“It’s nice to be recognized for what we do,” senior Jon Weldon said. “We’ve worked hard and I’m glad people will know it.”

The ceremony is open to everyone and is being held in the auditorium. Students being honored must arrive by 6:30 p.m. and wear business attire.

“It’s a great honor for these students to be recognized,” counselor Brad Posey said. “It shows that being in involved in your school really does help you succeed.”

“The most exciting thing is getting out into the world and showing your worth,” senior Tim McKenna said.

With only a few weeks left, seniors like Heather Woodworth have mixed emotions about leaving high school and moving on.

“I’m excited to finally start my life out and move on to a new chapter,” Woodworth said. “I will miss all of the people I know now and even people I got to never meet. It is the never-again part that gets me.”

Graduation will be held at the Cedar Park Center, Sunday June 3 at 1 p.m. That evening, seniors will have a chance to celebrate together at the Project Graduation party with check-in beginning at 10 p.m. The group will bus over to Main Event where graduates will have unlimited access to the games, bowling, miniature golf, rock climbing wall and laser tag. They will also have casino gambling games to play and a chance to win prizes at the end of the night. Students who register by Advocate of this week will receive an extra 10 tickets to play with.

“It keeps the seniors in a safe environment,” Project Grad coordinator Cherryll Price said. “Giving them a last time to see their friends, without any alcohol and drugs.”

For the seniors, this will be the final time to be with their friends and their whole class.

“There were many memorable memories,” senior Sabrina O’Lin said. “Experiences that you can take from high school and grow from.”

“I feel great,” Rutledge said. “It will look really good on my transcript and I’m happy to have the chance to do it. I’m excited to meet a lot of new people and hopefully represent our school the best I can.”

Hands down, this is the best superhero movie of the year. Or should I say superheroes movie. The Avengers is a group of Marvel superheroes, most of which who have had their own film previously. The team is brought together by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) after an alien energy source known as the Tesseract is stolen by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), super villain and adopted brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Re-activating the Avengers Initiative, Fury recruits “playboy billionaire genius philanthropist” Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), super genius Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who transforms into the Hulk when he’s angry, super soldier and World War II veteran Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Norse God of thunder, Thor. Rounding out the team is spy and agent Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and master archer and assassin Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  The team is a volatile mix of clashing personalities, overinflated egos and superhuman powers. However, they’re forced to unite and save the world from a threat “we are not prepared for.” The movie is essentially a sequel to the previous Marvel films: Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger and it does an amazing job at bringing aspects from all of their stories into one successful story. This was an amazing movie, filled with action, comedy, drama, some of the best quotes and lines in a movie, and that superhero flair. I recommend anyone to go and see it.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

“My favorite part of our program is getting to meet so many special young ladies,” founder Keri Byer said. “Every girl that comes to us comes with her own story and own dreams.”

Austin Fairy Godmother began in 2006 when Byer’s friend said she couldn’t afford a dress for her daughter’s prom.  Many people said they would help and Byer collected about 20 dresses and various accessories, like jewelry and shoes. Before she knew it, she had a website up and a successful business running.

“I feel it’s beneficial to the community in so many ways,” Byer said. “We are doing more than just providing dresses to those in need, I feel we are providing them a place when they can feel secure and beautiful.”

For students like junior Brooke Hull, it was a way to get more for her money, rather than spending hundreds of dollars on everything she would only use for one night.

“They take so much time to make sure everything is right for your big night,” Hull said. “And they really do have very pretty stuff, like accessories and shoes.”

Austin Fairy Godmother
10303 Crystal Falls Pkwy
Leander, TX 78641
(512) 507-6364
info@austinfairygodmother.org

Prices:
$40 – for dress, shoes, jewelry, handbag and accessories rental
$50 – for free prom pictures, rental of dress, heels, jewelry and all accessories, $100 worth of Mary Kay and L.A. Girl Cosmetics make-up, gift certificate to have fingernails and toenails painted to match gown, coupon to get corsage for only $20 and boutonniere for only $10, and coupon for $40 off your date’s tuxedo rental from Men’s Wearhouse.

Hours:
Wednesdays 3:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Thursdays 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Fridays 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Of course to be inspired, you have to read other fantasy novels. The best examples of fantasy I have read are: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. These people are the masters of fantasy. They have created extraordinary worlds where the impossible becomes very real. The idea of building another world and calling it entirely your own is amazing to me. All you have to do is use your imagination.

When you write something, you are free to unleash the full force of your imagination. You are the boss and nobody can tell you what to do. You are essentially this world’s God. Writing a fantasy novel has been a long time passion of mine, and I haven’t been able to complete an actual novel yet. However, I have created several fantasy short stories which I am proud of, stories inspired by Tolkien, Paolini and Rowling.

I don’t know what I’m going to be writing. I don’t know when I’m going to start. But with a little imagination, I could build a world entirely my own and eventually put it in a book. Writing a book is hard but I know I can do it. I’m thinking of concepts right now. I have full control of this new world and I just need a little time. I’m going to see if I can actually create a new world no one has ever seen before with fantastic creatures, incredible magic, heroic characters and dastardly villains.

The food fight should never have happened. The instigators were comprised of mostly upperclassmen. This level of immaturity should be reserved for freshmen at best. Upperclassmen are supposed to lead by example; this act has proven that the only example the upperclassmen have set is one of disrespect.

The custodians for this school are not paid to clean up after riots. This is why a group of B-lunchers stayed after the cafeteria was evacuated to help clean up. This is the example that upperclassmen should be setting for the freshmen. Our school was built on the premises of starting traditions that others will follow. When underclassmen look at the food fight they will be inspired to treat the school like it is a giant garbage can and will think that it is not only acceptable, but worthy of celebration, to disrespect the people that work here and the school itself.

Supporters of the food fight claim that it was all good fun and it was just a joke. Not one person who helped to start the fight stayed to pick up afterwards. If it was ‘no big deal’ or ‘just a joke’ then it would have been no problem to pick up the projectiles.

Rouse is known for having the best school spirit in the district. Anyone who has ever been to a football game knows this to be true. Where did that spirit go? Just because there wasn’t a team in front of them, doesn’t mean that students still shouldn’t be proud of their school.

“Freedom is your one power, don’t lose it, be you, care less for what people think, they don’t know what you want or need. Life is too short to live for other people perceptions.” –Michael Botello

“What you do and who you hang out with freshman year determines what you’ll be senior year and after high school.” –Trey Sutton

“Get involved in school and in the different clubs. Make sure to take useful classes and enjoy your time in high school. Senior year will be the best but the most stressful.” –Jessica Reyes

“Don’t put things off but have fun and participate in everything you can. It’s only four years so don’t worry.” –Taylor Jones

“Respect people older than you. A little love goes a long way.” – Sarah Goodfellow

“Get a good work ethic early. Senioritis is NOT for freshmen.” – Kirsten Mazur

“Think 10 times before you speak to upperclassmen and teachers.” – Fabiola Sanchez

“In class it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get through a lesson, the videos take 10 minutes for the same concept,” Pre-AP Pre Calculus and Pre-AP Geometry teacher Joel Vandiver said. “It allows students to have class time to explore concepts in groups while I facilitate.”

After seeing videos of teachers in Colorado using a similar system during February Conference, Vandiver decided to bring the system to his advanced classes. It was shortly picked up by other teachers including Pre-AP Geometry teacher Kymberlen Portillo.

“It gives students the opportunity to help each other when they come across a difficult problem,” Portillo said. “Also, when I’m lecturing in class they don’t have the ability to rewind me, but in the videos they can make me repeat myself and work at their own pace.”

Flipped classrooms are effective because they allows students to target what they are struggling with at home and spend their class time working out the problems they are having. The system puts the responsibility for learning the material on the student.

“I like it a lot because it makes less work to do at home and it gets us the help and practice we really need while were in class,” sophomore Pre-AP Geometry student Dakota Unruh said. “I think it’s a good system to be considered in all math classes because then the students can get the help that they really need.”

This teaching style doesn’t always work though, as Vandiver found out. His students weren’t watching the videos and thus not mastering the objectives forcing him to revert back to traditional teaching methods.

“The biggest pitfall of the program is students waiting until last minute to watch the videos,” Vandiver said. “Life would be much easier for myself and students if they would watch the videos on time. That’s why I still answer questions and teach in class.”

Although there are shortfalls that prevent the system from being effective in some classes or with certain subjects and groups of students, Portillo believes if used right the system works.

“I think it is successful,” Portillo said. “I think that the students have grown in their learning. It has taught them responsibility as far as what they need to study on their own. The conversations in class about the math have risen to another level.”

Portillo is still going strong and suggests that any teacher who is thinking about switching to flipped classrooms should talk to a teacher who has already tried it, then alter the system according to the needs of their students.

“I’d like to continue having flipped classrooms, but with adjustments,” Portillo said. “I’ve gotten feedback from the students and with their feedback I can make adjustments to make it even better. One thing that could’ve made an adjustment is if I had known about this at the beginning of the year. It was a huge adjustment for my students, but they have stuck with me and I am proud of every one of them.”

The yearbook will arrive Thursday, May 17. This year’s theme, “It’s about Time,” was chosen because this is the first year to have seniors.

“Since this is our first group of seniors, we had to make it as perfect as possible,” sophomore yearbook staffer Julia Small said. “I think Rouse will like it. Hopefully, they understand that it is a student publication and that it’s near to impossible to make it 100 percent perfect, but we tried. I love it.”

Yearbooks are $62 through May 16 and can still be purchased by ordering online at www.balfour.com or by picking up an order form in the Commons, front office or outside 6203. All orders must be received by May 16 to receive the $62 price. Yearbooks go up to $68 starting on May 17.

Students can also add on a number of extras:  autograph pages for $2, a plastic cover for $3 and the end-of-year magazine for $5. The 12-page magazine includes events that happened after spring break that were too late for the yearbook, including One-Act Play, the Royals’ spring show, track district and prom.

“The staffers thought it was really important to get in those late events and the magazine is a great way to do it,” adviser Kel Lemons said. “It’s also one last chance for us to get more students in the books and that’s always one of our top goals.”

Students should come to 6203 to pick up their books on May 17. They will need to show their ID and sign for their book.