What’s going on?

Why doesn’t the administration give us the lowdown on the lockdown?

Tyler Jones

What is the biggest threat in a school lock down? Apparently, it is the unknown. School districts around the country have always adopted the policy of having an informational black hole, but this isn’t necessarily always the right decision.

In the face of the many school shootings that have happened in the past decade, it is time for school policies to be rethought. Teenagers are at the age where they are trusted to not kill another person while driving on the road; however, they are not entrusted with information about whether or not their lives are in danger. This is a slap in the face to students everywhere. Blaine Cahill, a GJHS sophomore said when talking about school lock downs, “I really do think that the school should let us know what is going on.” Not telling students what is happening requires that administrators have no respect for the young adults that they see every day.

The school could benefit from letting students know what is happening during a lock down. Every piece of relevant information is crucial in the middle of a lock down. If a student was acting a little off a few days ago, another student may have realized it. This second student could tell a school administrator and potentially save the lives of everyone around them. The transfer of information is being blocked in an environment where it is the one thing that is never abundant. There would also be a perceived higher sense of security with students, knowing the difference between a drill and a legitimate lock down could mean the difference in a student’s sense of safety in a school. Students would also feel that the administration actually thinks about their feelings.

It is clear that students are unhappy not knowing what situation they are in, and schools have the opportunity to have more information in crucial moments. School districts around the country have the chance to revolutionize the way they handle emergency situations and protect their students’ lives. Right now is the time to take this necessary step.

GJHS Junior Louis Guillen grabs a close win

Steven Adams

The scoreboard was counting down, now less than 20 seconds left in the match. The crowd was on their feet, screaming for Grand Junction High School’s Louis Guillen to pin his opponent. Central High School’s Dusty Sanchez was on his back, struggling to keep his shoulders off the mat, and in just a few swift seconds he was pinned. The crowd erupted in cheers as Guillen’s arm was raised in victory.

This was the championship match for the 138-pound weight class, which was probably the most exciting match of the night. Guillen recalled that, with about a minute left, “There was some pushing and shoving in the back” and he and Sanchez were in each other’s faces when the whistle was blown.  Guillen said that the anger that he felt definitely helped him win the match.

While he had two good matches that night, the rest of the team “Didn’t do so hot,” said Guillen. “They need to pin the guys when they’re on their back.” There were several situations when a Tiger wrestler was in a good position and couldn’t keep their opponent down. “It’s hard to wrestle kids that don’t want to get pinned or beat by a lot of points, so they wrestle defensively,” GJHS Sophomore Jacob Trujillo told the Daily Sentinel. “It makes it a challenge when they wrestle not to lose.”

Grand Junction High School finished fourth at the Jackpot Duels with 141.5 points, trailing Central’s 147, Palisade’s 154 and Fruita’s 175. GJHS had four champions, more than both Central and Palisade with two and one, respectively.  Fruita walked away from the tournament with five individual champions.

While this wasn’t the best match for the Tiger wrestling team, Junction’s top wrestelers truly rose to the occasion. While they may not have won the jackpot, Trujillo walked away with the champion’s trophy and Guillen improved his record to 14-3.

Reading the Orange & Black makes you more of a hardcore thug than you think.

Photos by Jeremy Poland

Taylor Wood

     The Dark Corner Club, Granola Club, Key club: GJHS has a diverse array of clubs to choose from. One of the newest additions is the Gay-Straight Alliance club. Started by senior co-presidents Emma McNulty and Rebel Hall, the GSA club is meant to be a safe place to go where all kids are welcome.

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Matt Prinster

Like most significant issues of today, it seems to be a subject of polar opposites. For every group of people who are strongly in favor, another party is altogether bitter about it. In some areas, people have learned to live with it, while others jump on every opportunity to protest against it in hopes of stomping out every last bit of the fire that burns in the subject’s core. The subject, of course, is gay marriage.

Gay marriage has been described 

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The new O&B print was distributed today! If you didn’t get one pick up a copy in the commons!

By Josh Murdock

Empty Bowls is an international project to battle hunger, put on by Catholic Outreach. Recently, Daniel Lionberger, senior, produced 17 bowls to donate to the Empty Bowls foundation as an assignment for his Independent Art Study class.

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By Josh Murdock

From the NFL, to the NBA and MLB, professional athletes are simply overpaid. I feel as if people who dropped out of college or skipped college to play a sport should not be paid more than more than say a person who spent immense time and money going to med school, or graduating from law school. 

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Milena Castaneda

Two gold keys from one art picture, that’s what Edgar Garcia-Rodriguez had done. He had won a gold key in the Colorado Scholastic Artistic and Writing in Denver first. 

When he won a gold key in state, he automatically qualified to go to nationals, which was in New York City.

“I was surprised. When we first

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By Josh Murdock

The knitting club is a fun, welcoming group of about 15-20 students led my Mrs. Ann Peterson. The club meets every Friday in the back of the library at lunch. In the knitting club, students “learn to knit and crochet, and if you do not know how to knit and crochet you can come learn. We have needles and we have guys as well,” Peterson said. 

If you desire a custom made hat, give $15 to Mrs. Peterson and the knitting club will knit or crochet you a custom hat made to the appearance of your liking. The money goes to supplies for the club; it is a non-profit.