Senior Spotlight
by LeAnn Tully
Kerry Lane Robertson is the son of Steve and Karan Robertson. He is the brother of Eric Robertson. He was born of November 12, 1985 in Seminole, Texas. He attended Seagraves from kindergarten until he came to New Deal his junior year. Kerry’s hobbies include watching movies, spending time with his girlfriend, playing video games, football, basketball, and music. His favorite color is red and he likes any food that edible.

Kerry’s greatest inspirations are his father and his past bad director from Seagraves, Mr. Diamond. His greatest achievement is staying alive. After graduating, Kerry plans to go to college and study music. His goal for life is to be a band director. Kerry hopes that his classmates will remember him in ten years as being a funny guy.

His role model is Mr. Diamond because, "He had a rough childhood, but he became successful through determination ad perseverance." The one thing that Kerry will miss most about high school will be being picked on by his peers. His most embarrassing moment was his purple dress for One Act Play last year.

If Kerry had the chance to change one thing about his high school years he said, "I don’t really think I would change anything." His words of advice are, "Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines."

Mariah Kathryn Arnett is the daughter of Sharon Wall-Arnett and Charles Arnett. She is the sister of Kyle Arnett, 16, James, 14, and Austin, 13. She was born on December 12, 1985 in Oakland, California. She attend Oakland Arts school, Riviera Elementary, Mountain Vista Middle School, New Deal Junior High, Oakland Tech High School, and New Deal High School. Mariah’s hobbies include writing poems, spending time with her friends, going to the movies, and sleeping. Her favorite colors are pink and blue and her favorite food is Chinese Food.

Mariah’s greatest inspirations are her boyfriend Kerry and her grandmother Janet. Her greatest achievements will be to graduate and go to college. After graduating, Mariah plans to attend South Plains, for 2 years, than either to U C Berkley or Texas Tech to major in criminal justice or child development. Her goals for life are to graduate, get married, and have a family. Mariah hopes that her classmates will remember her in ten years as being the way she is.

Her role model is her grandmother because, "She has always been there for me and she pushes me to succeed." The one thing that Mariah will miss most about high school will be spending time with her friends. Mariah’s most embarrassing moment was when she was playing Gestures in Mrs. Williams class and she made a funny sign for the word she had, and everyone made fun of her for the rest of the year.

If Mariah had the chance to change one thing about her high school years she said, "I would have been more energetic and hot so shy. I would have talked to more of my classmates because I will miss them when we walk through the doors and start our new lives." Her words of advice are, "Live life to the fullest, you only get one chance."

This week’s mystery lion plans to attend South Plains College in hopes of becoming a registered nurse. If that doesn’t go through as planned then she wants to be a veterinarian. Some of her special qualities are she is a good listener, almost always a happy camper, and she can cheer anyone up with her great sense of humor. Her first born child will be given to her mother not because she couldn’t take care of it, but because her mother loves children and wants another. This lion got accepted into the fourth corps, and there she learned first aid and CPR. She has one sibling in high school, one in middle school, and another in elementary. Sometimes you’ll hear this lovely lioness showing her unconditional love to her sister by telling her that she loves her. Her favorite place to be is in a quite room with a few letters from her friends. Last but not least, this lion gets along with everyone and it takes a lot to get her mad.

Do you think you know who it is? Ten to one you’re wrong! So find out next week in our next article.

Congratulations go out to Sheena Harkey for competing in the Senior Creed Speaking event earning first place. Freshman Bryce Stockman came in sixth place in the Junior Creed Speaking event. Speakers are judged on their voice, stage presence, power of expression, general effect, and accuracy on their memorization of the FFA Creed by E. M. Tiffany.

One judge who liked Harkey’s performance said she "exuded great confidence and attitude," showing she was " very at ease before the audience."

Stockman was complemented when his judge said, "good pronunciation," in his voice while reciting the creed.

The creed speakers are also required to answer a series of three questions from the judges over their knowledge of the FFA and their ideas and views on involvement in and the future of agriculture.

Stockman had a "good answer to question number two," said his judge.

"Superb answer to our questions," said Harkey’s judge "very well prepared."

Hollis Hensley, Mikal Mayo, and Tracee Murph competed in the Radio event where students are required to syndicate an informational agricultural radio program using an actual microphone set up behind a curtain. New Deals was called "Ag News You Can Use." The girls practiced everyday during lunch for three weeks to prepare. After all their hard work, they earned third place out of twelve teams at contest.

New Deal also competed in the Junior Chapter Conducting event. The students participating were Blake Nelson, Morgan Mayo, Bobby and Adam Durham, Jeremy Morrison, Brit Foster, and Jason Y’barra. Chapter Conducting teams are required to hold a meeting including an opening ceremony, working through four problems, and conducting a closing ceremony using only parliamentary procedures. Each team is given a paper with a list of the problems to work. They have five minutes to read through the paper and then twenty minutes to conduct the mock meeting. The team is asked questions individually by the judges. New Deal’s team fared in the questions and earned fifth place for the day.

The students were treated to lunch at the Cotton Patch in Plainview to celebrate the days hard work and well deserved winnings. Special thanks goes out to Randall Hendrix for driving the bus for the teams.

Sheena Harkey advances to Area for earning her first place and will compete Saturday, November 22nd in Canyon, Texas at West Texas A&M.

Movie Review
Master and Commander
The Farside of the World
by Jessica Gomes
The movie Master and Commander was set during the Napoleonic wars. The main actor is Oscar winner Russel Crowe. Crowe is a captain named, Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, who is renowned as a fighting captain in the British Navy. Paul Bettany is the ships doctor. Their ship, the H.M.S. Surprise, was attacked by a superior enemy. With the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured, Aubrey is torn between duty and friendship as he pursues a high-stakes chase across two oceans, to intercept and capture his foe. It’s a mission that can make his reputation - or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew.

Through the course of the movie the characters travel throughout the world , from the coast of Brazil to the storm tossed waters of Cape Horn, then their journey took them south through the ice and snow, to the far side of the world, to the remote shores of The Galapagos Islands. This became the first feature film to be filmed in the Galapagos Islands.

The movie is based on a series of books written by Patrick O’Brian. The movie is a great action packed thrill for any student looking for a great opportunity to have some extra credit in Mrs. Thompson’s English class. This movie is rated PG-13.

Copyright 2003 New Deal ISD