Ponder High School Roar

M Y W Z D T E B F R C D I E K L L D V N L L D A C K P V F I W B N J U R N A G R E O O K G W Z H H S R W A R S N Z X L G O F C E Z Q F X S F Q T O K T H W P E O N N U R D D X M The ALS Ice Bucket N I K P M U P X I J Y Q X A G K O C O E U W J N K F F X O S B Q X B V D I Y I T T P H X Challenge Mr. Yeager, PHS L Y Z M T J B S P Q D R E T F I C T L F K J I U L L X V T V V L O E M M R F F R U U A Q superintendent, Sterling Stinson accepting the ice I L D D I R P N E R Z J F W X O E A B N I G O K S I R B B O W T M C O U R U Y V C M W O bucket challenge

N Q A U O J T S T X X X I M P S J G R A Q I R H D S X J A B C B U C M N X P O E V O N Q Splash! The summer is ending but people still can’t seem to keep themselves away from the water. In fact, ALS donations have increased by over 3000% D O O F Z F B Z E I X G Z U F H F I A C W P A B M Y J D L O E Q E P I T M D Q J E N L I However, most aren’t just drenching themselves for percent this summer. Last summer, between July 29th the fun of it. A large number of students in our high H A L L O W E E N P J Z B M B Z I G J G A Z N Z F T W I L R K M S N E R T Y L M U Y O D and August 27th, the ALS Association received $2.7 school soaked themselves for charity. That’s right, the million, a decent amount for a charity its size. However, ALS Association has a (relatively) new fundraiser: the Z Z W H Y J I I O K T T Q E E V O Z D V A Q G M F S B E D T O Z B R T L T X O V E Z K E thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge, in the same period Ice Bucket Challenge. of time this summer, they received $94.3 million. That P I E S S W I X I U L E D Y C O F A I T E O E O Q E Y F A H K L P U N Y Z C L E A V E S The rules are simple: someone who has done is a remarkable change. And it all happened because H Y H K A B B C I E W J M M Y D G I M T V E H N B V D O H J S M R W L B B P W A O F A A the challenge challenges other people (normally 2-4 people enjoyed seeing each other dump ice water on people). Those people have 24 hours to dump a bucket their heads. O Q S B F K L H N Q I X I B A L F Q G G K N L L Z R U E X S E H B C T O G N Q Y R C R Q of ice water on their own heads. From there, they can Many people from our school have participat- challenge more people. With every dump of water on F R V A V V K D B Q U Z U A E G T D B E M Y V H U A D F P A N H Y M V N I F W U K Q G A ed in the ALS Ice Bucket challenge this summer. Some your own head, you’re supposed to donate at least groups in our school participated together, such as the $10. However, if you fail to complete the challenge in U Q A R G A P X U Z G Q X Z K R A K U O G C V E I H E U B N J K V M T O R H O P J F J X elementary school teachers, the Ponder High school 24 hours, then you have to donate $100 to the ALS As- band, football team, the cheerleaders, and the volley- M W L U B W J K G J Z I H B O W Y J C D V Y Z Y H H Y E K V E L E Z P W E R S B E C I Q sociation. ball team. Some people in our school participated on So, what is the ALS Association? Well, first off, their own though, such as Superintendent Mr. Yeager, AUTUMN HOMECOMING we should probably talk about what ALS is. ALS stands Mr. Josselet, Mr. Simmons, Coach Holt, the whole Irons for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is a neurodegen- family, Mrs. Knitter’s family, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Waldo, BRISK LEAVES erative disease that attacks and destroys nerves and Coach Stanley, Mr. Fritz, Mrs. Crider, Coach Fosset, and COOL NOVEMBER pathways in the spinal cord, causing the affected per- Mr. Noland.. son to lose their control of their body movements (and The Ben Den, part of our very own High School CRACKLE OCTOBER at later stages of the disease, unable to move at all), Newspaper, has now given our school a chance to help while their minds remain sharp. They live in a shell of a CRISP ORANGE the ALS foundation even more. They challenged the body with a sharp mind, watching their bodies fail. whole school to bring in donations for the ALS founda- FALL PIES This disease is slow torture for those who have tion, and compete between classes to see who will FIRE PUMPKIN it and their friends and family, which is why we need to arise victorious. The junior class come out on top with work as hard as we can to find a cure to it. To find a a donation of $105. 42. Mrs. Bieler was the “lucky” FOOTBALL SEPTEMBER cure, though, you need funds. Therefore, the Ice Buck- teacher who was drenched in honor and memoryof et Challenge began. The Challenge spread rapidly those suffereing from and taken from us by ALS. The HALLOWEEN thanks to social media. Celebrities and regular people total for all four classes was close to $300. Way to go HARVEST alike started challenging each other and making videos PHS! of it, mainly on Facebook. Donations to ALS soared.

Meet The Lion Roar Staff Yearbook’s Biggest Staff By Elizabeth Richardson

Less than a month into the school year and the Yearbook staff is already hard at work, capturing a year’s worth of memo- ries into one book. The staff consists of sixteen hardworking students and their dedicated sponsor Mrs. Steele. These stu- dents are charged with the task of taking every event that happens at PHS, capturing it on a camera, selecting very few of Elizabeth Richardson, Senior  Plays Varsity tennis these photos, editing them and designing a yearbook that will be seen by hun-  Is in her 6th year in PHS band Danny Rivera, Junior  Races Sprint Cars  He is short dreds of people. Of these fifteen students fourteen are new to the staff. The two  He was voted best personality two years running Ally Gordon, Senior  The ladies love him returning members are Melanie Baker who is returning for her 3rd year and  Choir  Wants to become a Pastry Chef Kaylee Buell, Sophomore McKenna Williams, returning for her 2nd year. This year Melanie is the editor and  Has the best Thanksgiving Joke.  Plays Varsity PHS Volleyball McKenna is the assistant.  Enjoys spending time with her animals Ben Dankesreiter, Junior  Barrel Races  Plays Varsity football On the staff this year are four sophomores, eight juniors, and three sen-  Co-editor of The Ponder Roar Shane Scott, Sophomore  Was voted “Most Likely to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse”  Plays Varsity Baseball and Football iors. These fifteen students applied and were chosen by Mrs. Steele at the end  Does UIL of the last school year. To be a member of the yearbook staff you have to prove Sterling Stinson, Junior  Voted newcomer of the year last year in base- ball  Has been to region in UIL Spelling and Editorial yourself hardworking and willing to put in the extra effort of attending every  Co-Editor of the Newspaper David Eskandari, Sophomore  3rd year being on the Ponder Roar Staff event and capturing every moment through the lens of a camera. These fifteen  Plays in Band

 Favorite color is red-orange Teryana Sledge, Junior students can be seen at every Ponder High School event, capturing every  Hates lists  Plays Varsity Basketball

 Loves Jimi Hendrix memory so that it can be relived every time the yearbook is opened. Shannon McGill  Likes to Read  Favorite holiday is Christmas New to the yearbook staff, senior Jennifer Eppler says that she is excited about  Likes Italian Food Shelby Cormeir, Junior  Favorite color is green  Can play the flute being able to capture all of the memories of her last year and put them into one

 Doesn’t have an appendix Noelia Sandoval  Likes Italian food book. When asked how she feels about having an almost entirely new staff, edi-  Favorite color is purple Ben Montgomery, Junior  Short tor Melanie Baker says that “For the last two years we’ve only had seven people,  Plays PHS baseball  Likes Mexican food  Nicknamed “Monty” so we’ve had to adjust to having so many people. At least we know we’ll have  Co-Writer of the Ben Den more than enough pictures to put into the yearbook.”

Mr. Noland By Shelby Cormier Ponder Celebrates Biggest Enrollment by Shane Scott New year. New show. New band director. This year, the Ponder Lion Band said goodbye to the old, hello to the new, and wel- comed Mr. Aaron Noland as the new head band director. Having taught at the Hale Center for 7 years, this will mark Mr. The biggest ever enrollment of Ponder High School Noland’s 13th year of teaching. Originally moving to Ponder to be closer to the metroplex for his daughter, Mr. Noland is excit- has taken place this year by compiling a total of 406 ed to implement his philosophy to all his students. “All children should be given every opportunity to learn and succeed in all areas. They should not be limited in what they are allowed to participate in.” students. This number is about 45 kids over from last

Mr. Noland has been married to his wife, Amber, for 12 years. He has 3 children: MacKenna, Peyton, and Kinsler who year, and has made enough of an impact to notice a are 9, 6, and 2 ½ respectively. Outside of teaching, Mr. Noland loves sports. His favorites would have to be fishing, football, change. You may have noticed the more crowded hall- and baseball. Overall, Mr. Noland is extremely excited to be working here. His love and passion for music will be what is going ways, and much bigger classes. Despite the change, to lead the Ponder Band to greater achievements. Ponder still has a small school outlook. Principal of Ponder High School, Mr. Simmons, says that “This change is benefi- Ponder Sophomore Wins A Car cial, but doesn’t make a really significant difference in student activities.” Even with the Out of three different school districts that attended the pizza dinner for an anti-bullying jump in attendance, Ponder is still considered a small school, also maybe the growth in program at the First Baptist Church in Justin, one Ponder sophomore student was the lucky winner of a car! Derek Shearer said it was just a crazy experience for him to have won this the school enrollment could be because the freshman class replacing the seniors from car. When asked what he was going to do with the car he said, “I’ll probably leave it in my last year is a lot larger than the 2014 senior class.” driveway and drive my truck around for now.” The biggest enrollment ever in Ponder is an example of maybe how this school could be changing. Maybe in the next ten years we could be one of the bigger schools Class Officers! in the metroplex. Who knows? Ponder is headed in a positive direction with this in- crease in enrollment because that shows Ponder is recognizable and appealing to peo- Elections for class officers were held in the first weeks of September. The 9th grade class used Google Drive to electronically vote for their officers. This was a first at PHS and made the voting a breeze ple who want to move somewhere. for all involved! Many of the elections were close, but the officers are as follows:

9th grade: President- Kathryn Dankesreiter Meet the Lions is a Roar by Shane Scott 11th grade: President- Carson Knight and Sage Stover Vice-president- Dawson Fogle Meet the Lions Night had Secretary/Treasurer- Sam Norwood Vice-president- Avery Leveridge an exciting atmosphere in Ponder. It was good to see that our home bleachers were Secretary- Danny Rivera Reporter- Emily Hendrix just shy of being completely full to support all of our fall sports athletes. It’s that time Treasurer- Mitch Fruth of year to come out and support the Lions in foot- th 10 grade: President- Bailey Beer ball and volleyball as well as our band members and Vice-president- Abby Miller cheerleaders. The night started out by introducing Secretary- Vicky Frazier everyone participating in the fall programs, and then 12th grade: President- Trey Dunlap Treasurer- Shane Scott followed by having delicious snow cones at the con- cession stand. Overall I think it was a great start to a Historian- David Eskandari Vice-president- Craig Reames Secretary- Kennedy Davis Communications- Aaron Wilson Treasurer- Codi Garner

Ponder High School has seen a large group of new faces this year, of both coaches and students. One of these new faces hap- New Teacher Features! By Sterling Stinson pens to be Coach Estes,Coach one of theEstes new football coaches and Junior High Current Events teacher.

Coach Booker By Teryana Sledge Before coming to Ponder, Coach Estes spent 14 years in Keller ISD. The last four of which, he spent at Byron Nelson High When you’re at the next Ponder softball game, you might be surprised to notice a fresh new face in the dugout. Her face will School, where he is proud to have gotten to coach his son’s football team. So far, he seems to be settling in to Ponder well, be full of determination and heart, while she leads our team to victory. This person is no other than Mrs. Michelle Booker, the saying that he enjoys how nice and helpful everyone has been. new head softball coach. As a coach, he cares about his players immensely. He believes hard work counts for more than talent, and that if something Coach Booker came to Ponder looking for a change from being in a such a big school district, Royse City, which is east of Dallas. isn’t working, you need to change in order to reach a different outcome. Another part of his coaching philosophy is the im- Before she began teaching, she was an all-around athlete, playing basketball, which was her favorite, volleyball, and running portance of building relationships between the players and between the coaches and the players, and urging each other to be track in high school. After high school, she attended Texas A&M and majored in Secondary and Business Education. the best they can be in everything they do. In addition to his coaching philosophy, he also has a philosophy about his players as In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family that consists of her husband, Donald Booker, her daughter and step people. “I really care about them as a person more than as a player. I want them to be successful in life, to be a good citizen, -son, Kyla Simmons and Jack Booker, who are both nineteen, and her step-daughter, Alexis Booker, who is seventeen and lis- father, husband, and employee(er).” tening to her favorite singer, George Strait. Overall, Coach Estes is bringing a lot to our students, players, and school. He is clearly a very good addition to the Ponder foot- When it comes to the softball, her philosophy is “To teach young ladies to be the best they can on and off the field,” and, ball family. We are very happy to have him here in our school. “Don’t let them accept mediocrity from themselves.” She wants her players to realize that “There is no ‘I’ in team.” And that it takes every players effort to come out with a win. Coach Stanridge By Kaylee Buell “Coach Booker is definitely a positive change to our softball team,” said Hannah Wells, a softball player, “She’s already pushing us to be the best we can; I’m really excited to see what this season holds for us.” Ponder High School has been flooded with new faces this year, and one of those faces was Coach Standridge, the new 8th Even without seeing how hard our girls are working at the practices in the afternoons, we can already tell that this year’s sea- grade English teacher and assistant volleyball coach. She taught at Allen ISD last year, so it must have been a huge change to son is definitely going to start on an extremely high note. come to such a small school. Although it’s a big change, she chose to be closer to her home and her son, Cade, who is six years old. As a teacher/coach she hopes to inspire athletes and students to be champions in all areas of their lives. She also hopes to bring a competitive edge to the program while helping athletes master their volleyball skills. When she has time Coach Fossett By Ally Gordon between coaching and teaching, she likes to play sand volleyball and watch Cade play baseball. Her favorite quote is, “Things You may have noticed the new gentle giant in our school. Well, fear not. For we have a friendly among us. Jason Fossett, better turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” –John Wooden. Coach Standridge is a very in- known as Coach Fossett, is new to the Ponder district this year. He enjoys family, movies and going to sporting events. tense coach, and wants her team to feel accomplished, whether the game is a win or a loss, although we’d all like it to be a This year he is excited to be teaching the Junior US History class, and is looking forward to having a great year and coaching win. Our new coach and teacher will hopefully be here to stay. Football/Basketball. Fossett coaches the JV White team as well as junior high basketball. He has been coaching for 17 years, and has previously coached at Flower Mound High School, where he was the head basketball coach of the boys for 2 years. Brady Anderson, a student and a football player of Coach Fossett’s, said “He is an outgoing person who is enthusiastic about Mr. Hendricks by Teryana Sledge both football and history.” Many people wouldn’t reject the opportunity of returning to the very place where they had some of the best times of their teen- What brings this friendly giant to Ponder, you ask? That would be his kids Quinton, a freshman at PHS, and Ashlyn, a 5th grader age life: high school. For Landon Hendrix, this dream became a reality when he learned that he would be right back on the Ponder at PES, who he wanted to bring into a smaller school setting. campus, where he went to school, as a special education aide.

He is married to Nikki Fossett, who works in the Ponder Elementary School library. Mr. Landon Hendrix is known by most of the staff and students because he grew up here and went to Ponder from Kindergarten to 12th grade. During his years enrolled at Ponder, Mr. Hendrix participated in many extra-curricular activities including baseball and Fossett’s favorite quote is ‘Never Give Up, Never Give Up!’ basketball, which are his favorite sports. His favorite teacher was Mr.Schluter, who was the former Economics and U.S. History.

After graduating high school, Mr. Hendrix went on to Austin College and majored in Physics. It was a lovely coincidence that he Coach Alaniz By Shane Scott ended up smack dab in the middle of Ponder as an education aide. When asked about what he likes most about his home campus, Coach Alaniz is a new coach here at Ponder and has previously coached and taught at Decatur High School. Here at Ponder he he responded “Working with awesome faculty.” After hearing all of the great things Mr. Hendrix has to say of the Ponder campus will coach Football, Baseball, and also Junior High Basketball. we know that every morning, while he’s jammin’ to his favorite station, 95.9 The Ranch, he’s excited to make the commute here every day. Coach Alaniz has a wife named Emily and a 1 year old daughter named Charlie-Rose. He has coached/taught for 6 years and he came to Ponder to come to a school that knows what it’s like to be successful, and to help build a winning football program.

His coaching philosophy is to coach how the kids learn best, and so far this has worked well for him in his career. His favorite quote is “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” which shows that he likes the rewards of working hard.

In his free time he loves playing the guitar, working with wood, and competes with his family. Hopefully Coach Alaniz is here to stay because he brings nothing but good things to Ponder ISD. Reviews Welcome to the Ben Den This is the section in the newspaper where the Bens (Monty and Dank) get to If I Stay: (Review By Shanon McGill) write about whatever we want. Whether it be a contest or just random news, we If I Stay hit theaters August 22, 2014 and since has been ranked within the top five in the box will try our best to add some life to the Ponder Roar. This month our article will office. Now, I’m not going to lie, I went in to this one with pretty low expectations—you just don’t go in- to movies like this and expect more than the constant dribble directed at teenage girls. I was, however, be a little short, but the next few newspapers will have the full Ben Den. pleasantly surprised to find that my low standards were met and in many cases surpassed by If I Stay. The story can be categorized somewhere between a tragedy and a coming-of-age basing around ALS Contest Mia Hall as she is forced to make the biggest decision of her life after a car accident that cost her family. Due to the large amount of ALS “Ice Bucket” challenges, the Ben Den has decided She must choose between moving on with them or staying behind for her friends and boyfriend, Adam. The movie uses a unique tactic of flashbacks between the present and past year to develop Mia, her to raise money for the ALS Foundation. This will be a competition between the family and what they meant to her, and Adam and what their not perfect by any means relationship still classes, and the class that raises the most money in the two weeks will get to means to her. The story may seem a bit cliché, and trust me I thought so too, but it has some uncommon choose a teacher to dump ice water on. A few of the teachers that participated qualities that puts it up just a few steps from being such, like the emphasis its put’s on Mia’s family and how much they mean to her rather than just focusing on her and Adam’s relationship the whole time are Mrs. Josselet, Mrs. Bieler, Coach Holt, Mr. Williams, Mr. Lankford, Coach like I had believed it would. Espolt, Coach Schuelke, Coach Low, and 19 others. The juniors won the contest Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy, however, the characters seemed a bit bland. Mia is your average and Mrs. Bieler was the “lucky” teacher chosen. She was “iced” at the Home- quiet, low self-esteemed female protagonist that we’ve seen thousands of times—the only trait she has coming pep rally. making her any different is her remarkable love for classical music. Adam is your common confident bad boy (or rocker in this case) who is not really a bad boy once you get to know him. Kim the best friend, that’s it, that’s her character, just the best friend; and Teddy the cute little brother who only has about five lines in the entire movie. The only somewhat particularly interesting characters are her parents. For- The Q&A mer rockers themselves, they’re pretty laid back and very sweet; the kind of parents I think any teenager would want. All and all though, very forgettable characters that I probably won’t even remember three Soon we will have a Q&A portion of our article. You can ask us questions to be months from now. featured in the paper either through email On the music end of things, the movie uses a very nice mix of band, classical, and slow music ([email protected]) or by turning your ques- that blend well together—if there is one thing you can take away from this movie it’s a new album to tions into Mrs. Josselet. This week we only have one question from Luke Sparkman: “Do human teeth grow like rabbit’s teeth?”. I’m sorry to say that, no, they do not Luke. This month in Football... This month in Volleyball... Varsity Lions Off to a Strong Start by Danny Rivera

th Lady Lions Volleyball by Kaylee Buell Friday August 29 the Ponder lions mauled the Castleberry lions with a final score of 7-0. Trey Dunlap ran for 42 yards rushing yards. And Brady Anderson led the lions with 53 rushing yards, 60 passing yards and the only While you were enjoying your last few precious moments of touchdown. Junior Ben Dankesreiter said “It was a good start to a great season.” Ryder Perry had a total of 22 summer vacation, your Lady Lion Volleyball program was hard at yards receiving. On defense Brady Anderson caught the first interception of the season. th work. Whether they were lifting weights or playing volleyball, they Friday September 5 The Ponder lions fought the Callisburg wildcats and lost at the very end 22-31. Junior Teryana Sledge said “It was a nail bitter the whole game and the lions fought very hard.” Dunlap ran for 63 were striving to get better for the 2014 volleyball season. On Sep- yards carrying the lions in rushing yards, threw for 34 yards and had a total of 54 receiving yards. Gabe Gomez tember 12th, your JV White battled it out and won against S&S with made his first career touchdown by running in 4 yards. Dustin Ferguson had his first touchdown of the season a score of 27-25 & 30-28. Your JV Red also played, winning against and total of 45 receiving yards. the S&S Rams, with a score of 25-11 & 25-17. Varsity’s most recent game against S&S, resulted in a victory. Kaylee Buell was the lead hitter with 9 kills. The leading server was Sage Stover with 10 aces. The leading blocker was Morgan Melvin with 3 blocks. The most as- sists goes to Sage Stover with 16 assists. Karah Ortiz was the lead- ing passer with 8 digs. To go with a great win, Coach Thornton has a great comment, "We were able to minimize errors & keep the mo- mentum on our JV Stomps into the 2014 Football Season by David Eskandari side for longer The JV Lions have started off their season with an emphatic roar. We stood strong during our first defeat stretches. We got against Castleberry and only lost 20-14, our two touchdowns run in by Trevor Anderson and Trey Ashmore. our hands on lots “We made a couple of key mistakes, but the experience changed the team for the better,” says Coach Fosset, one of the new coaches this year. This new coaching staff has changed the Lion play style, for sure. “We’re of balls on the working on improving on improving our offensive execution, and that showed during the first game,” but, im- net, which helps prove they did. with game transi- The Lions came back the next Thursday crushing Callisburg 14-28, Caden McEwen and Ryland Waldo scoring tion. It was a Ponder’s touchdowns. “The second game was definitely better than the first. Caden McEwen, Noah Bean, and Trevor Anderson really stood out for the team in the first three games.” When asked what goals or expecta- great win to start tions the Lions have for the coming season, Coach Fosset replied, “We want to win as many games as we can, district play....the and eventually make it to the district championships this year. girls played great “We’ve been improving drastically, so I can see the Lions making it to district.” The Lions shredded Nocona in a team ball....bang, victorious shutout during the third game; 36-0. The Ponder JV Lions have played superbly in their first three games, and we believe they will keep conquering everything in their way this year! Homecoming Week Festivities By Ben Dankesreiter Just like every year, Ponder Homecoming marks a special time of year, when students and alumni come together to show their Lion pride. The homecoming festivities will include a hall decorating contest, a homecoming dance after the Friday night football game against the Howe bulldogs, and dress up days the Movie whole week. The dress up days include: Crazy clothes Monday, Twin Tuesday, Wear Pink Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Red and White for Friday. Thank you for supporting the cause of dress makers, mum makers, and garter creators everywhere. Guardians of the Galaxy: ( Review By Shanon McGill) This year the homecoming nominees are: The summer hit Guardians of the Galaxy has been drawing hordes of Marvel and Sci-Fi fans to the movie theater since its release a month ago, but is it worth the constant praise from movie critics, the first place box office holdingfor the 9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade past three weekends, and—most importantly—your money? Kamryn Doolittle Jaycee Harwell Josie Hunsucker Alex Fedele Story-wise, Guardians of the Galaxy starts off with a bang; centering around the backstory of our main protagonist, Peter Quill, who—while still in despair over his mother’s recent death—is kidnapped by a spaceship filled with Kelby Anderson Bailey Beer Bethany Howard Shelby Greggerson man-eating intergalactic pirates and taken to the outer reaches of space where he will eventually grow up to be the (self- proclaimed) “Starlord” the notorious space bandit. This interesting start, however, fizzles out into a highly predictable game Avery Matheson Morgan Melvin Avery Leveridge Madison Hunsucker of keep away over a powerful stone (one the six infinity stones, for those who are familiar with Marvel’s past works) be- tween our heroes and main antagonist, in which, the lives of an entire planet—and to some extent, the whole galaxy—are PALS Lock In By Noelia Sandoval at stake. Is it fun and action-packed? Yes, but as far as story goes, its nothing that hasn’t already been done (Transformers anyone). What is PALs? PALs is the Peer Assistance and Leadership group at PHS. The students that partici- The character department is where the movie really shines with funny and interesting ones who will be making you pate in the PALs program are to be positive role models for alumni in the Ponder Elementary laugh one moment and cry the next. These include, but are not limited to, Peter Quill an immature antihero with a big atti- tude and an even bigger ego. Gamora the adopted daughter of the most powerful being in the universe, Thamos, trained as School. They spend time building activities, leadership training, being mentors/tutors and building an assassin, she is known to be a cold-hearted killer, and evil at her core—though she’s not really evil. Gamora is strong trust in young children. They also have fundraisers for the Denton Relay for Life; so far they have (physically) and determined to the point where she’s almost thick headed…almost. Rocket, a result of illegal DNA experi- raised over $8,000.00. Way to go PALs! Recently the PALs had a lock in to bond as a group and menting on a raccoon, is one of the movie’s main sources of comedic relief with his sassy and sarcastic personality, but even welcome the new comers. Rocket has his dark moments. Groot, another result of experiments, is a gigantic “talking” humanoid tree who can only real- ly say three words, but still has plenty of screen presence in just the way he looks and through the adorably stupid actions “The PALs lock in was so special to me because it brought all of so much closer together. Now that he pulls. And Kratos-I mean, Drax the Destroyer, but if you got that reference you may see where I’m heading with this; we’re in school together we see each other differently because it’s not like any other class. I love Drax is obsessed with getting revenge for the death of his wife and little girl by the hand of our antagonist, Ronan, he’s PALs already and all we’ve done is talk about our daily routines.” - Vicky Frasier her “pal” Cristal pretty naïve in the way he thinks and his headstrong actions cause some serious trouble for the rest of the gang, but he’s Martinez agreed with her saying “I think it’s such a great experience and still very likeable overall. Other characters include: Ronan, our stereotypical bad guy who wants revenge on the people of program. I love working with children and I’ve learned as much from them Xandar for the wrongs done to his people…blah, blah, blah—not interesting, Nebula, also an adopted daughter of Thamos, who is much more complex than Ronan, and Yondu the extremely charismatic if not insane leader of the bloodthirsty pi- as they have from me. It’s really a great feeling to be helping out a child rates who captured Peter when he was younger. who needs you in whatever struggle they are having. It’s also so great to give In the music and visual design field, the movie’s soundtrack is made up of classic 70’s rock themes mixed with tone setting instrumentals, nothing to original though, I’m afraid. However, the mix of bright colors in both the people and their back and help out the community in our surrounding make it quite a visual treat—with goose bump inducing fight scenes to boot, for those wanting good action, service projects as a group. It’s been one look no farther. of my greatest experiences in high school and I can’t wait what this year has in store for us!” Senior Spotlights

Chris Avialotis Trey Dunlap By Ben Montegomery By Danny Rivera He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s athletic, and he is Ponder Chris has been in Ponder since kindergarten. He basketball’s famous #1 Fan. Who could I be talking made a name for himself by becoming a state power about? Why, Trey Dunlap of course. By now you know lifter and a varsity football player and track thrower. who Trey is, either from football, track, or maybe even He may look like a big mean guy but he is really just a UIL. He has been in Ponder for nine years, and in another ten he hopes to be a physical big o teddy bear unless you are on the football field therapist with a family. Like I said earlier, he is very active in school activities: Basket- then he is a monster. Senior Antonio Alonzo said “Chris is a great motivator and ball, football, track, UIL, and FCA. His favorite teacher “would have to be everyone that does whatever he sets his mind to no matter the odds.” When Chris isn’t in the has had me in class”. weight room or on the field he is usually playing Grand Theft Auto 5, watching Netflix, or hanging out with his friends. After high school Chris plans to attend college at either MSU or Harvard. He wants to study sports medicine, personal training, or strength and conditioning coach. Chris seems himself married with 2 kids in about 10 years.

Madison Hunsucker Leanna Brown By Danny Rivera By: Elizabeth Richardson Have you ever been walking through the hall and saw a If you have ever attended a Ponder High School bubbly energetic red head that’s obviously Madison Hun- varsity football game, attended a pep rally, or just sucker. The constant smile that she wears seems contagious walked the halls of PHS you have more than likely and infects others with happiness. When people look at her seen the spirited and kind face of Leanna Brown. it’s hard for them not to be instantly lifted by her optimistic Leanna is a longtime resident in Ponder, having attended since kindergarten. She outlook on everything around her. has kept herself very well rounded and busy throughout her high school career Madison has been at Ponder since the 5th grade. She has 2 sisters, Josie, who is 16, participating in a variety of activities including student council, FCA, PALS, and has and Mariah who is 21. Madison is an amazing left back row varsity volleyball player been a representative of the 2015 as a class officer. On top of all this, Leanna has and is always the team’s cheerleader. Senior Craig Reames said “Madison is a very been a varsity cheerleader for the past four years and is serving as cheer captain hard worker with average intelligence and her obsession with cats is a little weird.” for her senior year. As busy as she is, Leanna has stayed on top of her grades, plac- Outside of school, you can find Madison at Chick-Fil-A, hanging out with friends, or ing her on the A honor roll and as a member of the National Honor Society. watching movies or her favorite television channel, E!