` THE OYEZ In this issue: Ring Dance VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 FEBRUARY 28, 2014 Off Campus News Black History Month Ring Dance Announcements (French) On Saturday February 22, Interviews 2014, the upperclassmen attended Sports an annual ring dance in which the Movie Review juniors from class of 2015 and the current graduating class of 2014 received their class rings. It was held in the Mess Hall from 7:00 to about 10:30. The venue was deco- rated so well it was almost unrecog- nizable. The chandelier Eiffel tower hanging upside down was very unique along with the “ring stage” and the banners draped around. The atmosphere was very sophisticated. Cadets were called up by their graduating class to receive their class rings. After a delightful meal at tables with tablecloths and real silverware, most of the cadets danced for a couple of hours with either their dates, parents, or other teachers. I personally enjoyed the music selection and the use of the fog machine. A great time was had by everyone. Off Campus News (Carter) STG Danyell E. Wilson became the first black female in history to earn the prestigious tomb guard badge and become a sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns, 22 January 1997.Born in ournalism Class J 1974 in Montgomery, Alabama, Wilson joined the Jennings, Bernier, Army in February 1993. Before earning the tomb Fleming, Carter, badge, she was a military police officer assigned to Atie, Reid, Siegel, the Military Police Company, 3rd U.S. Infantry Niessner, French, Regiment (The Old Guard). She completed testing Monarez, Elshafie and a rigorous eight-month trial period and be- came part of the Honor Guard Company of The Old Guard, the oldest and one of the most elite Editor: Miss Black History Month Spotlight: French units in the U.S. Army. Danyell Wilson P A G E 2 Black History Month Spotlight: Famous Black Olympians (Jennings) In the 2012 London Olympics, about 100 African Americans represented the USA. Many black athletes around the world have proven to be talented, tough competitors and won medals for their countries. Born in Washington, D.C., John Baxter Taylor, at 26, became the first African American ever to win a gold medal. During the 1908 Olympics, he was a member of the record-breaking U.S. national 1,600-meter relay team. In today’s Sochi winter Olympics there are a Alice Coachman a born in Albany, Ga., became the first sizeable amount of African-American woman to win an individual gold medal African Americans rep- during the 1948 Summer Olympics. She captured her gold resenting the US. One in the high jump event by leaping 1.68 meters, or 5.5 feet. notable ones would be DeHart Hubbard born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he became the Shani Davis. The 31- first African-American male to win an individual gold med- year old speed skating al during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris by winning the long jump event. He was veteran is looking to called “king of the long jump” during his era, setting a world record 7.89 meters (25.8 break a few records at feet) at Chicago in June 1925. the Sochi games. If he successfully defends Jesse Owens, born in Oakville, Alabama, became the first man of any his Vancouver gold race to win four gold medals in track and field events during the medal in the 1,000 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Owens captured gold in the 4x100-meter meter race, he’ll be- relay, the 100-meter dash, the long jump, and the 200-meter dash, come the first male and even though he showed his amazing versatility and athleticism, Olympian to win the Hitler refused to shake his hand. same individual event Usain Bolt, a highly recognized name, and arguably one of in three successive the most talent track athletes ever, he has Winter games since a won quite a few gold medal, not including Swedish figure skater his multiple world records. He has won gold did so in 1928. medals in 100m – 9.69 seconds Beijing, 2008, 100m – 9.63 seconds London, 2012, 200m – 19.30 seconds Beijing, 2008, 200m – 19.32 seconds London, 2012, 4x100m – 37.10 seconds Beijing, 2008, and 4x100m – 36.84 seconds London, 2012. T H E O Y E Z P A G E 3 Announcements: This weekend the Pipe Band will be performing in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Alexan- dria, VA. The PGs will play their final tournament this weekend at Hargrave in an invitational. (Atie) The Head Track Coach and PG As- sistant Basketball Coach here at MA, is the amaz- Shedrick Washington ing Coach Washington. A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, he earned his Bachelor’s of Social Work from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Washington is also the President and Founder of Sports Helping Educate and Develop, Inc. (S.H.E.D., Inc.) a faith-based nonprofit youth organization, which was formed on the principles of Education, Mentoring, Social Development and Sports. S.H.E.D., Inc. was created out of the will- ingness for young girls and boys from low-income families grow and develop into meaningful con- tributors in society. (Reid) Mr. Jefferson is an intelligent teacher Mannie Jefferson at Massanutten Academy who has been working at the school for two years. He was born and raised in Richmond, VA. As a middle child he has a kindred spirit and is always thinking positive. He was also in the JROTC program in high school. Tennis is his favor- ite sport. Mr. Jefferson graduated from JMU. He says college was a weird time for him with a lot of ups and downs. He studied Special Education and wanted to become a teacher or work in an office for students with disabilities. He has always wanted to make a big impact on people and be part of a system- atic change. As life goes on, Mr. Jefferson wants to do something meaningful. A college professor at JMU helped him achieve and become better, and made him the person he is now. T H E O Y E Z P A G E 4 Sports (Niessner and Siegel) On Monday at the end of the boys’ basketball interschool scrimmage, our seniors partici- pating in sports during the win- ter season were all recognized in the gym by the coaches and the head of school. After the ceremony, our girls basketball team played Wake Forrest and sadly surrendered their last game. Over the weekend, the PGs competed at Central High School in an invitational with five other teams. They achieved two victories, winning by only three points in both of the exciting games. One was against Believe Prep and the other win was versus Shooting4Greatness. Even Coach Dowler joined the fun at the interschool scrim- mage! Spring Sports! Last Wednesday our sports seasons changed over to the spring category. These sports include Lacrosse, Baseball, Softball, Tennis, and Track. Massanutten hopes to start off the season right with spirit packs being ordered and everyone practicing and training for their first games. Good luck to the spring teams! T H E O Y E Z P A G E 5 Movie Review: The Killers (French) The Killers, starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher, is an American romantic comedy film. It is about an overly cautious woman named Jennifer Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) that travels to Nice, France with her parents on vacation and meets a man, Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) on an elevator. After a night of drinking, Spencer reveals to Jen that he is ac- tually an assassin, but she is already passed out. They get married three years later and find out that their neighbors and supposed friends are all out to kill them because they have contracts on them. The couple evades and eventually kills everyone that is out to get them, all while bonding with each other and Jen’s parents the whole time. The Killers is a goofy rom-com movie. While I found it funny and entertain- ing, I also noticed that the storyline was somewhat bland and often felt pre- dictable. The dialogue felt “overcooked” and thrown together at the last mi- nute. Also, there seemed to be no smooth transitions between action scenes and rom-com situations. The general plot seemed very original but the di- rector executed it poorly. Overall, it was okay. If you’re looking for a sophis- ticated story, this is not the right movie, however it is mildly entertaining for a few good laughs. T H E O Y E Z .