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.