], our cafeteria ladies, who work so hard…, they were sitting down eating and Brian started to play. And after lunch, several of the cafeteria ladies came up and said, ‘That made us feel so special, it was like he was playing just for us,’, so I think that story is indicative of the good feelings that [the piano] can produce,” Glick said.

Not only does his music cause others to feel something, but Bratton experiences certain emotions while he plays as well.

“Usually when I play, I think of a few certain people in my life and a few of the things that I’ve been through, and I guess I just feel what comes from my heart….There’s a girl that means a lot to me. I think about her a lot when I play, and I guess she’s helping me put a lot more emotions to my songs each time that I play them,” Bratton said. He enjoys the release he feels and the connection he feels.

“It’s expression. I mean like, music has always meant a lot to me, but it’s, I guess, the first time I’ve found something that can really click with me, you know, something I can just use part of my intelligence, part of my musical abilities [for],” Bratton said. “I guess the biggest reason is…how I feel when I play [my pieces], that’s all that matters. It’s really stress-relieving. It’s just one of those things I was meant to do.”

Bratton is happy to do what he feels he belongs doing for the student body, especially because of the mix of people it includes.

“The reason I love playing at our school lunch is, you see, we have a diverse school,” Bratton said. “We have people coming from a multitude of countries, and they speak different dialects. Yet they can all listen to the same music, as music is the universal language, especially since piano music has no words. I wanted to play during lunch not only to share my music, but to help promote a sense of unity at our school.”

Competition cheer is an under-appreciated sport at HHS, according to coach Hannah Thigpen.

“[Competition cheer] has always been seen as another extracurricular activity… [but] I’ve never underestimated it as a sport,” Thigpen said.

Senior Jadah Kilby-Woodward agrees. She also thinks that the amount of work put into competition cheer by the athletes is more than enough to qualify it as a sport.

“A lot of people, when I say I do competition cheer, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s nothing.’ I come out of practice dripping with sweat. We condition like everyone else, we run hills… we do a lot of cardio, we do a lot of ab work, a lot of legs and arms, because we are literally lifting people up into the air. When we’re tumbling, we’re supporting our own self…You have to be very fit. I think it’s definitely under-appreciated,” Kilby-Woodward said.

Despite its relative lack of esteem from some people in the school, as Thigpen enters her sixth year of coaching, she thinks the team will do well.

“[I’m looking forward to] bringing the team together. I think the [cheerleaders] have a lot of talent,” Thigpen said.

Kilby-Woodward, who is entering her fourth year on the team, is excited for the season ahead as well.

“It’s my senior year, so I’m excited to finally be there at the end, at the finish line. I am a little sad, but it’s a good feeling,” Kilby-Woodward said.

After high school, Kilby-Woodward would like to continue cheering, but worries that it is very hard to get onto a team in college, especially at UVA where she plans to attend. One way she hopes to stay involved in the future is through judging competitions, although she will not be able to do that until later in her life.

Unlike sideline cheer, which is focused on specific, individual cheers, competition cheer is based on a routine involving stunts, jumps, motions, a human pyramid and tumbling, which is when you do gymnastics such as somersaulting. At competitions, teams are judged on all of these components which they must incorporate into their routine.

“You try to pack every aspect of cheer into a routine while still making it look nice and showing off everything you have,” Kilby-Woodward said.

The cheer team will compete in seven competitions total against other teams in the area before regionals. However, only five actually count and the other two are only for practice. If the team makes it to regionals, they have the chance of going to states and then on to nationals if they do well enough. Thigpen thinks the things the team needs to work on are the basic skills involved in the routine, as the routine has already been set.

Two new freshman joined the team this year, including Lydia Grogg, who is starting her first year cheering for a school. Although Skyline and Thomas Harrison Middle Schools both have sideline cheer teams, neither have competition cheer teams, so Grogg decided to cheer at a local gym until high school instead.

“[Cheering in high school] isn’t that different, but I think the way the kids act to the coaches is really different… It’s not strict enough [here],” Grogg said. “I think that they should be more ‘get to it’ about stuff.”

Although Grogg did have a few complaints, she also thinks that the team will do well this year based on their teamwork, which Thigpen believes is a very important part of competition cheer.

“[Competition cheer] is the biggest team sport there is out there. You can’t do it without every single one of them and 100% dedication,” Thigpen said.