The Uproar » News

MHS Winter Guard Places First in State

al-barghuthi — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:19:38 +0000

It’s MHS’ first state title ever for the varsity Winter Guard.
Teams from all over Texas gathered March 27 to compete for the ranks of best performers in the state.
The MHS performance is called “The Awakening.”
“The story is about someone in a coma who gets six minutes (the set time for a routine) to live and get a life message across. Then he/she goes back into the coma,” said sophomore varsity member Janessa Jiner.
The touching back-story along with the state-recognized routine stole the spotlight at state.
“It was amazing; people we were competing against told us how great we were,” said junior varsity member Taylor Deen.
The JV placed fifth in their division out of 70 groups.
Mansfield, along with the four runner-ups, will move on to the national competition in Dayton, Ohio April 9.
“Everyone is really excited and can’t wait to represent not only MHS, but Texas as well,” said Deen.
You can see the guards perform one last time in the main gym April 6 at 7:15 pm.

Winter Guard Awakens

carrell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:06:24 +0000

The show for this year’s varsity winter guard, titled The Awakening, is based off of the quote “you never truly realize your dreams until you awaken.”

“This year our show is an emotional representation of someone who had been in a coma for an extended period of time, and they were awakened for the six minutes that we are performing, and they know that that is their only time to be awake after that they will go back into the coma,” co-captain Hanna Barakat said.

In the show, members dance with partners to portray the feeling their “characters” would have of needing someone to be beside them.

“Performing it is like touching another’s soul, reaching out to them, and sharing something truly special with them,” co-captain Alyssa Tumbleson said.

Along with such an emotional reward, the team members also enjoy one another’s company.

“As a guard, we are a family. Alone we can do little, together we can do so much. We are each other’s support and love,” Tumbleson said.

Spending at least nine hours a week together, practicing, the team has formed bonds and traditions with one another.

“Before every performance we have a little chant that we do, it’s a ritual and it gets us focused,” junior Rachel Treude said.

The winterguard program has grown to include both a varsity and JV squad.

“They (JV guard) is very prestigious, outstanding, way beyond their ranking, and are setting new trends for their classification,” Tumbleson said.

Last year the varsity winter guard became finalists at the world championship competition in Dayton, Ohio.

Ben Barber changes to take effect next year

sebree — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:49:47 +0000

Effective fall of 2010, Ben Barber classes will be 130 minutes long, and will count for one credit a semester. One class will take the place of two classes at MISD high schools, which will still have students back for their regular classes on regular bell schedule. Although students will return at the same times, they will now have 37 to 42 minutes to do so, as opposed to the 22 minutes current travel time. Also, the Ben Barber time during second period will disappear, resulting in 45 minute lunches for all MISD high school students. How the lunch bells will be in the 2010-2011 school year has yet to be determined, but will be decided by the principals of each high school.

Bowling Team Tryouts

carrell — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:47:53 +0000

Tryouts for the school bowling team will be Oct. 29 at 3:15-5:00 at Alley Cats, 2008 W Pleasant Ridge Rd. in Arlington. Tryouts continue Friday, same time, same place. The cost is $15 which allows students to participate both nights. Shoe rentals are free. To sign up and to learn more details see Mrs. Kloempken in room W5.

Goodnight, Moon

al-barghuthi — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:07:23 +0000

The LCROSS-Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite Centaur Spacecraft for NASA impacted the moon at 6:30 a.m. local time. The impact was intended to find out if there was any water ice present. The satellite traveled 5.6 million miles during a 113-day mission that ended upon arrival at the Cabeus crater. LCROSS and its upper stage rocket separated about 54, 000 miles across from each other above the surface of the moon, and then, traveling at more than 1.5 miles per second, the Centaur hit the lunar surface at approximately 6:36 a.m. Pictures of the impact were immediately transfered back to Earth, but the imagery did not show any signs of a flash. The first crash was expected to create a crater around 66 feet wide and launch debris into the air about six miles high. This analysis of the debris would confirm the theory that there was a form of water on the moon. Behind the Cabeus rocket was the LCROSS, hovering around for about 90 seconds to take pictures fed directly to Earth, until plunging into the crater itself. One telescope team reported spotting a bright debris plume, but further research will be conducted for weeks to come in order to correctly analyze the impacts.