A teacher’s incentive is not necessarily the pay, but because they want to help students grow and learn.  Brent Voorhees, algebra II teacher and assistant baseball coach, will move from East to an inner city school in Dallas next year.

“I decided I wanted to pursue working at one of these schools that has many of the students in such great need of role models and support,” Voorhees said. “My vision is to help not only the students, but also the current teachers, to help improve the community as a whole.”

The Dallas Independent School district had the seventh highest dropout rate in an urban area of the United States and many schools have higher pregnancy rates for girls than graduation rates.

“These statistics stunned me,” Voorhees said. “In the fall, I became aware of the great need for role models in students and young adults in the Metroplex.”

The home lives between families in Wylie and families in Dallas are drastically different.  Many of the schools there do not test well and have an ever increasing dropout rate.

“I am most excited about being able to help individuals who may have very little, if any, support coming from their families.” Voorhees said. “Many of us at Wylie East think of our support system as being our family; many of the students in inner city Dallas do not have any idea what ‘support system’ means or how it should look.”

Voorhees has made a lasting impression on all of the athletes he’s coached in baseball and event helped them make it to play offs.

“He was constantly trying to help everyone,” junior varsity player Andrew Ortiz said. “I will miss him always cracking jokes in practice.”

Although Voorhees has only been a member of the Raider Family for three years, his move is bitter sweet. He taught sophomore Sarah O’Neall in fifth period Algebra II.

“I will miss his positive attitude and humor,” O’Neall said. “I hope he influences the kids at his new school to excel in life.”

Voorhees says he will miss Raider Nation and sporting blue and white.

“This has not been an easy decision because of the many great relationships I have built during the last three years at EAST,” Voorhees said. “I feel 100 percent a part of Raider Nation and it is very difficult imagining not coaching any longer in a Raider uniform.”

“We write our own songs, mostly in the genre of metal,” Carter said.

Dreadland regularly plays in shows all over.

“We first attended a battle of the bands at The Door Club in Dallas,” Carter said. “We perform typically at bars and, more recently, clubs.”

A six-month member, Carter dedicates Tuesday and Friday nights to Dreadland.

“I just like hitting stuff and making sound and I’d like to continue doing it in front of people,” Carter said.

The band is not rigid with schedules and rules. There are plenty of fun and games in the student band.

“Nothing is strict with these guys. We screw around all the time, and doing that we accomplish more because we have fun with it,” Carter said.

Dreadland has a Facebook page and Twitter. They can also be found on YouTube and ReverbNation. Carter encourages students in a band to stick with it.

“As long as the band members are having fun with it, the students should give it a shot,” Carter said.

The Columbus High School Cardinals were disqualified due to a gesture that the anchor runner made as he crossed the finish line. That Runner was Derrick Hayes. He pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line in the 4 x 100-meter relay. When Hayes’s father was interviewed, he believed his son was giving thanks to God.

Although UIL rules state that no excessive celebration is allowed, students have every right to be happy with their victory especially if they are doing it as a religious symbol. Excessive is defined as more than is necessary, normal or desirable; immoderate. Pointing your finger into the sky is no more than normal, just like a football player jumping in the air and cheering after a touch-down. Has society become so concerned with people’s feelings getting hurt or religious equality that celebration of a victory must be done in silent?

According to sports.yahoo.com “After an investigation, the University Interscholastic League of Texas concluded that religion played no role in the disqualification that the basis of the decision was due to the student-athlete behaving disrespectfully, in the opinion of the local meet referee.”

Even though this case is not all that it was made out to be, it raises the question: would UIL pursue a student who was honestly celebrating a victory?

Some of the students recognized include:

Caitlin Gipson received awards for Top 10 percent and Honor Graduate, DAP Scholarship, UIL Scholar, Shining the Way, English IV, Practicum in Education, Student Council Leadership, Texas Association of Student Council, Outstanding Student Council Member, Texas Association of Student Council, Outstanding Student Council Award, Texas Association of Student Council, and Student Council Member of the Year. Scholarships were given to Gipson from Texas Christian University, Texas State University, University of North Texas, University of Oklahoma, and Baylor University for over $80,000. Along with these outstanding awards, she also received local scholarships from WISD.

Casey Shewmake was all smiles as Mr. Williams congratulated her accomplishments. She was awarded with the Honor Grad, PAL, Volleyball All-District, and Volleyball TGCA Academic All-District Scholarships. She also got the UNT Excellence Scholarship and Hall of Honors Scholarship.

Senior Aaron Hunt exchanges a congratulatory handshake from Principal Mike Williams. He was recognized as an honor graduate and received awards for architecture.

JJ Rosales joins the rest of his peers with an award at the ceremony for his high school performance. He was awarded for his dedication to Theatre with the International Thespian Society Award.

Salutatorian Desiree Cruz was honored for many achievements, among them: UIL achievements in computer science, Top 10, honor graduate and scholarships.

Rebellious and teenager are two words that are generally thought to describe each other.  Acting out in class and not caring about grades could also be a result from the massive amount of stress weighing on our shoulders and I’m not just talking about the heavy textbooks.

With CSCOPE and STAAR now being used in classes, the pace of school work has changed from a leisurely walk in the park to a dead sprint that never reaches the finish line.  So as we run from unit to unit we’re not retaining any information.  As students, we’ve learned to memorize answers for the test and then focus on the next play.

The extra pressure is like being on the bottom of a dog pile and has made a lot of kids stop caring.  All teenagers’ self-esteem is at an all-time low at this time in our lives whether or not we present ourselves in that light.  I’ve witnessed peers of mine getting blindsided and so overwhelmed in class that they have to walk out to cry in the hallway.  I’ve even seen former straight “A” students begin to make failing grades because they can’t handle the pressure. Teachers have also been more wound up and sometimes snap at already on edge students, however when students snap back, everyone thinks that we are disrespectful.

Students are humans too, with problems at home or with friends, bad grades, and anxiety about all sorts of things.  Yet everyone forgets about all of that and expects us to always save face and get on with the game. Maneuvering through high school takes skill and complex plays but at some point we’re going to foul out.

A score of 3500 is passing for the math, science and social studies tests. For English I and II reading and writing, a score of 1875 is passing.

For those interested in extra help, subject-specific lessons will be designed by instructional specialists in order to improve scores. Summer remediation is the best opportunity for students to get what they need to pass the test.

The summer testing schedule is as follows:

July 8               a.m. – English I Writing, p.m. – Chemistry

July 9               a.m. – English I Reading, p.m. – Geometry

July 10             a.m. – English II Writing, p.m. – Algebra I

July 11             a.m. – English II Reading, p.m. – Biology

All students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.

Yearbooks hold the memories of friends, teachers and high school. A flood in the yearbook room could have water logged the class of 2013’s senior memories when the morning of May 21 a drainage pipe backed up and poured water into yearbook adviser, Casi Thedford’s room.

“I was the only one in the room when the water started to pour in from under the wall,” senior Sara Grosvenor said. “I was organizing the books when I noticed the water. I ran to Mrs. [Stephanie] Shepard’s room so that she could help me.”

In total, the cost of the yearbooks is about $40,000. Most of the boxes were set on tables but many boxes, with 16 books in each were, lying on the ground when the water started to seep in.

“By all means students would never have to pay again,” Jostens yearbook representative Rod Evans said. “Reprinting books does cost money and time, but for a situation like this, Jostens would have done everything possible to minimize both.

The drainage pipe outside of the career tech wing backed up after Tuesday when a large storm that passed through the area where Wylie received two inches of rain.

“The drainage pipe that overflowed is supposed to lead outside behind the art room,” yearbook student DJ Brenan said.

If the yearbooks had not been saved in time, the books would have not been distributed until the last week of school.

“I would say it would have taken 2-3 weeks [to reprint],”Evans said. “I’m just really glad that everything turned out okay.”

There ain’t no party like a Gatsby party, because a Gatsby party don’t stop until two people are dead and everyone is disenchanted with the Jazz Age as a whole. The good news is that the junior class does not party quite as hard as Jay Gatsby did. They just gathered into a movie theatre to watch a movie during school hours which is a party to any high school student.

May 20 the junior class crowded onto buses and paraded over to the new B & B Wylie 12 with Marquee Suites & GS Movie Theatre by Wylie High School.

“The theatre was really nice, but I would definitely not go with that many people there ever again,” junior Rebeka Bartelson said.

The new B&B Theatre opened Friday, April 26. This is the first movie theatre in Wylie, and many students from Wylie East and Wylie High are employed there.

“It’s pretty neat working there. We get to make all of the popcorn and such,” junior Cody Nechamkin said. “The perks are more exciting than the pay. We get free popcorn and movies. It’s rather awesome.”

Though the students had already read the book, they still had their moments of shock and awe.

“The gun shot scared me so much that I jumped in my seat,” junior Lindsay Bain said.

The movie is two hours and 23 minutes long. It is jam packed with parties, emotions, extravagant everything and of course Jay Gatsby played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

“My favorite part was when Gatsby set up a secret plan to see Daisy,” junior Olivia Bozich said.  “He brought all the flowers to Nick’s house and was really nervous about seeing her for the first time.”

The chaperones, teachers and counselors even enjoyed the movie.

“I really enjoyed the movie even though not everything was exactly like the book,” English Teacher Michelle Lindsay said. “It was very appealing to the eye though, especially with Leonardo DiCaprio in it.”

Devastation struck Moore, Oklahoma, Monday, May 20, when a massive, howling tornado pulverized a vast swath of the Oklahoma City suburbs, chewing up homes and businesses and severely damaging a hospital and two elementary schools. This storm was rated an EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale and carved a trail as much as 1.3 miles wide and 17 miles long.

These families lost everything and could use a little support to get back on their feet. In support of two families, a heroic teacher and a second grade student, affected by this deathly tornado the school is hosting a gift card drive.

A competition between grade levels will take place. Freshmen versus sophomores versus juniors versus seniors. The class with the most combined value of gift cards per person from these places will receive a sweats day Thursday, June 6. This is a community wide effort to collect gift cards from Target, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Khol’s.

Please bring gift cards to room 154, the front office, or the ROTC room, Monday,  Tuesday and Wednesday

Fourteen seems a little young to be a criminal, but missing school can cause truancy and land students a day in court. According to FamilyEducation.com, colleges look at all factors of a student’s high school career, including truancy.

According to the State of Texas, Truancy is missing so many days of school without a valid excuse. Skipping class to run to Sonic or to get Chiloso is not labeled as a valid excuse. These absences may not seem like a big deal, but a day here and there can add up quickly.

“Students going off campus for non-school related activities can be given an absence for the period they left since they were not in class,” Assistant Principal Keith Kirkpatrick said.

Even if a student misses only part of the day, in the eyes of the court it counts as a full day absence.

Illnesses and family emergencies are valid reasons to be absent but students must turn in a note signed by a parent or guardian with the reason why the student was absent. Not every excuse is valid though.

“One time a student brought me a note saying that a garden snake got loose in their house which caused them to be absent the entire day,” Attendance Clerk Dalila Bruner said.

According to the Wylie East High School Student Handbook, “If a student accumulates three unexcused absences in a four week period or 10 full or partial days in a six month period, the student and/or the parent or guardian may be prosecuted.”

If a student misses more than 10 percent of school days they can make up hours they missed by coming in before school or staying after school. Students will be supervised by a teacher, who will sign off on the hours, to be a witness that the student actually showed up.

“I was close to being truant but I was able to make up the hours I missed after school,” Senior Taylor Gensler said. “The assistant principals said if I did not make up the hours I would not walk at graduation.”