“I knew I was Muslim, but I actually wanted to practice my faith. At first I was nervous because I didn’t know what people would think or say,” Atieh said. “After the first day of school I felt comfortable and confident.”

Atieh said her worry wasn’t necessary. Her classmates asked questions, but they weren’t rude about her deision.

Atieh said wearing the Hijab represents modesty, dignity and integrity. Muslim women wear the Hijab to present a sense of respect and freedom for themselves. The Hijab helps Islam women to express beauty within themselves, instead of what most of society views women as.

“My mom influenced me to start wearing the Hijab because she always told me that self respect is more important than outer beauty,” Atieh said. “I also was encouraged when I watched a YouTube video produced by a faithful Muslim follower, Joshua Evans. He talked about what the Hijab really meant and spoke about the beauty of a Muslim woman.”

Once a woman decides to accept the Hijab, it is understood that they should always wear it. It is better for someone to never put it on than to put it on and take it off later. Although it is a woman’s choice to wear the Hijab, it is not highly looked upon to take it off later. The Hijab should be worn at all times, especially in public. A Muslim woman can take it off in front of family but not male cousins.

“In Islam, a woman’s beauty is so honored and respected that we should seal it,” Atieh said. “We don’t show it off to the world.”

Choir director Karen Bacus plans to retire this year after an 11-year career, leaving a long history and legend at Rider High School.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Mrs. Bacus said. “But I need more time with my family. This job is not just during the school day it’s also on weekends and after school. My husband is also retiring this year.”

Band director Loy Studer is sad to see Bacus go.

“The choir has its own legacy because of Mrs. Bacus,” Studer said. “Mrs. Bacus is awesome, and she is phenomenal at what she does.”

Junior Chris Gonzales is sad that he won’t have Bacus his senior year.

“She is a really cool director,” Gonzales said. “It kinda stinks because she is one of the best directors I’ve ever had.”

Senior Toby Deaver is glad Bacus is going to be a able to spend more time with her family, but is also sad to see her leave.

“I have mixed feelings about it,” Deaver said. “ The school won’t have her around next year, and when I visit the school she won’t be there. It’s kind of cool that my senior year was her last year directing. It feels really special. She’s had such a successful career directing, and she deserves to retire.”

Deaver is also glad Bacus will be retiring along with her husband.

“They’re going to have a blast traveling together and spending even more time with family,” Deaver said.

Expectations for the new director will be high, since they will be taking the place of a musical legend.

“I hope they would pick up where we left off, and take a step forward,” Mrs. Bacus said. “I also hope the students lend them their full support.”

Mr. Studer knows the new director will be able to help the choir be more amazing.

“I think the choirs’ success is dependent on their attitude,” Mr. Studer said. “Whoever is director will be good, the choir will still be fabulous, and they will still continue to build the program.”

Gonzales hopes for a new director with a wonderful personality similar to Mrs.Bacus’.

“I hope they are chill like she was,” Gonzales said. “And that they have the ability to direct as good as she did.

Choir students, teachers, and the rest of the student body will all remember the legacy Mrs. Bacus is leaving behind after teaching at Rider for 11 years being alumni.

“[Rider] has a lot of fond memories,” Mrs. Bacus said. “I have a better understanding of what it means to be a Raider, it’s more than just going to the school.”

Graduation is an event that most have looked forward to since childhood. Senior Alyson Marsh* is getting excited as her graduation day and her due date get closer.

“I’m excited to have a baby,” Marsh said.”There really isn’t anything to be worried about because my mom and grandma are such a great support.”

Last time we talked to Marsh, she was scared to tell her mom because she didn’t want to disappoint her mom and she was trying to prove that she is mature and responsible enough to take care of her child.

“My mom was very upset (when she found out),” Marsh said. “Furious actually. I was hurt by the way she found out, and I knew I had disappointed her. There was a lot of yelling and we didn’t talk for a while. The next day I went to my friends’ house to give her alone time and we ended up talking everything through.”

Marsh was one of the naive teenagers that thought it would never happen to her.

“It can happen to anybody,” Marsh said. “Teens think they are invincible and they need to throw those thoughts out the window.”

Marsh still plans to attend MSU and work to support her child.

“(Right now), my mom is providing everything the baby is going to need because I don’t have a job,” Marsh said. “Because I am going to go to college in the fall, my mom and I decided I’m not going to start working until the baby is at least one month old. My mom and I already have everything taken care of.”

Marsh feels like there is still a lot to prove to her mom.

“I have already proven a lot to her.” Marsh said. “How I live my life has already changed drastically and I’m only 25 weeks. She knows how mature I am and she knows that when I put my mind to doing something, then it will get done. Now i have the chance to show her how good of a mother I’m going to be. ”

Even though her mom was angry about the pregnancy, she was at Marsh’s side for the first sonogram.

“It was amazing,” Marsh said. “I really couldn’t believe I had a little baby inside me and I could see the heart beating and heard it. I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Marsh says her mom is very excited to be a “mimi” and wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Everything will change,” Marsh said. “My daily routines, my free time. None of it will be the same and I am one hundred percent OK with that.”

Friends are excited and very supportive of Marsh.

“I haven’t really heard anything negative (about being pregnant),” Marsh said. “People were really surprised because I was the last one they expected.”

For the first time in 15 years, the number of teens having children has increased by 3 percent.

“I think it’s a good idea (to wait until your married to have sex), but it’s not going to happen,” Marsh said.”Kids are starting to have sex at a younger age almost everyday.”

Pregnant or not, this senior says she is going to stay strong and graduate with her friends.

“I’m not going to let anything stop me. Unless I go into labor of course.”

“Life in the US is a little bit fast paced whereas in Kenya life is laid back,” freshman Brian Kiarie who moved here from Kenya said. “The cost of living in Kenya is cheaper than it is in the US and in terms of technology, the USA is more developed and education is easier here.”

However, this was not Brian’s first time to the US.

“I had come to the US in 2008 of December to a college graduation for my sister. After completing my elementary school, I moved here to join my family,” Kiarie, whose mother is a nurse at United Regional said.

Students complain about seven classes but to Kiarie, it is nothing. His school day in Kenya started at 8:15 a.m. and ended at 3:50 p.m. with at least 12 classes a day. While WFISD students take one science per year, Kiarie took Biology, Chemistry and Physics all at the same time.

“In Kenya, we only had three breaks. We went to school from May to August, September to December, then January to April,” Kiarie said.

In Kenya, students must have four years of a university.

“Kenya’s education system is similar to British education system (Eight years of elementary, four years of high school, and four years of a university),” Kiarie said.

Back home in Kenya, Kiarie lived with his grandparents and worked on their farm after school. Life was fairly easy and also simple.

“The slogan of the people of Kenya is ‘hakuna matata’ which means don’t worry, enjoy life,” Kiarie said.

The people of Kenya must speak ‘Swahili’ which is the national language. They also speak English and an additional a dialect unique to each community.

“Brian speaks excellent English, he is just very shy,” Brian’s ESL teacher Joyce Gill said.

“I enjoy it here,”Kairie said. “It is easy, but fast paced.”

All of these students will compete in the state competition at Corpus Christi on March 26-27. If they win state, they will compete on the National Level this summer.

All of these Carrigan students are under the direction of Ms. Leah Tunnell.

Leah Tunnell, principal of Carrigan Career Center, has been working in the WFISD for 20 years.

“This is my fourth year as principal at Carrigan,” Tunnell said. “[I've been] a teacher at Hirschi, a counselor at Rider, an assistant principal at Jefferson [Elementary School] and an assistant principal at Rider.”

Although Ms. Tunnell is happy at Carrigan, there is a change she would like to make to the program.

“If we have room in our classes, then there aren’t enough students attending,” Tunnell said. “Right now, we are at about 70 percent capacity.”

Carrigan isn’t exactly a huge place, but there are plenty of spaces available for hopeful attendees.

“We have six labs that can house up to 15-17 students per class, except Cosmetology, which can allow 25 students.”

Most Carrigan classes are two years long, and once the students complete the classes they are considered ready for an entry-level position in the field of their training.

“I think it is important to remember that not all students attend a two or four year university after high school,” Tunnell said. “Our programs provide students with training and skills necessary to leave high school with a great skill that can land them in a high wage or high demand job immediately upon graduation.”

Cosmetology is the largest offered class, and is made up of mostly girls. Cosmetology I class is open to juniors for its first year and seniors for Cosmetology II.

“I love that these students have the ability to leave our program after two years and be a fully licensed cosmetologist in Texas,” Tunnell said. “They can begin their career right after high school graduation making a great salary with opportunity for advancement.”

“Cosmetology is so much fun,” junior Leslie Trejo said. “And it’s a great way to work through law school.”

Although a class about doing hair sounds like fun and games, there is a lot of hard work behind it.

“We’re here Monday through Friday,” Trejo said. “Mondays until 6, and Tuesdays through Fridays until 4.”

The cosmetology students are learning many aspects of the business.

“We learn to cut, color, and style hair,” Trejo said. “We also learn to do natural and acrylic nails and make up, so pretty much everything you would do in a salon.”

The cosmetology program takes participants two years and three periods a day to earn their licenses.

“Once I finally get my license, I’m going to be so happy!” Trejo said. “I’ll have a steady source of income for college, and then I will be able to achieve my real dream: law school.”

Welding is a class is open to students grade 10-12, and once a student completes Welding II the are considered ready to start in an entry-level welding job.

“This course combines art, science, math and visual skills to create a format the students really love,” Tunnell said. “The most rewarding part of this class is watching the students come to us as ‘wannabe welders’ and leave with the skills, ability and maturity to earn a great wage in a high demand occupation.”

Electronics is a two year class that gives students the opportunity to excel in the robotics or engineering industry. Electronics students learn soldering, care of tools, and hardware components.

“It is exciting that most of our students in this class have the ability to leave Carrigan with at least half the college hours necessary towards an associates degree,” Tunnell said. “We had some students graduate high school and obtain an associates degree before Christmas of the next year!”

Machining technology students are heavily trained in the safe use of hand tools and in making precision measurements.

“This class is very closely related with the workforce opportunity market in Wichita Falls, and our teacher knows virtually every machinist in town,” Tunnell said. “If a student is serious about a career in machining, he can come to this class, learn the techniques and skills necessary, and the instructor can find him or her a job in the field before graduation!”

Auto collision is much like working in an actual body shop. Students learn glass work, body and metal repairs, how to calculate an estimate, and painting techniques.

“My favorite thing about this class is that students learn the basics and the complexities of refurbishing an automobile,” Tunnell said. “Most students don’t realize how much math, science, and manual dexterity is involved in this course, I really like that they get such a good experience working with math and science in this class.”

Construction students work with Habitat for Humanity in their training. They learn carpentry and basic trade skills, including instruction on how to use power tools.

“Students in this class learn how to build a house over the course of a year because we partner with Habitat for Humanity and build a house for that entity from start to finish,” Tunnell said. “I love it that this group of students learn th importance of giving back to the community through a high school course.”

There are such cases where the mothers must leave their children because they do not have enough money or shelter to protect them. The children often end up dealing drugs and on the street as thugs.

Gabriela* knows that story. She knows about life on the other side. It wasn’t long ago, that she was there.

“I was just 5 or 6 years old when I saw my dad get shot,” she said. “At the time we lived in Caltimacan Hidalgo, Mexico. I remember he was standing about 10 feet away from me when the first shot to his chest was fired. He was shot three times, one to the front and two in the back. The man who shot my father shot his shoulder and then again his lower back. I screamed as soon as my dad hit the floor. Then the man had the nerve to make sure his job was rightly done. He walked up to my father, smirked, turned him onto his back and shot him dead center between the eyes. I will never forget my dad’s expression as he yelled at me to leave. “Corrè mija! Corrè! Dejame aqui, ve! Ve!” (Run my daughter! Run! Leave me here! Go! GO!)

“I remember running all around town being able to hear all the screaming, all the cries, I could see the houses being burnt down; there were other children roaming the streets looking for their mothers. I ran for about seven or eight minutes until I finally found my mom at the end of the street.

Tears running down my cheeks, I clasped my mom with tremendous force. It didn’t last so long though. Soon she jerked my arm and we started running again. As I ran I heard the woman behind us declare “Dale mas rappido! Si nos cachan nos matarà!” (Go faster! If they catch us they’ll kill us!)

“In that time most the men in our little town would both be taken as prisoners and forced to work on the streets of other towns selling drugs, or be dragged out of their home to be executed.

“My father had made the mistake of getting involved with these people and when he could not ‘deliver the goods,’ he was killed. I miss him greatly and there’s not one day that goes by that the memory of him lying there drenched in his own blood doesn’t cross my mind.

“My mother and I found it hard to survive alone, without food, shelter, and water. We had nowhere to go. The only family we had lived in Texas, and there was no way we were going to be able to make it to the United states without any money or passports. We would be shot down at the frontera (border) for sure.

“After a couple days of struggling to survive, eating out of the garbage, and living of on the streets, my mother and I decided that anything would be better than what we were going through here. The decision was to go to the United States. We knew it was going to be hard to make it without getting caught. There is a group leader we knew of that could possibly help, so we traveled to Pachuca, Mexico. “There in a back ally we met with the best-built, most gigantic, tannest man I have ever seen. He yelled at us as soon as he saw us. ‘You have to get used to all the yelling, all the shot sounds and all the blood shed. You must know now before you go that there is a possibility that you might not make it. If by any chance you do make it, you will not be allowed to come back. You understand this don’t you?’

“We slightly nodded. I looked up at my mother who was clenching me as tight as she could. ‘Yes, we know” she said.

“The man went on to tell us that there were certain things that we were allowed to take which included a gallon of water and whatever we could carry in a small backpack.
“The next day at 4:00 in the morning we were required to get up and get ready to leave in five minutes. The actual trip was the longest, most exhausting trip I have ever taken. It took us 10 days to get to Dallas, Texas.

“We had to climb fences, run through many farmers’ fields and many rabid dog infested territories. We were shot at many times and chased out of many abandoned houses. We would travel during the night and sleep half the day. We had to sleep on dirt floors, or if we were lucky in a log or any place where the immigration would not find us.
“It was very hard especially for my mom, having me and all. I could tell she was worried about me not being able to make it. We started out with six people in our group and ended up with four.

“One man was shot and the gun wound got infected, the other was found dead one morning thought to have died of unknown diseases. It was hard for me to see the men lying there dead, especially since I was so young.

“Now that I’m 17 and still not legal, it’s hard to think about my childhood. I did not have a ‘normal’ childhood. It’s especially hard as I see my friends with their dads. It makes me think about what my life would have been like if I had just been born in this country rather then my own.

Then, I stop and think ‘well my country might not be perfect, but I’m proud of it all the same.’

Gabriela, a former Rider student, is not alone. Immigrants and their families across the nation have stories to share, including those here. As most teachers here at Rider, Ethan Shaw is one of the many who know stories about their students’ pasts. He tells the story about one of those students whose father had escaped out of Guatemala due to the fact that his family was threatened to be killed.

A while back in Guatemala there were conflicts between two very different groups. Both social and racial classes were formed. Peninsulares, as they were called were in control, next came the Mestisos, and last on the class list were the Indians known as the Mayans.

Since there weren’t many Peninsulares in Guatemala the Mestisos were put in charge. When politics came into effect the Mayans were treated badly. When Rikky Corrtez’s* father was only 8-yrs-old, he was forced to travel out of Guatemala and come to the United States.

Rikky’s Mayan grandfather had somehow been involved into the Guatemalan politics, and the Mestizos did not agree on what was going on. The sudden uproar in the government threatened the whole family so they had to escape as fast as they possibly could.

The Corrtez family had a very old red truck in which they used to travel. Since the truck was old it would always break down on them. There were times when the truck would not want to start and they had to push the truck until it would start again.

The family did fairly well for a while. Mr. Corrtez, Rikky’s father, met a young woman from Oklahoma and they decided to get married and then had Rikky.

His grandfather ended up going back to Guatemala, after the chaos had died down. Mr. Corrtez is now the head of the Health Department. Daniela and The Corrtez family are not alone.

Another Rider student remembers his journey. He was very young when he had to cross the border from Guanajuato Mexico to the United States.

“I remember it was really hard,” Alfredo Munoz* said “especially since we had to walk for quite a few days with my baby sister in our arms.” They were going through a rough part in their life. They did not have money for food, they could not find jobs, they could barley maintain themselves in the current state they were in. They decided to move to the United States, but they decided they couldn’t split the family, so they all had to make the trip. Alfredo, his mother, his father, and his little sister walked, took buses; they took anything that could get them a bit further.

“We had to hide from the immigration,” Munoz said. “There were lights shinning, helicopters above us, and immigration everywhere.”

For food they would sometimes be lucky enough to find a taco stand or an old restaurant and work enough to pay for their food. Once his family finally got here, it took a long time before he could get used to the place and all the new people speaking a foreign language. It was distressing trying to live their lives in hiding from the immigration.

After a few months passed the government found out he was an illegal immigrant and sent him back to Guanajuato. He remained there for two years, in care of his grandmother. In the two years that he was there, his grandmother helped him get his legal documentation ready so that he would be able to come to the United States legally. He soon received the proper credentials to be able to come to the United States.
Once he arrived he was able to go the California where his family lived. Next he traveled to Oklahoma with his aunt and uncle. His uncle then brought his family down to Wichita Falls. They’ve been living here since—on the other side.
*indicates name change

Freshman Mosley Pape knows all about the old Haiti, now he’s learning the nightmare of post-earthquake Haiti.

“My sisters are all right, but they are the only ones I know about right now,” Pape said. “I am still unsure about my brother and dad.”

Pape is not alone. The streets, that were already horrible in the first place, are now nearly non-existent. An already suffering nation is being forced to go by the natural law of Darwin — survival of the fittest.

“They don’t have the basic needs to survive,” Katrina Farmer, executive director of the North Central Texas chapter of the America Red Cross, said. “They will have to be supported by the world.”

The biggest needs currently in Haiti are what’s a given here including food, water, and shelter.

“This is a mass care situation, not an individual,” Farmer said. “It’ll take them years to recover.”

The American Red Cross has already directed $200 million toward the matter, $35 million being from the $10 text message charges.

“[The Red Cross] are checking with the people on the ground and making sure the money is spent correctly and directly,” Farmer said. “The important thing to know is that [help for Haiti] really needs to be monetary donations. Let the large aid organizations do the work.”

Evangel Temple pastor Kile Bateman sees Haiti as his second home.

“My wife and I have been there close to 30 times over the last 10 years,” Bateman said. “We adopted our two children from there.”

Bateman said he and his wife have always supported Haiti.

“When we heard the news, our first reaction was ‘what can we do’,” Bateman said. “I wanted to be there the moment it happened.”

Bateman said Haiti was nowhere near prepared enough for this.

“It is a logistical nightmare everyday in Haiti,” Bateman said. “It’s hard to know who to blame for [the lack of readiness].”

Evangel Temple has a relationship with a mission located in Haiti called the Mission of Hope. The mission was not affected by the earthquake.

“It’s amazing because [the mission] is located at a point where it should have been annihilated,” Bateman said. “We believe the hand of God was on them.”

Within the next few weeks, Evangel Temple will have a medical team set off to provide aid.

“We’ll probably be one of the first teams there,” Bateman said. “By the time we get there people are going to be dying from diseases that were not treated.”

Bateman said they will have to be prepared for anything and everything.

“I know that I’ll be doing funerals,” Bateman said. “I know of family members that have had loved ones thrown into the trash dump that never got a decent, respectable memorial service.”

The Haitian people have been the “victims of a corrupt government for generations, but yet they overcome it.”

“Conditionally, if you live in an environment like that you have to suffer and learn how to manage through tough times as normal times,” Bateman said. “They are the most loving, loyal, and passionate people.”

Bateman wants to make sure people don’t listen to someone who hasn’t been there.

“Don’t believe what you hear when they say [Haiti] is cursed and evil,” Bateman said. “I tell the people that go to Haiti ‘you will see hell, but you will also see heaven’.”

Freshman Mosley Pape remembers vividly what life was like in Haiti before he was adopted and brought to America.

“Where I was in an orphanage we didn’t have a bed,” Pape said. “Everybody had to sleep on the hard floor.”

Pape said he is very grateful for the opportunity he had been given.

“I’m very lucky to come here,” Pape said. “There’s a lot of things that I have that they don’t have like a home, room for my own, electricity, an opportunity to play sports, and three to four meals a day when they are lucky to have one or two.”

Pape hopes to return to Haiti some day.

“Hopefully I can change their lives,” Pape said. “And give them an opportunity of education that my adopted parents gave me.”

More than 200,000 lives were lost, and two million left homeless. Pape said he’s learned from the tragedy.

“Just be happy with what you have,” Pape said. “Don’t take it for granted because any day it can be taken away.”

From the first day Pape arrived in America, his life was changed.

“People in Haiti are living in the streets now,” Pape said. “It bothers me a little bit because it could have been me in there.”

“The Great Texas blizzard of 2009″ as some are calling it (there’s even an I Survived the Great Texas Blizzard 2009 Facebook group), left us with a Christmas we will surely never forget. The snow was packed high on streets and highways making it hard for people to travel leaving many families with the choice to postpone Christmas. Trees were knocked over, carports were caved in, and cars were trapped in parking lots all over the town. Though many stayed inside their homes, others were stranded out on the streets for what seemed like eternity leaving many students with great stories to tell.

“Every year my entire family comes together and we eat, exchange gifts and hangout. This year we were going to postpone it because of all the snow, but with it being tradition and all, we didn’t. It took my aunts and uncles an hour to go not even 10 miles to my house. By time they arrived at my house they got stuck in the middle of my street, so they just left their cars there and walked to my house. It was an adventure, but I’d say it was a blast.”
-Sophomore Macye Ross

“I was stuck in the snow for four hours. My mom thought it’d be a brilliant idea to go to Lake Arrowhead. We got stuck half way there and some people helped us. We turned around to head back to Wichita and there was a traffic jam and all the exit ramps were blocked off. Nobody was helping people, so me and my brother got out and helped them push. The brilliant people who were going 90 mph threw the snow back onto us.”
-Senior Jeremy Boren

“I had to go to work that Thursday it started snowing. Well, obviously we closed early, so we each grabbed some trays so we could sled down the big Filmore hill before anyone else got to it. Well, we close down, and me, my manager and the cook all jumped in my big ol’ yellow Xterra. We start driving alright, then we get stuck. I mean, REALLY stuck. I’m reeving up, switching gears constantly,while my manager and cook are pushing in the back. We do this for a good 30 minutes…and, to say the least, I was already low on gas to begin with. Suddenly, I hear this *gugugugugugugugugu* noise, and my car won’t reeve up anymore. I peak my head out the window and yell out, “Umm…ya’ll might want to stop pushing…I just ran out of gas”. So now, we’re all back in my car, and I turn off my radio and put my car in park, so the heater could keep blowing for a while. Five minutes later, I hear the same *gugugugugugugugugugu* noise, and my car is completely DEAD. We immediately call my General Manager, and she agreed to get me gas. We waited out in my car, no heater, in complete awkward silence for a good hour before she came and gave me some gas. Luckily, she made some good tracks in the snow to follow, so with a little more reeving, we finally got out and headed home.”
-Senior Terran Watson

We’d love to hear your stuck in the snow stories. Just use the comments section to share!