Relationships, future careers, and front row seats

When the school bell rings to get out of the last period of the day you can expect half of the student population to show up at the trainers room. Right in between the varsity locker room and the equipment room, the trainers room has been the place to get treated, taped, massaged, and anything else you need to be able to get back out to your sport.

“I get a lot of satisfaction helping athletes overcome their injuries,” Athletic Trainer Mike Boese said. “Theres nothing more rewarding than taking and injured player, taking them through the process of rehabilitation, then watching them get back out on the field.”

The student trainers of THMS have always been the ones to tape up the players before, during, and after practice or games. They are always there when in need and are never to busy to put the hook up on their snow cones. 

To become a student trainer who works in the trainers room, you have to sign up for sports medicine 1,2 as the beginning class a sophomore or a junior. Then you can take Sports Med Lab as a senior or junior. 

When you take the beginning classes you are taught basic first aid and what you will be doing the following year if you take Sports Med Lab. Then once you start to take Sports Med Lab you will be required to put in 45 hours total per quarter inside the trainers room.

Those who have the most hours in the trainers room will be able to travel with Boese to Varsity away or to be a trainer at a home varsity game.

“We all try to get more than everyone else to be in the game on the field,” junior Quentin Rutlin  said, “It’s kind of competitive.”

Rutlin, a basketball player, uses Sports Med to make friends, pass off season time, and to attend games for free. As his first year in the course unfolds he contemplates going on professionally for Athletic Training.

Most kids who join the class and take Sports Med Lab go on yearning to become professional Athletic Trainers, Boese even has had some kids go on to be doctors and nurses.

While opening up a career path student trainers can also use the Sports Med classes for a fourth year science credit..

Becoming a trainer is much more than earning the fourth year of science credit though. To most in the class its about what they do to help the teams out with what ever they need.

“It’s fun and it’s a great way to be apart of the school,” junior Stephen Martinez said.

Martinez is a baseball player for THMS but on the days that baseball isn’t in season, he like many others devotes most of his time to making sure that the wraps on the players are tight.

The trainers in the room have yet to be called trainers, that title is reserved for certified Athletic Trainers like Boese. Having been a trainer for 28 years, he’s currently spending his 18th year here.

But before being a high school trainer Boese worked for a sports clinic that had a contract with the Phoenix Suns. Boese was in charge of aquatic therapy so he spent most of his time by the pool rehabilitating the players by the pool side.

“Kenney Gattison who was a rookie, he tore his ACL and I did a lot of work with him in the swimming pool,” Boese said. “We actually became friends and he attended my wedding later on that year.”

Not only at the professional level do the trainers and student trainers grow relations with other people, but senior Cecilia Mejia has made friends through this class.

“All the relationships I have with the athletes and gaining trust makes me popular in school, because I’m a nerd,” Mejia said.

Mejia is also a trainer and frequents the varsity games, making sure she will leave the trainers with an imprint of her own. 

The group of trainers are part of THMS’s own Health Occuption Students of America (HOSA) club, with senior Nadia Casteneda as president. As president she is often looked up to as the number two in the room, although this wasn’t her ideal high school career path.

“I actually didnt want to be a trainer at first,” Casteneda said, “But I stayed because it was so fun to watch the games up close.”

In the end most of the trainers understand the real reason behind being a trainer.

“I’s not about the recognition for what you deserve,” Casteneda said. “It’s about getting them on the field, its about the player.”

Orchestra's October Concert

Orchestra director Cayce Miners directs the concert orchestra, which is the beginning orchestra at THMS, during their fall orchestra concert on October 2, 2013. The concert, which began at 7 p.m. was the first concert of the year.

Orchestra director Cayce Miners gives a brief introduction to the songs that the concert orchestra played during their fall orchestra concert which was held on October 2, 2013. For many of the concert orchestra students, the concert was the very first orchestra concert that students had participated in.

Homecoming blowout puts Badgers at fourth in their division

        Closing out their third blow out game against the Rincon Rangers, 45-0, the Badgers move to the 22^nd rank in Arizona and fourth in their division.

“Everyone got in and everyone got playing time,” Head Coach Justin Argraves said.

The Badgers set everything in motion when a quick 1:20 second drive led to the first touchdown, a 35 yard reception by Senior Elijah Anderson.

After quickly stopping the Rangers in their tracks, only letting them have -25 yards, Rincon punted it short which led to another short drive completing it with a touchdown by senior Donnovan Moore, with a lot of time left still in the first quarter. Shortly after the Rangers fumbled the ball giving the Badgers another touchdown, a 23 yard run by Moore once again.

Every possession by Tucson after that, in the first quarter, led to a touchdown. 

Then when the Badgers were up 35-0, in the second quarter, the Rangers own Jaid Coronel gave the team a glimpse of hope as he intercepted the ball at the 23 yard line to then run out of bounds.

After the interception Rincon quickly drove down the field to get into field goal position but was then denied a field goal by the Badgers goal line defense.

On the last possession by Tucson in the second quarter, the Badgers drove the ball down to get to field goal range and kick a field goal in. While the Rangers closed out the first half with 2 incomplete passes and a score of 38-0.

As the second half started Tucson put some new players in to get them ready for next year. One of the players, Sophomore DeShaun Flannigan, was put in to see how the next years starting Quarter Back looked so far in the season.

With the new players came some sloppy play by the Badgers offense but the defense still remained intact.

“It was sloppy because we wanted to get new people in,” said Moore. “They looked new, they gotta get more playing time, but theres definitely a lot of potential there.”

It was only after the Badgers closed out the third quarter with a touchdown pass to Anderson that no more points were put on the board.

“Any win will bring up any hopes, its just about the spirit of the team,” senior Roman Soto said.

The Badger State of the Union Address

The quarterly address for the Tucson High classes took place on Oct.16. Seniors met at the auditorium with Dr. Clarice Clash to discuss the goals for the 2013-2014 school year.

Dr. Clash began the address by presenting the goals from the previous year. With her main goal of changing the school letter grade from a “C” school to a “B” met, the momentum transferred over to this year.     

Every quarter there will be a State of the Badger address. This is to directly inform students about important news occurring around THS, get the school academic status.

The theme of the address is “Committed 2 Graduate” (C2G) and the new goals revolved around the phrase. This year’s focus was on attendance, conference period, and to once again raise the school grade from a “B” to become an “A” school.

Attendance was also one of the main goals, the reason being that the school attendance should be at 95 percent and it’s currently at 92 percent. Clash presented data to shows that students in higher grades have lower attendance rates than students in lower grades. 

With the address exclusive for the senior class, the main goal for the class of 2014 is to make sure each senior graduates.

Clash is also pushing towards students enrolling into Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) classes. A new element introduced this year was the mandatory conference period for all athletes.

  Dr. Clash also informed students that on Oct. 29, there will be resources fair in the mall area. The purpose is for students to identify their resources and know where they are.

Popping Populations

Animal overpopulation sees increase in Tucson, nationally

Morgan Darby

CACTUS CHRONICLE

            Just like Tucson’s monsoon season, animal overpopulation has stealthily crept up across the country.

            Though animal overpopulation is a major problem in Tucson, itis spreading across the U.S. due to Americans failing to spay or neuter their pets.

Tucson’s Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) is feeling the impact of the crisis at hand.

PACC takes in approximately 28,000 animals per year due to their pledge to always take in pets, regardless of their condition.

            The shelter currently cares for 791 animals.

            Jenny Kading, the head of PACC’s outreach program, gave an idea of how the animal population has grown over the years.

            “Our intake when I first started [2004] was probably around 15,000 [per year].”

            In a span of nine years, the shelter has increased their intake by 13,000 animals.

            Jose Ocano, PACC’s volunteer coordinator, also stressed the magnitude of the situation. 

             “It’s a huge issue for this country,” Ocano said. “60 percent of all dogs that enter shelters get put to sleep every year, and that’s because of overpopulation. That’s three to four thousand animals.”

            To illustrate the severity of the problem, Ocano gave an alarming statistic.

            “The offspring of two dogs in six years is over 67,000 Ocano said. ”The offspring of two cats in nine years is 11.6 million cats.”

            Since PACC is a no kill shelter, it is always full to the brim, often combining multiple animals per kennel.

            PACC promotes spaying and neutering, which prevents animals from breeding, ultimately decreasing the animal population in the U.S.

            According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates, 2.7 million adoptable cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters each year.

            The cause of this abnormality is overcrowding in the shelter, according to HSUS.

            “Even by owning an animal that is not spayed or neutered it is contributing,” Ocano said. “The reality is that they just keep breeding and breeding.”

            Not only does spaying or neutering your pet keep them from adding to the growing problem, but it also provides health benefits.

            “They live two to three years longer, they have better temperament, and they have a better quality of life,” Ocano said. “It also eliminates or drastically decreases certain cancers in male dogs.”

            Kading is also a strong advocate of spaying or neutering pets.

            “It makes a huge difference. It’s definitely worth doing for your pet,” Kading said.

            Additionally, neutering a male dog can potentially save their lives.

            Ocano explained that the male’s natural instinct to breed is so compelling that it overrides everything else, such as their obedience to say within the backyard.

            Ocano said the root of the problem is the owners not realizing the importance of having the surgery performed.

            “I really believe that people are genuinely good,” Ocano said, nodding. “Working here, it’s easy to become cynical. But they really just don’t know. When you know better, you do better.”

            Part of PACC’s commitment is to educate the community about responsible pet ownership, which includes the spaying and neutering of pets.

            To fulfill that promise, PACC offers an educational program that reaches out into the community, particularly in schools to plant the idea of spaying and neutering pets into young children’s minds.

            Kading has been invited to THMS on several occasions on behalf of the Animal Rescue Group (ARG) to talk about the importance of spaying and neutering pets, but has had a rough time reaching the teen crowds.

            “Some of it is changing cultural bias,” Kading said. “There are different people who see pets as things, and [PACC is] trying to get more people into the belief that pets are family members, and not a disposable commodity.”

            For some kids, participating in a tour of the shelter is a real eye-opener.

            “Kids come here and they’re sensitive kids, some of them get quite overwhelmed,” Kading said. “They have a hard time at the shelter because they see so many animals and it upsets them.”

            Ocano said educating kids of all ages is an important step in making a difference concerning animal overpopulation.

            “You have to put these ideas in now,” Ocano said. “It’s easier for you to change your mind and get you to believe something when you’re little than right now, because now you are so influenced by your own experiences.”

            The only setback with educating young people, as Ocano explained, is it doesn’t take effect until decades afterward, once the children become pet owners themselves.

            “We live in a society where we love instant gratification, I know, I love instant gratification,” Ocano said. “But the problem is with education, you’re not going to feel the impact for many, many years.”

            PACC plans to continue the implementation of the program.

            “Within time, every little bit counts,” Ocano said. “It’s one of the things we are going to start focusing on building and making stronger.”

            Aside from PACC children’s education program, there isn’t much else to be done to spread the word about responsible pet ownership, according to Kading.

            “All we can do is promote spay and neuter as much as we possibly can, and educate people and hope it will get better, but it’s going to be gradual,” Ocano said. “The community has to decide if that’s what they want.”

            Kading also gives her negative outlook on the growing problem.

            “It’s an uphill battle. Personally, I think we have a lot more work that needs to be done.”

            Yet another fragment of the issue is the point that Pima County itself is growing.

            Human population directly correlates with the growing animal population.

            Moreover, PACC hasn’t grown as an establishment to support the community’s growing numbers.

            According to the trends in animal population, it doesn’t seem likely that we will see the resolution of overpopulation in the near future.

            “I think we will always have somewhat of an overpopulation problem, and I don’t know if in my lifetime we will solve it, because its so drastic,” Ocano said with a shrug.

            Taking everything into account, Ocano insists that it’s vital to clue others in and to be informed to take the first steps toward the resolution.

            “It’s so important that people are part of the solution. It’s as simple as spaying and neutering your own animals.”

College Visit Schedule

College Visits are in Full Swing:  Please sign up for any of the college visits listed below in the College & Career Center in T-146. All grade levels are welcome.

Date	Time	College or University/Event	Representative Name
October 3	2nd Lunch	University of Redlands	Sayjal Waddy
October 14	6th period	Reed College	Melinda Brown
October 15	8 am	St. Mary’s College, California	Pedro Ramirez
October 15	11:30 am	Grand Canyon University	Layla Salazar
October 15	1st & 2nd Lunch	Tucson College	Erin Kowalski and colleague
October 15	7th period	Oregon State University
October 16	9 am	University of Colorado Boulder	Valeria Morales
October 16	12 pm	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Eric Ouellette
October 16	1:30 pm	Juniata College	Josh Beckel
October 16	2:30 pm	Bowdoin College	Ryan Ricciardi
October 17	8:30 am	Prescott College	Caroline Bitter
October 17	10 am	George Washington University	Rob Rainy
October 18	10:15 am	George Mason University	Shane Smith
October 18	11:30 am	Occidental College	Matthew Burris
October 18	1:30 pm	St. Mary’s College, Indiana	Alyssa Vinluan

THMS Fight Song

Yearbook will be recording the Marching 100 on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in front of the tech building, and would like students to join in and sing the school fight song! The recording will be used for the cover of the yearbook. Students will be able to access the recording once the yearbook is released in May!

Tucson Badgers Red and White

Tucson Badgers Fight, Fight, Fight!

Loyalty Means Victory!

Carry on for Tucson High!

Tucson Badgers Red and White

Tucson Badgers Fight, Fight, Fight!

T-U-C-S-O-N!!!

Fight, Fight, Fight!