Band marches on to area with ‘La Fiesta Mexicana’

The band received their eleventh consecutive first division Saturday at the UIL Regional Marching Competition and will advance onto the area level in Odessa Oct. 29.

Their show placed third at the High Plains Marching Competition Oct. 8, which they attended in preparation for the regional competition. They will compete at the ZIA Marching Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico this weekend.

The show, La Fiesta Mexicana, written by H. Owen Reed and rearranged for the band, is dedicated to the memory of Steve Baird, an assistant director in the band who passed away in January.

Palace Coffee Company serves up new culture for town square

Hot java, cool people and warm feelings await you at Palace Coffee Company, Canyon’s newest hangout on the Square.

Palace, which opened its doors in July in the first floor of the Smith Building, is a fusion of coffee culture, local art and musicians and feels much like a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in a huge city like New York rather than small-town Canyon, Texas. Owners Patrick and Kristal Burns still keep Palace feeling local as they, along with their merry bunch of baristas, learn the names of all their regulars and generally remember the favored beverages of all who enter.

I could not help but visit Palace on the first day they opened, curious as any to check out a new establishment in Canyon that was not an Asian food restaurant. The mixture of modern design and a hodgepodge of garage sale and fine antique furniture appealed to me as the sort of atmosphere where I could spend a lot of time in a corner reading or sharing a conversation with friends. I have, since then, done both many times.

Palace is not like a coffee shop I have ever visited. Unlike some shops that seem to cater to the daily hustle and bustle of the busy world, Palace encourages you to come in and relax awhile. They hold a growing collection of books and board games, and walking in to see the baristas in a competitive match of chess is common.

Along with all of this, the sense of community spirit Palace gives off is undeniable. From the diverse patrons of the company, to the way they integrate community artists’ work on their walls, feature musicians’ talents in their Palace Room, and include products from other stores such as Bistro to Go’s sandwiches and The Cake Company’s pastries, this place is definitely a group effort.

All in all, Palace Coffee Company is a great addition to our community for people of all ages and types, and is a place I hope to continue visiting now, and for years to come.

Chandler Shaw, Senior Editor-in-Chief

I do remember I was in second grade, in Mrs. Cryer’s class. Our biggest worry that day was if we would get to sit with our friends at lunch, and New York City could have been on another planet as far as we were concerned. When our teachers grew quiet and worried, most of us didn’t even give it a second thought.  We were just mad not to have recess. No one told us something terrible, something that would go down in our history textbooks, had happened.

 When my mother finally picked me up from school, I was more curious than worried. Until I saw that she was anxious, just like the teachers. Hearing about the fall of the Twin Towers was frightening, confusing, and I watched the news with my parents, trying to understand. Though my family had no direct contact to anybody there, watching those burning buildings fall, over and over, was enough to leave an imprint in our minds forever.

That September day opened my eyes to the terrible things people can do to other people. I guess in a way, I still don’t understand why misunderstanding and hatred could cause a group to fly planes into buildings, to wreck the lives of people, good and bad. I don’t think anyone could really understand it. But I do know that even ten years later, our lives are all colored by the events that transpired on 9-11.

Chandler Shaw, Editor-in-Chief eaglestaleonline and The Eagle’s Tale

Hello, my name is Chandler Shaw. I am a senior, and the editor in chief of The Eagle’s Tale print and online editions. This is my third and final year on newspaper staff here at Canyon High. Other than this, I participate as an oboist and drum major in our school band, I compete on the UIL journalism and speech teams, act in the school’s theatrical productions, and take piano lessons on the side. When I’m not doing any of this, you can probably find me curled up with a book, enjoying a conversation with my friends at the local coffee house, or typing away on an idea for a novel. My family consists of my two grandmothers, my mother and father, my younger brother, our two horses, two puppies and four cats. I love them all very much, along with my much larger extended family of friends and schoolmates. I look forward to finishing my last year in high school, and majoring in English/Journalism in college. If you have any questions about school or The Eagle’s Tale, feel free to ask!

Cheers!

Rachel’s Challenge rally set for Sept. 7

In an effort to build a kinder and more compassionate city, the high school will hold two rallies Sept. 7 to promote Rachel’s Challenge to the community.

Cody Hodges, a representative for the initiative, will explain the objectives of the Rachel’s Challenge mission first to the student body during the school day and again at a community rally at 7 p.m.

“Hodges lived in Hereford, and was a quarterback for Texas Tech,” Principal Tim Gilliland said. “He came to the group about five years ago, and now he speaks all over the nation for Rachel’s Challenge.”

The goal for Rachel’s Challenge is to inspire, equip and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion, according to rachelschallenge.org. Hodges will perpetuate the movement in the school by establishing and training a Friends of Rachel (FOR) group, which will act as student leaders for Rachel’s Challenge.

 “Our goal with Rachel’s Challenge is to build up compassion and kindness in our campus,” Gilliland said. “We hope that if it starts here, it will slowly trickle out into the community.”

For further information on Rachel’s Challenge, go to www.rachelschallenge.org or look up the Rachel’s Challenge official video on YouTube. Also check out the group Rachel’s Challenge/Canyon, Texas on Facebook.

Students collect donated pants for local charities

Student council members collected second-hand jeans for Aeropostale’s Teens for Jeans program to provide pants to impoverished teenagers in the area.

The Teens for Jeans project asks students and schools to donate their jeans, slacks, khakis, sweat pants and other types of pants to give to charities. Junior student council officer Payton Noel said she found the idea on dosomething.org when she was looking for potential projects.

“I saw it and thought it would benefit a lot of people in the area,” Noel said. “So we signed up the drive on dosomething.org, made flyers and announced what we were doing throughout the school.”

In the four weeks they ran the drive, the student council collected more than 164 pairs of pants.

“Our school is the only school in the area who took part in the fundraiser, according to the people at Aeropostle,” Noel said.

All of the collected clothing is sent to neighborhood charities to help needy teenagers in the area.

“I liked that proceeds of this project stayed local,” Noel said. “This program wasn’t like others. I liked that it wasn’t just another canned food drive.”

TX Dot promotes seatbelt safety to students

The Texas Department of Transportation (Tx-DOT) visited the school Monday, Feb. 7 with informational fliers and a totaled vehicle to promote the use of safety belts as a part of their “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

The vehicle, a 2005 Ford F-250 belonged to Ethan Mitchell, who flipped the pickup truck in 2009 after the front tire blew out. Both Mitchell and the other occupant, Trey Mohler, survived because of their use of the seat belts. Tx-DOT now shows this truck all around Texas to remind drivers and passengers alike to buckle up. Junior Issac Reyes said that seeing the truck increased his faith in the security of seat belts.

“It makes me feel safer now about wearing safety belts,” Reyes said.

All students questioned said they always wore their seat belts in the car. While wearing a seat belt is a good safety measure in itself, it is also illegal not to. For not buckling up, drivers and passengers can be fined up to $250. The damaged vehicle displayed consequences far beyond the financial cost of an accident.

“You always think that nothing is going to happen to you,” senior Claire Hallberg said.” When it does, it’s scarier than it seems it would be.”

Tx-DOT information said wearing a safety belt could reduce chances of serious injury or death in a wreck by 80 percent.

“Wearing seat belts is not a little thing; it’s a bigger situation,” junior Jackie Walsh said. “You should always wear it whether you think anything is going to happen or not.”

 Students can find out more information about “Click It or Ticket” at www.seatbeltsrock.com. While there, students can also send a Virtual Valentine to their sweeties and sign up for a chance to win a free iPad.

Aaron Fuller named ‘Coach of the Year’

Tennis coach Aaron Fuller was recently named Coach of the Year after one year of coaching at Canyon.

The Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame chose Fuller as the tennis coach of the year in their 53^rd year of recognizing coaches of all athletic events in the area. Fuller teaches both the varsity and junior varsity tennis teams and instructs the junior high tennis class.

“He’s excited to be here, and he’s excited about tennis,” junior Abigail Strickland said. “He is very motivational, makes us work really hard, and is very smart about what he’s doing with the team.”

This year is Fuller’s eleventh year of coaching, though he has only been at Canyon one year. He said his ultimate goal for the team is to win a state championship.

“We still have a pretty ‘small school’ mentality,” Fuller said. “I hope someday it’s different, but it’s a hard thing to get past. There is a big difference from 3-A to 4-A classifications, but I know some day we’ll be a really good team.”

Despite the challenges the team faces, Fuller said he thinks they have had a good year.

“We have a lot of members who haven’t had a lot of experience,” Fuller said. “We do have some really good players, they just haven’t played much.  The kids don’t take a day off, though. It’s a blessing and a curse being good.”

Along with coaching tennis, Fuller also teaches two sophomore history classes.

“I never thought at my age I’d still be going to a high school every day,” Fuller said. “It keeps me young. There is never a day that I wake up and don’t want to do what I do.”

Four choir students earn all-state honors

Of the 24 music students who tried out for the area band and choir, four choir members will represent the school on the state level at the All-State Choir Feb. 16 in San Antonio.

Senior Blair Carpenter and juniors Chandess Yerby, Jenci Jones and Janae Robinson advanced on to the state women’s choir after competing on the district, regional, pre-area and area levels.

“It was a huge relief to make it,” Carpenter said. “I woke up sick that morning and I was really worried I wasn’t going to make it. I grew as a musician because of the process, and I got a huge patch for my letter jacket.”

Jones and Robinson said they agreed with Carpenter about making the choir.

“It feels marvelous to have made it, because we’ve been trying for three years and we finally made it,” Robinson said. “It was challenging to motivate myself to practice over the Christmas break, but the trip to Austin is worth it.”

No band members made it on to the state level, but sophomore Brittain Mudge and junior Ephraim Lorenz said they enjoyed the trip, and they will just practice more next year.

“The trip in itself was fun…until the audition,” Lorenz said. “Then it took five hours of sleep and Five Finger Death Punch to get over it. I think if you can fight your nerves during the audition, you can do really well. Next year I’ll  just practice more and start as soon as the music comes out.”

Mudge placed second place in the clarinet section, and Lorenz came out fifth of bassoons. At the area level in band, only the first chair goes on to state.

“I thought I was going to come out last,” Mudge said. “I think everyone thinks they’re going to come out last at that level, though. Now I know what to expect for next year.”

‘Blind Side’ mother speaks out;Journalism students discuss project with Tuohy

 As a guest presenter for the Women’s Philanthropy Fund, Leigh Anne Tuohy, adoptive mother of NFL star Michael Oher, spoke at the Amarillo Globe News Center Nov. 4 about community service and being “cheerful givers.” While I had my reservations about hearing another civic service speaker, expecting to hear the same self-righteous preaching of many others, I enjoyed listening to Leigh Anne’s stories about her family and about life.

Leigh Anne had a no-nonsense sort of attitude, but she accepted this about herself so whole-heartedly that it was impossible not to laugh at her attention-catching stories of mishaps within the Tuohy family. However, while amusing, she always brought her stories back to her reason for being there: service. Leigh Anne talked about her son Michael, whose homelessness was going unnoticed by others when she met him.

“What if someone as immensely talented as Michael Oher falls through the cracks?” Leigh Anne asked.

Leigh Anne said she believed that the person who will someday cure cancer is probably a kid living in a ghetto now. She warned that if we allow these kids to go unnoticed, they may never reach their potential, and the world will lose many brilliant minds. Instead of singling out the wealthy to give simply because they have more money, she proposed that we all have a duty to ourselves and to others as human beings to help those in need because it is the morally right thing to do.

When our group of editors could speak with Leigh Anne, we told her about the sophomore class’s recent service day. Leigh Anne said we ought to have all four classes working together on a project, not just sophomores. She proposed a “Great Day of Service” where every homeroom does something to impact the community. She said people in high school and college could influence the needy in our area the most, so we should all do our share.

“Amarillo, Texas has its share of Michael Ohers,” Leigh Anne said. “Don’t let them fall through the cracks.”

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