Staff remembers 2011-'12 achievements
The Feather resumes, acknowledges previous year

By The Feather staff
August 13, 2012

After concluding the past school year and surviving Fresno's typical summer heat, the students and teachers prepare for yet another year of classes. Though before the new school year commences, The Feather staff would like to highlight the events and achievements of the 2011-'12 school year.

The past year, with 17 seniors on staff, we strove to cover the school's news in more detail. We also produced news through different forms of media including many photo slideshows, 39 podcasts, 970 articles, 124 videos, as well as weekly blogging by multiple staff members.

After reviewing the happenings of the 2011'-12 school year, The Feather staff has chosen to split the events into the categories of sports, academics, extracurriculars and graduation.

Sports

For the first time in FC history, the varsity football team won their opening home game against Stone Ridge Christian High School, 14-7, Sept. 23. The team also earned a victory at homecoming, taking the game 23-12 over Riverdale.

Austin Rurik was invited to play for the 58th annual Fresno City/County All-star football team after scoring a season total of 94 points and rushing for a total of 1,141 yards.

After taking the title of Division V Champions last year, the FC boys basketball team secured their second Valley Championship against the Laton Mustangs, March 2. Along with their division championship, the team took first place in the West Sequoia League (WSL) and had a 21 game winning streak during their season.

Senior Cooper Belmont was selected as MVP for the WSL with a 20.7 point average per game and fellow team mate Ryan Neufeld made First Team All-League with an average of 14.5 points per game.

Second-year boys varsity basketball coach and '03 alumnus Josh Justin also received WSL Coach of the Year.

The girls varsity soccer team made it to playoffs for the first time in four years but lost against the Firebaugh Eagles, 2-1, Feb. 15. First-year girls varsity coach Tony Martinez also received WSL Coach of the Year. Junior Maddie Yee earned First Team All League for the WSL.

The FC golf team obtained its fifth year as the WSL Champions, with seniors Jeff Roseth and Tyler Zaentz contributing all for years of their high school career.

Playing as the No. 1 singles for the FC tennis team all four years of high school, senior Brady Lee finished his season as League Champion for the first time ever.

Trevor York, '12, was named baseball MVP for the West Yosemite League and was selected for the City/County All Stars, along with senior Ryan Neufeld. Neufeld, Austin Rurik and Adam Wood were also named First Team All League.

ACADEMICS

Senior Brady Lee was a finalist for the Charles Seymour Memorial Award and was given $2000 for just being a candidate. Along with supporting Lee, CSF members Dana King, '12, Ashley Erickson, '13, and Daniel Moore, '14, took first place in the Quiz Bowl, breaking Gustine High School's three-year winning streak.

The Academic Decathlon team took part in the 30th annual Fresno County Academic Decathlon Competition, Feb. 4. They earned 3rd place in DIII and 11th place overall, with a score of 28,744 and an accumulation of 13 medals among seven team members.

Math teacher Michael Fenton's honor students competed in the Math Field Day, which took place at the California State University of Fresno, April 21. The high school and junior high placed first in the small school division; the high school secured a three-year winning streak. Out of 18 schools overall, the high school placed second. The jr. high received first place out of ten schools. Senior Jacob Williams earned second place in the "Game Tournament," with a perfect score of 20 in the first two rounds.

EXTRACURRICULARS

Due to the fact that extracurriculars include many different areas, this category has been split into organizations, performing arts, visual arts and publications.

Organizations

This year's clubs proved successful. With the return of old clubs and the continuation of the newer ones, students had multiple places to become involved.


Founded in 2010, Brother to Brother returned pairing 18 upperclassmen with 18 junior high boys. Sister to Sister also matched upperclassmen and junior high girls under the new supervision of junior high teacher, Hallie Rojeski.

Club Asia was brought back by Stefani Peck, '13, and GeeHyun Park, '12 to teach students about the asian culture and cuisine.

The Californian Scholarship Federation (CSF) participated in multiple service projects including a work day at Rescue the Children, an Angel Tree Christmas Party and the anual Cinco de Mayo lunch.

Spanish Club was the largest club on campus last year as they learned about the Spanish language and culture. They also participated in filling school bags for children in Honduras.

The Student Leadership class hosted the second Homecoming on our home field, Night of the Stars (NOTS), Sadies and Talent Show.

Students also participated in the annual Kids Day where they sold papers on the street corners starting at 5:30 in the morning. The Fresno Bee produces specific papers committed to Children's Hospital Central California where all donations are given to the hospital. Campus students sold 875 papers making $1,605 total. The Children's Hospital website includes a reported total of $450,000.

Performing arts

The choral programs this year, under the direction of Michael Ogdon, had the opportunity to participate in the Association of Christian Schools International's (ACSI) mass choir with 764 total voices.

The various bands also had an eventfull year by participating in the Big Fresno Fair Big Band Review, 92nd Annual Veterans Day Parade and the Mid-Valley Jazz Festival.

The entire music department held the "Round the Table Carol Sing" Christmas Concert again, as well as concluding the year with final concerts.

The drama class performed two different productions under the direction of Susan Ainley. First semester they showcased The Gift of the Magi followed by Cheaper by the Dozen later in the year.

Visual arts

This year Sharon Scharf's art students participated in multiple contests to compare their abilities against other students. In the 2012 Congressional Art Competition Elora Hargis, '14, recieved second place while Stefi Peck,'13, followed in third. Students entered their postcards into The Fresno Art Museum resulting in GeeHyun Park, '12, and Daniel Thao, '16, being chosen to be remade as postcards available for purchase. Teams of students also competed in the chalk drawing competition at The Big Fresno Fair.

Throughout the year, the video productions class made numerous videos. When entered into the Slick Rock Student FIlm Festival Jennifer Smith, '15, Bobby Christopher, '14, and Jimmy Chang, '14, made it to the final rounds.

Publications

The publication class, which produces all the content on The Feather, experienced their best year in competition yet. The class also produced more multimedia aspects than ever before under adviser Greg Stobbe.

After three years on staff, Katie Barisic, '13, continued producing "The Daily Comic" reaching more than 500 installments of "The Good TImes" by the end of the year. She also experimented with computer art, but switched back to hand-drawing her pieces. (To view the comics, click on "The Daily Comic" on the right menu bar.)

FC Underground continued to inform the students of weekly announcements. Brooke Stobbe, '12, experienced her last year as the host, and spent second semester training Callista Fries, '15, to take her place. Stobbe finished her high school career hosting 55 episodes. Stobbe also produced 50 podcasts and spent time with Fries training her to continue podcasting at FC. (To view episodes, click on the "Video" button on the top menu bar.)

Under the leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Nick Avery, '12, and Mary Hierholzer, '12, The Feather competed in both the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) high school competitions. The NSPA recognized The Feather with both their highest awards by honoring the staff with an All-American rating and a Pacemaker. The CSPA also awarded The Feather a Silver Crown.

Even though the staff received the awards, they continued to work until the final day of school, May 25. The 17 seniors on staff each wrote a senior column to reflect on their high school experiences. Check out the Opinions Section to read all 17 of these columns.

GRADUATION

The year ended with the 31st Commencement of Graduation which honored the class of 2012 in their achievements, May 24. Two student speakers as well as the Superintendent of Fresno County Schools, Larry Powell adressed their class.

As tradition for The Feather, the staff chose to honor Josh Hopper, '12, as Student of the Year. Hopper was selected because of his participation in many school programs and events, including sports and academics.

For more information on the 2011-'12 school year, navigate the sections at the top of the page. Also, suscribe to the RSS feed, follow The Feather on Twitter and "Like" The Feather on Facebook to stay informed for this next year.



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