Future Business Leaders of America Region Competition

The Creekview Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a strong student organization in the school encouraging students to enter the business field. The club’s purpose is to transition business-minded students into the business path by participating in the yearly region competitions, topics range from technology, business, and public speaking.

During the region competition, Creekview FBLA competed in 54 events placed in the top 10 out of 36 range. In addition, among the 54 events, 18 events qualified Creekview students for the state competition which will be held in March.

The FBLA state qualifiers include: Tommy A (Network Design), Kelly A (Help Desk), Andrew B (Introduction to Technology Concepts), Amanda A (Business Calculations), Samuel H (Intro. to Technology Concepts), Morgan H (Business Communication), Haley H (Marketing and Personal Finance), Sarah M (Business Calculations), Andrea N (Personal Finance), Jessica P (Accounting and Intro. to Technology Concepts), Zach P (Into. to Business Communication), Austin R (Intro. to Technology Concepts), Jonathan R (Business Math and Network Design), and Shay S (Intro. to Business Communication).

Chris Jeffreys, the club sponsor, is very proud that Creekview students constantly want to achieve more and are setting themselves on the right path to success, especially in a business-minded world. Congratulations to all the winners at the region competitions and good luck at state.
Written by: Beatrice Torralba

FBLA Fall Leadership Conference

Creekview’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) recently attended the State Fall FBLA Leadership Conference, held annually at the University of Georgia. During the conference, members participated in small group workshops to build business leadership skills and competed in teams to test their skills. Awards from the team competitions at the Fall Motivational Rally were announced and Creekview’s own seniors, Macy D. and Casie W., finished first in Banking and Personal Finance. Other competitive events included: Public Speaking, Entrepreneurship, Business Ethics, Accounting, Job Interview, Web Site Design, and many more events dealing with different aspects of business. FBLA members were also able to listen to motivational guest speakers lecturing about being successful in the business world. The meeting was open to officers and students from across Georgia who are involved in FBLA.

FBLA members usually attend six conferences a year, starting with the Fall Motivational Rally progressing to Regional and State competitions. The Fall Motivational Rally and the Annual Fall Conference are open to any interested FBLA member. These events are previews to the school year's upcoming competitions and offer combined event team testing to allow students to see which competitive events they will be interested in for future conferences.

FBLA’s motto shown over the FBLA crest is “Service, Education, Progress.” The club is very involved in community service activities. Some include the Adopt-a-Child Foundation around Christmastime and the March of Dimes Campaign.

FBLA can benefit members by providing scholarship opportunities to those interested in pursuing a business career and provides hands-on, real-world business experience. Members can compete to win awards which can help when applying for colleges. Students gain a competitive edge for education and career success.

The club is sponsored by Coach Jeffreys. It meets in room 1310 on the first and last Tuesday of each month. FBLA is very active in the community, holding monthly social events such as the end-of-year banquet, Halloween parties, Christmas parades, and member cookouts.

Members are encouraged to earn Business Achievement Awards (BAA). The BAA’s is a self-directed business and leadership program designed to help students work on leadership skills with a heavy emphasis on integrated classroom projects and education. The program has four distinct levels: Future, Business, Leader, and America. Each level has its own set of qualifications. Levels can be reached by completing a certain set of business-related tasks.

Meetings are run just as an actual business meeting would occur. Topics discussed during the meetings include: current events, social events, and the planning of current community service activities. Another big part of the meetings is working on building business and leadership skills and preparing for competitions.

Creekview’s FBLA is a growing student organization always looking for new members. Anyone can join FBLA during any time of the year, but in order to participate in conferences, the student must be enrolled by certain deadlines. Creekview FBLA has 118 members so far this year, a huge growth from just 22 members its first year.
Written by: Gwen Kirby

Cherokee County Graduation Controversy

On January 20th 2011, The Cherokee County Board of Education had a meeting on behalf of legal issues and objections raised by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State in regard to the graduation venue at First Baptist Church in Woodstock. The argument raised by the Americans United was that Cherokee County graduation should not be held in a church because it violates their rights as Americans. Arguments raised included, “If it is illegal to have a graduation in a church because you see a cross, then it should be illegal to make a church near a road.” Others expressed concerns stating, “We already sent out invitations to our relatives from other states and I don’t want to have to tell them they cannot come because of lack of seats.”

There were many alternatives in regard to where graduation could be held, some included the Cobb Energy Center and the Georgia Dome but they were not as cheap or space accommodating as the First Baptist Woodstock.

Four brave Creekview students: Lauren P, Torey T, Jessica I, and Danielle T all stood up to speak on the behalf of Creekview’s senior class. The four of the students had great convincing arguments that eventually turned out on their favor. The Board unanimously voted in favor of having graduation in the First Baptist Church in Woodstock

Written by: Trey Ayres

The Snowpocalypse of Georgia, is it over?

It is not often that Georgians get to see some serious snow but just last week, January 10th through the 14th that is just what they saw. The first snowfall came Sunday night and left an average of seven inches on some very anxious Georgian’s lawns. The roads were hidden from view and were for the most part indistinguishable from the regular ground. However, the snow did not come as a surprise, students and teachers alike were already expecting for school to be cancelled at least till Wednesday. Everywhere, people rushed to the stores to stock up on necessities such as bread, milk, eggs, and even barrels of cheese puffs in preparation for the unsafe conditions of the roads. With their barren shelves, Cherokee County’s grocery stores resembled wastelands. To the multitude of Georgians, it appeared they were going to be trapped at home for days.

It turned out that Georgians were right. School ended up being cancelled due to the heavy snowfall, giving students and unexpected break. The snow began to melt away on Thursday, but it was not until Friday that the roads became safe to drive on. Still, it was not quite safe enough for buses to be put back in use yet, so a whole week of school was missed.

The Cherokee County school board was then faced with the task of rescheduling the days missed. The first idea that went around was that students would attend school on Saturdays for awhile, but that was quickly ruled out. Next, the board considered cancelling February break but that seemed unfair and was also dismissed. Then a fair decision was reached: students would attend school on March 17th and 18th which were originally furlough days.

Yet the peril of the roads did not deter those who were determined to get out of their homes (after all four days stuck inside is a long time indeed). Many of the automobiles on the road were SUVs and trucks with four-wheel drive. But Cherokee County officials did make sure to clear the main roads, such as hospital roads, quickly and efficiently.

A snowfall ranging around 7 inches last occurred in the Blizzard of 1993. This snow storm was definitely more pleasant than the Blizzard of 1993, which stretched from Canada to Central America and left 300 dead in the United States. Thankfully this time around the snowfall was not nearly as devastating. The fact that school has been cancelled various times due to snow is astonishing as snow is usually rare in Georgia, even during the winter season.

Written by: Taylor Gates

Save the Ta-Tas

About one in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their life time. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this year is the 25th anniversary to awareness, education, and early detection.

Breast cancer is the fifth deadliest form of cancer worldwide, and the second most common cancer among woman. In 2006, almost 200,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and almost 41,000 women died from it.

Every year, mothers, sister, aunts, etc, are diagnosed with breast cancer; some survive, but not everyone is lucky enough to fight off this terrible disease. This is why we have Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to find ways to save more lives.

Creekview contributed towards the Breast Cancer cause by holding fundraisers through selling cookies at the school store. A portion of the proceeds and donations go towards breast cancer research. The cookies sold raised about $200, and some of the proceeds went to funding the Georgia Cancer Foundation. Also, during the third week of October, many people wore pink to raise awareness.

Carley C, a junior, said, “I know quite a few families that have people in their families that have breast cancer, so I think it’s great that our school is doing something to help.”

All throughout the nation, people and organizations are showing their support for the “ta-tas”. The NFL (National Football League) had all the teams alter their uniforms so that they had pink on their jerseys and helmets.

With the help of our school and foundations around the world, we can help suppress the number of Breast Cancer victims. So thanks to those who participated in the schools attempt to cure Breast Cancer.
Written by: Sammi Urban

Rifle team

Creekview’s JROTC officers have created our school’s first ever Rifle Team. Although the team is JROTC related, it is not just limited to JROTC students. In fact, any student that follows Creekview’s sports eligibility rules can qualify to be on the team. The team’s practices will be held at least two times a week in the mornings and afternoons to prepare the team members for their competitions. The season starts in January and ends in April.

During the practices and competitions, the team will shoot against other school’s Rifle Teams in competitive air rifles. Their stances include laying on the stomach, kneeling, and standing.

LTC Holly is dedicated to the team and believes “ this is a sport that requires you to be more precise and calm than other sport.”

The conception of the club arose from the use of it at other schools. Before being able to start the team, Creekview had to wait for permission due to safety measures. The rifles were retrieved from the United States Army. The team is now ready to start their season’s first practices.
Written by: Katelyn Presnell

Academic Team: High Q

Creekview High School’s Academic Team was on WSB-TV’s hit television show, High Q. High Q is a captivating question-and-answer game show that appears weekly on WSB-TV Channel 2. Each week, the unique program features scholastic competition between high school students across north Georgia. This program is hosted by famous Channel 2 Action News anchor John Bachman.

In their debut on the game show, Creekview High School’s Academic Team, consisting of Kyle Stancil (captain), Caleb Cochran, Alex O’ Connor, Beatrice Torralba, and Willie Burke (alternative), played against Alexander High School in Douglasville on November 17, but the show aired on November 28. The team answered dozens of challenging questions on a wide array of subjects including literature, math, history, science, and the arts. Questions also comprised of modern news of the day dealing with the current events making headlines each week. As the team went through multiple rounds, they never lost focus throughout the entire competition, and as a result, they beat Alexander High School! Creekview ended up with a score of 730 and Alexander with a score of 515. Therefore, they have advanced to the next round!

“Our team worked very hard with researching and actually competing against the internet by watching the High Q competition online. It made us more comfortable when we got on set since we had done this before, just in room 2205, instead of WSB studios,” stated Mr. Martin, the coach of Creekview’s Academic Team.

It was a close match throughout the entire game, with the scores seesawing back and forth, but in the end, Creekview was able to stand out and lead in scores. The Creekview team was supported by its fans; among them was Dr. Eddy, who was extremely proud of Creekview High School’s outstanding Academic Team. Because the team is moving on in the competition, their next round will be played on January 30, and will be aired later on. The winning team who goes all the way to the championship round will receive a $1000 scholarship and a trophy for each member. The second place team will receive a $500 scholarship for each member as well. Catch the show, featuring our Academic team by clicking on this link! (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/25838195/index.html)
Written by: Maida Ahmad