The Book Club meets once a month where members express their opinions about the current book being read, turn in their individual assignments about the overview of the book, and receive their book for the next meeting.

Each member is allowed to keep the book they are given and all that is asked is $10 due upon joining the club. The club is sponsored by local businesses and book charities who purchased the books and provide snacks. Although members are allowed to keep the books, the librarians and some students decide instead to donate them to the library for others students to enjoy.

Currently the Book Club is reading The Dark Endeavor , a book about the life of Dr. Victor Frankenstein explaining his reasons and wants for building his monster.

“The books so far have opened my mind to branch out and try different kinds of books outside my comfort zone,” Tidwell said.

Tickets are on sale for $7 for adults and $5 for children over the age of 3. The dinner will consist of  chicken spaghetti, green beans, salad, bread, a drink and home made desert.

Although time was running short, the Game of Gold struck gold this weekend after months of work and preparations.

“The kids did really well,” director Mark Keith said. “Time was running short, but they held in there and got the job done.”

Keith said that the nerves and pressure the audience provided really helped give the kids the extra motivation they needed.

“Everything changes as soon as an audience is present,” Keith said. “And the kids handled it really well.”

“I’ll admit I was pretty nervous,” Renkerna said, “But aside from the problems we had, it all came together in the end.”

Although this production  just ended, preparations for the next show have already begun.

“I wish all of the hard work was over,” said Keith, as the clashes and bangs of deconstruction and the looming thought of the upcoming musical auditions loomed the near feature.

“I’ll have a week to rest,” he said. “Then it’s right off to working on the musical.”

The two designs voted on were chosen by several club members who presented to the rest of the club next meeting to decide which to use.  The winner of the two, senior Alex Clifton,  was excited to be the one chosen, having big dreams about her future in art.

“I want to be an art major, especially in graphic arts,” Clifton said.  ”I submitted the design because I thought it would look good for colleges and I want to be able to help the art club.  I’m super happy I won.”

The other owner  of these designs, Ramon Hernandez, is still proud of his accomplishment to be a nominee.

“It’s my first year in the club and I wanted to make myself known,”  Hernandez said.  ”Having my artwork recognized feels great.”

Deciding on the design for the club shirt can be somewhat crucial for the club as they prepare for their upcoming work.

“I was really hoping to have them finished by the Pumpkin Patch Festival,”  Art Club sponsor Denise Davis said.  ”It’s one of our biggest volunteering activity so we should really have them there.”

Though a design is being picked for the main shirt, students can also create shirts with any design they please.

“Having students create their own T-shirt makes them feel like they are a vital member of the club and have their own input, which is a good thing to feel,”  Davis said.

Which brings us to Dinner Theater auditions tomorrow. While most choir students look to Pop Show as an opportunity to show theirs friends and family how talented they are, some see Dinner Theater as that opportunity.

Last, but not least, Honor Choir auditions will be hosted Saturday at LHS. Honor Choir hopefuls have been practicing on their pieces for a little over a month.

One look at the calendar tells us Choir has no intention of slowing down.

“We had 27 make the Region Choir,” Tyer said. “It’s the most we have ever had at one time advance. We are extremely proud of everyone who auditioned.”

Senior Eddie Cerezo was sure he didn’t place.

“I didn’t think I made the Choir at all,” he said. “I had only been in choir for a semester and I had absolutely no musical experience, so I wasn’t expecting much.”

As students prepare for Pre-Area, feelings are mixed.

“I am scared,” junior Megan Martinez said. “It feels like I have to make it now, like that’s what’s expected of me.”

Others like junior Bethany Knox are feeling enthusiastic about the upcoming Nov. 8 audition.

“I am feeling pretty excited about Pre-Area,” she admits. “I get to sing the fun music now.”

A common relation amongst those auditioning was  feelings of anxiety.

“I was a little nervous about auditioning because I didn’t really know what level the other girls were on,” freshman Emily Rhoades recalls.

“There was nothing easy about building the set,” said junior Paola Alvarado, executive in charge of advertisement. “Around every turn was a new challenge.”

Preparations for the show often extended long past normal school hours.

“Yesterday we stayed up at the school until 10 p.m.,” said senior backstage worker Eric Shriver. “We’ve been working hard, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.”

For some students, the work is not about building the set, but memorizing the script. This is the case for senior La’Dre Lofton, who will be playing the part of Blackman Redburn.

“I’m very excited for the play,” said Lofton. “Blackman Redburn has a lot of lines, so I’m working hard at memorizing them all, but I think I’ll have them all down by the time the show comes along. Blackman is my alter ego. He’s the person I wish I was. This is my first play, so I’m a little nervous, but I feel prepared.”

Lofton said this will also be his last play.

“Theatre just isn’t something I could see in my future.”

Other students such as Drew Renkerna, who will be playing Ned Harris, plan on continuing in theatre arts after high school.

“I want to continue in theatre even outside of school,” Renkerna said. “I want to be an actor in movies.”

Getting into character is something that comes naturally to Renkerna.

“I look in the mirror while I’m in costume,” he explained. “I put my self in the character’s shoes. Try to think what he thinks.”

Renkerna, who has been in theatre since his sophomore year, is very experienced in theatre. His first role was the part of Eugene in Grease.

“Eugene was a fun character,” Renkerna said, “but Ned Harris is different than any character I’ve ever played. He’s a gentleman, and he’s basically the hero of the play”

This being his first production at LHS, the pressure is on for new theatre teacher Mark Keith, director and set designer for the production.

“I’ve been in the business a long time,” Keith said. “I’ve learned to handle pressure like this. The process has been difficult, but it will all be worth it in the end.”

After long days and sleepless nights of work and preperation Mr.Keith still keeps a positive attitude.

“When you do something you love, it’s not really work at all,” Keith said.

“ It was my first cruise,” senior and Drum Major Hannah Williams said. “It was so much better than I expected, I would recommend a cruise for anyone who has never gone on one .”

According to Williams, the trip was something she would definitely do again, and she brought home some wonderful memories from the experience.

“One of the best parts of the trip was when we went snorkeling in Cozumel,” she said. “I loved it, we saw tons of exotic fish and schools of barracuda.”

Another one of the aspects the seniors enjoyed about the cruise was the 24 hour All you can eat buffet and the numerous group activities going on throughout the day.

“I really liked the food,” Williams said. “plus they also had lots of shows going on throughout the entire trip. One night we went to a talent show, and every night they had several comedy shows.”

Although the cruise staff had lots of activities planned, the group also enjoyed their time in Mexico.

“When we went to the beach in Progreso and Cozumel they had massage stations,” senior Majorette Grace Cho said.  “It was the best part of the cruise, it sounds kinda shady, but it was so wonderful. It was the best money I’ve ever spent, I got two massages while we were there.”
The group had such a wonderful experience that most of them did not want to return.

“I didn’t like coming home and having to make my own food,” Williams said. “Being on the boat spoiled all of us, everything they served was wonderful.”

Another one of the negatives about returning home was getting back their land-legs once they got off the boat.

“I felt like a was still on the boat for days,” Williams said. “It felt like I was always leaning.”

After having such a great time on the trip several of the seniors hope to return to take the cruise again with their family and friends.

“I really want to come again,” Cho said. “I had a lot of fun and I want to come back.”

Laura Holewyn, the co-director, explained that all choirs and some individual students will be performing.  Individual singers must be a member of the choir and make it through auditions.

“It’s one of our concerts that we do every year we always have pop shows, it’s something that we do up to date instead of all classical music.”

Michael Johnson, member of varsity choir, decided to perform because it is a fun and exciting experience.

“I’ve created a song and I made my own music and lyrics for it to sing at pop show,” Johnson said. “Besides the fact that this is my senior year and this is my last chance I get to be on stage, I love singing and I want to give the world something from me.  I’m not really taking this as a competition it’s more like a chance where everybody can show what they have.”

Also, senior Shelby Havard elaborates on the many different perfromances that she will be contributing to through out the show.

“Being in Kantori, or the mixed varsity choir, you’re kind of expected to participate in shows like this,” Havard said. “Kenard and mixed varsity is performing a medley from the musical Guys and Dolls and also I’m going to be preforming a solo by Adel Set fire to the rain.”

Havard said she kind of consider her performances as a competition but really it’s just another thing she does with her friends.

“Because I know everyone who’s going to be out in the audience, I’m not really nervous to get on stage.,” Havard said. “After singing for so long you become comfortable with preforming in front of people that it’s just confidence that is built up.”

At the competition, the robots had to hang inner tubes in the shape of the competition’s logo, which was a triangle, a circle and a square.

The team got off to a rocky start as it was one of many teams that did not pass inspection. Senior and Co-Capt. Kaitlyn Rendon described the experience as “hectic.”

“We had some problems, but it wasn’t anything bad enough to keep us out,” Rendon said. “We switched our game strategy in the middle of it, and it brought us up to 21st place, when we were 40-something before.”

Senior and Co-Capt. Chris Carter said although he had hoped the team would do better, he was satisfied with the team’s accomplishments.

“We didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but we fixed all the problems that arose and helped 15 other robots pass inspection so they could go out on the field,” Carter said.

The team’s performance improved from last year, which Rendon attributes to the large number of seniors on the team.

“People were way more focused than they were last year,” Rendon said. “We took it a little more seriously because a majority of the people are seniors. This was our last year to try to win.”

Now that the competition that the team has been working toward is over, the team will begin preparing for next year, junior Brian Gilbreath said.

“We’re ordering extra parts so that next year, we can build two robots that are the exact same so that we’ll have one here to practice with while one is being sent off,” Gilbreath said. “That will give us more practice time.”

Gilbreath is optimistic about the team’s improvement.

“We’re slowly progressing, so I hope next year we do as well as we did this year or even better,” Gilbreath said.

In an effort to further that progress, all of this year’s seniors will return next year as mentors to the team.

“This is what we love to do,” Rendon said. “It would feel weird not to do it again. When I joined the team, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at all, but it interested me so much that I want to continue doing it.”