Shenanigans improv troupe has a second act

RB’s new improv troupe The Shenanigans will be hosting their second show ever on Friday and Saturday, the 28^th and 29^th. The Shenanigans’s first show in January, “It Tastes Like Paint” turned out to be a huge success, selling out entirely and leaving the audience asking for more.

The new show, “Orange You Glad We Didn’t Say Paint,” will be performed in the same manner as the first, except with new twists and ideas. Improv Troupe President Zeyne Guzelderli said, “We do improv, but we also write loose sketches that are improvised on. We have a set scene to start with, but it is different every time.”

The new concepts and ideas for the show aren’t being released in detail, but Guzelderli did say, “We are trying a bunch of new games that we’ve never done before, and we are starting with a scene unlike any other scene we’ve performed before. Were giving it a fresh feel, but bringing back the elements that people loved.”

The Shenanigans are an improvised comedy troupe started this year by Guzelderli and senior Olivia Tortiumi and sponsored by drama teacher Melissa Briskman. They practice every Wednesday after school and after improv club, (many of the troupe memebers participate in both). During their practices, they work on acting skills and improvising techniques by playing theater games, designed to improve on improvisation skills and reflexes.

Discussing his decision to join the troupe, junior Paul Landahl said, “Mrs. Briskman suggested the troupe to me, and I decided to try it, it’s helped me as an actor.” Landahl said one of his favorite memories since joining the Shenanigans was when fellow Troupe member Jacob Palkam, “walked in the classroom in a pink dress, high heels, and a wig, and yelled what are you all looking at!”

“You’re not a person if you’re not acting,” said Landahl.

The Troupe is enthusiastic about this month’s upcoming show. “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from teachers. We sold out last time, and we are hoping to do the same this time,” said Guzelderli.

The Shenanigans have much reason to be enthusastic. In their first show, they proved to be quite successful. Though it is too soon to be making assumptions, it is likely this month’s show will be as popular as the first one, if not more so.

Briskman said, “It’s the first year.  It’s definitely been kind of a trial run, but it has been very successful and its let us know what we need to be more successful next year”.  Briskman confirmed plans for next year by saying, “We are hoping to have at least two shows at RB next year, and hopefully some shows outside of the building.” Coffee shop performances are a possibility. Briskman also added that an election would be held in the future to elect new leaders for next year’s troupe and that auditions would be held for new troupe members.

Briskman noted that the shows are improvised, and will be similar but different at both showings. The shows will be running both the 28^th and the 29^th at 7:00P.M., and admission will be three dollars.

Poetry “slams” library week

RB held this year’s annual poetry slam, Tuesday, April 13th. This year’s poetry slam fell on the second day of National Library Week.  The date of national library week is set each year by the American Library Association (ALA).  Every day of Library week was filled with library related events. Tuesday’s poetry slam may have been the largest event, as it included guest poets, student workshops, and more.

English teacher Bridget Wilmot, put on the slam, which ran in a three stage workshop. Three local poets were invited by RB this year. Legendary Marc Smith invented the first poetry slam in 1986, and since then it has spread across the world.

“He is the father of poetry slams, it’s really exciting we get to meet him,”

Improv performer, poet for 10 years, and co founder of the Speak Easy Poetry Ensemble,  Mary Fons also attended, as well as Dan Sullivan, another Chicago poet.

Marc Smith, a poet for 25 years, had the fundamentals of poetry workshop, where he watched the students rehearse, and enlightened them on professional skills of poetry. “I never thought I would be doing something like this, but I have been for a while now, and I like it. When people are young, they are a little more idealistic,” said Smith. Smith’s advice to aspiring poets was, “get up and perform as much as you can.”

This was Fons’ third time at RB, and she’ll often she does workshops at schools. Fons said, “I like working with students because they are more open to experiment.”

   
“The poets are the judges for the poetry slam, and help run it,’. Wilmot explained the three stages of the workshop. “In the morning, students heard the poets, and wrote poems with the poets. In the afternoon, the students got into teams and competed. The final stage was an open mic session where everyone was able to speak.” Wilmot added,” the winners of the slam got small prizes, but the point is to have fun and enjoy the poetry. We try not to emphasize the competition part of it.”

Senior Morgan Vogel was the 1^st place winner of the slam. Between 40 and 60 pre selected students attended the workshop, which took place from second to seventh period.

Freshman Stephanie Wolff has been writing poetry since seventh grade, and found the slam to be a “fun experience” Sophomore Grace Salerno said the poets were, “very interesting and enlightening people.” ” Meeting the poets was intimidating and exciting,” said Freshman Sarah Ulanowicz.

The Library/Instructional Technology Department Chair, Co-Webmaster Doreen Fritz said, “I think the poetry slam went over very well. It’s a way to celebrate free libraries. In America, we have the right to read whatever we want, and not everybody has that right, and not all schools have libraries.” The poetry slam is part of library week because it “involves words”

Fritz spoke further on the importance of the poetry slam by saying, “it’s popular with the students because they like meeting poets. We don’t have a writing club or a poetry club at RB, apart from FACETS, so we do things like this for those students.”

Fritz spoke more about the meaning of library week, saying “we also display resources like ways to get published; part of high school is helping students find ways to build on their hobbies, so they can turn it into a career. It’s a celebratory week”.

An example of helping students learn more about their hobbies would be Wednesday’s event, where two local professional journalists came to speak to RB students. Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune, and Rick Morrissey, of the Chicago Sun-Times were at RB to speak with students about their experiences of being a journalist. Fritz said they spoke of, “what the life of a journalist is with all the talk of newspapers disappearing; whether or not students should consider getting into journalism, it’s another avenue to introduce students with people who write for a living.” One of the quotes painted on the wall in the newly renovated library is from Mary Schmich. “The author visit was successful. It was exciting to have such notable people share their journalism experiences,  Fritz said.

Thursday the 15^th was read-a-Latte day at the library, where teachers brought their classes in for book talks, and reading sessions accommodated by a hot drink and a muffin. Friday the 16^th, is bring your child to work day, Day of Silence, and the final day of library week.

The library Olympics, an RB library tradition, did not take place this year due to the volume of other events held. “We always plan more than we are able to do. Between the story reading for the children, and everything else, we were too busy”.  The library Olympics are a library week tradition where library related games are played and competitions are held at the library that follow a specific theme.

 “This is a nice week the ALA have set up for people, and I hope this sticks around in people’s minds. Its’ not just a library event,” said Fritz, “it’s a way to remind people that even though we are way in the corner now, we are still important to what’s going on in the building. I want to thank all the teachers and students who helped make it possible.”

Students, staff adjust to new tardy policy

Tell us what YOU think about discipline at RB. Take our survey!

RB has been operating under a revised tardy policy since the beginning of the second semester. The policy has become the talk of the students, as well as the staff at RB. The policy was reconfigured by Interim Assistant Principal Troy Gobble, Interim Principal Tim Scanlon, Assistant Principal John Passarella, and Dean David Sibley after many teachers showed concern with the issue.

The tardy policy is not entirely new. According to Sbley, “it’s the old policy, with some tweaks.” One of those tweaks is a renewed emphasis on consistent enforcement of the policy by staff and teachers. Teachers are also now required to call a student’s parent or guardian if they have received three tardies. A guideline has been established for the new punishments, including a Saturday detention after the fourth tardy, and an ADA (alternative daily assignment) after the sixth.

Another change to the policy is that tardies are being responded to more quickly than before. Students are now likely to be called down to the office the same day they receive a number of tardies.

To explain the reason for the changes, Gobble said, “What we found was that the policy had become difficult to enforce consistently, and for good reasons. Students and teachers were adjusting to a new building and nobody knew where they were going, and also teachers were just getting used to using Skyward. As a result, tardies became more frequent than they were in the past. Students were coming late to class because the policy felt undefined.  Now that it has been tightened up, the number of tardies has dropped significantly.”

Sibley agreed and said, “it’s getting better. Once kids started realizing they were getting ADA’s for tardies, they were more motivated to get to class on time. The teachers are doing a great job enforcing [the policy], and are really making a difference.” Sibley feels that the vast majority of the teachers are cooperating with the new policy.

Gobble noted that the biggest problem had been first period. He said, “[There were] as many tardies to that period alone as the amount of tardies to any period for the remainder of the day. My first thought was maybe the students were just having trouble getting to school, but we found that was not the problem. We got a map of the school district, and plotted on the map the homes of the students late to first period, and found that there were just as many tardy students from the Hollywood area as there were Broadview and North Riverside.”

Gobble also said there was a day where staff members were posted at each door of the school to count the number of students coming in after the bell rang. They ended up counting 20 students that arrived to school late, but received 50 students tardy to first period that day, leading them to believe the other 30 students were in the building on time but still arriving late to class.

“I think it’s just the high school culture that the morning is the time for students to socialize with their friends,” said Gobble.

Social science teacher John Fields served on this year’s discipline committee. Fields, as well as a number of teachers from RB on the committee, were given the task of compiling a survey for the rest of the teachers about discipline at RB.

“[The survey] gauged how teachers felt about certain issues” said Fields.
Several of the questions on the ten question survey asked about tardiness and attendance.

“I have not yet analyzed the results,” said Fields, “but I think it’s always good to evaluate how things are going.”

The new attention to attendance and tardies has resulted in other changes. Attendance is now posted live on Skyward, so parents can check to see if their student is in class at any point during the school day.

Spanish teacher Jenna Passananti said, “[The new policy] has helped tremendously. In my classes [tardiness] has improved, and the kids are seeing it as more of a priority to get to class on time and are realizing that those two to three minutes in the beginning of class are still part of class. This policy allows the teachers to find their own tardy policy with in their classroom, and if it gets out of control, we have a uniform school policy to fall back on. It really bothered me when students didn’t get to class on time. Any improvement helps.”

Social Studies teacher Dan Monahan has his own views on the policy. He said, “Until there are no tardies, it’s not harsh enough. In my classes personally, I’ve noticed a slight improvement. We’ll analyze the data at the end and see if it has improved.” Monahan said he noticed “no change in behavior from the students,” and still notices kids in the halls after the bell rings.

Monahan also said, “My personal belief is that the punishment doesn’t need to be more or less, but that it needs to be different. I don’t feel that students care about getting detentions, or that they change the student’s behavior at all. If it’s not uncomfortable enough to get the students to stop, then it should be changed.” He suggested that the school should seek alternate consequences for tardies, such as revoking parking permits, or participation in Sixth Man and other school events.

English teacher Sarah Johnson said, “If we aren’t all on board it doesn’t work. Any policy is only as strong as the people adhering to it.”

Many of the students at RB don’t feel as optimistic about the policy, noting flaws with the policy’s structure.

Junior Kylin Collier said, “It’s too ridiculous because the school can’t expect a student to be on time to every class if they have seven classes every day. When they keep handing out detentions it just frustrates the students and takes away from the learning. There are still people tardy every single day.”

Junior Watoris Slater said, “If you’re one minute late, then you may as well just skip the class because you’re going to get a detention anyway.”

Junior Brendan Mortimer said, “It doesn’t work because it doesn’t get enforced right. The teachers play favorites, kids that the teachers like never get marked tardy, but the kids they don’t like always get marked tardy.”

Sibley noted how punishments were decided. “We just follow the handbook, and there are certain things we are mandated by the state to do. The state requires us to follow the guidelines set forth by the Board of Education. Don’t be tardy and you won’t have to see me,” he said.

Budget crunch strikes RB

Over the past couple year’s, RB has been experiencing a quickly escalating budget crunch. Many budget cuts have already been made, and more are expected to happen in the following year. Some of the budget cuts that already happened include, reduced catering, athletic supplies, and a change in food service vendors.

Some fees have been raised in the past two years to accommodate the budget crunch. Parking fees have been raised, as well as text book fees, which were raised from $80 to $130.    

However, some have found themselves asking; how can this be? Since it has been predicted RB will come in under budget for its renovation project, expected to be finished in January. 

Chris Whelton, who  has been RB’s business manager for over two years now, reminded that “the construction is not done yet, and is on the right track for coming in under budget.”  “When we say under budget, we mean we are right in line with the budget, and any money left over would generally be used for repairs and maintenance.”  Whelton also said that “the excess money would not be enough to majorly affect the school, and the construction budget is looked at as a completely separate fund from regular operations”.

The construction money is grouped into the school’s “life safety” money, preventing it from being used in operating budget, which would include teachers’ salaries. At the end of the day the construction money has no effect on the normal operating expenses of RB.

Whelton explained the source of the budget crisis by saying, “revenues are flat, expenditures are rising, and that is the source of our deficit. Enrollment is up, we need more teachers, and then we have more salaries to pay. Our enrollment has driven our staffing pattern. Our three feeder districts are getting larger each year.”

RB’s three feeder districts, 94, 95, and 96 increased 27% last year, and are all steadily increasing with each year, requiring more teachers.  The average school in Illinois gets nearly 59% of revenues from local property taxes and about 18% from general state aid, whereas RB receives 81% of revenues from local property taxes, and only 7% from state aid.

“We are very reliant on property taxes, but the most we can increase property taxes is the CPI (consumer price index) which is currently 0.1%. Our revenues are very flat, but salaries and benefits are our biggest expenditures, and those are increasing at a faster rate than property taxes, this is what causes this structural imbalance.” Whelton said.

Enrollment is expected to continue to increase, strengthening the deficit. Whelton talked about federal funding as well, saying that “Illinois is in bad shape, because of the economy, and we already don’t get a lot of federal funding due to our demographics.” Whelton said RB did receive some new money from the stimulus plan. RB currently receives less than 1% of its revenues from federal funding, quite a difference from 7% which is the state average.

Whelton explained plans to fight the budget crunch. “The only way to turn this financial situation around is, that we are eventually going to have to pass a tax referendum, most likely in April of 2011,” said Whelton.

“The only way to get people to support raising taxes is to make budget cuts,” said Whelton. Whelton expressed plans for budget cuts, “ when you make budget cuts, you try to stay away from the teaching and instructional programs, we try to make the budget cuts that don’t affect the learning that is going on in the classrooms. We are trying everything we can to be more cost effective.”

Whelton added that next year’s budget cuts would be “significant”, and that it would be “a very difficult time financially, and that until we can pass a referendum, budget cuts will have to be made every year; these budget cuts will include cutting staff.”  “The students come first; we have high standards for our students but we need to be cost effective, and we need to provide student services in a cost effective manner,” said Whelton. Whelton also stated that “clubs and student programs will be under high scrutiny in next year’s budget. Lots of difficult decisions will have to be made when thinking about things that will have to be cut.”

RB is trying an outside source of revenue. A new cell tower is being built that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint will use.  These companies used to have antennas on a smokestack that RB owned, but it was knocked down as part of the renovation project. Part of the deal was that a new cell tower would be built that all three companies could use, as well as a fourth carrier. RB receives about $20,000 annually from each carrier, and is taking bids for a fourth and final spot on the tower. RB is looking into U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile for the fourth carrier on the tower. The tower is expected to be completed this winter, and is being built just off of First Avenue next to the field house.  The cell tower is the only outside source of revenue for RB, leaving the school reliant on property taxes.

 Although it’s been said the recession is over, many families are still enduring a hard financial time, and passing a referendum may prove quite difficult for RB.

Setting the bar higher

State wide fitness tests are required in P.E. classes in high schools across the country, but last year, RB pioneered its own fitness standards.

RB standards are higher than the average state standards throughout the country. The standards are a combination of the Fitness Gram and the Presidential Fitness Test, made for high school level students. RB’s standards require students to surpass the 75th percentile of students from schools across the country. This means that scores on the tests are accumulated from the entire country, and in order for RB students to pass, they have to perform better than 75% of the people who took it.

The testing is split into six separate tests, which include, stretching, shuttle runs, push ups, sit ups, and a mile run. The fitness testing executed in early September determined that, on average, students passed 3 out of 6 tests. Only 11% of students succeeded in all of the tests. Out of the 918 students tested, 10% passed no  tests, and 12% passed only one sixth of the tests.

Fitness testing occurs two more times at  RB this yea:  in January after Winter Break and in May before semester exams.  The P.E. teachers are taking measures to prepare their students for it.

Wellness Department Chair Art Ostrow said the P.E. teachers were going to be putting “a lot more emphasis on fitness components in their classes” in the form of warm-ups and other various methods. If students were doing 20 pushups as warm-ups previously, now they will be doing anywhere from 50 to more.

With the new emphasis on fitness this year at RB, the warm-ups may go beyond what is required for students to pass testing. This ensures that, if the daily warm-ups can be completed, students can pass the tests.

Wellness teacher Valerie McIntyre supported this by saying that warm-ups play a large role in raising test scores. One new kind of warm-up students have been participating in is relay races.

“Students get into it and at the same time get a good workout,” said McIntyre. “The students have been working really hard, and the payoff will come when we see the results.”

Ostrow noted that rewards were given to students who had shown a great deal of achievement in fitness. If a student passes 6/6 tests, they are given a special fitness shirt or extra credit in P.E. class.

“We wanted a new incentive to push students,” Ostrow said.  Ostrow said fitness is being focused on in many ways, apart from physical training, such as diet information.  “As teachers, we have to at least give the students the knowledge to live a healthier lifestyle,” said Ostrow.

McIntyre said, “I don’t think enough emphasis was put on the importance of the tests, and next time it will be turned around.” McIntyre also said that she has seen a “major improvement in the student’s effort” since testing.

Ostrow added that “Everyone can improve, not just athletes.”

“The tests were disappointing to see, but now it’s given us a new focus to really be focusing on during class to help the students improve their scores next time we test,” McIntyre said.

When students undergo fitness testing in their P.E. classes again in January, there are high hopes from the Fitness teachers, as well as the students themselves. But for now, practice makes perfect

Huge jump in scores means RB passes AYP

RB was shocked last year when it was revealed that for the first time ever, the school failed to meet AYP standards.

During the 2008-09 school year, former superintendent/principal Jack Baldermann said he was “certain that the scores would improve in the following year.”   Baldermann’s enthusiasm was confirmed this year when RB once again succeeded in making AYP.

The No Child left Behind Act of 2001 activated national AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) standards. The aim of AYP is to set an amount of students that are required to meet or exceed standards on standardized reading and math tests each year. The standards are raised each year in order to set students on the right track, ultimately ending with the 2013-14 school year where 100% of juniors are expected to meet or exceed the standards.

When there are 45 or more students of a certain group in a given grade, they are tested as a subgroup, these subgroups are grouped based on ethnicities, free or reduced lunch, and other various factors. In the 2007-08 school year, Illinois schools students were expected to reach 62.5% proficiency on the tests. Only 40.4% of the Hispanic subgroup at RB passed the reading portion of the PSAE (Prairie State Achievement Exam), causing RB to fail AYP for the first time.

Baldermann instituted numerous programs to help raise scores, and ultimately put RB back on track. Several programs and workshops were made available for all students at RB to help with reading, math, writing, and science portions of the PSAE, and ACT. CAP classes were taken advantage of by a majority of students, as well as after school courses, morning courses, and Saturday courses. These classes were only a small fraction of the price that they would normally be if taken privately.

The efforts taken by administration last year proved successful with remarkable results this year, actually being the best test results since 2003. 75.6% of juniors passed the reading portion of the PSAE, a 5.1% increase from 08-09. The Hispanic subgroups scores alone jumped from 40.1%, to a staggering 74.5%.  In addition to reading and math scores, AYP also relies on ACT composite scores, and graduation rate. The average ACT score last year was 23.5, with the state average in 2008 being 20.5. The minimum requirement of graduation rate in Illinois was 78% last year, however, RB once again soared far past the requirement, with a graduation rate of 97.6%. Where many schools fail to make AYP, RB passes with flying colors. Graduation rate is a place where many schools struggle.

Assistant Principal Troy Gobble said it was truly a “wonderful Feeling”. Last year, Gobble and other important administration figures met every Thursday for an hour at the least to discuss what they were currently doing, and could do in the future to help students perform better on standardized tests. These meetings included Jack Baldermann, Doug Shultz (Math specialist), Troy Gobble, Tim Scanlon, George Miller (English specialist), and Laurie Ritchey(PSAE Coordinator).   

Not just the English scores increased this year, Math scores significantly increased as well. Gobble noted that as well as English, “the Math was all part of it” and that it “lives in the CAP program”.

The Image Test was a special test meant for ESL students, and new speakers of English. It included a test mirroring the PSAE, but with a more accessible vocabulary for these students. The Image Test was discontinued in before the 2008 testing and may have contributed to the low reading score of the Hispanic sub group in 2008. Gobble stated “it surprised us last year.  This year we knew it was coming and we prepared the students for it.”

And the progress continues at RB. 200 juniors out of a class of 350 are enrolled in CAP, and the ACT help sessions are still planned to commence later in the year.

Even some new programs are going into effect this year. The brand new Reading Infusion Program has already been used to increment the reading abilities of RB students.

Reading Infusion is a new program that habituates the use of reading skills in classes that don’t necessarily revolve around reading, but include it. The program forces students to better their reading skills to succeed in numerous classes.  Reading Specialists Sarah Johnson and Kirstin Bacon teach other teachers around RB how to help their students become better readers by infusing reading abilities into their lesson plans. Some of the classes Reading Fusion has been used in include some Western Civilization classes, Biology classes, and English classes.

Gobble explained that “by starting at Freshman year, the students will become better readers in the future.”

Another contribution to the raise in scores last year was the involvement of the community. OLAS (organization of Latin American Students) also played a part. Baldermann attended an OLAS meeting to encourage the students to take advantage of the resources given by the school. }

Gobble said, “OLAS allows a lot of students to be more of a part of the school.”

OLAS president Rafael Romero said, “Hispanic students were offered optional sessions during lunch where they would practice for standardized tests.”

“We called Hispanic students and their families in and explained the importance of the test,” Said Gobble.  “We want them to go to college, and we wanted the parents to be part of the RB community.” Gobble also said “We were lucky to have such a talented Hispanic group, and it really speaks a lot about the community”.

The No Child left Behind Act requires 100% of students to pass the tests in 2014 in order to make AYP. Gobble explained RB’s plans for the future which include a continuation of the programs, and the meetings. “I like big goals, but 100% of students passing is unrealistic,” Said Gobble. Gobble believes that at some point in the future RB will fail AYP again, but the administration is going to do everything in their power to make sure that the students pass as long as possible. RB is already doing far better than many schools across the state and the country. Most schools in Illinois already don’t make AYP; Last year was still RB’s first and only year to not pass AYP, and RB proved to make it a single year tradition.

Since Baldermann’s resignation, individuals he was in charge of have continued his efforts to raise test scores. “He deserves credit,” said Gobble. The Thursday meetings between administration members continue to take place into the 2009-10 school year, and RB continues to practice programs both old and new to help the cause.

Soccer, the best sport you didn’t watch

It was a bit windy and a bit cloudy, but with the temperature just under 65, it was a fine day—perfect for the RB Boys varsity soccer team, who just happened to have a game on that given day. The opposing team showed up right on time and the game was played well, resulting with a victory for the Bulldogs. Only one problem remained, where were all the fans?

Just under 20 students showed up to cheer on the Bulldogs, a far cry in comparison to RB’s football games, or basketball games, that have been known to fill the stands, and then some.

On a normal Friday night, The RB football team will bring an entire stadium full of bulldogs in to help cheer on the team, and just as many, for the opposing team. This makes quite a difference, especially to the players. 

Boy’s Soccer Junior Varsity Coach Josh Bozeday gave his concern, “it’s unfortunate, really, and if people would appreciate the smaller aspects of the sport they would enjoy the game.” 

So what is it that makes soccer such an unpopular sport in comparison to others at RB? Across the world soccer is hands down the most popular sport of all, it’s the only true universal sport. In some countries, professional soccer games have just the opposite problem: overcrowding. 

Bozeday said, “It’s hard to say why, I think that traditionally, football is just the game to go to. It might be that the football team has just one game a week, where as the soccer team has 26 games in a season.” 

Junior Rachel Powell confirmed by noting that, “football games are more convenient because they are at night and on the weekends, rather than after school during the week.” 

Though the Girls Soccer season does not start until March, the girl’s team has the same problem. Girl’s Varsity Soccer Coach Marissa Dobbertin said, “over the seven years since there has been a girl’s soccer team, fan turnout has rose significantly. Their record has been improving, and the fan turnout has as well.” 

“People want to see great soccer.” Dobbertin said. The girl’s varsity team is starting their 8^th season this March, and look forward to a good one. 

Senior Ashley Mendoza said her attraction to football over soccer is simply, because there is, “more action in football.” 

A lack of action is a common misconception of soccer in America, but the reality is, that as previously mentioned, soccer games just have small scores. Sometimes a soccer game may leave the victor with only 2-4 points scored, but the process of scoring those points is quite a challenge. Soccer forces players to constantly run and keep control of the ball.    

Boy’s varsity soccer player Hrvoje Zolo said, “America is all about football and baseball. If there are more fans, we try harder, it boosts our potential.” Zolo also noted that more people should come to the soccer games because they “actually win”. 

Bozeday added that, “the more fans, the more energetic and enthusiastic the players are.” 

 “I’ve noticed a difference in the way they play when the fans are there” said Dobbertin about the girl’s team. 

Boy’s Varsity Soccer player Josip Lovrinovic agreed when stating that “we would have higher morale during the tough games and that’s when we need them”.  

The Varsity Boy’s Coach Danny Makaric leading the boys with a record of 6-0 as of 9-29-09, it’s amazing that more people haven’t paying attention to RB Soccer. 

When it comes down to it, it’s really not about why people don’t go to the games. The past can’t be changed, but the future can. So next time there is a game, grab some friends and go show some love to the RB soccer team.