Ram Write-Up - Maple Valley Community Schools

Sticky Fingers
By Sylvia Pedersen
Perfect. Perfect grades, perfect relationship,
perfect boyfriend, perfect life. That is
how Jenna Kassarian, the main character in
the book Sticky Fingers, feels her life needs to
be.
By the middle of her senior year of high
school, Jenna has her entire life in order. She
has the perfect boyfriend, early admittance
to Harvard, a best friend who knows everything
about her, and the life she has always
seen for herself.
She gets her early acceptance letter just
before Christmas vacation, which, for most
people, would make it easier to relax, but not
for Jenna. She still has to make sure she still
gets at least second or third in her class at
graduation; she has to make sure she stays
focused.
This doesn’t seem easy when the “perfect”
boyfriend is beginning to pressure her into
being more loose about everything. She
doesn’t realize just how far he would go to
get her to loosen up. To her, he is the perfect
boyfriend. He’s naturally smart (he doesn’t
have to study for anything), he helps her with
her homework when she needs it, he’s a study
buddy, he is a popular jock, and on top of all
By Jeff Koithan
Imagine you and your family are driving
across the country. Soon, you are in the desert
and you get into a terrible crash, but everyone
is OK. Then, all of the sudden, psychotic
cannibals are attacking you and your family!
The film The Hills Have Eeyes, directed by
Alexandre Aja, is remake of the 1977 version.
The movie begins with some footage of
an old nuclear test sight where the government
did many nuclear tests. The government
was forcing people to leave the prop-
Page 3, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
of that, he is really cute. What more could a
girl ask for?
Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, has always
been there for her, but around Christmas, she
begins to change. She gets more involved
with her South American boyfriend, gets
caught stealing nail polish by Jenna, and finds
out her parents are splitting up. She pretends
to be fine, but with everything that happens,
especially her dad moving out, the pressure
starts to get to her.
Courtney overhears Jenna’s boyfriend,
Scott, behind the store they both work at, talking
to a guy that works the dock. Scott’s conversation
involved a type of drug, so
Courtney decided to talk to Scott about it, and
in return, he ended up blackmailing her.
In the end, Scott turn out to be nothing
more than an insecure boy, and Courtney and
Jenna’s friendship is tested, but remains
strong. Jenna ends up in a loving relationship
with someone who means a lot to her.
Sticky Fingers discusses the relatively hidden
world of a certain type of drug. It is very
important to young people to be informed of
this, and Sticky Fingers helps do this. Read
the book to find out what drug was being
abused.
Horrifying thriller
proves to be a “must see”
erty, but some didn’t leave at all. The radiation
from the tests caused a family to have
deformed children. Now the children are
grown up, alone in the desert, and in search
for food. That food is people!
This movie will surely have you screaming
your head off, and then you’ll want to
see it again. There are not many famous actors
or actresses in this movie, but the people
in the movie do a very fine job. This is a must
see!
I rate this horrifying thriller with four out
four Ram heads.
Speech students
attend district and
state competitions
Back row: Stephen Phillips, Chris Sadler, Nate Sadler, Jeff
Bruning, and Alex Wimmer. Front row: Alli Jo Lloyd, Elizabeth
Sturgeon, Kendra Perkins, and Lindsey Carothers. Missing
from the photo is Amy Bruning.
By Jesse Nielsen
March 4, Mrs. Conover and several students
went to Storm Lake to attend district
Speech Contest.
Two or the students that went were Chris
Sadler and Stephen Phillips. When asked
about the contest Stephen said, “It was pretty
fun. I liked the surprise or the Improvisation
and met some cool people.” Chris said, ”It
worked out good and Mrs. Conover was a
good coach. It wasn’t to hard and didn’t take
much practice.
There were different categories in which
the 10 students competed. Here is a list of
the students and their categories.
Chris Sadler-improvisation
Nate Sadler-improvisation
Stephen Phillips-improvisation
Amy Bruning-Radio news, Literary Program
Jeff Bruning-Story Telling
Alex Wimmer-Expository Address
Lindsey Carothers-Literary Program
Elizabeth Sturgeon-Story telling
Ally Jo Lloyd-Story telling
Kendra Perkins-Poetry
On the 18th the continuing students went
to the State Level at Algona, Iowa. They
needed a I to continue to this point. Here is a
list of the students and their rankings (I being
excellent II being good)
Alex Wimmer I
Stephen Phillips I
Amy Bruning I
Jeff Bruning II
Lindsey Carothers II
Mrs. Conover said, “ They were a great
group and I enjoyed it.” Any one can compete
in the competition because no special
classes are required. If interested, see Mrs.
Conover next year.
“They were a great group and I enjoyed it.”
-Mrs. Conover