How does it feel to finally have 100 career wins under your belt?

It feels really good. I can’t picture another group that I would rather get that 100^th win with. It was really something special to get it with this group of young men.

How did the boys acknowledge your accomplishment?

They were pretty excited. I heard later on that they wanted to dump the water cooler on me, but Coach Potts wouldn’t let them because we had another game later that afternoon. We had several pitchers asking to throw the baseball in for me. It really touched me that they wanted to be a part of it.

How has the team evolved since you first started here?

It’s come a long way. It was a different system and we’ve installed a bunch of new stuff. From the beginning of last year, the boys had to learn each other’s ways. We pulled it all together right before district to win the championship. It was really something special. Now we’ve picked up where we left off last season, so it’s been a little easier because most of the boys have been through the system one year already. It’s been really good.

Do you have any lucky routines you do before a game?

Yes, there is something I do every game. I give everybody fist bumps and I say, “Boom”.

Describe your most memorable moment with the team.

There’s several. The walk-off Alek Lando hit against Cedar Ridge to put us in the championship game of the Copperas Cove tournament. The way we hit the ball against Marble Falls is another one of them. And if I had to pick a third, it was probably the way we played against Anderson. We turned several double plays, and Micah Thomas hit a home run that put us ahead and made us win the game.

But the big question is: did the movie live up to the expectations of the fans of the New York Times bestseller? The answer is yes. Yes, it did.

If you have been living under a rock for the past couple of months, here is a short synopsis:

 After years of revolt and turmoil from the people of the United States, the government took full control of the citizens of the futuristic country, Panem. The country is split into 12 Districts, and each year one boy and girl, aged 12-18, from each district are chosen to participate in The Hunger Games where the children fight to the death and a lone Victor remains. Sixteen-year old, Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, volunteers for her sister, Prim, when she is chosen as the female tribute of District 12 for the 74^th annual Hunger Games.  The movie follows Katniss through her journey of the Games and leaves you on the edge of your seat aching for more.   

            I first heard of this book in 2009, and when I read the summary, I didn’t think I would be a big fan of cheering on children to kill each other. But as I kept hearing the rave reviews and people talking about it, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. So, I read the first book. And it became an obsession of mine that greatly exceeded any Twilight fascination that I ever had. Then, Lionsgate released news that they would be producing a movie adapted from the series and my excitement exploded.

            I counted down the days for over a year until the movie came out. I re-read the series over and over again, but that still didn’t satisfy my craving. I purchased midnight release tickets, made T-shirts, bought anything Hunger Games that I could find. And finally, the day came. March 23, 2012.

Some fans are not happy that small details were left out, but the movie is an adaption to the book, so there are naturally some differences.

This movie is full of action and adventure and a couple of comedic moments.  The visual effects of the movie were extremely well done from the fire balls to the mutant dogs to the animations of the Capitol. The story line ran extremely close to the books, and I feel as though the director, Gary Ross, did a very good job at representing Suzanne Collins’ work.

I thought the actors who were picked for the movie were right on target. Jennifer Lawrence was absolutely flawless in her portrayal of Katniss. Lawrence gripped Katniss’ raw emotions and captured her perfectly the way Katniss was described in the books. Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark, did a great job with depicting Peeta’s innocence and soft-heartedness. Stanley Tucci, who plays Caesar Flickerman, was by far the most perfect man for the role. He portrayed Caesar’s fakeness and weirdness so well that it felt as if Flickerman himself had stepped out of the book and onto the screen.

The movie was rated PG-13, and rightfully so. There is a lot of violence, but not a lot of gore. Parents should definitely think twice before they take their children to see a movie like this.

All in all, I give this movie 8 out of 10 stars. If action is your thing, this is the movie for you.

The countdown has begun with just under 600 days until the release of Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games.

“Connally is the team that Coach [Kristin] Stone coached before she came to coach here,” senior Paige Oliver said. “I think that will give us a great advantage in the game. We will have to really focus and make sure we listen to every tactic Coach gives us in preparing for our game on Tuesday.”

The team finished the season with a district record of 4-3-3, earning them third in the district.

“Our ability to get past our struggles has brought [the team] closer together and helped us to understand each other,” senior Ashley Lee said. “That makes us play well as a team.”

This year is Stone’s first season as head coach of the varsity team.

“Coach Stone has changed the program by really getting to know each player as a person and not just as a soccer player,” Oliver said. “She understands us extremely well and set her standards high from the start.”

The team started the season hoping to match its playoff run last season, in which it lost to Frisco Wakeland in the state championship game.

“Starting out our season with a completely new team was hard at first because we didn’t yet know each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” Lee said. “But now that we have been playing for a while, we all move well together.”

Though two starting seniors are out due to injury, the team hopes it can overcome adversity and make a successful playoff run again this year.

“Things have changed a lot since last year, and we have to put in more effort and work harder for what we want to achieve,” Oliver said. “We all have one goal in mind, and we know what it takes to accomplish that goal.”

“We really pushed the ball for the fast break, and we did really well on the free throw line,” senior center Chinwe Duru said.

The girls defeated McCallum in the first round of playoffs 77-11, the largest margin of victory in the first round. The girls are now 31-2 on the season and ranked ninth in the state.

“[Head Coach Mike Martin] and the rest of the coaching staff prepare us for each game by having us focus on that one game, and taking it one game at a time,” junior forward Rachel Purl said. “He doesn’t let us get ahead of ourselves.”

Tonight, the girls face Boerne Champion, who advanced to 27-7 with its win over Schertz Clemens Monday.

“We’ve tried to work out every possible scenario their offense could come up with,” Duru said. “It’ll be a tough game, especially if we don’t come in playing the best we can.”

With an undefeated district record and only two regular season losses, the team’s goal is to have a run for the state title.

“The further into playoffs [we get], each win is dependent on the number of possessions you get and who executes the best,” Purl said. “We hope to make the school proud by competing in the most professional and sportsmanlike way possible.”

The game tonight starts at 7:00 at Wimberly High School.

“I enjoy that [NJROTC] teaches you discipline. It’s like a big family,” freshman Ryleigh Blanchett said.

Cadets can participate in various teams including the Unarmed Drill Team, Armed Drill Team, Rifle Team, Physical Training Team, Cyber Patriot and Color Guard. The members also participate in various military events such as the Military Ball.

The Military Ball will be held Feb. 18, in honor of the Navy’s 237^th birthday, Blanchett said.

However, NJROTC is not just about socializing. It’s about building skills that will be useful later in life, especially to those seeking a career in the military.

“We offer opportunities for members to make friends and have a sense of belonging,” Master Chief Robert Turner said. “It’s something to focus your time and energy on instead of homework. [But] the main goal of this program is to instill good leadership skills in cadets and to develop leadership skills.”

Currently, there are 125 students enrolled in the NJROTC program, including students from Rouse High School as well as Vista Ridge. Students interested in joining should see Warrant Officer Hulse or Turner in C410.

“This program is for anyone who wants to make new friends and become disciplined as well as organized,” Blanchett said.

“Within the first day of lacrosse practice, [Coach Richardson] got all of the lacrosse players to learn new things,” varsity captain, Trey Peavler said.

Coach Richardson was the varsity captain of the Coppell HS team, leading them to win the THSLL DII State Championship in 2009, and the team is hoping for the same this semester.

“Coach Richardson seems to know what he’s talking and has a general better understanding of the sport Lacrosse,” sophomore John West said. “I even think we are going to playoffs!”

With a new coach, come new exercises and techniques. West said that they have begun hardcore practices every day of the week, and they have been working on their passing, ground balls and a little technique called “wall ball.”

“Wall ball is when you throw the ball at the wall, and it has to bounce back to you perfectly! It’s like your perfect best friend,” Peavler said.

The first game is on Saturday, February 18, against Vandergrift HS. Varsity play from 5- 6:30pm and JV will follow at 7- 8:30pm.

 “[Students] should come and support us,” West said. “Everyone loves a little extra support!”

“We are trying to make the biggest impact, and we thought this would be a good way to impact all parts of the school,” sponsor Cheryl Pitt said. “We [are trying to] set an example for other schools that this is important and doable.”

To become an eco-friendly campus Environment Club must undergo the establishment of a committee, an audit, obtaining recommendations to become more eco-friendly  and implementing as many of the recommendations as the budget can handle, including better pest control and indoor air quality;  all of these will take at least one full semester.

“We need to complete the audit, fix the issues found, educate the school and a few other steps,” vice president Jordan Pitt said. “It could be positive [for the student body], but most probably won’t know we’re doing the audit.”

Although Environment Club is only campus wide, the club urges those beyond the campus to help with the auditing process.

“We need to include community members, parents, administrators and other teachers along with the student body as a whole,” Cheryl Pitt said.

 “I’m researching animal science, determining the affects of different pH levels on Daphnia. Daphnia are small fish without a backbone,” freshman Caitlin Valley said.

Freshman in pre-AP biology are studying and writing research papers for their projects, which account for a huge part of their grade. For some, it’s a bit of a challenge just getting started.

“It was hard time finding subjects that were willing to come to my house to be tested for how music affects a human’s heart rate,” freshman Jacklyn Halversen said.

Out of 200 participants, only 60 can advance to regional’s.  Students not only work hard to earn a good grade, but to better understand and explore our own environment.

“I learned about the affects of acid rain on our aquatic life and that we must be careful about the pollution of our water,” freshman Caitlin Valleys said.

“The garden is so dirty that no one notices it,” Oduye said. “So we’re going to clean that up and plant new trees and put our name on it.”

The event will be publicized by KXAN and Hill Country News and follows Oduye’s previous DECA project, which was a two-day period in which the cafeteria workers didn’t clean the tables in the cafeteria.

“We were surprised at the outcome,” Oduye said. “Everyone kept the cafeteria pretty clean.”

Keen on Clean is Cedar Park’s initiative to keep the city clean while conserving resources and promoting public involvement. The city’s website states the program is meant to “instill community pride and increase participation in the green knowledge and other environmental activities year round.”

DECA has made it a point to bring this message into the school environment.

“I want to get across the message that what we are living with is the result of human choices,” Oduye said. “We can change by making wiser choices.”

Students interested in Keen on Clean should visit its Facebook page and take the pledge to be Keen on Clean.

Pumpkin Spice Latte – To get your taste buds into Fall, try the delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte for only $4 at your local Starbucks.  If pumpkin is not your thing, try the  Salted Caramel Mocha for a salty-sweet treat. http://www.starbucks.com/

The Turkey Trot – On Thanksgiving morning join people of all ages from around the city for the  kids K, the  five-mile run or the one-mile walk starting at the Long Center downtown. Burn off some calories before the big meal. http://thundercloud.com/index.php/trot

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – Gather around your T.V. Thanksgiving morning to watch the 85^th annual parade. This year the parade features our own district’s Vandegrift Legacies at 8 a.m. http://social.macys.com/parade2011/?cm_mmc=VanityUrl-_-parade-_-n-_-n#/home

Zilker Tree Lighting– On Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., gather around the famous tree for a timeless Austin tradition. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zilker/zhttree.htm

New Year’s Eve movie – On Dec. 9, celebrate the coming of the New Year with more than 20 internationally-known stars for a movie  that will get you pumped up for 2012. The movie is rated PG-13. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598822/