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

Keepin' You Posted

Taking pictures here and there, interviewing the student body, and typing up articles nonstop. For the past eight months, eight yearbook students have tirelessly worked on the Franklin 2009-2010 yearbook. Now, the yearbook has finally been completed. But wait, there are still two months of school left before summer break, and Franklin just can’t have its finest yearbook students sitting around doing nothing can we? Well, Ms. Zak, the yearbook teacher, has thought of the perfect solution to the problem that would keep the yearbook students busy while also spreading Franklin news, stories, and activities to the rest of the student body. The creative solution is simple: a yearbook blog named the “Benjamin Blogger.”
The Benjamin Blogger is designed to cover all the Franklin news, stories, and activities that would have been in the 2009-2010 yearbook, but the events were simply scheduled after the completion date for the yearbook. Beginning now, the Benjamin Blogger will post four blogs a week; each blog will be about a certain event and will consist of an article, quotes, and pictures. Senior Kaela Smith loves the idea of a yearbook blog, “I think it is a great idea for people to express their thoughts and find out about what is happening in the school.” The opening week for the blog is extra special, because it includes four fantastic events, stories, and news to kick-off the start of a new tradition.

by Erika Schmidt