Windsock

Asking a Girl to Banquet Shouldn't Be Scary?

Honestly, for most of you males at EMHS the issue of finding and actually asking a date to Banquet can be quite terrifying and incredibly embarrassing when the whole school knows exactly who you're going to ask. Now, I understand many of you have already asked a girl to Banquet but even if you have a date the information that follows can be applied in many life situations. First off, chill out. Girls aren't going to bite you; well, maybe some of them will but the majority won't, and they certainly don't have cooties, contrary to the popular elementary and sometime middle school belief. There are many ways to almost ensure yourself a date to Banquet; most ways involving the little miracle known to man as “chocolate.”

A Summation of the Lady Flames

The 2010-2011 Lady Flames Basketball Team began their season off slightly struggling with chemistry and meshing well together on the court. While playing they didn’t really seem to have much confidence in themselves or drive. They started out without a win for three straight games, dashing their hopes at first. Their first win finally arrived against Tandem Friends at the Covenant Christmas Tournament, where they demolished them with a score of 50-33. After that game they suffered two more consecutive loses but then regained their wining streak against Virginia Episcopal, winning by a small 3 point margin. Another memorial game for the Flames was against Holy Cross in which they championed over their conference rival 62-14.

HHS Basketball Gets Revenge

6’4 Drew Vrolijk started the basketball game at jump ball against the 6’7 Salim Charles. The referee signaled the game to start and pointed out which direction the two teams would be going. The ball was tossed up into the air and Salim quickly batted it away to his point guard. Michael Holmes was the first to score a basket for either team off an assist by guard Corbin Whitelow. On the first possession of the Flames Salim Charles blocked Senior Forward Mark Mast.

Flames Burn Streaks

The last time Emhs beat Harrisonburg High School was way back in 2008. This year the Flames finally grabbed a win against a relatively young Blue streaks squad with the final score coming to 63-60. The Harrisonburg Blue Streaks had come into this game with a record of 1-5.The game was intense and the stands overflowing. The Flames only began to lead with 41 second left of the game after Parker Leap hit three 3 pointers within the last minute and a half of the fourth quarter. The Blue Streaks had a striking 29 turnovers, mainly related to the Flames' effective zone press. The Flames trapped well and ran a smooth transitional offense with much fewer turnovers then the Streaks. Salim Charles, a 6'7 junior, had a very impressive game with a good amount of  blocks until foul trouble eventually caught up to him. Senior Michael Holmes added 31 points, which was over half of the Blue Streaks' closing score, and had an exciting dunk late in the 3rd quarter.

Varisty Soccer Falls in States

The first round of the Virginia State Tournament began on Friday the 5th, with the 9th ranked Eastern Mennonite Flames facing off with the 8th ranked St. Stephens and St. Agnus Saints.  The cloudy overcast and cold weather set the tone of the game to come. The Flames and Saints both warmed up, taking shots against their own goalies and running around to keep themselves warm. The two teams were equally matched in every aspect of the game, such as their intense defenders to their strong forwards, and had both done similar against other teams. It was clear the first round of states could easily go to either of these two teams.

When We All Work Together....

At every practice and game twelve very active Eastern Mennonite Elementary school children race back and fourth after one similar goal; to score a goal. They race to steal the soccer ball from each other in practice, and their opponents in their actual games. The soccer ball switches sides of the field,  from left to right as the players clump together, moving in a pack wherever the soccer ball is kicked. The almost synchronized pack moves down the field toward the goalie's outstretched hands. The coaches try to drill exactly how important spacing is while playing this sport, but these instructions will normally fall on deaf ears. Because everyone wants to be in on the action happening in the wide open field, why not join the rest of your teammates in struggling for control of the ball?

Soccer Varsity Advance to VIC Finals

On Thursday October 28, the Boys Varsity Soccer took the field against the LCA Bulldogs in the second round of the VIC tournament. The sun was bright, the sky blue, and the breeze brisk. The Flames started with the normal huddle and breaking the huddle with shouts of “ 1,2,3 Flames!”

The Juniors Were Out

Wednesday, October 6th started out early for all the students in the Junior class. At 7 the bus was supposed to leave but students were still streaming into the bus at 7:15, not unusual for the junior class at all.  The two hour bus ride was uneventful and many students dozed off, while others quietly listened to their iPods or read. Occasional food and water was passed out to the hungry and thirsty students on board the spacious coach.

The Annual "Ches Bay" Trip

The consistent rumble of the bus’s engine was all that kept me from falling sound asleep. We had left school early that morning, the sun barely raised above the white clouds. We had arrived at school much before the first bell sounded sending students scurrying towards their first period classes.  My mind and body, I realized were  not yet fully ready to be awake or alert at this time, as I sat on the bus listening to my music.  Cars passed us constantly, and I silently willed the bus to go even a little faster. Our bus driver and Environmental Science Teacher Mr. Good, would slowly reach his hand down every once and awhile for the extra-large bag of trail mix stationed at his feet. We were slowly headed toward a weekend of fun and learning at the Chesapeake Bay.

The Evening of Orange, or "The Magic of Luke"

Everyone has heard the term “and the crowd goes wild.” It's used for a game winning home-run in baseball, or a 360 slam-dunk in basketball. This term refers to something “extra-special” that happens in a sporting event and how the fans react to it. “The crowd goes wild” is the best way to describe the fans at the volleyball game dubbed “Dig Orange,” on Monday September 20th.  However, the crowd never stopped going wild.  The outpouring of fans for the Turner Ashby vs. EMHS girls volleyball game was incredible. Hundreds of students came out to cheer on the girls, not including the faculty or people from the community. Everywhere you turned the words “Hope, Faith, Courage” blared at you, in bright orange.

The whole idea of having an event called “Dig Orange” started out when the varsity teams wanted to do some sort of service project to benefit the community. Senior Leah Jacobs came up with the idea of “Dig Orange,” after being inspired by the famous fundraiser “ Dig Pink.” “Dig Orange” would profit the Leukemia Foundation, because of teammate Rebekah Hertzler's younger brother, Luke, who was diagnosed with leukemia this past summer. Everyone loved the idea! Head Coach Mary Hine says this whole event “really brought the [two volleyball]  programs together.”