Brianna Vargas
Editor-in-Chief

A maverick can be defined as an individual who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates. Senior Tiffanee Lang is living the definition of a maverick.

Lang prides her school spirit above all other things. “When you have pride, you do better,” says Lang. She’s wanted to attend A-TECH since the fourth grade. She loved computers, math, and science from a young age, so A-TECH was the perfect place for her.

During all four of her years at A-TECH, she has continued to provide the school with new and greater ideas to bring about school spirit. One of her great ideas was program area wars.

Program area wars are fun activities, such as tug-of-war and sporting activities between program areas. She continues to work on building more spirit because no matter how many “bad” ideas you come up with, someone’s going to like them.

Although Lang is dedicated to improving school spirit, she’s also involved in many other activities throughout the school. These activities include student ambassadors, RSVP, Skills USA, Interact, and intelligencia. All of these organizations have one thing in common; helping others, which is what Lang’s all about.

“I love helping people,” says Lang.

Aside from being completely involved in school activities, Lang also takes several Advanced Placement courses and remains at the top of her class.

Outside of school, Lang has two jobs. She works part time at Chuck E. Cheese, and full time she owns her own company, Dangeo. She created this company in her seventh grade year. She runs this business, with the motto of ‘whatever needs to be fixed, Dangeo will fix it for you.’ Through her company, Lang has also created a line of “Class X” T-shirts that are featured in six high schools in Clark County: Northwest Career and Technical Academy, A-TECH, Canyon Springs, Cheyenne, Rancho, and Mojave.

“I keep doing all of this because I believe in hard work,” says Lang. “I want to go far and this is the only way.”

Although Lang is a busy individual, she still finds the time for the simple things in life. “I love parks,” she says, “ Any park, anywhere. It’s relaxing.”

“At Kentucky, I plan to major in Computer Information, Tech. Prep., and Networking Management. I want to be the person who runs everything. If you ever wonder who runs half the technologies you’re using, it will be me.”

Tyler Livingston
Editor-in-Chief

Wake up at 5:00 a.m.  Finish last-minute homework in the hallway with classmates before first period.  Go to class and take notes.  Get home in the evening and work on worksheets, essays, and projects.  Consult friends through instant message.  Go to bed at midnight—if you’re lucky.  Start over the next morning.

This is the schedule for the typical Advanced Placement (AP) student at A-TECH.  Sleep is scarce, and plenty of caffeine is necessary, but these dedicated pupils know what it takes to get things done, occasionally against all odds.

Sophomore Jordan Bauzon tells of the hardship he endures in AP World History, his first ever AP course, stating, “Many people say the class is harsh and unnerving, and they’re right.  The work is arduous and it causes insomnia, truthfully.”  Bauzon adds, “But the deep friendships acquired during the journey through AP are worth the suffering.”

Daniel Waqar, also a sophomore taking his first AP course, explains that he has no complaints whatsoever: “I enjoy the workload, and the class overall is much easier than I had anticipated,” states Waqar.  “Ms. O’Day’s vast knowledge of world history and her dedication to teaching it make it fun to be in AP.”

Yulia Kravtsova, a junior who took AP World History last year and is currently enrolled in three AP classes, explains why she continues taking college-level courses: “Masochism.  I get an amount of sick pleasure from taking those classes,” she claims.  “But it’s worth it in the end.  Completing them makes you feel awesome about yourself, and you become close friends with your fellow AP-ers.”

Senior Neil Daniels is currently completing his fourth and fifth AP classes.  “I want to demonstrate to colleges that I have college-level preparation,” comments Daniels.  “AP Language and Composition affected my life the most—now I constantly analyze text.  I lost the most sleep over AP US History, but I loved the lectures and discussions.”

To most students, the friendships and knowledge obtained through AP classes is worth losing sleep to complete assignments on time.

“And if you don’t like it,” says Daniel Waqar, “refer to the AP contract you signed before entering the course.  You were warned.”

Kristiana Trinidad/Maverick Messenger Students sit outside unable to enjoy their lunch in the sunny day.

Kristiana Trinidad
Advertising Editor

Quite a few privileges have been taken away from A-TECH students since the beginning to of the new school year.

Some that come to mind are the newly instated rules that forbid all students from eating outside in the field or back patio area. This year, students are only permitted to have food in the Student Activities Center (SAC). This, of course, is not the fault of the strict administration, but rather A-TECH students themselves.

The first privilege taken away was the ability to eat in the field area. Throughout last year, the administration continued to remind students to throw all trash away and keep it clean, but the conditions never improved despite the number of warnings made. Trash never made it into the trash cans and was left littered on the ground.

The same event occurred in the back patio area, only the problem was even more extreme. Smashed milk boxes were left everywhere, from the ground to the window sills. Trash was never disposed of in the garbage cans. Instead, students simply left it on the ground and on tables, or stuffed it in the small opening in the tables’ centers used to hold umbrellas.

As a result, school custodians were subjected to picking up student garbage in addition to the many other tasks they must perform, causing the change in policy. These disciplinary measures were agreed upon by the Discipline Committee, the Dean of Students and a group of faculty members that evaluate current and new disciplinary policies, as a means to stop the amount of trash consistently left outside

The decision to revoke these privileges is completely understandable because A-TECH students would not listen to the numerous warnings the administration gave  concerning the matter at hand. The only means of making them listen is through action.

Ms. Price, A-TECH’s Dean of Students, has stated that these privileges will be returned as soon as students prove to the administration that they can handle the responsibility. Sadly, it’s quite obvious from their behavior in the cafeteria that this isn’t going to be happening any time soon.

Despite the fact that it’s much cleaner than the back patio once was, the SAC is left a mess once students are dismissed for their next classes. Trash is left on the tables for the custodians to throw away, much like the situation outside.

For some reason, A-TECH students can’t take a few seconds to simply throw away their own trash. Some have even made a game of it by purposely leaving trash on the tables in an attempt to not get caught by any of the campus monitors. If students can’t throw away their garbage when school authority is present, then how can they possibly not take advantage of eating outside, where the chances of being caught are significantly lower?

Another problem is the lack of campus monitors, which can easily be fixed by students. About two years ago, a group of students volunteered on their own to monitor places such as the atrium and field area. This made it possible for others to eat outside without any problems from the students.

However, no one has volunteered to take on the responsibility of monitoring. If students were to take more initiative and talk to the administration, a compromise could be made that could get back atrium privileges at the least.

They must convince the administration that they’re ready to regain their privileges. Doing so requires everyone to do his part in keeping the SAC cleaner and communication between both parties.

Stanley Blake
Staff Writer

Freshmen are usually referred to as the “young ones” or the “newbies.”

“That’s a lie,” says Xavone Charles, a freshmen at A-TECH, who decided that he would  prove the stereotype wrong. Charles made Cheyenne’s, his zoned high school’s, varsity basketball team, a feat that many rarely see, especially for this sport.

Born in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 18, 1994, Charles’ parents knew at a young age he would be someone special. He always wanted to be someone that made a difference in the world. His whole outlook on that statement changed two years ago, when he made his middle school basketball team.

“I wanted to try something new,” says Charles.

His middle school basketball experience went well, and he lead his team to the conference playoffs.

In order to get a championship in high school, Charles knows he’ll have to work extra hard and do what his coach asks of him. His workout is very intense and is composed of  strength and conditioning workouts.

“I work out six days of the week, my workouts are long and hard,” states Charles.

Having many siblings, Charles, the youngest of seven children, has big expectations to which he must live up to. Balancing school and basketball isn’t hard for Charles, who maintains a 3.6 GPA. This year, he hopes to get a lot of playing time and win a championship. He will be playing point guard for the Desert Shields.

Charles’ favorite player is Kobe Bryant, although he says he bases his game off Denver Nuggets star Chauncey Billups.

The loving, caring, quiet, and funny freshman is a living testament that anything is possible with hard work and determination.

Tyler Livingston
Editor-in-Chief

It’s that time of year again: time to put on your red and white holiday hat, sing winter songs, and set up the old nondenominational shrub.  This isn’t for Christmas—no way.  This is for the holiday season.

The word “Christmas” has been attacked for years in the United States, as if a cashier at Wal-Mart telling a customer, “Merry Christmas” is as villainous as screaming, “Bomb!” on an airplane.

According to the Pew Forum (www.pewforum.org), 77 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian.  It is not necessary for retail stores, media outlets, or government officials to put the name of the country’s most widely celebrated holiday on their taboo list in attempt to pander to the remaining 23 percent.

A few years ago, Clark County School District students did not come to school from December 21 to January 1 because it was Christmas break.  More recently, schools are shut down for winter break instead.  The thing is, winter is not a symbol for Christians.  Winter is not a symbol for Jews or Muslims, either.  No one celebrates winter.

Christmas is celebrated during that time frame, and that is why students and teachers have those weeks off in December and January.  Why schools are shut down is no secret, and calling it anything other than Christmas break is childish.

Ameera Essaqi, a junior at A-TECH, defends the Christian holiday, stating, “My mom is Christian, my dad is Muslim, and I’m not personally very religious,” she continues,  “But when people tell me to have a Merry Christmas, I understand that they mean it nicely, and I’m in no way offended by it.  It’s a nice gesture.”

For most Americans, Christmas is an excuse for a family get-together complete with days off from school and work and enough food to feed a small nation.  Adults are able to spend time with relatives who they only see during Christmas celebrations, and kids are presented with gifts they’ve wanted all year—since the end of last Christmas.

The modern meaning of Christmas is not as religious as it is social, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  In fact, this contemporary interpretation of the holiday should make it possible for the word “Christmas” to be more widely accepted than it was in the past, rather than an unconditionally forbidden term.

Kristiana Trinidad
Advertising Editor

A student is running as quickly as possible to get to first period. Only several feet away from their destination, the tardy bell rings and the dreaded announcement is heard, informing all late students to report to the dean’s office. It was a tardy lockout. In a span of only three months, over five tardy lockouts have been announced at A-TECH, leaving some students to deal with the consequences.

Tardy lockouts are announcements by the administration immediately after the tardy bell. They inform all teachers not to allow students to enter their classrooms and report to the dean’s office for further disciplinary measures. Tardy lockouts do not have pre-determined schedules, but they are determined by the dean prior to the selected tardy bell.

“When I notice there’s a problem with tardies, tardy lockouts start,” says A-TECH Dean of Students Mrs. Price. “When I get reports from the teachers and I see a lot of tardy referrals, that warrants a tardy lockout.”

The consequence of getting locked out is a dean’s detention during the student’s designated lunch. If the student fails to serve the detention, they receive two dean’s detentions followed by standard disciplinary procedures, such as RPC and suspension. However, a majority of students aren’t affected by tardy lockouts.

“Normally five or ten [are affected],” says Mrs. Price. “First period seems to have the most problems.”

These lockouts were not originally the administration’s idea. In fact, teachers suggested it in an attempt to lessen the amount of tardies in classes, and it was successful. Every lockout resulted in a decreased amount of tardies in the following periods.

“It helps students remember they only have four minutes to get to class,” says Mrs. Price, “and they can’t be slow or hang around in the hallways.”

In actuality, A-TECH is much more lenient on students that are tardy. In many comprehensive high schools, tardy lockouts occur everyday, during every period, and students have harsher consequences such as an RPC every time they are caught tardy.

Ashley Morris
News Editor

On November 10, at Stissing Mountain Middle/High School in New York, Principal Bob Hess was held hostage.  The perpetrator was Christopher Craft Sr., 42, a former student.

Craft managed to sneak into the school, assemble his shotgun in the school’s bathroom, and place the school’s principal under threat of gunfire. The school was put into a lock down and Craft surrendered without firing any shots. Luckily, no one was harmed in the situation.

Court documents indicated that Craft told police he was upset about the “wrongful treatment of United States Military personnel.”

“This situation frightens me, because I am responsible for all my students,” comments one concerned teacher, Mr. Gearhart. “I have to keep them safe.”

“Things like this could happen anywhere,” adds Gearhart. “There are so many cases where security has failed. People think they are safe, but they can be caught off-guard. There should be deterrents, like police, on campus, or harsher punishments, like having life in prison for something like that instead of a slap on the wrist. But even with all that it can still happen.”

Junior Amy Lowell, on the other hand, was not very upset by the event. “I think it’s unlikely that it would happen here. I’m not going to say it’s impossible– anything can happen. But I don’t know how the security in New York is compared to the security here.”

“I would have to know what security measures we already have to know how I think we should prevent hostage situations here. I know we have hall monitors, and we used to have bike cop, but I’m not sure what we have now,” she adds.

Our principal, Karen Diamond, says that she does not consider the possibility of a hostage situation often.

“I never think about the fact that someone would take a principal hostage,” she says.

In order to keep students and staff safe, the district mandates that each school have a Crisis Response Plan. This plan is updated every year. Each school keeps its own separate plan, and the district mandates what each school’s plan must contain.

“The number one focus is the safety of kids, because if a child is not safe, a child cannot learn. During a crisis, every person has his own designated job, and we do practice drills often to test our response plan,” she comments.

“I’d like to say it can’t happen here, but anything can happen,” she adds. “I don’t know what the procedures were in that school, but here the teachers are told not to talk to anyone without a visitors pass, and hall monitors are trained to spot strangers. They also have radio communication. I’d like to think we’re keeping our children safe.”

Raybin Dockery
Staff Writer

Each year, A-TECH band and orchestra students prepare for the winter musical concert. The students prepare through practices, rehearsals, and playing tests to reach musical perfection.

This year, Dr. Julie Weatherford conducted both the orchestra and band performances.

At this year’s musical concert, orchestra performed Rhythmic Snapshots of Christmas, The Dance of Iscariot, and Antigone.

A-TECH’s band performed Asian Folk Song, Ancient Air and Dance, Kindred Spirits, and Carol Triptych.

The Winter Concert was December 9, 2009, and was a major success for both the band and orchestra.

Orchestra performed their songs first, with the Chamber Ensemble and then a  performance with the entire orchestra. Band followed with high melody and somber melodramatic tunes that kept the audience watching.

At the end of the performances, the parents  gave a standing ovation and their faces were filled with smiles.

Dr. Weatherford was very proud of the accomplishments of the orchestra and band concert.  “I was very pleased and happy with the performance of the band and orchestra because the students prepared immensely and had a great performance.”

Many of the A-TECH band and orchestra members were pleased as well with their performance. A-TECH senior, Danielle Kwasniewski said, “ I am so glad that we have Dr. Weatherford as our band conductor, because with her guidance the band and orchestra has improved significantly. I believe the concert was successful and we will continue to have success for future concerts and at festival.”

A-TECH band and orchestra are now preparing for their spring concert and the spring festival which will take place later on in the school year.  The members of each musical group are excited to show their talents off at the next concert.

Ashley Morris
News Editor

On November 19, Daniel Waqar, the Youth Legislator for State Senate District Clark County 9, stretching from Summerlin to the California border (the largest Senate District in Clark County) proposed a bill amending the state constitution to allow state lotteries.

Some other bills proposed by other Youth Legislators included one to establish a statewide rainy day fund, one to create a life skills elective class for high school students, and one to lower the legal drop-out age from 18 to 16.

The bill to lower the drop out age from 18 to 16 years old passed by a few votes, but there was a motion to revote on Daniel’s bill, which ended up winning 13-6.

The bill previously chosen was rejected primarily due to, in Daniel’s view,  “Nevada’s drastic financial state will not support an influx of 16-year-old drop-outs. No employer will hire a 16-year-old drop-out without a high school diploma.”

“My bill will increase funding to education by $60 million annually,” says Waqar, “and allow education in the state of Nevada to be shielded from cuts to education in the future. Schools will directly see more money, and will allow their students more freedoms, choices, and opportunities than before.  Students may not have to see old textbooks, increased class sizes, or lack of class choices anymore, since schools will have more money.”

“I felt the need to represent the youth of Nevada in a productive manner,” Waqar says. “I felt at the time that the youth of Nevada did not adequately represent their own views and were letting adults make irrational decisions.”

“At the Youth Legislature’s next meeting, we will hold a hearing debating all aspects of my bill and adding amendments to it.  The next hearing will be on Thursday, December 11, 2009 at 1 p.m.  Members of the public are invited to testify and watch the hearing in person at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas.”

“I think this is a great bill to propose,” says junior Samantha Richard. “It’ll help raise money for education, since they are always cutting the budget for education.”

It is possible that Daniel Waqar’s plans for Nevada will be put into effect, allowing more money to be appropriated to schools in Clark County.  Because of his plan, CCSD schools could see an increase in new textbooks and the ability to provide more services to students and staff.

Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Seda Yearbook and journalism students gather around their masterpiece.

Brianna Vargas
Editor-in-Chief

Every year, the Valley Automall in  Las Vegas holds a tree decorating contest at each of its 17 dealerships. This year, A-TECH’s journalism and yearbook staffs decided to take a chance at winning the $3,000 grand prize.

The  contest consists of each school being given a $300 budget to purchase ornaments, lights, and any other type of decorations for the tree. Each dealership provided a Christmas tree ranging in height from 10 feet to 20 feet. The trees had to show school spirit, holiday spirit, and originality.

Two weeks before the contest was set to take place, the A-TECH squad began making their own ornaments. They took 70 glass bulbs and filled them with the traditional school colors: purple, teal, and silver. To incorporate the eight program areas, the squad created wooden ornaments with the A-TECH mascot and one of program areas written on them.

“It was very tedious making all the ornaments, especially the glass bulb,” stated team leader and Editor of Yearbook, Jesse Sutherland. “We had to paint and repaint several of them, but they all came out very elegant.”

On Tuesday December 1, A-TECH headed over to the Valley BMW Dealership in the Valley Automall. A ten foot tree was positioned by the front door waiting to be decorated. The team began stringing twinkling lights around the tree from bottom to top. Then, a large purple and silver bow, courtesy of Kendal Barger, was placed as a tree topper with six long ribbons running to the bottom of the tree. Next, the team placed hand made bulbs, purple, silver, and teal snowflakes, and several ornaments to bring in holiday spirit.

The deadline for the tree was 5:30 p.m. Luckily, the team finished with an hour to spare. After calling the judges, the team anxiously waited. After what seemed like hours, they arrived with a Fox Five camera crew. The judges and Fox Five news anchors, asked for Sutherland to stand in front of the camera and describe A-TECH’s tree and how the team had created it.

“It was a little nerve wracking standing in front of the camera,” says Sutherland. “I felt like I kept going on and on with our mascot, maverick, logo, ornaments, and how our bulbs didn’t take that long to make.”

After the judges left, they informed the team that winners would be announced on the 10:00 p.m. segment of Fox Five’s nightly news. The team quickly grabbed their belongings and headed for the long drive home.

Unfortunately when the 10:00 p.m. news arrived, the tree decorating speal was anything but heart warming to the A-TECH team. The winners were announced with Desert Oasis winning first, Centenial High School accepting second, and SECTA claiming third.  Unfortunately, A-TECH didn’t receive any awards but the experience will last a lifetime.

“I was very disappointing we didn’t win, but the team really did awesome,” said Sutherland. “It was a great experience I’ll never forget. Plus, our tree really was the best on the lot.”

The A-TECH crew demonstrated the real meaning of the holiday season. They took time out of their busy schedules to  make A-TECH known across the valley. Every customer that comes to the Valley Automall will enjoy the Christmas tree display these students worked so diligently on. They worked together for the possibility of winning a prize but were proud to say A-TECH loves the holidays.