The Mariner Compass

By Gabriel Selbig

For the sixth straight year at Homer High, ceramics students received the end of the year treat of a half day of school spent at Bishop’s Beach. On this field trip, ceramics teacher, Maygen Janetta educates her 50+ students on the traditional method of pit-firing.

Pit firing is the ancient, low-tech method of firing burnished ceramic pots. “Aboriginal tribes have been pit firing for centuries”, said Ms. Janetta. “It’s a useful lesson that must be taught in the outdoors!” Along with a signed permission slip, a burnished pot is the only requirement for the trip. In return, Ms. Janetta rewards her students with roaring bonfires, well-roasted marshmallows, and a sense of delight in knowing the majority of their classmates are kept confined within walls of much too familiar classrooms.

Each group of students must dig out their pits a few feet deep. Then, a fire is started in the pit, topped with the burnished pots and large amounts of shredded paper. Once the fire is out, students retrieve their pots from the pit and cool where crashed waves meet the sand.

“Results may very,” answered ceramics student, Mario Glosser, when asked of the outcome of the pots. “The beach burning is a good time regardless of whatever you yield from the pit firing.” At times, the pots crack or simply become charred in the firing, but every so often, the new designs are astounding.

A stress-free learning experience is rare, especially at the tail end of the year. With six years accident free, Janetta’s ceramics students will hold the beach burning trip in high regard for years to come.

By: Megan Gee

Over the course of a few years, softball at Homer High School has gained a great reputation. Almost every year since the program started, the team has either won the state championship or been runners up. They have also been academic champions six times since 2004. What makes the softball team so successful?

Could it be the sense of comradery amongst the players? According to Maggie Graham and Miranda Beach one weekend the team spent close to 30 hours together. Graham said, “We’re really close. We have team sleepovers, and we are all friends outside of softball, so bonding continues off the field.”

Or could it be the way they practice? Every day they do circuits that involve lifting weights, throwing medicine balls, and working with an agility ladder. After circuits they move on to batting, fielding, and situational plays for the majority of practice. At the end they do sprints and abdominal workouts.

Maybe the reason for their success is their coaching. When asked if coaching was a part of their success the girls said, “Yes! Bill Bell has devoted an incredible amount of time and money to our program. We dedicate a lot of our success to his dedication to us and our program. We also have Mary Jo, who is a recent and great addition to the softball team. We love her intensity and her Saturday morning workouts!”

Another potential reason for their success is goal setting. Every week each person sets their own personal goals, and for the team. After the week is done, they sit down to see if their goals have been met.

Besides comradery, practice and goal setting, they have determination.“The satisfaction of a hard fought game where everyone has come together and given it their all. Also the determination to be relentless and strive to get better after a loss,” Beach said this is what she and most of her teammates play for. Graham and Beach think with this determination and drive they have the potential to win state. Beach said, “We have the potential, however we need to be confident not cocky.” Graham then added, “State is an aspiration; however, we are not focused on state, but rather on the next pitch.”

By Cayenna Anderson

From dancing, to singing, to foreign instruments, the 2012 Pops concert contains all of the elements of a successful talent showcase. Pops is known throughout the community as an exposé of the arts that all ages can enjoy with the array of acts that consist strictly of HHS students.

Auditions took place on Monday, May 7^th, in which various acts tried out. Though only seventeen will advance to the concert, all received praise for their impressive presentations.

“We look for quality and variety,” said Mrs. Christianson, a judge alongside Mr. Robinson and Jill Berryman, “We like to have all different, high quality acts so that all talents are shown. For example, Mook is playing her Thai instrument, while Akane is singing a song in Japanese. The differences in this show are what make it HHS Pops. ”

 Though Pops is thought of, to some, as a more “mainstream” type of concert, all ages relish its ability to bring the community together to view the talent of the future.

Alicia Isenhour, Junior, said, “My favorite thing about pops is the variety; it makes it so much more interesting than a regular high school concert. I also think it gives people a chance to see what we have to offer through the arts.”

The 15^th annual Pops concert will be in the HHS theater on Tuesday, May 15^th at 7pm.

By Ryan N
Although students are staying busy with the upcoming finals and sports, Homerites have a bigger problem on their minds. The Battle for Homer is about to take place. Students are sharpening their blades and polishing their armor to prepare for the “super awesome” conflict taking place on The Point up on West Hill this Sunday.
Live action role-playing(LARP, for short) has found its way into Homer. LARP has been around since the 1970s and was inspired by tabletop role-playing games. It has branched off in many different directions, some LARPs being set up to tell a story and some being straight up battles. Contenders must create weapons made out of foam as use them to cut off(tap) appendages. Once a fighter is tapped in the arm or leg, the arm or leg must be put behind their back, and they must hop on one foot as if they actually lost the limb.
In Homer, players are drifting away from the traditional LARPing weapons. Some contesters have constructed bows and padded arrows to use instead of swords and other melee weapons. There are two classes: healers, which can heal teammates but can only use knives as weapons, and warriors, who do most of the battling.
Eight teams have been made official, with almost a hundred planning to attend. It has been said that LARPing may become a traditional thing in Homer, where every year at the end of the year there will be a traditional LARP.
It has also been said that some teams will go all out, planning on conquering everyone and everything, while other teams are in it just to have fun. Although not all teams share the same spirit, there is one thing that will be certain.
Only one team will be victorious.

What happens when a science educator and a music teacher write songs together?  The result is “another angle on learning” taken by Good Dog to educate children about marine life.

This Friday, at 7:00 p.m. on May 11th, Good Dog is performing “original nature songs aimed at teaching basic ocean literacy,” said co-founder Jim Pfeiffenberger.  Good Dog uses scientific accuracy, “one guitar and two voices,” to illustrate the adaptations of maritime mammals, birds, and fish.

Trained vocalist Liesl Davenport-Wheeler and Jim Pfeiffenberger formed Good Dog over a dozen years ago in Seward.  Jim currently works at the Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center.  Now a choir teacher at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Liesl continues to sing as part of Good Dog at events such as Whale Fest Kodiak, the Seattle Folk Festival, and school assemblies around Alaska.

In 2002, they released eleven original songs entitled Tunes from the Tides.  The CD prominently features a variety of percussionists, tuba and the naturalistic duo.

Making their third appearance in the Shorebird Festival, Good Dog is performing at the Homer Council on the Arts gallery.  Inspired by previous festivals, the song “You Could be a Shorebird Too” imparts knowledge about migratory birds.

“They pair skilled vocals with educational content that’s fun,” said Andromeda Romano-Lax of the Anchorage Press.  Jim hopes their music will “help foster stewardship to nature” in the audience’s future.

Irina Reutov's piece that placed second in the 2012 ASAA All State Art Competition.

By Carson Duggar

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” A quote by Marilyn Monroe, whom Irina Reutov cited in her artist’s statement. She went on to explain, “Quotes are one of my inspirations. I use a variety of mediums such as oil paint, ceramics, and mixed media when constructing my work. I create pieces that focus on blending colors with other painted objects on canvas. Texture and color are my most loved aspects of art. I often envision more than one concept in an art form. My work, I’ve found, is very feminine because all women are beautiful in their own way. A reason why I love art so much is because you can create something out of nothing, art is never perfect and it shouldn’t be.”

Above is the artist statement that Irina Reutov, senior at Homer High school, included with her ceramics piece that she entered into the 2012 ASAA All State Art Competition. Her sculpture consisted of a rugged portrait of a woman’s torso, lacking arms, as well as a head-covered by clay strips that symbolize clothing-bare shoulders and a petal like necklace all glazed earthy brown hues. The piece placed second in the contest, making her the only student on the entire Kenai Peninsula to receive an award this year.

ASAA made a drastic change this year, by hosting the competition online instead of at a school, which they hoped would increase participation, they succeeded. Each of the twenty-three Alaska high schools was limited to submitting five pieces per school. Categories are as followed: Ceramics, Communication Art, Drawing, Jewelry/Metalsmithing, Mixed Media, Multicultural Art, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Textile/Fiber Design.

Irina also entered a mixed media piece but she was not the only student to submit; Kyle Wisner submitted a bowl, and Bella Vaz submitted painting.

Homer High art teacher Maygan Janetta stated proudly, “Irina exhibits an enormous amount of talent and passion, most often found in professional artists.”

By Gabriel Selbig

In no way has Homer High found a permanent solution, but returning students of the school can breathe a sigh of relief this coming fall, as the school starting time will remain 8:30 am sharp. As hope began to dwindle, Dr. Gee was told the state would provide additional funding for the original bus system for at least another year. However, he enlightened that “we may be in the same struggle this time next year.”

As the issue gained hype throughout the school and the parents of students, meetings based around the topic were nearly a monthly occasion. “The first meeting I had about the issue was back in October”, stated Dr. Gee. “Since then, we’ve held several public and Site Council meetings in attempts to find a solution.”

Nevertheless, Mariner Compass journalist, Ryan Navrot knows firsthand the complications which thwarted one or two of these meetings. “The snowstorms a few months ago canceled every meeting I tried to go to,” he said. “It was like I was always waiting for a rescheduling date.”

There was little hope by the end of the winter, as the student body began accepting the scheduling changes. The additional funding given by the state surprised Dr. Gee. However, he was quick to point out how temporary this result may be.

Also, Homer High’s principal explained the likeliness of various schedule tweaks which could be put into effect by next school year. “We’re looking to switch around the time for FOL and also do something about the ten minute breaks.”

The funding is only good for one year, and it’s not likely such funding will be given again. Dr. Gee clarifies it as “a period of breathing room.”

By Akane Fujimura

“Oh, man. I couldn’t stand the last half game,” Anna Fisher, Girls JV soccer coach said after their first victory. According to the players, last year, the JV team scored one or two goals total for the whole season, and they never won a game.

“We did amazing,” Abby Brant, a sophomore midfielder, stated. “It was really awesome to watch them play.” As Fisher described, the players controlled the ball really well, communicated effectively, passed well, and moved the ball forward, leading to success. “We couldn’t do all these things without our strong defense. I was so impressed,” Fisher stated.

“The players are more experienced,” Abby described as the biggest change of the team from last year. “Last year, a lot of the players had never even played soccer before. But this year, a lot of the players have played for like four or five years, since they were little.” Fisher explained, “the reason we’ve been playing successfully is that this whole thing is ‘personal’. We have spectacular hard workers, people who played before, and most of them know the system and how things go.” Taylor Iredole, a sophomore goalie added, “they improved so much.”

As Abby said, the coaches’ change was the big part, too. “This year, the coaches understand the team and the players more than last year. Last year, even after the practices, a lot of the players didn’t understand the game.”

“I think we’re going to surprise some teams,” Fisher added, “And I hope that we can continue winning. Fingers crossed!”