Cameron Kritikos’ comments against me were inaccurate, hurtful and unwarranted (“Don’t let stunt speeches sink the impact of SA”), and I feel I must respond to his allegations concerning my speech for secretary of the Student Association Executive Board.

There were several misstatements. Kritikos gave people the false impression that my speech would sink S.A.—an institution I hold in high esteem, and , really, how could good old fashioned school
spirit and can-do attitude ruin this organization? He was inaccurate when he said “probably like most
of you, I left there a little confused.” Maybe he was confused, but I witnessed a very energized, spirited
student body and had a lot of people I didn’t even know come up to me to say they liked my speech
—clearly, most of the people in attendance were NOT confused. He mischaracterized my speech as
a mere “stunt” and called it a “mockery.” He insinuated that my well-thought out speech (which was
reviewed and approved by the S.A. moderator) was nothing more than an American Idol show entry.
Furthermore, and continuing this American Idol image, he wrongly stated that I sang the Titanic theme song when in fact I sang about my love for RB to the tune of the song—that’s a huge difference and depicts a different reality than what actually occurred.

I felt hurt by these misstatements and mischaracterizations of me and my speech, and I fear that my image and reputation were also hurt. Halfway through Kritikos’ piece he says “I am not angry at Kristin Tomecek, I am angry at the student body.” If this were really the essence of his piece, then
why does the headline and the first half of the article directly name me (several times) and describe my specific speech with disparaging remarks? With the inflammatory words and phrases against me, I feel the article violates RB’s pillars of caring, fairness and respect. As we all know, sometimes words can hurt.

Kritikos insinuated that I was pulling a “stunt” and “theatrics” to gain votes. I hold Student
Association and the executive board in the highest regard and I am offended and incredulous that
Kritikos questioned my sincerity as a candidate. I have tried my hardest to channel all of the spirit and
dedication I can muster into S.A. during my two years as freshman vice president and class officer. I
have spent much of my time working hard selling RB bracelets and pompoms in the rain at football
games, waking up early on Saturday mornings to sell RB t-shirts, overseeing bake sales, attending early morning meetings twice a week, painting murals, attending RB evening board meetings, helping with the Adopt-a-Family program, and fulfilling countless other responsibilities.

I am appalled that my attempt to revitalize and invigorate the student body was misconstrued
as “mockery.” He failed to grasp the point of my speech with its closing conclusion. My intention was
to “show” not “tell” my ability to “think outside of the box” and take risks as well as the qualities of
creativity, enthusiasm, and school spirit—the traits I feel that are needed to handle the responsibilities of being successful on the exec board.

Kritikos indicated that I was irrelevantly “breaking into song” to create some sort of distraction.
My main aim that he seemed to miss, but many others present that day obviously grasped, was that I
care about RB. I made a promise to be a dedicated Secretary, and I would NEVER LET GO of that promise, much like Rose from The Titanic.

Every day at school I work hard and I listen
Still my love for RB will go on…
I promise to fulfill my responsibilities
And be an awesome secretary
Oh my love for RB will go on
Blue, white
With all of my might
I believe in RB
And my love will go on and on…

Sincerely,
Kristin Tomecek

SPONSOR’S NOTE:  Clarion would like to correct Cameron Kritikos’ original statement in his column that Kristin Tomecek sang the lyrics to “My Heart Will Go On” during her SA speech.  While using the melody of the song, Kristin sang her own original lyrics, as printed above.

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When asked about her AP classes, she said, “Sometimes I get overloaded with homework and end up staying in over the weekend to finish it .”

Some of Ulanowicz’s goals are to get into a good collage, get a job, and get married . She is getting an early start in looking into colleges. As of right now, she is leaning toward the University of Iowa . Ulanowicz is thinking about becoming a History Teacher .

Unlike most students, Ulanowicz enjoys writing essays for class . She also writes stories for fun, and enjoys blogging . What does she blog about? She blogs about anime, movies, and sometimes just  about anything .

Ulanowicz reads just about as much as anything else she does . The book she is currently reading is Fatherland by Robert Harris . Fatherland is a book that explores what would have happened if the Nazi Germany army had won World War II . A great book series she read was Percy Jackson and the Olympians .

When asked about her relationships, she said, “What’s that?”

Finally, Ulanowicz loves to sew and draw . Things she sews include stuffed animals, scarves, and hats . She has sewn a lot of stuffed animals and winter clothing . She even uses her clothing on chilly days .

The Avengers movie is full of suspense and action. There was action throughout the movie and especially at the end, never letting the movie get dull. Along with that the graphics, were amazing. Everything in the movie looked like it was real and not CGI. This made the movie very enjoyable. The Avengers even had some comedy making this one very good movie.

Even without the great graphics the movie still would have been enjoyable because of its plot. The movie’s plot was good and added suspense. The movie’s storyline is about Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow as they try to find Loki and stop him before he opens a portal to another world that allows the enemies armies to invade the earth, while they try to work together as a team.  It is a good plot with some twists throughout keeping your attention.

The acting was superb and all of the actors fit their parts perfectly, really bringing the movie to life. The actor who played Loki (Tom Hiddleston) really played him well. His character was completely believable, it really did seem like he was a self centered, power hungry, ego maniacal villain.  Robert Downey Jr., who played Iron Man, was as good as ever. He played Tony Stark’s snide personality perfectly with his habit of never taking anything seriously and his hilarious jokes. I also felt that the actor of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) really portrayed the quiet yet very deadly character that is the Black Widow. Chris Evans, who played Captain America, did a good job also, reprising his role from Captain America:  The First Avenger.  He was always trying to be the best he could be and trying to keep the team together.  Newcomer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was also good, but he did not appear much throughout the movie.  Despite his short amount of screen time, he is the only completely new person in the movie and I do think he did a good job.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this movie and I would want to see it again.

Students who are above honors level courses are placed in Advanced Placement courses. If a student is recommended for an AP class, then their teacher believes them to be ready for a college level course. Passing an AP exam at the end of the year means gaining a college credit for that course. Some look at this as a way to pay for one less college course down the road and want to take advantage of that.

The exams are spaced out over the course of May. Joe Rogers, a sophomore who took AP European history as well as AP Macroeconomics, said, “My Euro exam is on May 11, and my Macro exam is on May 17. It’s nice because they’re a week apart.”

There are many expectations from students as to how the AP exams will go. Hannah Pecis, a sophomore who took AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics this year, said, “Hopefully it will go well. I actually feel well prepared for the exams.”

Rogers said, “I think that they’ll go really well if I study hard and my nerves don’t get to me.”

With such high expectations for such a big test, did these students do enough to prepare for the exams? Pecis said, “I’ve done a ton of studying and lots of practice exams. I think I’m ready, for the most part, but I will definitely use up the rest of my time to study.”

Rogers said, “I’ve studied all of my notes and written a few essays to practice. I don’t think I’m ready yet, but in a few more days of studying I should be prepared enough.”

Was taking an AP course an experience that these two students would go through again? When asked, Pecis said, “Yes. Hopefully I will be taking AP Psych senior year.”

Rogers said, “Yes, I plan on taking AP Literature, U.S. History, Spanish, Calculus, and Computer Science.”

Now that these students have been through the process of taking an AP class, they have a few words of wisdom to pass along to other students who are or will be preparing for the exams. Pecis said, “Pay attention in class and make sure you do any review work your teacher gives you. They really help a lot.”

Rogers said, “Study! Study! Study! And good luck on the tests.”

Emily Filec, a junior will be SA president next year. She has many goals for Student Association, as well as for the school as a whole. Filec has been a member of SA for three years, and is currently vice president on Exec Board. “I plan to continue to work towards increasing school pride and spirit. I will also strive to voice the concerns of the student body with the administration,” said Filec.

The Student Association Exec Board plays a vital role in RB’s various social and charity functions, such as the school dances and blood drives. They also take many initiatives to promote school spirit, such as pep rallies and this year’s new Spirit Fridays. In addition to this, they also serve as the liaison between the School Board and the student body. As one can see, being on Student Association Executive Board requires not only hard work and careful planning, but also great creativity.

“They are expected to plan all school wide events. They also meet with the administration and school board. This year, we want to promote that SA is open to all. We want to bring more students into the club. Also, I want to make sure there is diversity in thinking and heart in the discussions within the club,” said Angela Ziola, sponsor of Student Association.

Next year’s Exec Board will face many obstacles when tackling tough issues in the school, such as low funding for the club. In addition to this, the club has faced the reduction of a sponsor this past year, which has made it more difficult to plan school functions. “I think the biggest challenge we will face will be voicing the opinions of all students and keeping school spirit high,” said Filec.

However, this doesn’t mean the new Exec Board isn’t up for the challenge. All of the officers have been a member of Student Association for years. Many also have past experience as a class officer or as a member of the Executive Board. Looking forward, the group plans to continue to promote school spirit by continuing with Spirit Fridays. They also want to encourage all students to get involved in Student Association.

“They are all very strong leaders. I feel next year’s Exec Board is going to be a very positive and energetic group,” said Ziola.

Vince started skateboarding four and half years ago when his brother encourage him. Vince and his friends started practicing on a daily basis trying to improve their skills. They practice in their neighborhood, skate parks, and while skating around playing skateboarding games.

“The hardest thing about skateboarding is just progressing and learning how to land new tricks,” said Vince.  Vince skates whenever he can, especially on a sunny day.  His favorite trick to do is a hardflip.

Vince said, “The easiest thing about skateboarding is falling. This one time I was at Ehlert (Skate Park) and I was trying to learn how to land a tre-flip. I fell a good 30 times until I finally landed it. It was a huge accomplishment.”

Vince rather skates with a group of friends rather than by himself. Vince said, “It gets pretty boring and I like to compete against them. I also enjoy playing skating games with them and seeing them progress as well as myself.”  When asked about what’s the best thing about skating, Vince said, “Just learning new tricks and getting better. I also like how I meet a lot of cool people who skate too. I made a lot of friends because of skating also.”

Vince has also created some great memories because of skateboarding. “My favorite memory of skateboarding is when I went to Krush (Skate Park) for the first time. It was so overwhelming and I couldn’t wait to go down their ramps. It was scary at first, but once I got the hang of it, I kept going down them. The people were awesome there too. Everyone was so chill.”

Vince has multiple goals that he wants to achieve with skateboarding. “I really want to go professional with skateboarding and be able to skate in California. That has also been my dream,” he said.