Archive for March, 2010
Otten’s RHS film festival is a success!
Posted by Mia Stroutsos in Arts on March 25th, 2010
RHS Film Festival 2010 Winners- Juniors Chris Acker (left) and Reed McCoy (right). Film: Ghosts?
On Wednesday March 20th, the Roosevelt Theater was bursting with creativity and innovation. Film lover and Roosevelt senior Eric Otten hosted the Roosevelt Film Festival for his senior project. If you didn’t make it to this wonderful event, The Roosevelt News has you covered.
A variety of original films were showcased by many Roughriders, and their artistic expressions wowed the bubbling audience and tough judges. The lineup is as follows:
Cold Start- Directed by Paxton Farrar (senior): A witty short film about one boys car troubles. Starring Paxton.
A Day in the Life of a Puppy- Directed by Lauren Glass (senior): A day in the life of a stuffed animal puppy.
Shades of Doubt- Directed by Seth Falstein (junior): A suspenseful birthday mystery, starring Lewis Haas, Chase Kutsunai, Michael Taang, and Colin Bridges.
Matricide- Directed by Jessa Lowe (senior): A unique short film set at a cemetery. Starring Brando Reece-Gomez and Will Gerhardt.
Ghosts?- Directed by Reed McCoy (Sophomore) and Chris Acker (Junior): Um……Ghosts?? A comical, documentary-like investigation of the ghosts living in Roosevelt High School. Starring Reed McCoy, Chris Acker, Conrad Schmecel, Ms. Ahlstrom, and Ms. Sutton (Ghostbuster).
Abllabla- Directed by Corey Dansereau (senior): An experimental and artistically wondrous film about a boy’s senior project angst and life. Starring Sean Christofferson.
24 Hours- Directed by Emily Karboski (senior): Fantastic stop motion choreography starring many Roosevelt students.
The Unicycle- Directed by Eric Otten (senior): One boy’s quest to buy a new bike with an inspiring twist of sibling love.
The winner of the Teddy Roosevelt Oscar went to… Ghosts? After winning his first film award at the RHS Film Festival, Chris Acker stated, “It gave me motivation to get back into film. I was once really into it and my determination started to fade. But then I met Reed. Reed and I had talked about doing something for a while and this was the motivation. Reed and I worked well together and had a lot of fun. We’re ready to do more.” Eric Otten deserves many pats on the back for putting together such a great event. Acker adds that, “Eric did a fantastic job organizing. He is an amazing filmmaker himself.”
Roosevelt jumps into the March Madness pool
Posted by Thuc Nhi Nguyen in Sports on March 19th, 2010
Brackets such as these are a vital component of March Madness as they bring extra excitement to the tournament.
The greatest sporting event in America is back and Roosevelt has been swept up in all the madness. The upper commons was jam packed with basketball fans as they watched intense opening round games on Thursday, March 18, during lunch. In addition to watching the games during lunch and keeping the big bracket updated, Rough Riders are embracing the chaos with several March Madness bracket pools throughout the school including those run by senior Matt Gross and junior Ethan Goldman-Kirst.
To enter a pool, participants fill out a bracket and pay a buy in fee. Each bracket accumulates points throughout the tournament through the predetermined scoring system, whether it be upset scoring or points for each round. The winning bracket is the one that racked up the most points and subsequently earns the guesser the pot.
Writing schools down on a piece of paper seems simple, but bracketology has as much a part of March Madness as the teams are. ”Brackets make March Madness more important,” said junior Pryce Baker, who has entered Goldman-Kirst’s pool this year. ”Because people play for money, more people watch March Madness. Even people who don’t know about basketball fill out brackets and watch,” he continued to say.
“Doing pools have become some kind of a tradition for me,” said Goldman-Kirst, who’s entering his second year at the head of a bracket pool. ”I wouldn’t be as excited [if I didn't fill out a bracket],” he continued to say. Goldman-Kirst is also working with fellow junior Mourya Mamidala to organize their pool of nine participants.
March Madness owns the television ratings and it reeled in about 10.3 million viewers to CBS on the first day alone. Don’t believe the hype? Think about this: President Obama even filled out a bracket. He picked Kansas to win the championship with ESPN’s Andy Katz by his side. If Obama’s filling out a bracket, then you know it’s a big deal.
Sophomores finish first HSPE
Posted by Thuc Nhi Nguyen in News on March 18th, 2010
By Hart Horner
Sophomores finish their first week of the HSPE as they walk out of their testing room.
Tenth graders all over Washington started a new test called the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) this week. “It’s exactly the same as the WASL, but with a new name,” Roosevelt sophomore Sam Carpenter said. The HSPE, which made its debut on Tuesday with the reading section, is one of two new state tests created to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). The other test is the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), which is for grades 3-8. Like the WASL, tenth graders must pass the HSPE in order to graduate from high school.
The test itself is almost identical to the WASL. The procedure is too. For the reading section, students are directed to open their booklets to the first page, where they are given examples of short answer questions, reason and result diagrams, and correctly filled in multiple choice bubbles. The questions on the test are based on short readings in the booklet. For the writing section students are asked to answer two essay prompts: one expository, and the other persuasive.
“The HSPE was easier than the WASL, and I thought the WASL was easy,” sophomore Tessa Vollrath said. Sophomore Mitchell Tokuoka agreed, adding, “I like the WASL better.”
The HSPE was created to be shorter than the WASL, and to take less time to score, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s website. The test has no long answer questions and, except for the writing section, takes only one day for each section, compared to two days for each section of the WASL. In an effort to save money for the state, the test will be moved online over the next few years.
The difference that stood out most to me was not that the test was easier or shorter. Rather, it seemed less formal. Unlike during the WASL, my proctor didn’t seem to care when, at the break, half the class kept working on their tests while at the same time talking to their friends.
Whether it’s called the WASL or the HSPE, Washington’s disdain for standardized testing hasn’t changed.
The Dating Game
Posted by Cate Gelband in Entertainment on March 18th, 2010
On Tuesday, March 16, Roosevelt’s most eligible bachelors competed for the love of three senior sweethearts in The Dating Game. The game began with “Single Ladies” by Beyonce setting the mood onstage as the contestants faced round one.
During the first round, bachelors were eliminated by crowd response. After that, it was time to bring out the three women the men were fighting for: seniors Bridget Reardon, Rhylie Wilson, and Katie Judge. A barrier was placed between the boys and the girls so the girls’ identity was kept a mystery.
After a push up contest that turned quite creative, a talent portion, and plenty of quick-witted and zingy responses from the contestants, the bachelorettes were asked how the decision process was coming along. The feedback was good, even solid, as Rhylie Wilson stated, “I’ve made my decision at this point.”
A yoga demonstration and a few pick-up lines later, the women were ready to pick the winners. Bridget Reardon chose sophomore Corbin Hughes, Rhylie Wilson selected sophomore Sam Gelband, and Katie Judge picked junior Chris Acker. Love was in the air that Tuesday night, with the Dating Game ending in success for the three joyous couples.
Open Mic thrills on Thursday
Posted by Emily Dugdale in Arts, Entertainment on March 12th, 2010
Seniors Luke Greenway, Lauren Glass, Colin Featherston, Ben Notkin and junior Mitch Young read through "Words Incorporated", a one act play written by Greenway for his senior project.
On Thursday, March 11 the classroom of 242 was transformed into an oasis for aspiring guitarists, soulful singers, and two brothers who simply wanted to convey their love for the Oregon Ducks. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m, the undercover talents of Roosevelt High School wowed the crowd with songs, poems, and plenty of laughs.
Some highlight of the evening came from the singer/guitarist Stefan Skalbania, who serenaded the floor with his rendition of “Romeo and Juliet” by Dire Straits. Skalbania is widely regarded as an excellent guitarist through his position on the rhythm section of the top vocal jazz choir. Other members of the choir, juniors Hannah Jacobson and Katherine Stuber, gave us a taste of their jazz roots in a swing arrangement of “You are my Sunshine”.
Other students gave the crowd something to sing along with as senior Lauren Glass preformed the popular pop tune, “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry, and junior Alex Hume sang “Love Song” by Taylor Swift.
“Ten Strings”, the popular band consisting of Sophomore Zach Horton and Junior Carlos Alvarez, had the crowd chuckling during their performance of a witty self-written piece about a few controversial social issues. The group has become a beloved staple at Open Mic this year, and never fails to amaze all who lend an ear to their quirky lyrics.
A particularly special moment was when senior Luke Greenway got up on stage to assemble a staged reading of “Words Incorporated”, a one act play that Greenway wrote for his senior project, and hopes to debut in the near future. The plot revolves around a group of gentleman working at a company that is creating the English language, and this premise gave a comical atmosphere to the well written script.
No one wanted the show to end after an evening packed with excellent and inspirational performaces. However, Open Mic is always once a month, and come April the stage will light up once again with the soulful singing, acoustic guitar, and delightful performances that showcase but a sliver of the talent that Roosevelt students contain.
Rider Riderettes present “For You” showcase
Posted by Camille Esposito in Arts, Entertainment on March 8th, 2010
On Wednesday, March 3, the Rider Riderettes presented “For You,” another great showcase of performing arts here at Roosevelt. The Rider Riderettes started the show with their hip-hop competition piece.
Felix Huynh "tutting".
The Break Club and Tap Club pitched in with a couple lively, crowd-pleasing performances. More beautiful dance routines followed, including audience-favorite “Tutting” by Felix Huynh, a cute and zesty pantomime routine, and a moving lyrical piece performed by senior Ruby Miller, junior Audrey Wheeler, sophomore Erika Jacobsen and freshman Madhavi Narayanan. The Rider Riderettes also performed their basketball halftime piece, and juniors Zoe Geiger, Audrey Wheeler, and Sarah Clevenger danced a Pointe piece to Sleeping Beauty’s “Bluebird.”
It wasn’t all dance: senior Sophi Obenza took the stage singing Phil Collins’ “True Colors” and “Thunder and Lightning.” Sophomore Devan Campbell swooned us with Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” and Sarah Evans’ “Born to Fly”.
“The showcase this year was perfect, and we have our coach, Mindy Lu, to thank for that. The audience seemed to really enjoy the diversity of pieces we displayed, and we raised a ton of money for competitions!” said junior Riderette Zoe Geiger.
Men’s soccer welcomes new coach
Posted by Thuc Nhi Nguyen in Sports on March 5th, 2010
The Roosevelt men’s soccer team is entering the 2010 season with a new captain steering the boat, Coach Val Seid. He’s looking to build up a notable soccer program at Roosevelt from the JVC team all the way up to the top tier Varsity program. He’s encouraging team camaraderie to build to future success for Roosevelt soccer.
Coach Val comes from the sidelines of the Riders’ greatest rival, Ballard, where he was the assistant Varsity coach. He is still the head coach of the girl’s soccer team at Ballard where he nabbed Coach of the Year honors in 2006.
The season is still young and the players have yet to fully get to know their new coach, but one thing is apparent. “We can definitely tell that he wants to win,” said junior midfielder Mikko Keranen.
Just because the season has barely begun, doesn’t mean that practice isn’t hard. ”We take practice seriously,” said Keranen. ”It really prepares us for the season and it’s important that we play as a team.”
Last year the team made a run to the State tournament but fell short in a first round match up with South Kitsap that ending in a shootout. The graduation of Leo Cohen and Dan Tonkovich among other seniors will be a tough task for the Coach Val to overcome but he’s dedicated to the long term success of soccer of Roosevelt and the hard work that is necessary to win. With Keranen returning for this third year on Varsity and seniors Nick Drummond and Travis Mealand leading the team, the young season is shaping up to be a good one.
