Islands High School

Planet Earth

Jeremie Lally — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:40:07 +0000

Student Artwork By: Taylor Barrett

End Sexual Assault through Education

Jeremie Lally — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:36:13 +0000

There is an online petition going at whitehouse.gov that is petitioning for the Obama administration to call attention to the issue of sexual assault and rape in public schools. Whoever started the petition wants children and teenagers to be educated on the topic in hopes that the sexual assault rates in our country will eventually begin to drop. Schools would need to educate students on sexual assault laws and statistics, what consent really is, provide resources for people having been through this situation, and they would also need to address the misconceptions surrounding sexual assault.

The statistics on the petition are alarming. I knew this was a problem but I didn’t realize how common it actually is. According to whitehouse.gov, one in every six women and one in every 33 men are victims of this crime.

Personally, I think this petition is a good idea. No one ever addresses this subject and it’s worth knowing about. Maybe educating people on this matter would eventually make a difference. If we plant the idea at a young age that sexual assault is wrong, then maybe they won’t do it. Also, people need to educated on what consent really is. I would bet anything that a lot of those who commit this crime aren’t even fully aware that they committed this horrible crime because what they believed was consent, doesn’t actually count as consent.

There is an occurrence of rape that happened recently in Steubenville, Ohio where two football players were convicted after being charged with the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. It happened at a party, where there were plenty of witnesses. The girl was highly intoxicated; too drunk to walk or speak properly, and definitely too drunk to say no. She was assaulted various times by the two boys at the party and afterward., pictures of the victim were spread around the internet to various social sites including Twitter and YouTube. One witness who was not involved in the assault posted a 12 minute long video making fun of the girl’s condition, and even saying she must have died because she didn’t move at all during one attack.

When brought to court, the boys both claimed that they didn’t rape the victim. At least one witness testified that he didn’t see the girl drink at all during the party, and didn’t see her having any contact with the boys being tried. Almost every other witness said otherwise. The boys may have known that what they did was wrong, but that didn’t stop them from saying it wasn’t. The victim was too intoxicated to tell them no, and they took her lack of protest as consent. Just because she didn’t say no doesn’t make it okay, especially considering her state of consciousness.

Situations like that are exactly what people are trying to prevent with this petition; teaching people what consent really is and providing them with an accurate definition of “sexual assault”. The health curriculum here at Islands touches on the subject under the topic of abusive relationships. The definition of sexual assault in our health books is “Any sexual attack against another person”, which is extremely vague. The actual definition of sexual assault in Georgia is “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient of the unwanted sexual activity”. This definition seems more appropriate if not effective.

“In my class, we talk a great length about ‘no means no,’” Coach Mock spoke about the Islands health curriculum and what it teaches students about rape and sexual assault. “I know there is some information in the text about sexual assault, rape, date rape…” But how much information is there? It is covered in Chapter 14 of our textbooks and takes up about ¼ of the chapter. The definitions the books give are vague at best, and it doesn’t cover any of the laws surrounding the topic because they vary from state to state. Coach Mock said that he thinks putting more about sexual assault into the curriculum would be helpful to students, and that he tries to do the best he can while educating students on the subject.

I have often heard the phrase “Society teaches ‘don’t get raped’ instead of ‘don’t rape’”. I find this to be true, but now people are finally taking steps to turn that around. The petition deadline is May 21^st, and they are about 87k signatures away from their goal. If you feel strongly about this issue please sign. Every signature counts.

Article By: Rosie Sparrow

“I’ll Have a Diet Coke Please”

Jeremie Lally — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:34:58 +0000

Something that brings me great entertainment and laughter is whenever someone orders quite the calorie-packing meal at a restaurant, and when the cashier or server asks them what they would like to drink, they say “I’ll have a Diet Coke, please.”

Then I wonder, what is the purpose of that? I mean, if you personally prefer Diet Coke to regular Coke, then so be it, but for someone to order a diet coke for the purpose of adding a “healthy” addition to an otherwise heart-clenching meal is awe inspiring. The irony of the situation by itself is enough to make me burst out laughing like one of the crazy hyenas from The Lion King. Plus, if you’re trying to hold back, Diet Coke is about as useful as a plastic butter knife cutting through a greasy cheesy pizza pie. It’s not like Diet Coke is going to reverse the effects of the 3,000 calorie meal consisting of two double patty burgers with large curly fries that you’re about to intake.

This also reminds me of an article I wrote earlier this year in which I questioned the reasons for the school only offering diet/calorie-free products in the student vending machines. When we have a cafeteria that offers deliciously scrumptious pizza and a school store with various sweets and confections, what exactly is the purpose behind withholding sugary-sweet soft drinks? There’s no harm in having them, especially if the school would like to see a surplus of revenue from these machines.

Diet soda products barely even have benefits, they use artificial sweeteners (like Splenda, which was being tested as something that could cause cancer with frequent consumption) and most still have caffeine amounts of caffeine per serving. So the question here is: Why does diet soda even exist? It honestly couldn’t be more devoid of a purpose in this world. Perhaps if Diet Coke was cheaper than regular soda I would be even just a bit less critical of it, but it’s exactly the same price! Why not just get some free sugar and buy a real soda?

So, take my advice and the next time you go to a restaurant, just save yourself the trouble of artificial sweeteners and go ahead and order a regular soda to go with your meal. Or get some water, that stuff is actually good for you.

Article By: Marquis Waiters

BANK

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:49:37 +0000

Student Art By: Taylor Barrett

Prom is the most important thing ever

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:46:46 +0000

With Prom rapidly approaching on May 18th, let’s talk about the most expensive party you will go to all year! Often in High School we are told of things we have to do, or events we must be a part of, well, prom is definitely one of those events. In our society prom has received the reputation of being the best memory you will have in all of your four years here. People are basically brainwashed from a young age to think of it as some sort of magical Cinderella night, and I can back that up by my seven year old sister who saw that Disney movie “Prom” and has now dedicated every second of her life to asking me what goes down. For all of you freshmen, sophomores and some juniors who don’t have to worry about the black-tie event, allow me to explain the ins and outs of Prom, and hopefully, still have a date by the end of it.
Speaking of dates, I would say that is the first issue to tackle when planning out your legendary evening. If you are a single guy or girl, do not stress, I guarantee you will have just as much fun if not more fun as any couple will. My suggestion is to pick a good friend you can just have a fun night with and leave it at that. It honestly does not matter if they are a guy, girl, robot, etc… The idea here is to have fun remember? What I’m starting to see only in the few weeks away from Prom night, are couples who ended up buying a limo, tux, dress, dinner reservation, and all the other “must haves”, only to break up with their special someone and be rendered not only out of hundreds of dollars and dateless. We are all students here and do you honestly think your girlfriend or boyfriend would be upset if you decided to go to Prom with someone else? YES THEY WOULD! So my advice for you couples is to save all of the break ups until the Sunday after. You don’t want to be too mean right?
Okay you little stud you, it happened! You got a date and you are going to prom, simple as that… right? WRONG! Now is the part equally as fun as walking through broken glass when considering about expenses. When I went to get my tux, it was simply a wonderful experience. I walked in feeling like one of the characters from Mad Men. All of those fancy pants, suits and tuxedos there in a sparkling display for my choosing. After I was fitted and told about my almost perfect neck size, I selected a very classy Ralph Lauren tux with a dark purple vest. Needless to say, I looked incredible. After they told me my total was $120 I had to say I was shocked that such a fancy piece of clothing was mine forever for such a low price. Then the delightful lady began talking about me picking it up Friday and returning it Sunday and my hopes were instantly shot. Trust me, you will be tempted to run out of whichever store you choose, drive to party city, and buy the $25 tuxedo costume without thinking twice about it. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you. Girls seem to really enjoy the dress shopping process. I can’t say I know too much about that sadly. Good luck with that, ladies.
Alright you have a date, you got your fancy pants tuxedo, and you can now officially go to your Prom (assuming you already paid your dues like a decent human being)! But now is the part where things can get interesting. Will you and your date be going to dinner before? Where? Will you guys be going with a group or alone? Will you rent a limo? What are you doing after Prom? Did you get the corsage? Fear not, for I am here to clear up these things that are almost ritualistic about prom!
I say you go to dinner first, there will obviously be food and drinks at the event, but going out with a group or just your date couldn’t hurt in all honesty. You’ve already spent half your paycheck on a tux, why not blow the other half? Secondly and the most important thing I can say in this entire article, DO NOT RENT A LIMO. I know you have this idea that it is this enormous vehicle that is super cool and classy, but it really isn’t. I’ve been in several limos before and let me describe the experience, they smell a bit like leather and your grandparents house, the driver seems constantly agitated by the fact that he is a driver, it is cramped, and it is NOT cheap. Hey, if you really want a way to make sure you and everyone in your group are together the entire time, go for it, but just remember that I told you it was a poor decision. As for the corsage and boutonniere aspect, I find it over rated and a little lame. Given I am of course a huge tough guy that causes flowers to wilt at the pure sight of him, I was not that excited about it. And guys, why not just talk about it with your date, I wasn’t eager to spend about $20 on flowers that go on someone’s wrist, and maybe your date doesn’t exactly want flowers on their wrist that bad. If you guys want to, skip it. Who cares? Just be sure to at least talk about it. And now for after prom, drive your date home and then arrive at your house nice and early to get some sleep, because odds are nobody will be doing anything or having any parties afterwards.
This year’s prom looks like it’s going to be a great turn out. Let’s all make it one of the best that Islands has ever seen. If you decide to use any of my tips, be sure to tell your date that THE Jeremie Lally is the reason you both had a fun night, I’ll be sure to be there shaking hands with those who find me to thank me for their perfect night.

Article By: Jeremie Lally

How Tiger Woods Changed Golf

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:35:34 +0000

What would the sport of golf be without Tiger Woods? Tiger has changed the game of golf completely ever since he went pro in 1996. As of June 2012, Tiger’s earnings are at a total of 59.4 million dollars. You can say that that is not that much for the greatest golfer who ever lived; before the Tiger era of golf, the first golfer to ever make it past 10 million dollars was Greg Norman who finished with 14 million dollars. Tiger made nine million dollars in one year, four years after he went pro in 1996. Norman, who began his pro career in 1976, took twenty years to make 10 million while Tiger came close to making that amount in one year. Tiger has more than 59.4 million dollars in total, but because of the scandal he lost some of his money.
Tiger is the third highest paid athlete; he is one spot above Lebron James and one below Manny Pacquiao and two below Floyd Mayweather! In Tiger’s full career he has raked in an amount close to 100 million dollars. Tiger also helped globalize the game of golf; in the year prior to Tiger going pro there were 56 Americans in the top 100 golfers list with twenty Europeans and twenty-four international players. In 2012 there were only 31 Americans 40 Europeans and 29 international. Currently the standings in the top ten are only four Americans with Tiger in the number one spot; of the remaining six spots two are English, two are from North Ireland, one Australian and one is South African. This weekend the runner up to Tiger in the Players Championship was Sergio Garcia, a Spaniard, and the winner of the master is Adam Scott, an Australian.
Tiger also made Golf more appealing to a younger crowd; prior to the Tiger era most golfers were middle aged, white, men. In the Tiger era, high schools have golf teams with tons of golfers and young pros like Rory Mcllroy who is twenty-four and was unheard of before Tiger made his first appearance at the age of sixteen. Tiger has changed many more things in the game of golf such as new cutting edge equipment to heighten player skill level across the boards. Tiger Woods’s impact in golf is incomparable to any other thing another person did to any sport. Tiger Woods made golf a multimillion dollar sport worldwide as well as introducing younger players to the game.

Article By: Joe Frankosky

Graduation

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:33:33 +0000

May. Though it came out of nowhere, this is our last full month of school before the end. To some of you, the end of this year marks the beginning of a summer that will lead into yet another school year here at Islands and to the rest, the end of this year marks the beginning of the rest of your lives.
Our third Islands High School graduation is set for June 11th, 2013, a day that we’ll never forget. For some seniors, this date is a seemingly unreachable goal and for others, it marks a day where we can finally make our way out of here and into the big, bad world. I know it’s a scary thought when considering that we’re actually done with high school and essentially our teenage lives, but let’s look at it this way: we’ve earned our graduation and we should all be proud of ourselves for making it through 12 or 13 years of school to reach this point in our lives. I know I’m proud of every single one of us.
As impending as it is, our future is upon us. Seniors, it is up to you to choose what you want to do after high school. Going to college, working, traveling and even the military are viable options for us who have reached the end of our primary and secondary school lives. The possibilities for the future are endless and though it may seem a little late to start trying to figure out what to do with your lives, I am here to assure you, it’s not. Many of our seniors have accepted admission to a number of local and far-away colleges, some are opting to join the military and even some are holding off for a bit to consider their own potential. No matter what path you choose, just remember that you have the ability to do whatever you want. I just want you to realize that this chapter of our lives is coming to a close and adulthood is coming faster than you could imagine.
For the underclassmen, there are many things in store for you as you rise to seniority and experience it for yourselves. There is much to be done to reach your senior status and I hope you do what I did and start early because if you don’t, you could just find yourselves facing a dead end with nowhere to turn.

Article By: Jasmine Ferguson

Writer’s Block: The Greatest Travesty of the Mind

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:28:25 +0000

The one thing that I absolutely despise with a passion (among numerous others) is the revolting state of mind known commonly to the general public as ‘writer’s block’. In fact, I’m suffering from it right now, so I thought to myself, “Why not put writer’s block in the spotlight as the absolute travesty that it is?” So here I am, ready to vent my frustrations. If you do not know what writer’s block is, even though in my mind it’s fairly obvious, it is, according to dictionary.com, “a usually temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work,” In other words, it’s when you attempt to write something and you’re just completely stumped as to what to do.
I’m fairly certain that I only began getting writer’s block once I started going to school. That’s pretty obvious, considering the fact that I had no reason to write before school, but school is a very excellent scapegoat making it much easier to pin 99.9% of my life’s problems on it. Writer’s block is dreadful because of its timing. At times when I actually have nothing to do, my head is bursting with ideas for all sorts of topics, but once I actually have to write (e.g. English class), my brain sizzles out faster than my incentive to study. Trust me, that’s saying something. Many times have I sat down for an important exam, glanced over the prompt, noticed that the prompt allowed a rather healthy amount of room for creativity, and blanked out for at least twenty minutes just trying to come up with words to put on my paper. Had writer’s block not existed, I’m almost entirely sure that school wouldn’t be necessary, or at least some genius author would have come up with a comprehensive way for education to be enjoyable.
The worst part is that for what I want to do as a career in the future, writer’s block is going to be public enemy #1 (besides attempting to get my works widely recognized). At least three fourths of my adult years will be utilized for the seemingly simple task of finding a topic to write on or what to do with a topic or perhaps even both.
I truly don’t know why writer’s block isn’t a recognized diagnosable illness, because the struggle is indeed very real. I sure hope a cure is in the making…

Article By: Marquis Waiters

A Journey Through Journalism 1 and 3

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:07:53 +0000

Journalism is the activity in which a group of journalists come together to provide written, visual, or audio material on ongoing, current events, to the public. This is just the mere outline of journalism and its function in society, your community, and even in your school. Taught by Mr. Varca at our very own Islands high school, journalism is a rigorous course full of dedicated students who work valiantly each day to find the most current news, provide intriguing video segments, and even arrange many fun-filled events at the school. You may be wondering how all this can be done. Well, the journalism class is divided into many different teams, each with their own classification and important role.

First and foremost, we have the news team, which is broken into different layers such as the writing staff and the morning announcement crew. The writing staff consists of three branches of news; there are feature, op-ed, and sports sections. The feature groups’ primary goal is to write articles on topics of the upmost importance to you, things involving specific events with many details. Op-eds’ objective is to write articles based upon the writer’s opinion of the topic that they have chosen. Sport’s brings you the latest results of all the sports events at our school and whether we win or lose they make it news.

As for the morning announcements crew, they work diligently to provide excellent broadcasts on day to day events of the school. The third team in journalism is the AV Team. They film and edit videos that highlight a specific event and sometimes even bring you a laugh or two. The fourth and final team in journalism is the advertisement (ad) team. The ad teams’ job is to raise money for the school by creating and planning events, not only at the school, but also in the community. These three teams are the hearts and souls of journalism one and three.

Journalism is definitely a class that requires a lot of initiative and self discipline. Though Mr. Varca teaches the course, the class practically runs itself. Mr. Varca even responded to the question of how was journalism with, “The class is who you should be asking because they run the show.” Journalism is a wonderful class to take, especially if it is something that interests you because not only do you get to learn how the media operates, but it also provides a great real-world learning experience.

Article By: Ian Mckenzie

Mars Colonization

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:50:17 +0000

Mars one is a private spaceflight spearheaded by the Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdrop; its goal is to permanently colonize Mars in the year 2023. If you have ever dreamed of being an astronaut now here is your chance, Mars one will send four regular people to Mars at no charge to you (bags fly free too). To apply for this expedition you submit a video to the Mars One website explaining why you should be the first one to step on Martian soil, in total they are looking to train forty astronauts. The program is looking for people who are able to fix the shuttle if broken, create their own food inside of the capsules that they will be spending their time in without the suits on, and any other special skills you can bring to the table that makes you stand out.
The team will be selected this year so hurry up and get your application in. The team will be taking the Mars One Dragon, a spacecraft that is reusable so it can return to the area it was launched from or settle on mars, then launch until another one comes to bring more cargo and fuel. During this whole process even the tryouts will be filmed, that is four people in 880 cubic feet, flying in space for months and months of entertainment. The team, once landed, will be resupplied with cargo and four more astronauts every two earth years. A martian year will take 687 martian days which are forty minutes longer than earth days, so the astronauts will only have to wait around one martian year. You might say that this sound too good to be true – so what’s the catch? The catch is that you are required to stay on mars for the rest of your life.
Would you go on this adventure for the glory and the experience of being the first human to step on mars? Personally I would definitely not go myself, if I had to go I would want to go later on because the first team lands with their houses there but they still have to connect the wires and start the food production. The reason Mars One is able to carry out this large feat is that aren’t bound to a country; they are an international organization and they have 90% of the stocks in the IMG (interplanetary media group) to finance the mission. To find more about the Mars One mission you can go to their website http://applicants.mars-one.com/.

Article By: Joe Frankosky

Nate Robinson

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:48:59 +0000

Have you been watching the NBA finals recently? Well, I just want to highlight a player that may not be commonly recognized or noticed. That man is Nate Robinson from the Chicago Bulls. He stands at only 5 foot 9 and came out of an AAA school, which is the same size as our school. Who would or could have known that this short kid would go onto be a NBA player with three Slam Dunk Contest championships? Although he faced major obstacles, he didn’t allow anyone to step on his dreams. He had a vision for himself and he decided to make it a reality; this is how we all should see our dreams and goals. The same way that Nate Robinson saw his own.
Nathaniel C. Robinson is a point guard in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls. He is the oldest of seven children and was born in Seattle Washington, where he attended Rainier Beach High school. The eighth grade is when he discovered his talent for the game, when he dunked a volleyball into the basket in the local gym. In order for him to achieve a dunk at his height, that means that his vertical has to be 43.5 inches.
Nate Robinson went to a school that was AAA, which is the same size as our school; the name of the school was Rainier Beach High School. The school’s classification is actually still the same today as when Robinson attended. During high school four other teammates of Robinson also went on to play in the NBA, although they all went to different colleges. Robinson only played in one State Championship but, the school has a total of 11 State Championship victories. So Robinson, just by being from an AAA high school, is already from an elite group of players. Not to mention that he was recruited to the University of Washington on a football scholarship. Robinson decided to drop football after a season and focus on his basketball skills. The next two seasons Robinson lead the Huskies to two straight NCAA basketball tournament appearances and earned First Team All-Pac 10 honors both years. He is also the 18th all-time leading scorer with 1,283, and is ranked 4th in three-pointers with 127. Nate ranks 3rd in steals with 140, all of his records are only for his college.
Nate Robinson was not supposed to make it as far as he has because of his lack of size and his placement in schools, but Nate didn’t care what anyone said. He didn’t let anyone kill his dream; he saw a goal and vision for himself and he achieved exactly that. Rather than making excuses for why he couldn’t excel, he pulled up his boot straps and made the best of the situations that he was put in. We could all learn a little something form Nathaniel C. Robinson.

Article by: Shea King

(I Hate) Basic Text Messages

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:46:24 +0000

When someone sends a text message containing “LOL” (abbreviation for laugh out loud) it’s common knowledge that half of the time it isn’t a genuine laugh. The irony couldn’t be more existent. I’ve even found that LOL is more of a placeholder phrase, used to reply to a message without truly “responding”. By that I mean, if someone sends you something that you really don’t feel like or know how to respond to, you can send them an “LOL” or an allusive smiley face to give them some form of a response – just not a good one.
If you think about it, LOL has virtually no power anymore, especially when it’s downgraded to the basic “lol”. Often times I have to use more exaggerated forms of LOL, like adding many more unnecessary l’s. It even irritates me now to receive a message containing only an LOL – that’s how basic it’s become. There is only one message that I find even more infuriating and generic – the infamous “K”. Especially when the “K” comes right after I’ve sent a text message virtually a paragraph long in length. When I get messages from people like these, I often find myself wondering whether they are just tired, they don’t want to talk to me, or some other reason. Then I realize that I myself sometimes fall victim to the use of the dreaded “LOL” or “K”. As much as I hate those two, sometimes they just slip out, and I can say the same for most text messengers as well.
Is texting beginning to fall to more advanced means of teenage communication, much like phone calls did to texts? It’s an interesting theory, since so many of the abbreviations used so famously in text messages are being used more and more generically. What does this mean for quick methods of communication in the future?

Article By: Marquis Waiters

PROM! Continued…

Jeremie Lally — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:38:21 +0000

Student Artwork by: Taylor Barrett

A Local Star, Frank Kearse

Jeremie Lally — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:56:56 +0000

Frank Kearse is probably a name that you have never heard, but you should know who he is. He was a man who was born and raised in Savannah Georgia, attended Shuman Middle School and Savannah High School. He worked at Publix off of Johnny Mercer blvd. on Wilmington Island; it is in that store where he obtained his protein shakes. Oh I forgot to mention, Frank is 6’5 and 315 pounds, definitely not your average shelf stocker. Frank attended Alabama A&M and left his home to play football for the Bulldogs which is the mascot for Alabama A&M. Frank made a name for himself recording a 72 tackle career with his best season recording 33 tackles as a defensive tackle, 12 tackles for loss and three sacks; his second to last year Frank also recorded two interceptions. After his time at Alabama A&M he enter the 2011 NFL draft. After the agonizing wait Frank was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round and the 231^st draft pick. Later that year the North Carolina Panthers acquired Frank from free agency. With the Panthers, Frank recorded ten tackles and half a sack despite not being a starter, the following 2012 season Frank recorded thirteen tackles and a sack on the Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan for an eight yard loss. Frank future may be bright if he can overcome the two new incoming defensive tackle draft picks from the 1^st and 2^nd round.

For all you aspiring football players here at Islands who want to make it big like Frank, it takes hard work and dedication to do anything professionally. Many people play the sport, but do not dedicate themselves to the sport completely. Some people think that if they go to small schools or stay local that they can’t go to the big leagues but that’s not true. Frank went to Alabama A&M, a school that most people don’t know about, and the 2013 1^st overall NFL draft pick was from the University of Central Michigan. Shannon Sharpe went to Savannah State University and even though he was a seventh round pick, he became the NFL’s best tight end until Tony Gonzalez passed him. If any of you current football players here at islands go to college you may want to try to go to the colleges open try out if they have one! It can’t hurt, you might even be able to land a backup spot or even starting spot if you’re good enough. Never give up on your dream in life no matter if it’s in sports or anything else in life because you might regret it later on.

By: Joseph Frankosky

Building a Better Athletics Program

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:05:22 +0000

For it only being Islands High School’s third year in existence, there have been many great accomplishments by its athletes department. Though, if we want to become a feeder for D1 schools, there is room for a lot of improvement on many levels. The solution for a better athletics program starts with early involvement with our upcoming freshman, athlete-motivation, and school spirit.

From time to time, I ask the same question, “Why can’t we go grab the eighth graders from Coastal Middle School who are interested in wrestling or doing sports not offered over there and let them compete at the Junior Varsity level at Islands?” Yes, you heard it. Eighth graders with physicals can participate in sports on the JV level here at Islands. All other schools in our region do it, so why not us? It gives them an unfair advantage, which is unacceptable when considering college. A whole extra year of experience, especially in wrestling, is crucial for success. There’s no reason why we can’t be state contenders if we build a program based off of having our upcoming freshman get experience earlier, before high school.

Of course, without motivation from our athletes or the want, we won’t improve. A coach can only be effective if the athletes are willing to work hard. All athletes reading this article need to think: Do I want to be the best or do I want to be nothing? Showing up to practice every day, working out on your own, having the mindset to get better, and eating right is what our athletes need to be successful.

The heart of most great sports teams are its fans. Support for our sports build a way better experience for everyone. School spirit has been growing a lot here at Islands, but is still lacking. What we need are more fun school spirited events, which should happen every month. Sadly, the events that boost school spirit only happen every once in a while. The Lip Dub was a great activity that sparked spirit in students! As a school, we should learn from this and have more fun events.

As students, athletes, and teachers alike, our goal is to win. We must have a positive mind set and build our program with early involvement, motivation, and school spirit.

By: Soterios Stroud

Why May is the Single Most Crucial Month in the School Year

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:53:50 +0000

May, which in my opinion is one of the more overlooked and underappreciated months, has arrived. You may not know it (pun intended) but with May comes several important factors. As I said in a previous article, this month, which is when most of the huge tests take place, is when Summeritis (craving for summer and summer vacation) is at its peak.

While June is the month that we, as Islands High School students, get released from school and start the wonderland known otherwise as summer vacation, May is the month through which many of the roadblocks in the way to that destination are knocked down. EOCT’s, AP Exams, class finals, I’m talking about the infamous brick walls. It’s near impossible to reach the intense enjoyment and actually savor the summer until you have gotten past these tests. I know for a fact that one of the best feelings in the world is finishing a test that you’ve been anticipating and no longer having to worry about it.

May is also the month where at least some of the fun starts to seep through the cracks of our classes. This is especially true once all the tests are taken care of. Some teachers share that everything is taken care of; let’s just chill and cruise through the remainder of the school year mentality that a bulk of students seem to have. Having all these exams finished could lead to couple field trips as well (perhaps not as much applicable to us since we’re in high school). Some of your classes may not be as lenient, but even then, you’ve gotten that huge examination out of the way – that’s a huge relief and burden taken right off your shoulders. It also comes with a resounding sense of accomplishment.

To sum it all up for you, May is the “college” out of the twelve months in the year – you have to get through it in order to achieve what you strive for, which in this case is a joyous summer vacation.

Article By: Marquis Waiters

PROM!

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:47:11 +0000

Student art by Taylor Barret

Island’s Third Baseball Season Conclusion

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:59:57 +0000

First of all, the varsity baseball team played their last game on Friday, against Savannah High. Hunter McCord pitched a perfect game and was the player of the game. Offensively the Sharks recorded ten hits and Senior Jake Heater hit an in the park grand slam. The final was 21-0, granted the Blue Jackets only had eight players and are not the greatest ball club in Chatham County. This win allowed the Sharks to end the season as 15-11 overall and 9-9 in the region. This was the first winning season for the Sharks, and the first season in our new region, which is not an easy region to compete in. The two seniors Jake Heater and Nick Sharpley will be moving on next year and will be missed by the entire team. Next year looks more and more like a great season. With plenty of juniors becoming seniors next year, Islands will look for their first play-off appearances. The Sharks might add some more newcomers next year just as we did this year to our arsenal of talent here at islands. Another spectacular feat of Islands this year was that they were only beaten by teams outside of Chatham County and one could say they are the best team in the Coastal Empire.

Sadly, next year will be different; yesterday I received an email from our principle Mrs. Pinkerton stating that Coach Garola and Coach Jackson will step down from their head coaching jobs in order to spend more time with their families. Coach Garola and Jackson will be remembered as the coaches who got islands into motion; whether it was updating the field, getting uniforms, or driving the bus these coaches sacrificed a lot of their personal time to teach young men the game of baseball. Thank you Coach Garola and Jackson for both taking on that role and doing it to the best of your abilities! The summer baseball season is just around the corner and the sharks will be out there shortly. If you are interested in playing summer ball ask Greyson Miller, his dad will coaching summer ball. Go Sharks!

Article By: Joseph Frankosky

AP Exams

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:40:25 +0000

The time of the year for upperclassman to commence worrying has finally come! In less than a month, the first AP Exam (Chemistry) will be taken and more exams will be given every day until May 17th. It is now officially crunch time!

Advanced Placement classes are classes given to high school students that are college-level curriculum. If a certain score is earned on the AP Exam, that student will be ahead of the game when they reach college by obtaining a college credit for each passing AP score they receive.

From personal experience, I can say that an AP class doesn’t differ very much from an Honors class. One outstanding difference though, is the grading. The grading system in general is much more difficult. Think of it this way, an “A” earned in an Honors class could be a low B in an AP class. In a regular or Honors class, teachers usually grade all the work they give, either for participation or quality. In AP classes, teachers hand out work but don’t usually grade it. Basically the homework/class work that you do will benefit you personally on the tests and assessments, which are graded rather harshly, especially on the exam. This set-up is supposed to match that of a traditional college course, where homework is done solely for the purpose to learning the material. Though it may not be collected for a grade, it will be the deciding factor on the passing or failing of your college exams.

Although it may seem like a lot of work, it definitely pays off. Teachers in high school will make a better effort in explaining material to students individually. In college, sometimes classes are bigger and there are more factors to distract you, a prime example would be more freedom, and another is the opportunity to choose whether you show up for class of not. It seems that the more AP classes you take in high school, the easier it’ll be to cope with college in the future.

Because of the pressure from teachers to do well and earn college credit, students in AP classes often worry about not passing the exam, but when considering the alternative, it’s a risk worth taking. If you pass the exam, you save a lot of time and money. And even if you don’t do well on the exam, having an AP class looks good on a high school transcript when applying to any college. Strength of schedule is a definite identifier of those who aimed high in high school and that often makes your college decision for you.

Other students who are not in AP classes don’t claim to notice the stress of their fellow colleagues. I asked a student who isn’t taking any AP courses why he wasn’t and his response was, “First, they seem intimidating and it doesn’t even matter to me, I have other plans for the future.” Many students don’t believe they possess the intelligence to pass an AP class, which may be why they don’t try and take them. The benefits of AP classes outweigh the stress of taking them, as long as the students are committed, passing an AP class is always possible.

Article By: Andres Rodriguez

Healthy Choice or Health Risk???

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:38:38 +0000

The vending machines in our school, for the last year, have only had diet sodas such as diet coke, diet pibb, and diet fanta within them. The change is an unwise one because of the problems that are caused by the consumption of diet soda over time. Diet soda isn’t actually diet at all; it in fact actually disrupts your metabolism which then leads to high cholesterol and puts you in serious risk of heart disease. Diet sodas also cause problems in kidneys, which then factors into people developing high blood pressure or diabetes. They can also cause the enamel on your teeth to erode away.
Don’t get me wrong, regular sodas aren’t exactly the healthiest option in this line-up, but regular sodas cause around the same number of unhealthy things to happen to your body as diet sodas. Then again, diet sodas are highly addictive and lead to obesity which is a dangerous combination. Diet sodas are in themselves self-contradictory, they don’t help people get healthy or even stay on diets. This is due to the artificial sweeteners that disrupt the body’s ability to regulate calories based on the sweetness of foods. So the person will then overeat, because your body “thinks” its eating sugar, so it craves more of it.
Diet sodas also are attributed to depression according to the American Academy of Neurology. They determined that people that drink soda daily are 30 percent more likely to be depressed than people who don’t drink soda at all. Not only depression, but diet sodas also cause major cell damage. Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Benzoate have the ability to cause severe damage to the mitochondria in DNA to the point of rendering them useless.
So why are these drinks in our vending machines, if they are not doing the things that they are supposed to do? Just like in school, if you don’t know the material in the subject you’re studying then you won’t be able to pass, same should go for drinks in our school. If they aren’t doing what they are supposed to do, then they should be removed. And maybe if not removed then we, as students, should be able to have the option of having regular sodas in the machines so that we have a choice on what goes into our body.

Article By: Shea King

Protein Drinks, Do They Really Work?

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:36:06 +0000

Several students take the weightlifting classes that are offered at Islands High School for either exercise purposes or for the love of working out. A few of those athletes come to school carrying protein drinks for a pre or post-workout boost of energy/recovery. The question is, do they really work?
Some surveys show a vast majority of protein shake takers lie in the 12-18 year old demographic, which could be because of the, “muscles in a drink promise.” A whey protein shake contains proteins and amino acids. Whey is a byproduct of the cheese making industry so it is completely natural. These two substances are considered the building blocks of muscle mass, without them you will not gain muscle. What you must also remember that in order to gain muscle you have to be exercising and eating properly. Protein shakes are most effective at encouraging muscle growth when taken shortly after a workout- generally within 30 minutes.
Protein is used to repair muscle tissues, produce hormones and transport ingested nutrients in the body. Muscles are made of approximately 70 percent water and 20 percent protein. Building muscle mass requires extra water and more energy in the form of carbohydrates, as well as more protein. Bodybuilders take protein supplements because they use more of it in training and need the extra protein for recovery and growth. Fitness experts recommend that athletes or people who work out take about 1.5 to 2.0g protein per kilogram of body weight.
All the top bodybuilders in the world take protein shakes. Jay Cutler will get up in the middle of the night to take protein shakes; Ronnie Coleman likewise also took protein shakes. It’s not just bodybuilders who have benefited; endurance athletes also use them to help their stamina and recovery. The answer to the question is yes, protein drinks work in many ways for desired outcomes if used properly.

Article By: Hannah Demirjian

What the New Chick-Fil-A Could Mean for Islands

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:41:20 +0000

Boys and girls, today is the big day. Today, we are graced with the presence of the marvelously delicious establishment many of us know all-too-well as Chick-Fil-A. While the main purpose of the new restaurant will be to help me divulge in my fast food addiction, it also could pose some benefits around here at Islands High.
Before today, every now and then we would get some (pricey) Chick-Fil-A sandwiches delivered to our school to be sold to us individually. However, that only came around every once in a blue moon. With this new, more local Chick-Fil-A branch, imagine how much more convenient it will to garner some deals with the new place to hook our school up with some tasty delicacies. The next nearest Chick-Fil-A was all the way across town at the Oglethorpe Mall; no wonder we only enjoyed the sandwiches every now and then. Perhaps I’m reaching with this, but what if Islands were able to arrange with Chick-Fil-A to supply our cafeteria with some sandwiches much like their deal with Jennoely’s Pizza? It’s another way for the school to make money and it’s another option the kids here have for their lunches. While many kids, I notice, actually buy lunch at school, many others bring a lunch from home or just stock up on school store products. Introducing Chick-Fil-A sandwiches as a constant lunch option could very possibly help reel in some of these outlying students.
It’s a possibility that based on a deal between the school and Chick-Fil-A, other restaurants might also like to view Islands High as a prospective vendor. If that were to happen, the school could open up to many different varieties of food options to serve to students, thus increasing money from the school and making student life that much more smooth.
Is this idea far-fetched? Most likely, it is. Nevertheless, I’m willing to shoot for the stars that at least the school could get some more sandwich-selling opportunities. Who can say no to Chick-Fil-A anyway?

Article By Marquis Waiters

Jobs that should Still be Jobs

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:38:05 +0000

As Junior year comes closer and closer to an end, the time to begin looking at colleges and potential careers is now. But with so many different choices for universities, colleges, majors, minors, etc. who could possibly decide what they would want to be doing for the next thirty years? Obviously it is not very difficult to browse college majors and immediately tell that anthropology is a definite no, but finding that one perfect major that you won’t be tempted to change every semester is not as simple.
Occasionally you may stumble across one that really catches your eye but is one hundred percent worthless in retrospect. “Philosophy,” I read, “that would be pretty awesome.” After a good fifteen minutes of thought, I then realized that the last person I knew who managed to make a successful career off being a philosopher was Socrates, which is very unfortunate considering he hasn’t been around for some time now. But why can’t we still have jobs as amazing as that in modern times? I would kill to be able to stand on a small stage in City Market questioning people on why they do their day to day activities. Given Socrates was not exactly the richest of people in history, but the enjoyment from his career and recognition thousands of years later from had to have made up for that a little.
The more you look into it you realize all of the opportunities we’ve missed just because of “computers” and “technology”. Who needs a modern GPS system when I could be sailing to far and distant lands as an explorer with nothing but the stars to guide me? When is the last time you had a conversation with someone who said they were an explorer? I would imagine if you could go to your king and be able to journey the ocean in search of gold and riches, you would do it indefinitely (without Google Maps assistance!). Why we still don’t have a university major (or minor, I could compromise) in “Exploration” I will never know…
All joking aside, current sophomores and freshman may want to start giving the future some thought. At this point I am almost curious on how anyone managed to select what school they wanted to go to, because unless a need for outlaws, executioners, or candlestick makers returns, I will probably end up homeless. Therefore, take the time to browse some schools, and stop taking the counselors for granted, they are there to help you, use it!

Article By Jeremie Lally

How to Write an Essay

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:07:06 +0000

Video by Shae and Ian

Kids get Bored

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:48:38 +0000

Video by Shae and Ian

Summer

Jeremie Lally — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:59:11 +0000

Student Artwork by Taylor Barrett

Can Computers Replace Teachers?

Jeremie Lally — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:41:08 +0000

Can computers, in essence, replace human teachers?
Computer technology has become and is still becoming increasingly advanced, so it is not hard to see how someone could see computers taking over the field of education at some point in the future. Rest assured though, that’s it’s not going to happen anytime soon. You see, while teachers are human and this in fact makes them far from perfect (I mean, who isn’t), I personally would prefer an actual teacher any day when compared to a piece of technology. As much as I’d love to just sit in front of my computer screen or watch a robotic teacher unit maneuver around while conducting class in a computerized and monotone voice, neither of those are as plausible as an actual flesh-and-blood human instructor
To me, the reason computer technology is incomparable to an actual teacher is the same reason I prefer my parents to robot parents. The simple fact is that computer technology can not show emotions. It can’t encourage people. It can’t have a personal connection with each of its students like a realistic educator can. I am pretty sure I would be failing half my classes if I had to learn material just off of technology. In a way, I need someone to relay information to me that is an actual person. Just think – what if help was needed? It’s not like a computer unit can understand exactly what someone needs assistance with. Most likely it’ll just spit out the material it already covered again since there isn’t a decent way for it to actually help. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be much smarter if smarter at all than the Apple-introduced assistant we all know commonly as Siri. We all know that Siri isn’t exactly flawless, so you could imagine the frustration you would get from just trying to gather an education from a Siri-like teacher. Besides, I am sure that virtually everyone has had that one teacher that they really enjoyed more than any other, and as a result they actually learned and understood the material they went over.
While computers may possess all the smarts, they lack the ability to connect with people, especially kids and teenagers. Teachers exist for a reason, and will continue to exist for a very long period of time. We all know that this wonderful fact itself is a gift sent straight from Education Heaven

Article By: Marquis Waiters

Islands Ties #5 Team in the State

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:49:59 +0000

One week ago the Islands boys’ varsity soccer team tied the #5 team in the state, Brookwood High School. The game was April 12, at Garden City Stadium. This was an amazing game played by the Sharks, going into double overtime. The first goal was scored by Tyler Lee, with an assist by Ryan Tatusko. The first goal was scored by Brahan Gamarra of Brookwood High School and the second goal was scored by Dillon Yow with an assist by Nick Croegaert. Brookwood High’s Jordan Locke scored right after, leading the game to be tied by the end 2-2. The game had to go into 5 minutes halves for overtime. Once the game was tied, it resulted in 5 penalty kicks for each team. Each team scored one PK, Tyler Lee for Islands and Brahan Gamarra for Brookwood. Islands goalie Paul Smoak had 9 fantastic saves. This game showed how powerful the boys’ soccer team really is. Chomp!

Article By: Hannah Demirjian

BENEDICTINE 4, ISLANDS 2

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:58:34 +0000

It was a fantastic first half for the Islands High School boy’s varsity soccer team who played Benedictine Military School yesterday, April 16, at Daffin Park. BC scored first leading the game 1-0. Turning things around a minute later, an assist by Richmond Amponsah to Alessandro Marra who scored tied up the game 1-1. Within the next five minutes another goal was scored by Tyler Lee assisted by Alessandro Marra. This goal had the crowd going wild, hoping that Islands would win. With a score of 2-1, Islands was in the lead for the first half. This was a very rough game, many calls going unnoticed, but a few yellow cards were thrown in there. There were no penalty kicks, but many direct and indirect kicks as a result of pushing and shoving. In the second half, a goal was scored against Islands off of a direct kick causing the score to be tied once again at 2-2. Two goals were scored by Benedictine player Thomas McCarthy to lead BC past Islands 4-2. Islands goalie Paul Smoak had 7 saves, and BC goalie Youssef Awad also had 7 saves. The two other goals scored by BC were by Brandon Deloach and Joshua Summerlin. Assists for BC were by Robby Kirby, Logan Bumgardener, and Joshua Summerlin. The Sharks played a good game and fought back hard. The records are now- Islands 8-5, 7-1 Region 1-AAA; BC 14-1, 11-1 Region 2-AA.

Article By: Hannah Demirjian

(A Preview to) Summeritis

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:55:41 +0000

Around this time, late-March/early-April, every student faces a very similar problem, and it’s called Summeritis. Well, what exactly is Summeritis, you ask? Well it’s a fairly simple concept: when the weather starts heating up, most kids start craving summer even more than usual.
There are actually several precautionary signs of this tragic disease. At least here in Savannah, one can pretty much predict when a fresh case of Summeritis is coming on. Log in to your Facebook or Instagram account and if you see the onslaught of kids uploading pictures of themselves at the beach or their sunburns and tan lines, you will instantly know it is fast approaching. In school, take note of your fellow classmates and observe whether they are responding to teachers with a little bit more sass or fire than usual. That’s basically a ferocious lion stuck in a cage – and you know you don’t want to get mixed up with that. Let’s not forget a sudden spike in laziness levels among the student body. While you may argue that laziness already exists in students anyway, you can definitely see a change in the amount of laziness embedded within a student during these last few months. It’s quite ironic that all the final examinations – CRCT, EOCT, AP exams, etc. – are given during these last months. Procrastination is inherent, though it may not be the best thing to do around this time.
I’m not sure who suffers the most from a sudden outbreak of Summeritis, the students or the teachers. It may be the teachers, as they are the ones that have to put up with the insufferable attitudes of students. I have a gut feeling that almost every teacher wishes to go back in time to when they could give their students a good whack in the head if their students ever showed a serious lack of resolve and effort – I mean, I would after considering the fact that I have to relay information to people who aren’t even remotely trying to learn and I will agree that it is unbearably frustrating. Then again, students have to deal with the refusal of teachers to ease up on the workload until the very last week of school. I’m pretty sure every student hates when teachers exclaim, “After exams, we still have more area to cover.” I doubt that most teachers, subconsciously, would prefer to continue giving assignments and teaching over a good popcorn-and-soda class movie time.
Beware everyone, for Summeritis is vast approaching – have you already fallen ill with it?

Article By: Marquis Waiters

Sing!

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:51:11 +0000

Student Art By Taylor Barrett

Sing

The Governor’s Honors Program

Jeremie Lally — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:45:55 +0000

The Governors Honors Program is a four week long summer education program established in 1963 and the program has been going strong for 50 years. When the program first started, it was an 8 week long course and it was held at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. There were only 402 participants and only 9 majors were offered to participants. This has changed in the recent years; students now spend four weeks studying a major of their choice and it is now located at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.

The program offers over 20 different majors including but not limited to: mathematics, language, music, dance and agricultural science. The number of participants in the program has increased by the hundreds over the years. Islands High student Kyle Spitzer attended the program last summer with a major in communication arts.

“I basically spent 4 weeks with complete strangers,” says Spitzer, “It’s a lot of fun,” He was the only student from Chatham County accepted for the 2012 run. While studying communication arts (English), Spitzer took an array of unique classes such as Heroes vs. Villains and Rage Against the Machine, where they studied ages in technology. There are also seminars daily, which range from Foreign Languages to Harry Potter Trivia and Disney sing-a-longs. According to Kyle, you spend most of the time with your friends and most of the work they give you to complete is optional.

To be accepted into the program, you must be nominated by a teacher, then you must send your grades, reasons you deserve to be accepted, your interests, and your experience. If you make it past the first round, you must do an interview with representatives from the program and you will also need to submit something that relates to the major you would like to pursue. For example, potential communication arts majors present an essay; visual arts majors present a portfolio, etc.

Many alumni of the program go on to pursue the same major when they go into college, and some even choose make a career out of it. Actor Jack McBrayer attended the program as a theater major in the class of 1990. He now acts for television shows and movies such as 30 Rock and Despicable Me. The Governors Honors program provides opportunities to students that are truly unique in the lives of those who are given the chance to experience this one of a kind journey to discovering what you want to do with your future.

Article By: Rosie Sparrow

Islands Baseball Weekend Wrap-up

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:48:06 +0000

The Sharks played two games on the Orange Crush weekend, Friday night against Southeast Bulloch and Saturday afternoon against Calvary Day School. The Sharks lost against Southeast Bulloch (6-2). That game was no doubt winnable, but Islands made five errors in the field and all six runs scored by Southeast Bulloch were when they had two outs. Both teams had five hits and good pitching. The player of that game was Nick Sharpely who scored a run and hit a double and also pitched well on the mound. The game against Calvary was much better for the Sharks. The Sharks started off strong recording three runs in the 1st inning and two runs in the 2nd. In the third inning the shark’s pitcher Chandler Wilkinson was hit by a ball in the face. Wilkinson had to leave the game to make sure he did not have a concussion. This let the player of the game Jake Heater come in to pitch. He got the victory for the game and was three for four at the plate with a double. The team had nine hits that game and four doubles and only three strike outs. The shark’s next game is Tuesday, April 16 at Brantley County in a conference game. Go Sharks!

Article By: Joe Frankosky

Nike, Inc.

Jeremie Lally — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:36:19 +0000

Are you a sneaker head?? If you’re not, I am here to save you, and give you a little information that you can show off to your friends. Even if you don’t know about or have the newest shoes that are out, you still know about one of the most influential shoe and sports companies in the world and that is Nike, Inc. In 2012, their revenue exceeded 24.1 billion dollars while only having 44,000 employees worldwide. It is most commonly known for its trademark swoosh which can be found on all its high quality products. Nike also sponsors high profile athletes like: Tiger Woods, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders, and LeBron James. They also have a couple of bad sponsorships that are notorious: Oscar Pistorius [Murder], Michael Vick [dog fighting], and Lance Armstrong [use of performance enhancing drugs].
Nike was founded by Phil Knight who went to the University of Oregon and was originally known for Blue Ribbon Sports. They started off as a distributor for a company by the name of Asics (originally known as Onituska Tiger). The first pair of Nike shoes were worn by the 2-time gold medalist Otis Davis that went to school and shared the same track team with Phil Knight. Although Davis said “I didn’t like the way they felt on my feet,” he still ran in the shoes. The company then sold 1,300 pairs of shoes and grossed $8,000 in 1964 and in 1965 they gained employees and then grossed $20,000! Later, in 1966 they moved the company to Santa Monica in southern California due to their rapid growth in sales. In 1971 the two companies (Blue Ribbon Sports and Onituska Tiger) split up and became Nike (BRS) and Asics (OT). By 1990, Nike became a powerhouse in athletics and sportswear, and they moved into a new headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
Although Nike’s first products were only track shoes, they have now moved into a very wide range of sport and have even branched out and bought other companies. They now make equipment for track and field, baseball, ice hockey, football, golf, volleyball, cycling, skateboarding, wrestling, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and even cricket! The newest soccer cleats that come out have a new technology call Flywire and Lunarlite foam which both incredibly reduce weight for the shoes. In 2010, the company released a collection called Nike Pro Combat for a few Universities.
In conclusion, even if you’re not a sneaker head, hopefully you now know enough about Nike to be curious about the company. For more information visit Nike’s website: http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/. While you’re looking at their products, just remember where this company started. Remember that in their first business year they only sold 1,300 pairs to now swelling hundreds of thousands of pair of shoes only a year. When Nike first started they only focused solely on track and field and now encompass baseball, ice hockey, football, golf, volleyball, cycling, skateboarding, wrestling, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and cricket. But, most importantly learn: don’t give up on your dreams no matter how distant. Phil Knight never knew that his little company BRS would become one of the world leaders for athletics.

Article By: Shea King

Islands Sharks’ Baseball Team Defeats New Hampstead

Jeremie Lally — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:45:47 +0000

The Sharks beat the Phoenixes (11-0) in four innings. The team’s goal was to shutout New Hampstead and they did. It started off shaky for the Sharks because the first three batters got out; it looked like it would be a different game. Austin Leggett pitched a good game with seven strike outs against 15 batters he faced. The Sharks recorded seven hits and only had three strike outs. The Sharks are (10-7) overall now and (6-6) in a very competitive region. The Sharks look to Friday when they play against Southeast Bulloch in Bulloch County at 6:00pm. This is a region game, so it’s important to win so we can make it to the playoffs. Go Sharks!

Article By: Joe Frankosky

Teacher Evaluation Surveys: Effective or Not?

Jeremie Lally — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:40:30 +0000

As of today, most students attending Islands have probably already had to take at least one of those anonymous teacher evaluation tests. What exactly is the purpose of these anonymous surveys? SO far, the surveys don’t seem to be too effective or relevant for that matter. Next year though, rumor says it may account for 50% of a teacher’s performance evaluation! It is true that some good things can come out if it, but personally, I don’t see it ever being too effective.
One of the good aspects of these surveys is that it’s actually a little fairer to have students do it instead of an official from the Board Of Education. Teachers always know when they are being evaluated by an official so sometimes it seems that they give their lessons better than usual when they know they are being watched. I mean, they could just show movies every day, but when they are being watched they know exactly how to appear astute in the subject that they are teaching. This, of course does not apply to all teachers, if any in our school but it happens and we all know it. The idea behind randomly giving the surveys during the year is that their students see them every day, at the best and worst and can determine the responses to questions by just attending the class every day.
Out of the 700 students at Islands though, only certain ones actually took time to actually read the survey. I’ve taken 5 surveys already and I only fully read the first one. There is some speculation that it is not a very good way to evaluate teachers because not everyone tries and not everyone will answer honestly. The effectiveness of the surveys would be much higher if every student actually put their honest effort into answering the questions, but on the contrary, the honesty of the students when choosing their responses cannot be evaluated. Also, it strongly depends on when the surveys are given. For example, some teachers gave the survey about a week before spring break. Those teachers probably got evaluated more lightly than teachers this week because some students could be angry with their teachers because the third quarter grades recently closed.
Although the method we have in our school district for teacher evaluation isn’t wonderful, (visits and observations done by officials and superintendents) it is probably better than having the students do it. There could be a teacher who does a great job at teaching, but the students don’t like the amount of work given so they give an awful evaluation. Potentially, the idea of an online teacher evaluation is good, but there’s really no way teachers can be measured accurately on how they teach because bias and opinions will always be hidden factors.

Article By: Andres Rodriguez

Beloved Cookie Monster Gone Rogue

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:06:30 +0000

In Times Square, New York, quite the haphazard event took place this week. I’m assuming that you’re familiar with the Cookie Monster, the blue fuzzy creature from the children’s program Sesame Street with an affliction for cookies. Well, as bizarre as it may sound, the Cookie Monster got into a scuffle with a mother and her two-year-old son yesterday – or to be more specific, a man in a Cookie Monster costume.
According to the mother, Parmita Kurada, she and her family were walking down the street when a man dressed up as the Cookie Monster insisted that they take a picture with him, took her child, and snapped a picture. When the mother didn’t give him a tip for the picture, he went berserk and began cursing at the family. The man even went as far as to shove Kurada’s two-year-old out of his stroller and down onto the pavement. Miraculously, the toddler was not injured, but the boy cannot even look at the beloved childhood creature anymore. The man was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, despite claims by him and his Elmo-costumed partner that he didn’t commit this act.
How crazy is this story? The poor child must be horrified after this experience – I’m pretty sure it’ll traumatize him for years to come in some way. What I find truly crazy is that all these childhood figures that older kids grew up with are becoming victims of defamation. Just last year, the man who voiced Elmo, the fuzzy red creature also from Sesame Street, was involved in a scandal in which someone alleged that he’d been in a relationship with them for seven years – since the person was sixteen years old. Regardless of the fact that the actual characters didn’t get involved in these scandals, their reputations still face some impact as a result of the people who represent them.
What’s next – the twins from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody getting involved in a drug scandal? The person who portrayed Barney getting caught for tax evasion? It seems like there is always something going on that puts our favorite and beloved childhood characters and figures in a negative light – making us think of them much differently or ruining the chance of them being a part in the younger generation’s lives.
Since we’ve all grown up with influences from these childhood characters, I believe that we should do what’s best and learn from the mistakes of those who portrayed our childhood idols. If they find themselves in bad situation that could potentially ruin their reputation and career, it should be up to us as young people to stop and allow ourselves to not follow in their footsteps. If a dire mistake is made on their parts, this should serve as a lesson to those who can be influenced easily (like some students here at our own school) and show them what the right path to take really is. These people are the adults that teach us and guide us, much like our own teachers and we need to take initiative in situations such as this one with Cookie Monster, and do the right thing for ourselves, our school, our community and those who look up to us.

Article By: Marquis Waiters

Orange Crush

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:03:15 +0000

Orange Crush has returned since its wonderful and memorable appearance last year. This year, once again, it was turned down as an official and permitted event by the county. Let’s be honest, the fact that it isn’t permitted definitely does not mean it is not going to happen. But the question here is how could we not all love Orange Crush? Other than the incessant traffic, constant arrests, need of a ridiculous amount of police, and the beach being trashed beyond recognition, the “festival” is absolutely fantastic.
The festival used to be a big outing for Savannah State’s Homecoming Ceremony and the starting of their spring break (hence the name Orange Crush), but as of recent years the school has not supported it and even discourages its students from attending. I think at this point, the city simply attempts to ignore Orange Crush and hopes that it will eventually just stop happening every year, but after about thirty Orange Crushes happening with or without city permissions, it seems that ignoring it does not seem to be very effective.
The main issue attributed to the festivities is the amount of garbage that is left on the beach afterwards. If you are not aware of the degree of absolute disgust, look at the picture of the beach last year, compare it to a landfill and then tell me if you see any difference. It’s ridiculous. Volunteers are always needed and greatly appreciated for cleanup afterwards.
Last year everyone who helped out was able to get the beach looking back to normal in a matter of days and that should be the case this year. The beach cannot get cleaned all by itself though so we need all the help we can get. An original idea was for shuttles to be offered for volunteers to get more people to help, it is currently unknown whether or not this will happen in the near future. I highly doubt that anyone in the entire city enjoys having a bunch of strangers vandalize and destroy the area, but the least we can do is just ignore the entire thing like usual, clean up like usual, and then complain about like usual. As far as I know the volunteer cleanup is not necessarily an organized event that students could get community service hours from, but IHS groups such as “Students in action” may be able to organize a way for students help clean up our beaches and get their community service hours while doing so.

Article By: Jeremie Lally

BE ACTIVE!

Jeremie Lally — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:57:14 +0000

Student Art By Taylor Barrett

The Sharks Win Over The Savannah High Blue Jackets

Tarik Mckenzie — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:54:28 +0000

The game was a blowout (18-1) and the Sharks record makes them (5-4) in the region and (8-5) overall. This means that the Sharks are in prime position for a spot in the playoffs. This will be the first time they venture to the playoffs. The player of the game for Islands was Hunter McCord who recorded his first varsity win as a pitcher. The next game for the Sharks is against Claxton at Claxton’s home field. This is a non-conference game, so it won’t affect the team’s playoff hopes. Claxton is a good team, being (5-8) overall and a conference record of (3-6). The Sharks should beat Claxton in this game, but it should be a competitive game. Their region consists of some good teams like Savannah Christian and Calvary Day, so their record might be misleading. The game is set to be played tomorrow, Thursday, March 28th, at 6:30pm at Claxton. Go Sharks!

Article By Joseph Frankosky

Severe Soccer

Tarik Mckenzie — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:52:16 +0000

Times were switched for the games on yesterday, March 26, 2013, against Beach High School at the complex. The boys played at 5, and the girls played at 7. It was a really rough game due to the harsh wind and the cold fronts that were coming in. Everyone was cold and bundled up while trying to keep moving. The boy’s team won 9-0. Goals were scored by Nick Milton, Tyler Lee, Zach Tsang, Ryan Tatusko, Alessandro Marro, and Dylan Yow. The assists were by Tyler Lee, Matt Lunn, Danilo Coyago, Shea King, and Dillon Yow. The girls played up next as the temperature dropped and it got even colder! The girls won 8-0. The 8 goals were scored by Hayley Goodman, Hannah Demirjian, Maura O’Kane, and Allyssa Ross. Assists were by Hannah Demirjian, Taylor Tatusko, Allyssa Ross, Sasha Parks, and Maura O’Kane. A red card was given to the other team for bad language. Good games Islands soccer teams. Chomp Chomp!

Article By Hannah Demirjian

Louisville University

Tarik Mckenzie — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:03:24 +0000

Louisville University was founded in 1798 and was built and opened 15 years later in 1813. Edward Mann Butler was the head of the School from 1813 to 1816. Now, Louisville University is one of the top Medical Schools.

Louisville’s athletics are also very popular. They have 13 women and 10 men teams that participate in the Big East Conference. Their mascot is the cardinal and they are often known as “The Cards.” Their volleyball team has made consecutive sweet 16 appearances. The cardinal’s baseball team made a few World Series appearances, and their Track and Field has two individual national championships.

Louisville’s guys basketball in very well known they have 2 national championships in the Final Four and is 5th in NCAA tournament wins. Their Coach Rick Pitino is now in his 12th season coaching the guys. The Cards are competing for a Final Four spot now their nest game is Friday March 9th against Oregon at 7:15pm. The Lady’s Basketball team has been too two straight sweet 16’s and is ranked in the top 10 and their coach is Jeff Walz.

Article By Jordan Revenew

BINGO Banned

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:03:11 +0000

You know how a lot of people get arrested for crimes like murder, robbery, drug possession, and the like? I’m pretty sure you, me, and pretty much most people view ‘getting arrested’ with the connotation of the offense being something incredibly serious. So it’s astounding when I hear people getting arrested for trivial things – especially like an article I recently read on someone getting arrested for something I view as outrageously trivial. He was arrested for yelling “BINGO” during a BINGO game when he didn’t actually have BINGO.

When my journalism teacher, Mr. Varca presented this very interesting story to me last week, I’m pretty sure my mouth dropped or I broke out into some sort of manic laughter – both actions being feasible, as this story is both jaw dropping and hilarious.

An 18-year-old from Covington, Kentucky named Austyn Whaley was playing BINGO at a BINGO hall, and during the game, he thought it would be entertaining to call BINGO when he knew very well that he didn’t have BINGO. While I’m sure he only expected a few other BINGO players to get slightly annoyed, that wasn’t the case. Austyn was arrested by the police on grounds of “disorderly conduct”. As if not already absurd enough, the guy actually went to court for this charge. Austyn was told not to shout BINGO anymore, and his parents have even stepped in to keep him away from the BINGO hall.

Since when was this a crime? I’ve faced PLENTY of people who have obnoxiously shouted out an invalid BINGO, yet they still fill the seats next to me at school without as much as a slap on the wrist. I think that the kid getting arrested is, by itself, absurd, especially when I read that he actually had to go to court for it. I couldn’t imagine being the judge overseeing this, because I would have been completely unprofessional, laughed like a rabid hyena, and told the kid to get out of my court with his insignificant charge. This case reminds me of a book I read in middle school that included the most bizarre situations in which someone could get arrested – this BINGO story sounds like it would fit right in.

Moral of the story: Don’t shout BINGO when you don’t have it. First, it’s just annoying and it could most likely grant you a one way ticket to some vicious slaps and a potential black eye. Plus, it could get you arrested. Don’t do it.

Article By Marquis Waiters

Attention Islands High School Wrestlers!

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:43:57 +0000

For all of you interested in wrestling at Islands high school for the 2013-2014 seasons, you need to start training! Wrestlers are made in the offseason, and your chances of having a winning season will increase by 100% if you start training now. If you aren’t in another sport, you should speak to Coach Simpson or Coach Creager for a workout plan for next season. Also, this summer there will be multiple wrestling camps that you should try to go to (speak to the coaches for more details). I look forward to next season and hopefully we can make it to state!
Here are three simple tasks for a head start on wrestling season:

-Run at least two miles or 10 40+ yard sprints with short rest periods, four days a week.

-Sign up at flowrestling.org and watch technique videos and practice individual moves.

-Do core lifts such as power clean, squat, deadlift, and bench press.

Article By Channing Stroud

Update On The Miami Heat

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:42:01 +0000

The Miami Heat is up to a twenty six win streak. In the shadow of March Madness, the best sports story is the Heat making history. Their twenty six win streak is more wins than nine teams in the NBA have this season. The key to this streak is the best player since Michael Jordan, Lebron James who has become as clutch as Jordan himself during this win streak.

The best game so far since the streak started was on March 20th when Lebron only had six points in the first quarter of the game against his former team from Cleveland, butLebron then came out of the cage recording twenty five points, twelve rebounds and ten assists (for those who don’t know basketball that’s a triple double). Lebron also scored the game wining points as a matter of fact and he won the Heat their last game against the Celtics, where Lebron scored the game winning shot. The Heat came back over a 27 point deficit against a good team and even better crowd.

One of the most awesome moments in the game was when a fan ran onto the court asking Lebron to come back to Cleveland, all Lebron did was pat the dude on the head. This moment reminds me of the kind of stories grandparents tell their grandkids about how Babe Ruth used to come into their restaurant or when Jim Brown came into the barber shop. It’s like the mean Joe Green commercial where mean Joe throws a kid a towel.

For those who don’t know, the longest streak in NBA history is 33 wins, so the Heat has a long way to that goal but it’s not impossible. The one thing Lebron has on Jordan is that he has a bigger win streak. The next game for the Heat is today, Monday the 25th at 7:00 pm.

Article By Joe Frankosky

Syracuse University

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:37:03 +0000

Have you made your NCAA brackets yet? Well, if not then I will be writing about a few teams and the start of my journey of the teams in the NCAA. It begins with my personal favorite and the Beast in the East as some might call, Syracuse University. The school was founded in New York in 1870 and its campus now sits on around 683 acres. It has around 21,029 students with 1,563 teachers. In Athletics, they are a Division 1 school currently in the Big East Conference, but as of July 1st, 2013 Syracuse will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference or ACC.

Syracuse is NOTORIUS for having good basketball teams and they have only gotten National recognition beginning in the 2002-2003 season. They got the win with the future NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony who left for the NBA draft after the schools win. Syracuse has made 32 NCAA championship appearances starting in 1957 and including this year. They only have 5 Conference Championships and have only won the NCAA championship once.

The school has had the same coach since 1976, and his name is Jim Boeheim. With Syracuse’s entrance into the NCAA Tournament, Boeheim has helped with his NCAA Division I record of most 20 win seasons; he has set the bar high at 32 seasons. He started coaching circa 1969, where he was the graduate assistant for Syracuse University; in 1976 he took the role of Head Coach for the Men’s Basketball team. He has been honored as the NABC District II Coach of the Year 10 times and the USBWA District II Coach of the Year 4 times.

After World War II, due to the GI Bill, in 1946 Syracuse admitted 9,464 students. Because of this spike in membership and attendance to the school they had to add programs and staff to the school just to accommodate the sheer number of students. They started the Nation’s 2nd oldest computer engineering and bioengineering programs. The Saltine Warrior was a mascot for the school and in the 1950’s the fraternity Lambda Chi began a tradition of dressing up as the mascot, which stood for nearly 30 years. In 1978 the members of a Native American student organization protested that the mascot was derogatory, so the school removed the mascot. Syracuse then tried to use a mascot called Egnaro the Troll, but without success. In 1984, the school finally found its new mascot, the Orange. In 1990, they named him Otto and once again the Lambda Chi brothers were the ones take on the role as the school mascot.

Article By Shea King

Google Continues to Blow Minds

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:32:15 +0000

There are many times that I sit at home and constantly long for the ability to visit the Grand Canyon, scale mountains, and travel to famous landmarks in a matter of seconds (without the risk of being frozen alive or having to deal with the travel costs involved). Luckily for me, the fabulous staff at Google have come up with a way to make my wildest dreams come true by adding in these collections to their “Street View” portion of Google Maps.

As if being able to go through streets at a 360 degree view from your own computer wasn’t mind blowing enough, you can now travel up the largest mountain ranges in the world through an added feature of Google Street View. The mountains include Mount Elbrus, Mount Aconcagu, the Uhuru peak of Kilimanjaro, Kala Pattar, and Mount Everest. The realization that even the camps of Mount Everest are able to be viewed and explored from the comfort of my home is something that still amazes me even in terms of today’s technology. These new collections Google has been releasing for Street View already add to the fact that Google Earth and Google Maps have been giving people the availability to see almost every location they could think of for years now. I assure you if you that going to Disney World on Google Earth is a cerebral thrill that one must experience to understand.

On top of these amazing installments to Street View, Google has also been releasing promos for “Google Glass”, their new glasses with a built in computer and head mount display. From what is seen in the video released by Google, the product seems like Google took a smart phone and made it a wearable pair of Glasses. It uses voice commands, hands free video streaming, and all of the other luxuries we have been seeing from Siri on the iPhone during the last year or so. I have a feeling in the near future Google will have a brain chip installed on people so they can check their twitter even in a coma.

Personally, I am a pretty big fan of Google for reasons like Street View and would be perfectly okay with them seeing my deepest thoughts. These ridiculous advances in technology make it hard to believe that nearly six years ago the first IPhone was just being released.

Article By Jeremie Lally

Bio of Pope Francis

Tarik Mckenzie — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:28:41 +0000

As of March 13th, 2013 Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the new Pope. He was born on December 17th in 1936 in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires and is now the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Bergoglio is the first pope to ever have been elected from the Americas, and he is also recognised as the first Jesuit pope. His father was an Italian immigrant who migrated to Buenos Aires, and his mother was also of Italian descent, but was born in Buenos Aires. Growing up, Bergoglio had five siblings in his household but as of today, Mario Elena is Bergoglio’s last living sibling.

Bergoglio studied at Escuela Nacional de Educación Técnica and earned his Master’s degree in the field of Chemistry. When he was just 21, he developed an extreme case of pneumonia and cysts, which caused him to need a surgery to have part of a lung removed. As all popes must know at least five languages to communicate in, he spent his time learning and speaking Spanish, French, Italian, English, Latin and German. When he was appropriately prepared, he was appointed as a Cardinal in 2001 by Pope Paul II. Bergoglio chose the name “Francis” in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, because he was extremely concerned with the poor and the well-being of those in need because he also didn’t grow up in a luxurious environment. Bergoglio is not only the first pope from the Americas; he is also the first pope to use the name “Francis.”

On March 19th, Pope Francis gave the Installation Mass as pope (First official mass). The amount of concern he feels for the “poorest, weakest, and least important” can easily be derived from how he spoke and how he pushed world leaders to do the same to protect not only these people, but also the environment. Another key component of his title as pope is what he stands for. He believes in the message of hope and equality and he strongly urges leaders and other people with grand responsibility to “use tenderness” to inspire new hope in people.

A powerful and meaningful quote he used to express the way he feels about power was, “Let us never forget that authentic power is service.”

Article By Andres Rodriguez

IHS v. SAA Soccer Games

Tarik Mckenzie — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:37:32 +0000

Article By Hannah Demirjian

Monday, March 18 was the most talked about soccer game that was played at the Jennifer Ross soccer complex. Islands High School went up against Savannah Arts Academy’s varsity soccer. The girls played first at 5, not as many people were there, but more and more showed up as it got closer to the boys game at 7. The girls played a great game according to Coach Stacey Bragg and coach Brock. Savannah Arts unfortunately had the first goal, but that did not discourage the lady sharks. Hannah Demirjian, with assist from Taylor Tatusko, scored on Savannah Arts for the first time in Islands varsity girls’ soccer history. Goalie Michelle Autry had many saves. The game went into overtime tied 1-1. Savannah Arts scored 3 more goals in 10 minutes winning the game 4-1. The girls played really well together, getting back to get the ball, getting to the ball first, and having many shots on goal. There was a massive crowd of people who showed up for the boy’s game from both Islands and Savannah Arts. The boys game was hype and intense. This game was full of cards and there was even a fight. Savannah Arts scored first. Nick Milton scored with assist by Gordon Schley for Islands, but refs called it offside’s so the goal was invalidated. There were many pushes in this game resulting in yellow cards, but one push went a little too far and a fight between both teams broke out. This resulted in an Islands player getting a red card. Islands had a PK but unfortunately their goalie, Cullen Prince, saved it. Savannah Arts scored again leaving the score to be 2-0. There were no hard feelings after the game, very good sportsmanship. The next game will be Friday, March 22, at the complex again against Johnson High School for the girls. Hope to see you there!

Adopted at 32

Tarik Mckenzie — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:31:50 +0000

Article By Marquis Waiters

When you think of adoption, you probably think of babies or young children being the adoptees. Well, not in this case – in San Diego, a man named Maurice Griffin was adopted at the surprising age of 32.

Griffin and his now adoptive mother, astoundingly, aren’t without history. Griffin, who once lived at an orphanage as a child, became the foster child of Lisa Godbold and her late husband in the early 1980’s. Griffin quickly bonded with the couple’s two biological children, who happened to be bi-racial like Griffin himself. Eventually Griffin desired to be seen as a “real” child and insisted that his parents discipline him – which in the long run, meant to punish him like they did his siblings. Somewhere down the line, he expressed to his social worker that he was going to get punished, and being only 13 at the time, he didn’t comprehend how naive and careless that statement was. Less than half a year from formal adoption into the family, Griffin was removed from his family.

Over the years, Griffin and his mother (who had since remarried following her husband’s death and moved) never stopped searching for one another – all of their work did not go to waste. On Friday, March 15th, thanks to the world of social media, Griffin reunited with his mother in the best way: he was finally adopted.

While I was reading this article on CNN.com, I couldn’t help but spit out my nonexistent drink at the fact that Griffin had become adopted at the age of 32. When does that ever even happen? Is that even still adopting? He’s a grown man; can grown men really be adopted? The whole thing seems extremely mystifying to me.

Once I tore through my layer of bewilderment, I couldn’t help but feel joy for Griffin. The man obviously meant it when he said “It was the best day in my life.” He’d been searching since he left the family at the age of 13 – I personally couldn’t be happier for him. It must have been agonizing not knowing where your family was, a family that you loved and cared for. I wonder if he ever learned the naivety of what he said to the social worker that got him removed from the home. Of course, I don’t blame him; he was just a young boy who wanted to feel like he belonged with his family.

Now he can finally find peace with being a part of the family that he loved for so long.

Read the article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/15/us/man-32-adopted/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1