Clarion got a chance to talk to him about his time here so far, and the challenges and experiences he has gone through.

How has your experience at RB been so far?

Has it been everything you expected it to be?

What has been the hardest part?

What difficulties have you come across?

What changes have you faced being superintendent for the first time?

What kinds of changes do you wish to make to the school?

What can you say about any upcoming referendums?

How do you think the school is dealing with the referendum not passing?

What have you seen that has impacted the students directly?

What plans do you have for the future of RB?

Varsity leaders Travis Trevizo, Daniel Curtin, and Kevin Faje have been steering the team in the right direction. Trevizo and Faje were able to break 17 minutes for three miles, while the rest of the varsity is just 10 seconds away from doing the same.

“The top seven are staying together more. We’re more of a pack now,” sophomore varsity member, Curtin said. “We’re working really hard. I also do extra stuff at home like core workouts, eating right and sleeping the right amount.”

Upperclassmen aren’t the only ones contributing to the team. 

“There are a lot of underclassmen that are stepping up,” senior varsity member, Trevizo said.

Freshman Matt Sagan likes being on the team. “I liked to run 5Ks in eighth grade. I thought I would join the team since running is a passion to me,” he said.

“It’s a lot of fun. You get to meet upperclassmen and make new friends,” Sagan said.

Coach Larry Forberg has been happy with how the season started. “The team is running strong and we’ve won a lot of the invites,” he said.

The rest of the season looks promising for the boys. “We’re always saying that sectionals are important, but it’s nice to have some wins along the way. If we stay injury free, and peak at the right time, we have a good chance of winning it,” Forberg said.

English teachers Cherise Lopez, Bridget Wilmot, and Daniel O’Rourke all received summer fellowships to go to seminars in different cities around the country.

Lopez, who sponsors the school’s yearbook, will be attending “Emily Dickinson: Person, Poetry and Place,” in Amherst, MA for a week in the summer. Here she will be a student again, going to workshops and reading about Emily Dickinson. She will see Dickinson’s home where she grew up and look at her original documents.

“I teach about her in class so I’m looking forward to learning how to incorporate the things I learn here back into the classroom,” Lopez said.

Wilmot will be attending “A Rising People: Ben Franklin and the Americans” in Philadelphia, PA. There she will go on walking tours, attend lectures, and retrace Benjamin Franklin’s footsteps.   

“I think Benjamin Franklin is one of the most fascinating persons in history. We’ll go to places he went and also go to a concert that will play the music that was played during his time period,” Wilmost said.

O’Rourke is going to Monterey, CA and attend “John Steinbeck:  Voice of a region, Voice for America.”  He’ll go on boat rides to study what Steinbeck wrote about sicne he was a marine biology enthusiast.

O’Rourke said, “I’m excited to go because I’m going to learn thigns I can teach more about in American Studies.  I’ll find more connections between history and literature.”

Teachers must apply for often competitive spots to attend NEH fellowships.  The work is not paid, but teachers receive a stipend from the NEH to help cover travel, room, and board. 

There are seven adults enrolled in the class and each has a one-on-one tutor.  They are taught pronunciation, reading and writing. Volunteers have to use their Spanish abilities to communicate with the students.

“Each student has a tutor. Sometimes there are two or three of us helping one. We use packets and pictures to help them. At times, we stray away from the packets if the student wants to learn a specific thing.  We try to cater to their different levels and what they need,” volunteer Colleen Cody said.

Other volunteers include Nina Pellizari, Tatiana Reaves, and Carly Suprenant.

“They are extremely committed and dedicated. It’s nice to see them using Spanish outside of class. They also get to hear about another culture and understand how it is on the other side to learning English,” Mauritzen said.

Volunteering has made an impact on students as well.

Suprenant said, “I love helping people in any way I can. I’ve learned that learning a new language is difficult and it also makes you think about why you say things the way you do. We also become friends and have personal time with them.”

Sometimes the lessons extend beyond the classroom.

“I’ve learned how to be patient. I teach a lady who is 67 years old. It’s more challenging than teaching a child. But she’s told me all about her life and the hardships she’s had,” Pellizari said.

Mauritzen attributes the positive impact of the program to the kids.

“The class would not have been as successful as it is without the RB students help. There are so many different levels I never would have been able to reach all of the adult levels without assistance,” Mauritzen said.

Junior, Kyle Perfect, scored the highest score that any RB student has ever gotten on the ACT. With such a great score, ACT has decided to raise the score to a 38, just for him.

When asked of his accomplishment, Perfect said, “I couldn’t believe I got a 38. It seemed that all my hard work had really paid off.”

He studies every day by playing video games for two hours. “I owe it all to video games. They are the reason for my success,” he said.

Perfect plans to go to Clown College after graduating. “I finally have a good enough score to get in. It’s been my dream, and I can’t believe it’s coming true. All I had to do was get missing assignments, fail every one of my tests, and skip class seven or eight times a week,” he said.  

He inspires the rest of the student body to raise their goals and know that they can also get a high score. “Never pay attention in class or study for anything. Stay up late on the day of the ACT and you’ll do great just like me,” Perfect said.

Perfect has brought honor to the school and has shown the rest of the community just how smart RB students are.

Perez started working as a sophomore in Little Village through her aunt who works at the Non-for-profit Organization. “I started working there going into my sophomore year up until the fall of last year,” she said. She tutored Monday – Friday every week.

Working with kids was Perez’s favorite part of working in Little Village. “I loved learning about their fascinating lives. Each kid has a unique story. It fascinates me what they have had to go through at such a young age,” she said.

Perez said she wants to continue working with kids in the future. “I just want to have a career that I can interact with people and I want to make a difference.”

Social studies teacher, Jan Goldberg commented about having Perez as a student, saying “I think she’s terrific. I am so proud of her. When she talked about working with little kids in Little Village, I almost started crying. I just had to tell someone about it.”

Haines started dancing when she was a little girl. Her passion began when she saw her older cousin had a pair of pink Pointe shoes and she also wanted a pair. “I saw a bunch of little girls tap dancing on a big silver circle and I was anxious to go home and see what other dance classes they offered,” Haines said.

Dancing influenced her life by teaching her to wonder about the unknown and to think the impossible is possible. “It has taught me to be ‘thick skinned,’ to trust my intuition and not to be afraid of taking risks,” she said.

Haines is inspired by many different things in her life. Her dad, teenagers, toddlers, quotes, sincere and honest people inspire her. “I love the energy of teenagers and how everything is SO BIG- they live for the moment,” she said.

Haines never knew she wanted to become a dance teacher until she was at an audition at Columbia College and saw a part-time teacher position at RB. She got the job. “I continued to dance professionally while teaching at RB for about eight years.  Then RB became a fulltime job and I had to make a decision to dance or to teach.  It was a very difficult time in my life, but looking back I am very happy I picked teaching,” she recalled.

The news about winning the Dance Educator of the Year surprised Haines. “I had no idea. I am a little embarrassed, but I am looking forward to going to the Governor’s mansion in March!”

The Holidays only come once a year. I think that we should prepare for it, because if we don’t, it will be here and gone before we know it. So why not get more than one day out of it? It makes me excited for Christmas and just makes it come that much sooner.

With all the excitement and preparation, the music and buying presents, time just seems to fly with holiday spirit. Though it gets to Christmas faster, which is always the best part, it also is sad because it feels like it’s over in no time.   Holiday music brings back memories from years ago, and it helps create new ones. Singing with family, putting up a Christmas tree, all these memories are what make our childhoods full of happiness.

So enjoy all there is to this great holiday because, when it’s over, you’ll miss it, and you’ll already be looking forward for the music to start again.

The meaning behind this is from the 2010 soccer season theme, “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train.”

The season for the girls’ soccer team has just ended. The varsity team, having an 8-9 record still has regionals coming up.

Varsity coach Marissa Dobbertin said, “Regardless of our wins and losses, the team has always remained a strong team with a ‘212’ attitude. Our number one goal is regionals. It means more to us to take home the first regional championship.”

The sophomore team, ending with 10-3-3 record, had a great season. Winning conference, the team has much to be proud of.

The freshman team had a rough season, with a record of 4-2-11. Playing some of the most difficult opponents, the team faced schools with some of the top programs in the state.