Staff Writer

It was a grueling task to wake up at three in the morning in Arizona’s time zone, but after three more days of transit to and from Harvard and the toughest rounds in the nation, the team got used to it. By Sunday the 19th, speech competitors had finished four rounds, debate competitors a total of six rounds, and for those in Congressional Debate, a total of three preliminary rounds: almost 12 hours of pure debating…and that’s just for preliminary rounds.

In Congress alone, senior Alison Brown, senior Katie Giel, and freshman Ben Kilano broke to semifinals, and all received bids to the prestigious Tournament of Champions that will be hosted in Kentucky this summer. Kilano ranked higher in his semifinal round than any Congressional Debate competitor did from the entire state of Arizona.  “It’s really weird, the competition was all over the place. I barely made it to semifinals, and the competition was rough there, too. But either way, I’m happy I made it to semifinals and as only a freshman.”

That’s not all the success to share, though. The entire team did better than they have ever done in the past.

“Statistically speaking, we had a better Harvard than anybody else. We beat out Nova High School in Florida, who is currently ranked first by the National Forensics League in terms of NFL points,” proudly announced coach and teacher Victor Silva. He continued, “but there is always room for improvement. At Glenbrooks this year [another national competition in Chicago], our team accepted defeat very well. Because of this, our practices got better, and we got better, and that showed in our performances.”

Not only did TSTDC do well overall, but individual success was also prevalent. Senior Samuel Abney and sophomore Austin Kennedy broke to finals in their events, the top six in the nation out of hundreds of entries.

“I’m really happy that I made it as far as I did, and other people on our team definitely deserved to go farther than they did. My goal was to be interrupted mid-performance with applause from the crowd at least once, and I achieved that multiple times,” said Abney, a senior who took second place out of over 300 entries in Humorous Interpretation.

“I just don’t know what to say. I’m happy I made it that far and I know other members of our team can make it that far in the future,” said sophomore Austin Kennedy, taking third place out of over 390 entries in Original Oratory speaking.

This was a great feat by TSTDC as they conquered at the 38th Annual Harvard National Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament, beating out over 3,500 competitors.

The Courtyard: Stephanie Christesen (left) and Jessica Tueller (right) walk to their next round in Harvard Yard.

Now the team sets their sights on the State Championship and Nationals.

Sam Abney performed in the Humorous Interpretation finals in Sanders Theater at Harvard.

Thunder kids unwinding in the hotel's sitting room by the fire.

Breakfast at the Marriot hotel. (Left to right): Jessica Tueller, KDee Heath, Stephen Glass, Phillip Mckenzie, Sepehr Rostamzadeh, Matt Pinkston, and Ben Reinhart.

The weekend of February 3rd was a long one for members of the Thunder Speech, Theatre, and Debate Company as they took the team to Central High School. The much-anticipated tournament was the last chance they had to show their stuff before they take off to Harvard University in Massachusetts this Friday, and the one weekend left to prepare and debate live against other competitors. They succeeded beyond expectations.

“I think the team really deserved this win,”said Erik Dominguez, the head coach of TSTDC. “They practiced hard and ‘won’ practice each and every day. If we keep it up, I know we have a great opportunity at Harvard to do better than we’ve ever done before.”

“We had several people take first place in their events: Kohi Gill and Alexa Saunders, to name a few. But the freshmen this year are what now makes this team. Some are even outperforming seniors in their own events,” he said.

With the massive amount of freshmen TSTDC acquired this year, it’s no surprise that by now, nearing the wind-up time of the season, freshmen are already doing so well, and have been in the past. Many students of all ages and grades broke to finals in their events, receiving trophies based on their rank, first through sixth.

“I think it’s something to be proud of,” said senior Katie Giel. “Not many people get to say they took first place at a Speech and Debate tournament, and a lot of people are on Speech and Debate to begin with.”  She recently traveled nationally to the Golden Desert Invitational at the University of Nevada, Los Vegas, explaining, “our entire team, collectively, took first place at Central and we will continue to succeed long after this year’s seniors are gone.”

Keeping up the “don’t get cocky, kid” attitude is making sure the team keeps themselves in check, despite taking first place at every in-state tournament thus far this year. TSTDC is collectively confident that they will continue to win practice and, therefore, have a great chance at winning the season finale: the State Championship.

By Kameron Ryals

    Thunder Buddies is a club where we create friendships amongst our students in
the Special Ed department and students with intellectual disabilities. With general ed students we want to create a positive high school experience by attending extra curricular activities, outings with friends, and school sport events. “I have being doing this all year. Me and my friends went and signed up for it on freshmen Friday. It is really fun and we get to make new friends. I plan on doing this all four years because it is just really fun.” said Cailegh Estevez, a freshmen.

“With my buddy, we go outside of school and hang out with them, like go to the movies. I went to a birthday party once and we hang out with them at lunch. I have been doing this since the beginning of the school year. It is really fun and we do a lot of activities with them and I plan on doing this next year.” said Mariah Paulson, a freshmen.

“I actually went to a birthday party and we went to the movies. At lunch I sit with them. I want to do it next year, but I have a lot of things going on so I will try my best to do it next year. It is a really fun experience.” said Cassidy Adams, also a freshmen.

This is the first year doing thunder buddies and will be going on next year. The meetings are every other Tuesday and to get in  go to the meetings during lunchtime. Or just talk to Ms. Marquez in C159, see Mrs. Hinds in the counseling office or talk to Mrs. Groeneveld in the Special Ed department.

Rachel Christensen and Danicke Van Ecke dance around in anticipation for audition results.

“Dancing with your feet is one thing, dancing with your heart is another.”  (author unknown)
The nerves were tense on January 4th through 7th as students from various middle schools and our school prepared to audition for Desert Vista dance classes/companies next year. The girls and guys were asked to wear all black and only black so that scoring could be based off of performance, and not who wore the cutest hot pink half top. The girls were taught both a hip hop and contemporary routine along with being asked to do basic across the floor technique such as kicks, pirouttes, etc.
“The hip hop was harder because I’m better at contemporary but that’s just my opinion,” freshman Jessica Goswick said. “I thought hip hop was harder because the moves were more technical and it was much faster than the contemporary dance.”
Hundreds of girls showed up to try out for intermediate, blue, silver, gold, junior, and senior company. Whether they were watching the incoming 8th graders or more experienced juniors audition for their senior year of dance, some of the judges were at school from early Saturday morning until 4:30pm.
“We practiced five hours a day,” said Goswick. “Auditions were Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday but we didn’t perform the dance until the last day.”
The dance room was hot and stuffy with nerves, sweat, and pressure on audition day. Senior dancers from all companies came to watch and support the auditioning girls. They stood around the edges of the room, clapping and cheering.
Desert Vista dance does not compete at competitions as a team, but students love to watch them dance at assemblies, concerts, and other events. Audition results are posted at 3:15 after school on Friday, January 20th. And look out, DV! A lot of talented 8th graders auditioned for next year.

Videos from auditions are on Youtube under “Desert Vista dance auditions 2012” for more information or to see these talented girls showing off their skills.

             The buttery smell of popcorn fills the audience, and eagerly awaiting students sit in their cars, set up chairs, and face the big screen on Movie Night.

             After raising money through different activities, and having extra money from shirts, Student Council held the first movie night showing “Remember the Titans” on a 50 x 50 foot screen.

             Student body vice president Hayley Schwartz said it was a good first effort, but hopes for a bigger audience next time.

            “It actually went really well. The screen was … HUGE,” she said. “We didn’t have a ton of people there because there was a U of A, ASU game, but next time we’re expecting a huge turn out.”

            As students got up and down from their seats and cars, student council directed them where to go, and showed guests where to get popcorn, water, and other movie night snacks.

            Teacher Mrs. Crystal McKenna, who helped run move night, said that maybe there weren’t as many students because not enough students knew about the event.

            “Next time we hope to be able to advertise a little bit more,” she said. “We were a little bit limited on getting approval from the district ahead of time, so we hope to advertise more and get people more interested in it.”

            McKenna said inviting more people is the key.

            “Maybe we can invite more of the community, and the middle schools and stuff like that; make it more of a community drive instead of just Desert Vista.”

            McKenna discussed that advertising throughout the community and getting sponsors could help the school raise more money for future movie nights. This first time the school lost more money than they spent.

GSA strives forward by attempting to put together an informational video to spread awareness. And the rainbow ribbons they have passed out can be seen all over campus, displayed by supporters. One thing that they are trying to bring up to be acknowledged is the use of terms in derogatory ways, for example “That’s so gay”. Students involved in the movement, not only in the video but constantly, try to get people who say things like this to realize how offensive it is.

Whether you’re gay, bi, pansexual, or straight, everyone needs to be treated with the same rights and respect, and that is what this club is all about. And there are teachers who are actively encouraging this idea. People who aren’t afraid to stand up for what they think is just, no matter who may disagree or try to stop them.

“I calculated it once in class. I probablly spend anywhere from 15 to 25 hours a week at school for marching band” says Cappo, a tenor Saxaphon on the Thunder Marching Band.

The long hours at practice that color gaurd and marching band invest certainly pay off though. Last weekend was the second year in a row that Marching Band has brought home the First Place Trophy at State Finals, a competition for the best marching bands in Arizona, hosted by Glendal Community College.

“Sometimes its hard to wake up so early, and practice can be exhausting, but winning State Finals was totally worth it,” said Cappo. “I love marching band with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns.”

“Practices can be really hard, but they’re also really fun,” says 10th grade piccolo player Cassie Collins. “We did amazing at the state competition.”

Marching band won the competition by 12/100ths of a point. The 10 marching bands invited to state finals were scored in the areas of visual effect, timeliness, general performances and some other areas. The trophy marching band received is being displayed in the band room.

If you are the adventurous type, then you might be interested in Desert Vista’s new club.
“DV Adventure Club is a group of people who see the glass as half full. We meet after school in the photo room on Tuesdays to discuss goals, events, and potential adventures,” said Vivian Benjes, President of the club. The Adventure club focuses on outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, running, snowboarding, skiing, rock climbing, etc.
“The adventures take place off campus and range from climbing and hiking to anusara yoga,” said Benjes. Students have the opportunity to grow in community while hiking local trails including Telegraph Pass. The group plans to kick off the Adventure Club by hiking the familiar Telegraph Pass this Sunday (November 6th) at 6:30 a.m.
“We plan on training for a trip to hike the Grand Canyon later in the spring,” said Holly Brown, Vice President of Adventure Club.

The group climbs twice a week after school and hikes Saturdays or Sundays. A Facebook group has been created so that members can suggest other ideas for adventures, hikes, etc.
“We [Benjes and Brown] are both seniors in love with rock climbing. We bounced ideas off each other for quite some time until we decided creating a group for adventurous scholarly teens was our calling,” said Benjes.

DV Adventure club meets in the photography room every Tuesday after school for brief meetings about adventures and adventures to come for these teens.