The Mariner Compass

By Jacob Mayforth

The week students returned from Christmas break was an interesting week, not in the least made more interesting by the appearance of a “Bong hits 4 Jesus” poster high on the ceiling of Homer High, 60 feet above the floor of the commons.

This is not the first time “Bong hits 4 Jesus” has been seen among Alaskan students. Almost a decade ago, 18 year old student Joseph Frederick unrolled his 14 foot sign on a public street outside his high school in Juneau, Alaska. The principal of the school confiscated the poster and suspended Joseph, who then sued the school and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The court ruled against him, and now the sign has shown up again, duct taped to the ceiling of Homer High.

“We had borough maintenance come in to take the sign down, problem was the ceiling is 60 feet up and the lift only goes 40 ft. So we got a 20 foot pole with a knife on it and cut it down,” said Doug Waclawski.

Students generally responded to the prank with surprise, “I don’t think anyone was offended,” said Owen Duffy, “I just wondered how they got up there.”

Rumors of climbing harnesses and ropes are mostly hearsay. What is known for sure is that the culprit(s) climbed onto the award cases, and from there scuttled up the beams and struts to the ceiling. Evidence of scuff marks and cracks on the trophy case where their foot broke through can be seen. When asked about the prank, Doug Waclawski said “As long as it’s not destructive or putting people down. It’s the danger that’s the problem, what if we had come in and there was a dead body on the floor?”

By Gabriel Selbig

Walking up to the school doors on this past Monday, the wind was freezing and each step of the stairs was iced over. Only until after the full day of classes, I was dumbfounded by the realization that I had just attended school on Martin Luther King Day!
Almost feeling cheated, I recalled how year after year in Anchorage schools, the holiday had always given us a rare three day weekend. Martin Luther King Day was not celebrated by all but at least recognized.
When asked of our school’s under-recognition of MLK Day, Homer High Sophomore, Jake Worsfold had this to say, “It was Martin Luther King Day?” The holiday went unmentioned and seems as though the student body was not reminded until the following day.
Martin Luther King Day has been celebrated on the third Monday of every January since 1986. The day is celebrated all through the country, and gives workers and students alike a day off from their responsibilities. For those who truly celebrate, the day can be filled with remembrance and study of the courageous acts of the famed civil rights leader. “MLK Day is one holiday that should be recognized in every town of every state,” Worsfold retorted when asked exactly how he felt about the lack of celebration this past Monday.
Not only Homer High, but in fact, the entire Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has decided not to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Principal, Dr. Gee explained that the district must minimize the amount of days that students do not attend school. This means some holidays are spent inside school. Some would inevitably ask what the huge deal is about kids missing another day of school due to a national holiday. Dr. Gee delivers the fact that “Many of our student body need to be done with school as soon as possible in the summer to start the fishing season with their families.”
Dr. Gee even stresses over his want to see a student committee organize some sort of in-school celebration for the holiday. May not be a full day off, but this way, the school truly celebrates the occasion.

MLK Day Goes Unmarked on the School Calendar

By Cayenna Anderson

Most people walking out the door to their house would say to their parent “Bye! See you after school!” However, this is not the case for eight Homer High students who have parents that work on the faculty, including Maggie and Lewis Koplin, Maggie Graham, Megan Gee, William Sinclair, John Walsworth, Ian Lowe, and John Akers.

            “I don’t find it very weird; we just kind of stay out of each other’s way unless either of us needs something from the other,” said Megan Gee, daughter of principal, Dr. Gee, “There isn’t much of an impact, I think, because I’m so used to it. Sometimes being his daughter has its perks.”

Megan was very nonchalant about the subject, seeming like she’d had the conversation many times before to friends and teachers.

 After fifth period that day, I noticed Megan and her dad share a passing glance in the hallway, both minding their own business, but enough acknowledgment to tell that she is comfortable with the situation at hand.

            What If you went to high school with your dad being the principal? Megan says it doesn’t faze her. Furthermore, what if your mom could see all of your grades, instantly, almost as if the second you handed in your assignment? Or if she knew your FOL schedule and what might seem like your every move?

Maggie Graham knows this feeling. Though not as intensely as one may think, the impact is still partially there. Somewhat contrary to Megan’s view, Graham concluded, “Well, of course, it can be a little weird, but I’m pretty used to it. A lot of people actually don’t know that she is my mom.”
            Maggie’s mom works in the counseling department of the school. “My mom is my mom; she doesn’t really act differently at school compared to at home. When she first started working here, it was kind of strange and almost crowded feeling, but I’m definitely over all of that now.”

            Though Graham and Gee had a few very minor differences in opinion, they both seemed to agree on one thing: they will always know how to get a hold of their parent when they need something! 

Megan Gee

Maggie Graham

By Ryan Navrot

Homer High School has had a long history of leaky gym roofs. Depending on who you talk to, for at least eight or nine years, water has been dripping into the trophy hall or onto the gym bleachers, depending on how the building is sitting on the frost. This year is no different, other than the fact that the water leakage is dripping onto the floor in the corner by the water fountain.

Thankfully, Chris Perk has it under control. He has a Tupperware toat underneath the leak, preventing it from damaging the floor. Even if the water was dripping on the floor, it is designed to sit about three inches off the ground, so any moisture that falls on the floor will drip through, causing less damage then if it was “swimming” in it.

The leakage is most likely caused by too much snow being blown under the rafters or snow blowing into the vent in the ceiling, the latter of which is unfixable. If too much snow is on the roof, fixing it will not happen until this summer, when it’s safe to walk on. There’s nothing the school can do about snow in the vents, because when it melts, it melts.

Homer High School’s janitor, Jim Kienitz, said that every year the problem is fixed, and when winter comes around next year, the leakage will start again, and be dealt with the following summer.

The bucket catching the roof water.

This picture was taken by Sean Pearson from a previous game.

By: Megan Gee

This past weekend the boy’s and girl’s basketball teams traveled 561.27 miles to play some ball in Nome. They traveled into -13۫۫ weather and played 3 games each. The boys took home the 2nd place trophy, while the girls played hard and improved their skills.
The boys played the same teams, and won 2 out of 3 games. On Thursday they played Bethel, and won 63-61. Dyllan Day had a total of 25 points, and out of those seven were 3-point shots. Robin Glosser scored 12 points, and Sam Reinert tallied 10 points. The next night they played Nome, and battled until the end with a score of 59-54 almost winning the game. On Saturday they beat Point Hope to take 2nd place in the tournament. Dyllan Day and Robin Glosser both had 17 points to help win the game.

The girls played Point Hope the first night, and scored a total of 33 points. Tayla Cabana led the pack with 11 points for the team. On Friday night they took on Nome and scored a total of 28 points. The last game they played was against Bethel. Elissa Tutt scored 12 of their 26 points to keep the game close. They had a successful weekend, and according to the players the most memorable part of the trip was eating 2 jars of peanut butter.

All in all the teams had a very successful weekend. They got to play 3 games, and bond as a team.

Tommy Bowe at a game played in Homer earlier in the season.

By Carson Duggar

 Over the past weekend the Mariner Hockey team battled through the cold weather to win two out of two against the best small school competition in the state. On Thursday the team took the long trip to the frigid city of Fairbanks. They had three games on their plate, beginning with a match with the North Pole Patriots on Thursday. The team opened scoring within the first minute of the game, with a rebound goal by sophomore skater Tommy Bowe. Due to an excessive amount of penalties earned by both teams, it was soon 2-2 because of a precisely aimed shot by Mark Reutov. Bowe then got the game winner in the third from a smooth pass from freshmen Kiril Sanarov. Kiril’s older brother Alex, who is said to be the best goalie in the state by Coach Buck Laukitis, got the 3-2 win saving 13 shots as the M’s racked up 34 on the Patriots goalie.

Coach Laukitis recapped the game, “We played very hard and our special teams came through in this game. When you’re trading penalties with a team back and forth, you need both your power play, as well as your penalty kill, to come through, and tonight we were able to accomplish that.”

The next afternoon the M’s faced a Hutchinson squad who has won 2 of the last 3 small school state hockey championships. Homer once again was able to get an early lead with a hard-fought goal by Bowe. The game went back and forth until late in the third when they were able to strike again. Freshman Konstantin Reutov got the goal when he tipped a shot from the point by Kai Simmons. They fought to score 2 more goals, one on an empty net, as the clock ticked down. Alex got his second shutout of the season in the 4-0 tilt, turning away 20 shots. These two consecutive victories were the first back to back wins of the season for the surging Mariners.

On Saturday the squad was scheduled to travel to Delta and battle in a good old-fashioned outdoor game. The weather had other plans though, sinking below negative 50 degrees, causing the game cancellation to the dismay of the players. When asked about the weather in Fairbanks over the weekend Ethan Kizzia stated,” It was numbing cold. We took a bucket of boiling water and threw it out the door and it froze before hitting the ground.”

He went on to say that the team wants to carry the momentum gained from the weekend into the three big upcoming conference games in the Valley. Homer headed North on Thursday to compete against Colony, Wasilla, and Palmer.

By Akane Fujimura

These days students drink many kinds of energy drinks to help them stay up late doing homework and studying.

For Mallory Drover, a senior, 5-hour energy drink is an essential to her life. As she said it gets her through the day. “Well, I still remember the moment when I first took 5-hour energy; I could feel my eyes widening and it worked immediately. I started to take it my junior year and since then, I usually drink it every day except for weekends.”

However, many people think 5-hour energy is not healthy and bad for the body to take every day. “I think 5-hour energy drink has a lot of sugar and caffeine in it just like other energy drinks,” Katie Schmidt, a senior, stated.

Mallory opposed this opinion after researching about the 5-hour energy. “The truth was, I couldn’t find anything wrong with 5-hour energy. In fact, I found out that it has the same caffeine as a cup of coffee, only 4 calories each bottle, no sugar, and had a lot of vitamins in it. It’s not good if you drink it two bottles every day for thirty days because you’ll take too much vitamin B, but as long as you drink it once a day, then it’s totally fine.”

Sharan Gorman, the school nurse, said, “The ingredients information says there are a lot of vitamin B6 and B12 in it, but if you take more than the limit for the day, these vitamins are water soluble, you’ll just urinate and the body won’t absorb them. You’ll just waste those vitamins. It’s always better to eat good foods than taking drinks. Enough sleep is also very important, especially before tests; it’s way better to get enough sleep than stay up late to study and take 5-hour energy drinks.”

The workshop is open to anybody 15 or older, until the 18 person limit is filled.  According to Eddie Wood, his lessons are “applicable in any field.. exposure to something like this will help with timing and patterning” along with the experiential applications of music from many different ethnic origins.

Cuban Clave rhythms, Brazilian Samba and a bit more straight forward American rhythms constitute the workshop’s repertoire.  Eddie’s experience with Native Alaskan and Latin dance forms, such as the Rumba, Salsa, and Mambo, are advantageous when teaching percussion.  Alternate approaches to rhythm make his lessons all the more comprehensible.

Wood “would love the group to be able to play as one creature with many parts… all in sync”  Listening is key for any ensemble, especially when looking for “the all important ONE” otherwise known as the downbeat or the pulse.

In ancient times “you had to listen to stay alive”; by learning how to use the same senses, in a musical setting, partakers obtain a new perspective through storytelling as well as improvisational and structured percussion exercises.

To work past pre-existing qualms, associated with singing and instrumental music, those who take part in the workshop are given ample time in the first day of the workshop to “get comfortable”.  Eddie Wood approaches the workshop “gently and with lots of humor” to rid participants of their insecurities, fears and uncertainties.

Once participants have attained a sense of belonging, Eddie leads the group into more complex instruments; eventually moving into mallet instruments and finally Latin hand and finger percussion, the Conga and Bongos for example.  Although drums are provided for use in the workshop, anybody who owns a drum is encouraged to bring it along.

“My life is about sound, story, and movement”

To get a taste of Eddie’s life as a drum craftsmen and performance artist, visit homerart.org for more information about admission fees and the schedule.  Call 907-235-4288, register online, or just stop into the council building to reserve a spot in the workshop.

By Jacob Mayforth

I could not give this movie enough praise if I was given all the time in the world. This movie is about the journalist Tintin and Captain Haddock as they travel across the world in pursuit of a sunken treasure, and at the barest minimum it could be described as an adventure movie, but it is so much more. I have found that this movie has something for everyone. To readers of the graphic novels it was based on, it will be true; to adventurers at heart, it will be epic and exciting; to the soft hearted, it will be cute; to the comedians, it will be hilarious.

© 2011 - Paramount/Dreamworks

This movie never stops, from the title sequence the ball starts to roll and it will not let go of you until you and it both reach the end. What this movie has above all others is momentum, the feeling of a progressive story that is extremely difficult to put into an animated movie but this one pulls it off fantastically.
The animation is amazingly realistic. The voice actors are incredibly believable. The storytelling is brilliant.

I have little to say because it is nothing put positive, I have no critiques, no nits to pick, no problems to express.

Go.
See.
Go see.