The game ended with West’s 28-21 win, which prompted the fans to storm the field.

Team members said the season was a learning opportunity.

After several players, including junior quarterback Dustie Fender, suffered injuries, several sophomore players on junior varsity had to be called up to varsity.

“Because of injuries, we’ve had to move a couple of players up from junior varsity,” Assistant Coach Ben Pierson said. “We were struggling with a team of about eight seniors, a few of which are new to the sport, a large group of juniors and a few players stepping up from JV.”

Sophomore James Murray was one of the players that moved up from junior varsity.

“It’s a huge honor, but there’s mixed feelings,” Murray said. “It’s great to be able to get a feel for how varsity plays, but at the same time it’s disappointing to go from winning games easily on JV to having a very difficult time on varsity.”

The football team has improved over the course of the season, a fact that is proved by the season high 35 points scored by the offense against Brevard on homecoming night.

The junior varsity team has proven to be a formidable opponent by winning every game except for the final game against East Henderson, 22-28.

“Moving up the younger players to varsity hasn’t hurt the junior varsity team that badly, but it’s for the better,” Pierson said. “There’s a big difference between the level of play from the two.  The players are bigger, faster and stronger.  I’ve got a good feeling for the next few years since the sophomores this year will have more experience that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

By Patrick Martin, Head of Tech

A total of 16 shows were performed on the two days with only two picked to advance to the state level. West students performed “A Fatal Mindset” and “Anatomy of Gray” on Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

“A Fatal Mindset” was student written by seniors Melanie Perez and Jennie Battle. Battle also performed as a lead alongside senior Maddie Tweed in “A Fatal Mindset.” The storyline consisted of Tweed’s character, Miranda, being killed in a car crash and receiving a second chance to live on earth through Battle’s character, Madison.

The shows presented by West garnered a total of eight awards. Seniors Heath Wines, Katie Miller, Connor Courtney and junior Cavan Stanaway took home four excellence in acting awards. Additionally, Battle and Tweed won an award for excellence in dual acting. Perez and Battle won an award for excellence in student writing. Austin Downing won an award for excellence in sound design and Kelly Cooper, the director of both shows, was awarded best director.

“On my way up to receive the best director award, I wanted to take my whole class up with me because they are the ones who truly allowed me to win this,” Cooper said.

Despite winning eight awards, neither one of West’s shows were passed on to compete at a state level. However, “neeT Teen,” (Kinston High School) and “This Is a Play,” (Kings Mountain High School) advanced to the state competition.

By Austin Downing, Editor in Chief of Wingspan Online

The band also took first place in music, color guard and percussion and second place for drum major.

“It got us off to a great start for this marching season,” drum major Mollie Jones said. “I am extremely proud of our band and how far we have come since the first day of band camp. We are looking forward to our next three competitions.”

The Class of 2014 recently announced the members of the 2013 Homecoming Court. They include freshmen Mandy Ayers and Chloe Biggs; sophomores Emma Allison and Morgan Lindsey; juniors Jessica Parce, Polly Phillips and Jamie Speth; and seniors Savannah Austin, Caitlyn Corl, Chandler Danielson, Vicki Kuznetsov, Grace Levi, Stasia McMullen, Hayley Morris and Samantha Younger.

Spirit week has been scheduled for Oct. 14-18. The homecoming queen will be crowned at halftime of the football game against Brevard on Oct. 18.

by Joel Fennimore

Former East Henderson High School football player James “Matt” Bishop and three of his fellow players, Tyler Scott Garren, Justin Ponder and Vincent Joseph Curto were accused of second degree rape in December 2012.

On Sept. 12 and 13 Bishop appeared on the Dr. Phil Show accompanied by his parents, Diane and Mark Bishop. The two-part special also featured the alleged victim, as well as other guests relating to date rape.

While on the show Bishop admitted to being intoxicated with Garren, Ponder, Curto and the alleged victim. Bishop and his parents maintain that the sex was consensual, even initiated by the the girl.

“Around 10 p.m. the girl took me by my hand downstairs where she unbuttoned my pants. After I had sex with her, she kept on asking for more, and I couldn’t give any more so around 10:30, I went upstairs and I told them that she kept on saying that she wanted more,” Bishop said. “And that’s when Wesley went downstairs. When he came back upstairs, he had the same response that I did, saying that she kept on asking for more and more. I was in a daze, about to go to bed, pretty much passed out and all I know is Tyler went downstairs.”

Dr. Phil McGraw, a television personality, author, psychologist and the host of the television show, did not comment on Bishop’s guilt or innocence related to the rape charges,  but said he believed Bishop made bad decisions.

“Number one, you’re committing a crime: being in possession and consuming alcohol, and two, you set up a scenario that is fraught with danger,” McGraw said. ”So can we agree that you did do some things wrong that night?”

Later in the episode McGraw interviewed the alleged victim who admitted that she had had past sexual relations with Bishop, but she came to the party under the pretense that there would be other girls.

“I told them I was going back downstairs, that I was going to leave this and when I went downstairs, I ended up on the ground and I don’t really know how,” the alleged victim said. “And when I was on the ground, they just kind of started taking off my clothes again. And Vinny (Curto) stuck his hand down my pants. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t move.”

The show drew mixed reactions from the student body ranging from those who hoped it would uncover the truth to concerns as to how it would portray the Henderson County area.

“The stories don’t connect in my opinion. To be honest with you, I am surprised that the issue left North Carolina,” freshman Garret Baker said.

Baker and sophomore James Murray both said they were surprised at the level of publicity the case has received.

“I thought it was kind of weird for it to be something so close to home. I didn’t know him (Bishop) at all, but it is strange how it is on national television,” Murray said.

Many students have taken sides after hearing both Bishop and the victim on the two episodes.

“I can see it from both sides, but I can see more from the girl’s side,” junior Sandra Nuw said.

Bishop’s parents also claimed his innocence even going so far as to say the alleged victim was the one who should be charged with rape since “she ruined his life.”

“I feel that both sides are lying, but I think that the episode judged too harshly. She was kind of overstepping the boundaries of what actually happened,” senior Shelby Barton said.

A trial date for the four teens has been set for Nov. 12 in Henderson County Superior Court.

 “We will be judging your success and talent as a teacher based on your students’ test scores and the amount of growth your students show over the course of the year. Whether or not you have a job will depend on your test scores.” Teachers hear this and gasp, frantically thinking about the year ahead.

The N.C. General Assembly, pushed by the federal Race to the Top initiative, wants teachers evaluated on the basis of student performance with student performace measured by standardized tests.

On the surface, it may seem like a legitimate way to evaluate educators. Teachers do need to be evaluated, and what better way to do this than see how their students perform? But in reality, so much more goes on in the classroom than can be measured in an hour of multiple choice bubbling.

Remember that amazing sixth grade class that taught you everything about ancient Greece and Rome? You came into class decked out in a homemade, safety-pinned, bed sheet and discovered the fantastical world of city-states and Homer. Although this experience did not teach you sentence structure or the quadratic formula, it fostered your creativity and taught you to think differently about the world around you. 

Another significant flaw can be found in this system of assessing teachers. Growth. My mother is a teacher for the academically gifted. The students in her classroom consistently score in the 99th percentile on their end of year tests. How is she supposed to get her students to show growth when they are scoring in the highest percentile?

Why can we treat teachers equally when we offer an array of different classes for the variety of students? Teachers who are teaching the upper-level thinkers should be evaluated in a different way than those teaching the students who have to be forced to go to class. Scores on end-of-year exams come from the amount of effort a student puts into school and the test itself, not the amount of effort a teacher puts into educating his or her class. 

A student is more than just a number. A teacher is more than just a number. Life cannot be summarized by linear progression. From year to year, there might be retrogression and there might be downfalls, but success is individualized and not necessarily measurable. Whether or not teachers can actually be assessed at the end of the year is for to debate. To truly evaluate a teacher, someone needs to enter the classroom and observe rather than crunch the numbers produced on test day. Right now a standardized test is not an accurate cross-section of the effort placed into one year. Thus, legislators and education officials needs to rethink how they are operating.  

by Anna Yarbrough