Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2008)
We got what was coming to us; America’s reaction to toxic "made in products. Reis Mahnic, senior, films semi-finalist entry in national cooking contest; displays talents in arts. Cross country teams prove themselves at districts, close in on competition as State nears. 1“ LU Z ? CE LU Calling all gamers: coming releases are sure to please with bloody violence and ^ destruction. 1— LU - page 3 CO CO LU O I— o Picasso —long hours produce theatrical analysis of life, love and the 21st century...all inside in a French bar! X CL - page 15 Official Student Publication of West Linn High School Published Since 1921 >• < — page 16 October 2008 Special Edition Volume 97, Issue 2 Schools for Schools club provides opportunities to save, improve lives of children in Uganda u J ennifer S itton ___________ Staff Reporter Imagine you're 16 years old, living in Uganda. Your mother has disappeared. Your father is already dead; killed by rebel soldiers right in front of you. Your sister was taken by the same rebel forces and forced to act as a child soldier and was eventually killed. You live on your own in a dangerous, violent displacement camp, constantly in fear of being attacked by corrupt, untrustworthy government soldiers. This is reality for Pepito, a young boy from Uganda who was befriended by an advocate from Schools to o ls. Oct. 16, WLHS played host to the Invisible Children roadies from Schools for Schools. They put on an optional assembly that included showing their latest documentary, "Go," which followed 13 students on "the trip of a lifetime" to war- ravaged Uganda. IC began when three young filmmakers purchased a video camera and traveled to Africa in search of adventure, instead filming the story of Africa's longest Michelle Francis, senior, Colleen Doughtry, Nathan Canning, Claire Cushing and Jam ie Moore, roadies, stand in front of the Invisible Children van. The Schools for Schools roadies visited on Oct. 16 in order to provide students with inform ation about what they can do to help Ugandan children. Photo courtesy of M ichelle Francis running war. Joseph Kony, with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is the head of the rebel movement against the Ugandan government. Under his orders, 30,000- 60,000 children between the ages of five and 14 have been forced to become child soldiers. In order to escape capture, many children have had to sleep in the city streets at night, away from their villages and families. These child soldiers face atrocities most people can't even imagine: kill or be killed. The filmmakers stumbled upon these children and promised to tell their story. They released their first film in 2004 and thus Invisible Children was formed. "This is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world," Nathan Canning, roadie, said. In order to help these children, IC created a program called SFS, in which schools in North America are paired with schools in northern Uganda. Those in America compete to see who can raise the most money for their partner school. Representatives from the top schools are awarded a free trip to northern Uganda to meet the students they are helping. "I wanted to get involved with Schools for Schools because I felt that it was a very worthwhile cause and I'm super excited about the assembly and all of the Woehl leads charge to implement green schools a A dam H olmes & A ustin C ummins Staff Reporters Printer credits, recycling bins and an emphasis on being green are only a part of a push by the school district to become more sustainable and to reduce energy usage and costs. WLHS has made several changes in an effort to become environmentally friendly and sustainable. A printer credit system that limits how much paper students and staff are allowed to print was initiated. It is a tool to keep people from printing off too many unnecessary papers and think about whether or not they really need to print. In addition, there are recyclable containers available for lunch, energy-efficient lights that the school uses (specifically fluorescent lightbulbs), and *ded paper. Going green began in the district a couple of years Roger Woehl West Linn-Wilsonville Superintendant ago after Woehl and several teachers attended a meeting regarding sustainability and how it could benefit schools. They also looked at how to help slow global warming. "Global wanning is an important factor. It's happening due to human intervention, and it is changing our lifestyle," Woehl said. Woehl wanted (and still wants) to create an opportunity to talk about the problem and to involve people with the process, as opposed to creating a management plan. Many staff members decided to get involved, and they began to work on changing the schools. Jim Hartmann, Environmental Sciences teacher, and Stacy Erickson, Teacher Librarian, are two staff members who are looking at ways to be green. "I’m pleased with the printer credit system, and the fact we are buying recycled paper to use," Hartmann said. There are other advancements that are not so easily noticeable. For instance, two thirds of the schools in the district are connected to a computer system known as Direct Digital Control. With this, the lighting and temperature are controlled by a single computer which easily manages these two variables at a reasonable rate. Schools that use DDC have dropped their consumption rates by 39%. In addition, many schools have high efficiency boiler systems installed, which has saved over $90,000. Recently, students at Wood Middle School conducted experiments regarding food trays in order to determine whether it was more efficient to use disposable trays, or use trays that required cleaning after use. This is just one example of the ways the schools have become more eco-friendly over the past several months. WUfV goes green__________ j continued on page 14 awareness that is coming out of it," Michelle Francis, senior, said. Francis is president of the SFS club at West Linn and was instrumental in bringing the assemblies. She became involved last year during a unit about genocide when teacher Mike Lord brought in a guest speaker who showed a video about the war in Uganda and what Schools for Schools is doing to help. Francis was inspired by the video to form the club. Before IC became involved, Anaka Secondary School was home to 900 students and no restrooms. Only 25% of the students had enough water, there were nearly 150 students per classroom, and the buildings were literally falling down around them. Now the school has built 12 restrooms, rebuilt classrooms and hired many new, qualified teachers. This school is considered one of the most disadvantaged because all of its students live in displaced, IDP camps, where rape and violence are not uncommon. "I am a roadie. This means I have given up five and a half months of my life to work for free and live out of a van with my three teammates in order to raise awareness and money to rebuild northern Uganda. Together, all of the roadies will visit over 1,300 high schools and colleges this fall," Colleen Doughtry, roadie, said. "I first saw the original documentary, 'Invisible Children Rough Cut' in 2006. It ruined my life in the best way possible and helped me to realize how important and realistic it can be to actually go out and make a difference. I knew I had to do something to help when I saw it," Doughtry said. In the first semester of the competition, 582 international schools joined the Schools for Schools competition and in only 100 days raised more than $1.6 million. Over 90% of those funds are currently being used on the ground in northern Uganda.
