Painting the Bathrooms?!

Ladies, have you noticed the bathrooms in the English hall have been white? Not for long!
The leadership class noticed the blank walls and they were thoroughly upset about the previous bathroom art being painted over.
The Clinton school (located at the end of the English hall) thought the paint was distracting, so over the summer they painted over it with white.
Leadership decided to start a committee organizing and designing fresh new artistic ideas for the walls. For the past week, they have been in the bathroom sketching away their fabulous ideas.
“I was really upset went I saw that they painted over the bathrooms. Being a part of painting them is exciting because I am leaving my mark before graduating.” Said Senior Carly Ruben-Stahr. “Our committee has come up with some really awesome drawings!”
Stay tuned to see the fresh art!

Carnival

Fun in the Sun!

Over the years, Franklin has had countless carnivals that always seem to bring students and staff together. The carnivals always seem to consist of nice weather, fun games, and yummy food and this year was no exception. The sun was beaming and everybody looked like they were having a great time soaking up the sun. The dunk tank was a huge attraction as people paid to dunk teachers, like Ms. Moore, Mrs. Beeber, and even students like senior Bailee Jurgenson and junior Derrick Pleasant. The bounce house was set up, and many of the underclassmen seemed to enjoy bouncing around with one another. To keep cool, many students had wild water fights. There was also an egg toss, where you had the chance to win $5. The winners were juniors Autumn Morgan and Ryan Short.
The carnival was mainly a way for clubs to raise money; each club sold something different. There were hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, crepes, elephant ears, and even face paining! For cold foods, there was shaved ice that the key club sold and gelato that the yearbook staff sold.
Over the years, the carnivals have changed. The carnivals used to be in conjunction with the May Fete assembly. Now it’s mainly a way to raise money. Mr. Hill, who has taught at Franklin for over a decade, and also attended as a student says “the carnivals are always a blast! It gives teachers an opportunity to relate with their students outside of class. You get to see people in a different aspect.” With everything combined, the food and the different activities brought everyone together to have a great time.
Over the years, Franklin has had countless carnivals that always seem to bring students and staff together. The carnivals always seem to consist of nice weather, fun games, and yummy food and this year was no exception. The sun was beaming and everybody looked like they were having a great time soaking up the sun. The dunk tank was a huge attraction as people paid to dunk teachers, like Ms. Moore, Mrs. Beeber, and even students like senior Bailee Jurgenson and junior Derrick Pleasant. The bounce house was set up, and many of the underclassmen seemed to enjoy bouncing around with one another. To keep cool, many students had wild water fights. There was also an egg toss, where you had the chance to win $5. The winners were juniors Autumn Morgan and Ryan Short.
The carnival was mainly a way for clubs to raise money; each club sold something different. There were hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, crepes, elephant ears, and even face paining! For cold foods, there was shaved ice that the key club sold and gelato that the yearbook staff sold.
Over the years, the carnivals have changed. The carnivals used to be in conjunction with the May Fete assembly. Now it’s mainly a way to raise money. Mr. Hill, who has taught at Franklin for over a decade, and also attended as a student says “the carnivals are always a blast! It gives teachers an opportunity to relate with their students outside of class. You get to see people in a different aspect.” With everything combined, the food and the different activities brought everyone together to have a great time.
by: Carol Morgan

Unleash the Beast

For the entire Track and Field season, throwers, jumpers, and runners have been preparing for one meaningful meet: the Portland Interscholastic 6A Varsity District Meet. For months, the Franklin Track and Field team has been tirelessly working hard to consistently improve themselves for the chance to compete at the Oregon High School Track and Field Meet. In order to compete in the State Meet, the athletes needed to place in the top two of their events. Each athlete’s hard work, perseverance, and dedication to the sport came down to one two-day District Meet at Lewis & Clark College.
On May 18th and 19th, the Franklin Track and Field Varsity Team competed with zeal. At districts, competition was at its highest, but Franklin athletes used the intense competition to “unleash the beast” within themselves to place in top two of their event. Despite the powerful winds and wet weather, the eleven Quaker athletes “unleashed their beast” and are going to compete in the Oregon High School Track and Field Meet at Hayward Field in Eugene on May 28-29. Senior Julia Funk smoked her competitors in the 800 Meters, sophomore Dannika Sullivan and junior Karina Harper swept the hurdle races, and the women’s Four by Four team set a new school record!
Each Quaker athlete is extremely excited to compete at the State Meet. Senior Bailee Jurgensen, placed 2cd in the Shot Put with a throw of 28 ft. and 4 in., says, “I’m so excited! I can’t wait to go to State!” To top-off the already great news of eleven state qualifiers, the Track and Field Team placed 2cd at the District Meet, trailing Grant High School. Way to go Franklin!

by Erika Schmidt

A Night Full of Talent

The first FHS Idol of the year went so well that leadership decided to put on another one this spring. On May 4th, Franklin students showed off their talent to their peers and parents. Even a couple teachers performed this time. Mr. Tucker and Mr. Rivera sang and played guitar together. The three judges, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Butenhoff, and Mrs. Garrett, wrote their scores on a whiteboard after each performance. The person with the highest total score would be the winner of the talent show.
The night started off with sophomore Kaile Newland singing a Vanessa Carlton song and was followed by several other singing solos. After the intermission, sophomore Michael Ponz and his band of Mr. Rivera and two family members performed and brought lots of excitement to the show. The last act was by the talented sophomores Olivia Jones-Hall and Marlee Rosoff playing piano and singing.
In the end sophomore Jennifer Rushen was announced as the winner after her great guitar and singing performance that wowed the judges and the audience.
“It was a fun experience with interesting acts. Zeid and Dupree should have won but I thought Jen was really good too,” said senior Brandy Crase. Overall the event was a success, raising money for the leadership class and giving Franklin students a chance to show off their undiscovered talents!

Freshman Friday? No...Freshmen Field Day!

On April 30th, Link Crew organized a Field Day for freshmens from all the acadamies. The event took place in the bowl, where there were activites and relays set up. This was the first year for link crew and first field day. The juniors and seniors, did not get to experience this event during thier fresmen year. "It was fun setting up activites for the freshmen," senior Shari Sherman reflects, "I wish we had a freshmen field day our year." Sophmores and upperclassmen were NOT allowed to attend the event. There were many activites set up for the freshmen such as: ultimate frisbee, face painting, chalk drawing, hula hoops and tug-of-war. "My favorite part was when the link crew leaders threw candy out in the stands!" Freshman, Paul Krekeler says. "I also liked how we had a lot of freedom, and got to socialize with each other." Many freshmen's enjoyed the event, but some didn't. "It was kind of boring," Freshman Hector Rodriguez explains, "It would haven been better if the whole school got to contribute."
Overall, the event was a success. It was a good way for freshmen to come together as one and get to interact with people they never talk to. Thanks to Ms. Andrews and Ms. Garrett for starting a new Franklin Tradition.


by: Monica Khean

A Knight for a Princess

Starting on the first day of Freshman year, the senior prom is something that many high school students look forward to. Months of preparation go in to one night of glitz and glamour. Prom is a special night for everyone, no matter how you celebrate it.
Franklin’s 2010 senior prom was held at the beautiful Crown Ballroom downtown and was themed, “A Knight for a Princess.” There was a very diverse age group this year occupying the dance floor, considering many seniors who brought underclassmen as their dates. “I went to prom last year and this year was definitely the best,” said Junior Chandler Kane. “It looked like everyone was having a really good time and didn’t want the night to end.”
Thanks to all the hard work the senior class put into fundraising for the prom, there were lots of goodies and treats to snack on during dance breaks. There were large tables of candy and cookies, and who could forget the unlimited supply of Italian sodas?
Carly Caplener 12, shares her experience, “I had an awesome time at prom! I loved riding in a limo all night and my date was a lot of fun.”

By: Hanna Jackson

The Beginning of an End

The wait is over. After two years of developing the new PPS High School System, on Monday April 26th, 2010, Superintendent Carole Smith released the recommendations for the High School Redesign. The 87 page plan is quite thorough, stating eight current schools would become community high schools: Cleveland, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, Roosevelt and Wilson. What is a community school? Community schools will offer the same core academics programs and a broad range of electives across the district with slight variations. This makes schools equal to each other in terms of the classes offered to students, while still preserves a little wiggle-room for individuality.
Other key components of the recommendation include Marshall High School’s conversion to a focus site. A focus school will provide students to “go deep” in key interest areas, such as the arts or business. At the end of the 2010-2011 year, Renaissance Arts, BizTech, and Pauling will close to be replaced by 3 to 4 new focus options with extensive programming. In fall 2011, the Marshall focus schools would open with 300 to 1,100 PPS students attending.
In fall 2011, Benson will become an advanced learning center for career-related and technical learning experiences available for juniors and seniors across the district. PPS students can apply to spend half their school day or a week at Benson and the remainder of the day/week at their community school. Sounds like the best of both worlds; attending your community schools and focus school.
What does all this mean for Franklin? Franklin will stay a community school with class options taken away and replaced with new ones. Sophomore Bethany Moua says, “I like that Franklin is not closing, because I like Franklin.” Franklin will be receiving new staff members as well as some being transferred to other schools. Because of the new attendance boundaries, students living in the Lane Middle School and Bridger, Lent and Marysville K-8 schools areas will attend Franklin beginning the fall 2011. This will increase to a projected enrollment of 1,318 students. In response to the news that students from Marshall will be becoming part of the Franklin community, junior Steven Faughn simply responded, “Better them than us.” But remember, the current proposed High School Plan is a recommendation, not the final product until finalized by the PPS board in mid June.

by Erika Schmidt

Goodbye Teachers

So long, Farewell


Unfortunately, Franklin loses good teachers to retirement every year. Usually, these teachers are people we have come to be very fond of and don’t want to see go. Ms. Cordell, a science teacher, has decided that this will be her last year teaching. She has been teaching for seventeen years, four of which have been at Franklin. After the school year is over, Cordell plans to spend more time caring for her farm and planting more trees. “I’m going to miss all the kids and teachers I have met over the years, it was a delight working with everyone,” she says. During the summer, she plans to do some traveling and hopefully some volunteer work later.

Mr. Kendig, who teaches Medical Terminology, English, and Human Biology, is also retiring this year. He has been a teacher for twenty seven years and has been at Franklin for his entire teaching career. When Kendig was asked, what he’s going to miss most about Franklin, he responded, “It’s going to be different not pulling into work everyday. A lot of the people I have met have become close friends, almost like family.” When he starts his retirement, he plans to work more on his tutoring business which he started a few years ago and also tend to his farm. He wants to continue to raise his family and spend more time with them. Senior, Nadia Estrada, a student of Kendig, says “He’s a good teacher and takes his job very seriously.” It’s always sad to say goodbye to the wonderful teachers that have contributed to Franklin for so long. Both these teachers have worked for many years and have dedicated a lot of time and effort to making Franklin a better place. They truly will be missed.

by Carol Morgan

SAT, ACT, AP Exams, OH MY!

With the end of school quickly approaching, many students, especially upperclassmen are starting to feel the pressure and stress of standardized testing that occurs in May and June. On Wednesday April 27th the ACT test was provided for all Franklin juniors free of charge. For the first half of the day the bells were silenced and the math wing was closed off to other students to minimize distractions for the juniors taking the test. The nearly four hour long test consists of an English, math, reading, science, and writing section. “The first half was pretty easy but the second half was harder than I expected,” said junior Amanda Davis. “It was very long and I’m just glad it’s over.”
The SAT is similar to the ACT but is scored differently and does not include a science section. It is not provided by the school district like the ACT was, so students need to sign up on their own at the www.collegeboard.com. The last SAT test of the school year takes place on June 5th and the deadline to register is May 5th. There is still a chance to sign up for those juniors who haven’t yet.
Advanced Placement (AP) tests are also just around the corner. They start next week and continue through mid May depending on what subject you are taking. Most AP classes have been using the past few weeks to review everything that they have learned throughout the year in preparation for the challenging AP exams. If you get a high enough score on the exam, some colleges will replace it with class credit and you won’t have to take that class in college.
Ultimately, the purpose of taking the SAT, ACT or AP exams is to better your chances of getting into a good college. Although it might not sound like a good use of your time at the moment, in the long-run it will be worth the extra effort.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…celebrity?

One presumes that to make it into Hollywood, you have to have that special “IT” factor. Well, you are right, but if it were completely based on looks, (which it partially is), these Franklin students and staff would have made it into an Oscar film in a heartbeat.
Even big stars like Jennifer Aniston and Tom Cruise can’t call dibs on their look, they have to share it.
First up we have Tim Hardin, a Franklin English teacher and Sean Farris, an up and coming teen actor. Their age may separate them, but if we put Sean in a time machine for twenty years, I guarantee he’d come out looking like our loyal staff member. They both share the same beauty spot above their lip, the same dark hair, and eyes, and the same chin.
Senior Jamie Flanary, has often gotten the comment that she looks like Sarah Steele, the young wavy haired teen from the movie Spanglish starring Adam Sandler. Marin Hobson, also a senior, often goes to her hairdresser who claims she is a dead ringer for Amanda Seyfried, the young dumb blonde in Mean Girls. “I think she is so ugly,” Marin gushes, “it’s definitely not a complement for me.”
On the male side of the celebrity spectrum we have Dupree Stubblefield, 12, who often gets teased for looking like High School Musical star Corbin Bleu. Some may claim it’s the afro, but if you take a closer look, they share the same nose and mouth. Another HSM celebrity look and sound alike would be young actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens and senior Kirsten Overlie. They both share the same sultry look and wavy tresses. “When I dyed my hair dark brown, I started getting a lot more comments. It was so embarrassing.” she said with a giggle.
Vampire fans beware. Senior Tyler Luba has been growing into a spitting image of Twilight star Robert Pattinson. “I’ve always been a fan of vampires. I was pretty stoked when people started telling me I look like Robert Pattinson.” Tyler said.
Last but not least, we have senior Carly Ruben-Stahr and dancing phenomenon Chelsea Hightower. “My boss said that I looked like her one day and after that the comments started flying in!” she said “I’m happy she’s a dancer, because I love to dance too!” Franklin shouldn’t be surprised to see one of these young faces hitting Hollywood anytime soon.

by Bergen Rueck

The Lure of an Assembly

For a month, Matt Edel patiently created his award winning FHS Film Festival short movie, King Parker and the Ninjas of the Square Table. The past 3 months, the Oklahoma cast has worked tirelessly to perfect the theatrical experience of the brilliant play. For years, juniors Maddie Stowell and Claire Brewer-Tannler have dedicated themselves to improving the school through their involvement and leadership in order to become the 2010-2011 All-Student-Body President. Each of these time consuming tasks were presented in a stunning manner at the FHS Teaser Assembly.
The assembly started-off with a bang as the crowd erupted with laughter watching the award winning Film Festival movie, King Parker and the Ninjas of the Square Table. Writer, producer and director senior Matt Edel certainly knew how to humor the audience. Following the film, were the ASB President speeches by candidates Maddie Stowell and Claire Brewer-Tannler. Both ladies gave brilliant speeches that exploded the audience into applause. “I have never seen two candidates with such a degree of friendliness towards each other,” said 6 year Activities Director, Mr. Tucker. In the end, Maddie Stowell’s speech, activities, and promises won the student body and were elected the 2010-2011 ASB President with Andrew Toothacker as the ASB Vice President.
The Teaser Assembly saved the best for last as three Oklahoma musical scenes were performed. Each scene was a masterpiece of acting, singing, and dancing. The actors and actresses played their characters beautifully, while the audience was transpired by the musical scenes of celebratory dancing. Estella Wilmarth, 10, exclaimed, “We have put in a lot of effort, but it paid off and we have a great show this year.” There are still three chances left to see this fantastic musical that will entertain you nonstop!

by Erika Schmidt

The Deed of the Day

Every year Franklin's leadership class organizes two blood drives for those students who are willing to donate blood to the American Red Cross. On April 15th, was our second blood drive of the year, and was said to be more than a success. Throughout the day about 75 students who donated, which totaled to about 75 pints of blood! AMAZING! There were also about 11 double red cell donors, which means that they donated through a special process called apheresis where larger amounts of only certain components in the blood are taken out. "It felt good to know that I saved 3 lives, " said senior Tiauna Jeffers. It wasn't even that bad!" The organization is a good way to help people, especially children, around the world who are in need of blood transfusions."I love donating blood; it gives me a good feeling inside." said senior Jane Robson.

by: Monica Khean

Day of Silence

Raised in Silence

Every year schools take part in the national day of silence. The day of silence is a day to support all of the people who have been the victim of hate crimes, bullying, or harassment because of their sexual orientation. Those who took part in the day of silence, represented each person who was ever been silenced for who they are. There are many injustices happening toward lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals. In a recent national survey, it was found that 60 percent of teens feel unsafe at school because of their sexual identity and that 30 percent have skipped school in the last moth because they felt unsafe.
The day of silence was made possible by the members of the Gay Straight Alliance club. Clara Dudley, a ninth grader in GSA, made shirts to help promote the day of silence. The shirts were sold for eight dollars and the money raised will contribute to next years shirts. Adrienne Smith, junior, a member of GSA said “I’m proud to take part in the day of silence. It helps make people aware of a serious situation.” The day of silence allows people to see that there are students that are kept in a painful silence all year round. The day of silence makes students aware of a painful silence that many people struggle with on a daily basis.

by: Carol Morgan

I Want To Be MADE!

Have you ever watched the TV show MADE, and thought, “Hey I could do that, get MADE into something on national television.”?
Well, this year, MTV came to Franklin in hopes of finding the next student to get MADE! A show where a teen from anywhere in the country is chosen to be made into anything they want. Typically into something very different from their style. For example a basketball player into the prom queen.
On Friday May 2nd about 40 students showed up in Mr. Tucker’s room to try their best to convince the MTV crew that they needed to be made into something.
Senior Jolie arrived with two ideas of what she could be made into. A model, or a gymnast. “I think they liked the gymnast one better, because I’m not a very athletic person and I’m super girlie.”
Senior Bergen Ruech got interviewed in hopes of becoming a rodeo clown. “They didn’t call me back, so I guess my dreams are crushed,” She said.
So far no one has gotten a call back. Keep your eyes peeled for cameras in these halls though. Hopefully one of our FHS students will be getting MADE!

Day of Paradise or Day of Punishment?

Senior skip day is a long lived tradition among seniors everywhere. Every year at the end of the third quarter, the seniors plan a day to spend together before school comes to an end. Many teachers accept the day, and many do not. “Everyone was a senior at one point and should understand that senior skip day is a tradition and one day out of the year shouldn’t be such a big deal. It’s the last day for most to skip class and have fun with friends before summer, and college,” says senior, Tyler Luba.
Knowing the tradition, some teachers purposefully added extra assignments on the “skip day” that were unable to be made up to penalize the students for being gone. Many students that didn’t participate in the skip day and were actually gone for legitimate reasons were penalized as well, because the teachers just assumed that they were cutting class.
Although many adults are opposed to it, there are a few teachers and parents that understand, without encouraging, the skip day. Senior skip day is a day of fun for the students that have worked so hard over their years in high school, and one day of carefree fun shouldn’t be looked down upon.

By Jenna Balogh

Arts + Auction = Awesome!!

On April 10th, the Bossanova Ballroom was filled with staff, students, and parents giving their time and support to the Franklin art department at the Just Desserts Auction. Artwork was donated by students, teachers, parents, alumni members, and local artists in the community and put up for auction. There was a silent auction along with a raffle of some items. Throughout the event there were performances from the choir, jazz band, dance class, and the drama department. A table full of every dessert you could image was available for everyone to enjoy as they looked at the art and mingled.
The night was very successful and raised over $12,000! The revenue from the event will go toward funding the industrial, visual, and performing arts departments as well as the PTA. Just Desserts took months of planning by many dedicated Franklin parents, especially Tammy Carpenter who was the main organizer. “There were a lot of people who volunteered to set up, publicize, and bring desserts to the event,” explained one of the many parent volunteers, Marcia Schmidt. They exceeded their goal for the number of tickets sold. The great turnout of event and the amount of money raised proved that all of their hard work had paid off. The arts departments will surly prosper from this new funding and should be thankful for the committed efforts of the volunteers who organized such a great event!


by Julia Fonk

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!

The senior class has been crafty in finding new ways to fund raise money after dances got taken away their junior year. The events they plan aim to intrigue the student population in Franklin into joining the fun. Since last years senior class of 2009 attempted dodgeball the year before (making it a big flop) the senior class of 2010 thought they’d give it one more shot before flushing the idea down the drain.
Students in the leadership class, senior Rachael Lapping and Kirsten Overlie, took on the challenge of being the master minds behind the event. “The crowd didn’t turn out like we hoped it had but the teams and enthusiasm were great.” Referee Domingo Urrutia Jr. said “Dodgeball is a great idea and everyone loves it. I think we should try it again in a month now that we know what to fix about it.”
There were eight teams: B.B.U, rocks and minerals, black swag, those 1 kids, top flight haters, mimes, the killa bees and the geeks. Each team had to dress up or face the consequences of being disqualified. There were four games to determine the four teams who would continue to the winner’s bracket and determine who would go to the loser’s bracket. Each game went on for 5 minutes and if the amount of players on the court was the same at the end of those five minutes, there would be a one minute sudden death time.
In the end, it came down to black swag and top flight haters, who dueled it out to the last second. In the end, black swag took the trophy and the title of the first winners of the dodgeball competition. Their team consisted of Shoni Schimmel, 12, Gibson Vanvlack, 12, Bubba (Charles) Aguilar, 12, Isaiah Moses, 12, and Daniel Bowers, 9.
There was even a surprise for the winners! Each player was rewarded $10 dollars as a prize. With that kind of money, who wouldn’t want to join in the fun?
Another tournament is expected to be held next month which will include student teams, teacher teams and parent teams. Tune into the school bulletin and the Franklin post to hear for more information!

by: Bergen Rueck

The people behind the Scene

The People Behind the Scene!



Every year Franklin is lucky enough to have a cast of people who take part in the plays in musicals. What about the people behind the scenes? Everything from the lighting, wardrobe and props, is taken care of by the amazing people who shine when they are behind the scene; the tech crew. Not many people know what goes on behind the scene and who helps make everything possible. Senior, Trinity Nelson, has been part of the behind the tech crew since she was a sophomore. “Everyone works together, everyone is involved. It’s not just a one person job, its something that everyone contributes too,” she explained.

Not only is there an after school tech program, there is also a class called play productions. The students in play productions run errands, sew clothing and build props. Preparing for the plays takes long hours and a lot of dedication of time. Weeks on end, the tech members work hard to make the Franklin shows a blast to watch and something that no one could forget.
-Carol Morgan

I See Dead Cats!

Have you ever wondered what that awful stench was coming from every time you pass by the west wing? Well, what you were smelling was formaldehyde from the dead cats coming from Mr. Sherden’s room. Before you get any crazy ideas, it’s not what you think! Every year in Mr. Sherden’s Human Bio science class, juniors and seniors have the opportunity to dissect cats during 4th quarter to learn about the different muscles and ligaments. The cats came from a pound across the country and were sent to the Bio Supply. The class is separated into groups consisting about 3-4 students each are assigned to one cat. “Everyday before we dissect, Mr. Sherden teaches the class about the muscles then assigns which one we should locate and dissect.” Senior Jamie Flanary, 12, explains. The class uses small scissors and scrapers to dissect with the cats. It is also mandatory for the students to wear gloves and have their sleeves rolled up. “We have to scrap off the fat before we start looking into the layers and organs of the cats.” Says Senior Lidia Escobedo, tells me. “It’s actually pretty difficult because you have to be careful and try not to cut through the thin layers.” I suggest that upcoming juniors and seniors, who are interested in the medical field, should consider taking this class.

by: Monica Khean