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Relay Saves Life

Staff Reporter — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:26:32 +0000

Some students spend their Friday nights at parties.
Or at the mall.
Or the movies.
Or just hanging around at their house.

But Friday, May 14, 2010, some will give up their Friday night to help to find a cure for cancer. Thirty three members of the Chapin High School Junior Civitans Club are participating in the 2010 Relay for life.

They’ve sold Marble Slab ice cream, Monkey Ice snow cones, t shirts, luminaries, purple ribbons and “one step closer” feet to raise money to help find a cure for cancer. This year they have raised over $3100 to help find a cure for cancer.

Sophomores Virginia Baker and Hailey Green have raised the most money from the Junior Civitan’s team. Together they’ve raised over $1000.

“I’ve known a lot of people who have suffered from cancer and I know this is a great cause” says Baker.

Hailey Green’s mom had breast cancer. Hailey’s raised over $700 for Relay this year. “It’s a good opportunity for people to get involved and help find a cure.” She says.

This cause is very close to Junior Civitan’s sponsor, April Worley. “I lost my father to lung cancer,” she says.

One out of every four deaths in the United States is cancer related and it kills more than 1,500 people everyday. In 1946, The American Cancer Society began funding cancer research. In 44 years they have donated over $3.4 billion to cancer research. This research has led to numerous discoveries that have helped scientists comprehend cancer and help to find more effective forms of treatment.

Relay for Life does more than just collect donations for cancer research. It’s also a way to commemorate those that have lost their lives because of cancer and to celebrate the survivors.

Relay for life was started in 1985. Dr Gordy Klatt, a doctor from Washington, walked for 24 hours to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. Now, over 3.5 million people participate in Relay for Life each year.

This year, the theme is “Jammin’ in our Jammies”. All the participants from the Junior Civitans Club will be wearing the PJ’s and helping to fight cancer and find a cure. According to the

American Cancer Society’s website, “The American Cancer Society Relay for Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated.” The Civitan’s that are participating in Relay for life are holding true to this cause.

Relay for life helps to raise awareness of cancer, fund cancer research, and give support to those who have battled cancer, lost a loved one to cancer, or are currently struggling to over come cancer now, but most importantly, Relay for Life saves lives.

Sports wrap-up

Staff Reporter — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:17:53 +0000

Chapin High’s athletics program maintained success with all of its spring sports being granted playoff births. Softball, Baseball, Girls and Boys Soccer and Tennis all won their respective region 4-3A championships. This string of victories boasts regular season dominance and most importantly, a chance to make noise in the postseason.

Chapin’s varsity baseball team laid claim to a district championship and a 21-7 record. Their regular season region championship was a high point of the season, marking the first region championship since the move to 3A. The team ended their season after a loss in Upper State finals to JL Mann. The seniors of the team were DJ Roberts, Alex Kirby, Alex Nicolai, Matt Jameson, and Jesse Morris. Several of these players will play on the college next year. Though this postseason didn’t turn out with a State Championship, it marks consistency in the program run by Scott McLeod.

The Girl’s Varsity Soccer team maintained its dominance with a region championship and an undefeated region record. Their postseason began with an overwhelming 7-0 victory over Chapman. Their second round foe was powerhouse JL Mann who beat the Chapin 2-0 in a hard fought match. The team captains were Alainah Farrell and Chelsea McClain. The Girl’s undefeated run in region awarded them a top seed, but it wasn’t enough for a deep run in the playoffs.

Chapin’s Tennis team is one of the favorites to claim the State Title this year. After and undefeated 19-0 season, they advanced past Traveler’s Rest to keep their championship dreams alive. The number one singles player is Kyle Koch, who boasts an undefeated regular season record in his matches. The number two singles player for the second year in a row is junior Alex Wallace. The seniors of the team are Robert Hinson and Sean McCawley and coached by John Rogers. Tennis’s postseason run will likely yield a State Final appearance in the coming days.

Chapin’s Varsity boy’s Soccer team had a tremendous run this season with a 18-6-1 final record. Their undefeated region play granted them yet another top seed in the playoffs. The team easily dismantled Clinton in the first round. One of the most entertaining games of the year ended with Chapin on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Eastside scored 3 second half goals to topple the Eagles in a “heartbreak hotel” fashion. The soccer team’s run ended early than expected, but their season was extremely successful. They almost topped the number 4 ranked team in the nation, Irmo, in a game that came down to the very end. The team was led by seniors Evan DeYoung, Joey De Mare, Colden King, David Kesling, Lucho Mariaca, Jason Vaeth, Scotty Halliback, Dylan Matthiessen, Chris Ricketson, and Bradham Wilder and coached by Dick Hiller.

The Girl’s Softball team has had a great season, winning the Snowball Classic tournament, beating the number one team in 4A, claiming a district championship, and winning seven straight to claim a region championship. Coached by Jason Jolley, the girls team was led by seniors Jenna Taylor, Britanny Barr, Lauren Barton. Their postseason hopes are still alive as they continue to survive in the playoffs.

Intensity of AP exams

Staff Reporter — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:34:47 +0000

As it nears the month of May, the mindset of a student would typically be thinking about summer. But sometimes before the fun and games begin, comes exams. Every high schooler has to take an exam, but there are also AP exams that come even before the regular exams. What is different about an AP exam is that if one passes, they can receive college hours depending on where they go to college. To pass any AP exam one has to receive a three or higher. There really is no formula for how many hours or whatnot the student will receive by passing the exam. It all depends on what they scored, and also what college they are attending and what their standards and rules are. By taking an AP class, it helps show and has the students explore what a college class would be like. So the exam however is very imperative and needs to be taken seriously just like any other exam would be taken. “This is my first year in an AP class and passing this exam is very important to me because not only would I receive college credit, it would help me out in college itself,” said junior Ryan O’Neill. The AP teachers, from day one help the students get prepared and ready for the exam. For Chapin, the AP exams are usually taken at Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church. “They are taken at a different location because it is a quiet environment with fewer distractions,” said Mr. Sommerville. Senior Robert Hinson has already had the experience of taking AP exams. “AP exams however are a lot harder and more stressful then other exams, but I want to pass it, and do well on it just like any other one,” said Hinson. As a way to help prepare her students for the AP English exam, Mrs. Weathersbee gives practice AP tests, as well as focusing on different pieces of literature and analyzing them. “AP exams are very useful, however taking the AP class is very important as well, said Mrs. Weathersbee. By taking the AP class also has the student with higher standards and therefore they know what to expect when college comes around. “The biggest piece of advice I would give first time AP exam takers is don’t try and cram the night before. It is more important to be well rested then being tired and all worried on the day of the exam,” says Hinson.

Twin Life

Staff Reporter — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:27:55 +0000

Having a sibling is one thing, but having a twin is completely different. Twins go through the same stages of life at the same time together. They have a different relationship than siblings who have years between them.
“It has it’s ups and downs” said senior Spencer Redfern. Having a twin is something that can not be explained, only expirienced. “It’s hard sometimes when you share the same friends, because sometimes you want to hang out with just your friends” Redfern said. Most people would agree that sometimes you need a break from the family, and having a twin may make it more difficult at times. “It’s a love hate relationship, she loves me and i hate her.” Redfern jokingly said.
Twins are around each other a lot during the growing up process, so they naturally know one another really well. “It’s weird sometimes when Tyler can answer my questions before i even finishing asking them” said sophomore Taylor Till.
Having a twin means being somewhat associated with one person for a lifetime. Sometimes people wan to have their independence. “It’s annoying when people call us the twins instead of Taylor and Tyler” said Taylor Till.
Being a twin is a unique expirience. Their expierence differ from normal siblings. “Having a twin means you always have someone by your side” said Taylor TIll

Junior year most important year of all

Staff Reporter — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:58:56 +0000

The last home basketball game is tonight and the biggest chemistry test is tomorrow, first block. The right thing to do would be to go home and study, but it’s the biggest game of the year! The game simply cannot be skipped for schoolwork. Big mistake.

Junior year is the most important year of high school. It is a make or break year. It is your last opportunity to “boost your GPA,” says administrative assistant Mrs. Pillow. “My first two years of high school I didn’t really try as hard as I should have, so this year I have been trying really hard to get my GPA up.” junior Macy Caldwell says.

The reason why junior year is so important is because this is the year that colleges look at. “Seniors apply in October, so the grades that colleges have is from your junior year.” says Mrs. Pillow.

Not only are grades important but colleges also look for extra curricular activities. Service learning, clubs, sports, and community service are all great examples.

Times are changing and colleges are getting much harder to get into. They’re also excepting more out of state applicants.

“I was really disappointed this year when I got denied from College of Charleston. This had been my goal since the seventh grade. Obviously times have changed now and things are much different. No matter how many extra curricular activities you do or how much you give back to the community all it really comes down to is grades, so you definitely need to stand out from the crowd and try as hard as you can.” advises senior Grace Powlas.

Most students take the SAT and ACT in their junior year. It’s imperative to good on these tests. These scores can be really helpful on determining college acceptance. Doing good on these tests is so important, not only to get into colleges but thousands of dollars are given for good scores.

Studying a little harder, sacrificing a little more, and standing out from the crowd are all important things to remember to accomplish in a junior year. Making these years count makes all the hard work pay off.

All in the name

Staff Reporter — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:25:03 +0000

After nine months of carrying a child, they enter the world, and the biggest question of all is what do we name it? For some parents, the choice comes very easily and the baby’s name has been thought out and planned for quite some time. However for the rest of the parents out there, the name is completely spontaneous. For example naming a child after someone else probably took some thought process and some planning. For the spontaneous parents, naming their child Houston could just result in the town the child was born in. It doesn’t matter if someone’s name was planned or spur of the moment; there name could still be very unique and different.

Senior Skye Moore said, “My mom really likes different names.” She not only has a different name, but so do her cousins. Moore said, “I have cousins with names such as Chance, Stone, Rain, and Lake.”

There are those who just want to come up with an original, never heard of before name. Take for example sophomore Excellence Carlos. He said, “My dad wanted people to hear my name and think of the excellence in themselves.”

A generation can also say a lot about someone’s name. Names in the 20′s and 30′s consisted of Anne, Fay, Gertrude, and so on. Names would differ extremely in the 60′s and 70′s with such like Mary Jane, Summer, Jimmy, Tammy, and so on. These would rely solely on culture differences in the time period.

Then there are those people who were named after where they were born. Freshman Storm Ewing was named after the conditions of the weather at the time of her birth. She said, “My parents found my name in an old English book, and I just happened to be born in a thunderstorm.”

No matter if a person’s name is very common or very different; they should wonder why did my parents name me this?

Recycling Gets Funky

Staff Reporter — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:21:51 +0000

Dance and Art classes along with Love Green are teaming up to produce Chapin’s first ever recycled fashion show. The Junk to Funk show will hit the runway April 22 but students are already designing and creating the clothes.

Junk to Funk outfits will feature recycled items as part of each ensemble. The intention is to spread awareness about eco-friendly ideas and practices while having a good time and reducing the amount of material goods used to create most designs.

Art teacher Mrs. Katie Myers was inspired at recent Columbia show.

“Mrs. Malone and I attended a recycled fashion show in Columbia, and we decided to do one at Chapin. Then we mentioned it to Mrs. Cargile and we started integrating it into the art and dance class curriculum.” Dance classes will be providing the entertainment with modeling and dancing during the event. Dancers will also be doing concessions, such as refreshments and a bake sale.

The art classes will be handling the clothing. Each group of students were asked to design and produce outfits from previously used or recyclable materials.

Mrs. Myers said, “Dresses made out of grocery bags, newspaper, or coffee filters, tissue box shoes, big necklaces out of bottles. Anything you can imagine, as long as it’s recyclable.”

Mrs. Malone’s photography classes will be capturing the event on film as well as taking pictures of the outfits.

Love Green will be handing out pamphlets with eco-friendly facts, manning displays on energy usage at Chapin High, and displaying each teacher’s recycled art projects.

“This is a great way for Love Green to get some publicity, but even a better way for publicize awareness about being green on Earth Day!,” said senior Arya Novinbakht.

The event hopes to spread eco-awareness as well as help students with their futures.

“I hope that we can have a program that kids have a lot of performance activities and feel that they are prepared to enter a college dancing class. My goal is for kids to feel knowledgeable and confident about dancing,” said Cargile.

Overall, it is a way for Chapin to learn more about recycling, eco-friendly facts, and a good time.

Three schools, one team, one goal

Staff Reporter — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:20:11 +0000

A new sport has been added to growing list of cross-district teams. Girls Lacrosse has already begun its inaugural season and expectations are high.
“It’s time to make history,” says senior lacrosse player Rachel Aube.
Officially, the team is known as Chapin Lacrosse but the squad is made up of twenty-six athletes hailing from all three Lexington/Richland high schools.
“Our practices are either at the Alternative Academy here in Chapin or on the SOAR fields at Irmo,” says Lacy. “It provides a neutral meeting place that is convenient for all of us.”
The girls are all one family and one team working together. They may be from different schools but they have one goal- win.
“It gives me a chance to do something other than work, and a chance to meet new people,” says junior Shelby Lacy.
Team spirit and camaraderie are crucial to this season’s success. School rivalries and preconceived notions of student stereotypes are put aside. Team play is not the only path to a successful season. Strong scoring from juniors Haley Spearman and Courtney Johnson has also been critical to a strong start. Scoring alone does not win matches as starting senior goalie Annie Lee can confirm. With thirty-two saves, she has been a powerful presence in the crease.
Lacrosse Hall-of-Famer and coach, Kim Curnutt says has been impressed by the team’s attitude so far.
Irmo junior Courtney Johnson has loved every moment of the sport even if she does not go to Chapin. “It’s difficult of course to put on light blue and navy after so many years of wearing black and gold. It’s not about the colors you wear, or the school you play for. It’s the spirit of the game,” said Johnson.
The girls are already off to a great start. Some of the teams they face have experienced programs like local powerhouse Blythewood. Others like A.C. Flora and Ridgeview are just starting.
As time goes by, they have discovered their true rivals.
“It was hard at first trying to become a team, but we had to realize that we aren’t rivals in any way, we are one team,” says Aube.

Single on Valentines Day

Staff Reporter — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:53:15 +0000

What are you doing on February 14th? Many people on Valentines Day will be out on a romantic date. But what about the select few who don’t have a significant other come Valentines Day. For some it’s a touchy subject being alone on the one day of the year that is meant only for the magic of love.
Senior Jamie Lindler is spending her first valentines alone after a year long relationship with her ex-boyfriend, and she says she couldn’t be happier. She says “I doesn’t like being alone but I believe that if I’m single on Valentines Day it is only a reminder that there is love out there for me I just haven’t found it yet.” Even though she is single this year she stats that it doesn’t matter much to her because for now she has friends she can hang out with and she knows in the future a guy will come into her life that is worth spending Valentines Day with. Jamie says that she believes love is like a rose and its not important how long is last but because it was there is what matters. “I have gotten to experience what I thought was love but I know one day it will be true love and on Valentines Day it only makes me yearn for a Valentines Day that is perfect because I will know that the wait was worth it”.
For Senior Jenna Williams her valentines day is extra special because instead of have a gooey romantic date with a significant other she chooses to spend it with her friends occupying two days for her 18th birthday.
Both views can be taken in different concepts. You always have a reason to believe in Valentines Day whether it’s because you are with the person or people you want to spend it with or whether you’re waiting for the perfect one and the wait only makes you think of the best Valentines Day you know it to come eventually. So whether you will be spending your time cuddled in the arms of the one you love or you are with your best friends watching movies and hanging out; remember Valentines is not just a celebration of couples’ love it’s a celebration of the love you have for everyone in you life.

Ready for Miss Chapin

Staff Reporter — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:23:36 +0000

Hundreds of spectators watch the stage, waiting for someone to make a mistake. Judging each tiny blemish and criticizing every movement. The stage is a place of comfort for Junior Breanna Scurry. She’s been in hundreds of pageants all across the country. But, the blinding brightness of the lights and thrill of being on stage is somewhat new to Senior Shauna Gearheart.

For Shauna, Miss Chapin is something she’s doing for fun. “It’s really kind of a why not thing and I figure I’ll already have a dress for prom.”

Breanna has already been working at this pageant for over two months. She’s got her dress. She’s ready for the pageant.

As for Shauna, she’ll be going shopping for her dress “sometime before the 13th”. She’s not nervous or scared… yet.

For Breanna, dress shopping is something she adores doing. “I love going to pick out my dress. You go into a store and there are dresses and you have to try on all these different dresses to see which one is your favorite. There are all kinds of different ones and when you find the dress that you want to wear, you fall in love with it and you just HAVE to have that dress,” She says.

For Shauna, the time until the pageant is filled with excitement. She’s eager to “[G]et to be on stage in front of the whole school plus a bunch of random people who decide to come. You get to get all dressed up and it’s just fun getting to wear a nice dress.” She says.

For Breanna, she looked up to all of the girls who have been Miss Chapin. “I really want to be Miss Chapin. I know every girl that does it says that but, I mean, its something I want to do, someone I want to be. And so, it’s a goal that I’ve set out to achieve and I’m going to try and accomplish it.” Scurry says.

And for both girls, the Miss Chapin Pageant is something that they’ll be able to look back at and remember how much fun it was. They both agree that February 13 can’t get here fast enough.