Angela Ragsdale

ANGELA RAGSDALE Staff writer

Picture the ocean and all of its beauty: the waves gently pushing and pulling the sand, beautiful blue fish swimming in and out of coral. Now take a closer look deeper into the darkness, see the horrors that lie beneath, the damage that a perfect storm can cause on the waterfront, the devastation the water brings while still maintaining its beauty. The 2016-2017 Panther Band wishes to take you on a journey beneath the water and to witness the beauty of ‘the Living Sea.’

As the UIL Region change is putting our football team against tougher competition, the same is for band. The band has advanced to the State Marching Contest for the past four years and has established a reputation as a big fish in a small pond as the reigning UIL Area G Champion, but this year the band goes up against possibly the toughest competition in the state in order to qualify for the chance to make it to state.

“Overall the higher standards of the investments have pushed everyone to work harder and stay up to par with the expectations of this show,” senior color guard captain Taylor Ritchie said.

The band has many new additions to not only the director staff with a new band director, Jamie Ramos and a new color guard director, Darryl Pemberton, but also in the people who wrote this year’s show. The band has employed some of the most well known people in the marching world to work with the band and as a result the band’s work ethic has changed to make the show what the creators have imagined it to be.

“The change in mentality of the band is already evident in our rehearsals that our membership is pushing themselves and holding themselves to a higher standard because we all have a common goal to make it to state this year,” senior head drum major Rebekah Altenburger said.

The band knows the challenges that face them and that only hard work and determination can get them to where they want to be. The directors know this and it is also why they can be heard yelling at morning rehearsals trying and to get the band to realize their potential, that they can go into this new area and compete with the best in the state, that they deserve to be amongst them.

“Scores don’t matter I just want the satisfaction knowing that we did the best we could,” junior tuba section leader Austin Parry said.

For any UIL activity making it to state is a great honor. The whole goal is to be able to stand with the best in the state, to be the best in the state, and with the hard work that goes into it, to not reach that dream can be devastating. But ultimately the band has no control over whether or not they make it to state, its up to the judges, the one thing they do have control over is making sure that they do the best possible job so that they can be proud of what was accomplished.
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Sarena Gonzales

Staff Writer

This summer everyone’s attention was on the 2016 Rio Olympics. It’s the time of the year when people put aside politics and athletes are cheered on to bring back the gold.

Aside from all the achievements the USA made, there are some athletes who gave America a bad reputation in the veiwers’ eyes. If you hadn’t already heard, swimming athlete Ryan Lochte lied about a robber in Rio approaching him and teammates with a gun at night. In regards to his actions most of his sponsors like Speedo And Ralph Lauren have dropped him as a client.

“I think everybody deserves a second chance, I think his lesson needs to be learned that what he does affects more than just himself,” the water polo and art teacher Coach Hadin said.

Though some people think he deserves a second chance, some say he needs to change to get back where he was.

“I would try to change him into a better person and show him why he did what he did was wrong ” student athlete Grace Bradford said.

On a more positive note, Michael Phelps was definitely in the spotlight this Olympics. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals. He did choose to retire this year on a good note.

“It’s good to end on a high note not on a low note,” student athlete Joseph Camacho said.

Another athlete that was in the spotlight was Simone Biles. Some may refer to her as the Michael Phelps of gymnastics.

“She is like the MIchael Phelps of gymnastics because she was just so great in everything that she did,” Bradford said.

Simone was a big contributor to the U.S. gymnastics team, but if she weren’t on the team, would the U.S team have done as well without her?

“I don’t think it would have changed the outcome,” Camacho said.

In the end the U.S dominated the Olympics with 121 medals total, the most medals out of all the countries.

“It makes me feel really proud and happy to be apart of this country,” Bradford said.

The Olympics brings not only pride to countries around the world but honor. The feeling of knowing your country is the best at the sport you’re in is incredible an experience one can only imagine.

“Historically we’ve made our way up, and it’s emotional seeing that we’re the best on the world,” Camacho said.

Despite all the negativity for the Olympics being hosted in Rio some students think Rio did a good job.

“It looked really pretty and the stadiums were good,” Bradford said.

No matter where the games are being held there are always those who are skeptical about the location. “ Every country has its issues hosting such a big venue, I think they did well with what they had,” Camacho said.

Another unsettling event in the Olympics involved Russian athletes that tested positive for drug use and were still allowed to complete, such as Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova.

“It’s very difficult, because if there were some athletes that didn’t do anything wrong but there’s always going to be a cloud of did they do it the fair way,” Hadin said.

Those that do cheat will have to live with the guilt of not earning what they got the fair way.

“I’d feel cheated out in my spot, I’d be a little bit angry about competing against those that are cheating,” Bradford said.

America bringing home the most medals out of all the countries left us feeling proud to call America our home and proud to be an American.