Ford tabbed Lakeside Middle School (Little Elm ISD) Assistant Principal Marilyn Rabsatt as his choice.

                Rabsatt has spent the past three years at Lakeside Middle School and prior to that was an assistant principal in the Dallas ISD at Molina High School. Her days in the classroom were spent at Roosevelt High School where she was the lead science teacher after getting married and prior to that she taught science in Tennessee for six years.

“I’ve always been interested in science,” Rabsatt said, “There’s always something new to discover.”

Part of her duties as an AP in other districts have included being in charge of the Science Department, as well as the testing coordinator and crisis management.

“So far at Denton, I haven’t been given any other duties besides science,” Rabsatt said. “But I’m hoping to also be able to work closely with incoming freshman.”

                With most not wanting to deal with the hassle that comes with incoming freshman, Rabsatt is willing to step up to the plate.

“I understand them because I was also an AP at a middle school, so I can help them transition,” Rabsatt said. “I can also make the biggest impact on freshman and help guide them in the right direction to help them be the best they can be.”

Ford is excited to have Rabsatt on board to help in the transition phase.

 “She has experience in her career that will help DHS as we move into the next era,” Ford said.

                Rabsatt is excited to help and believes the opportunities a kid is given in high school help set them up for college and entering the workforce.

“I want to know what a student’s opinions and interests are so I can help show them different opportunities to get involved that they will enjoy,” Rabsatt said.  “I also want to provide more leadership opportunities for students as well as teachers. I was really outgoing in high school and I knew what I wanted, but for the kids that don’t know what they want, I would love to help them find their niche.”

                Due to the size of DHS, Rabsatt is happy to see that the students and faculty are a close knit community with a strong academic and instructional focus.

                She has also made an impression on those she has worked with in her few weeks at the school.

“Marilyn Rabsatt is great,” attendance secretary Jo Thomas said.  “She is very friendly and you can tell she cares about the students and the faculty.”

                The experience Rabsatt hopes to gain at DHS as an AP is necessary for her to reach her future goals.

 “I am constantly learning and growing and eventually I would like the opportunity to become a high school principal,” Rabsatt said. “But I am really excited to be here at DHS.”

Of the 11 district losses, four came by one run and three others by two. The team’s struggles were due in large part to not being able to get a key hit when they needed it the most.  Four of the teams five non-distirct losses came by one run as well.

As a team they hit .253 overall up .22 points from a season ago, but managed to hit at just a .181 clip in district play also slightly higher than a year ago.
Despite the lack of hitting, the team was able to push across 109 runs, while giving up just 113.

“We were able to stay in all our games this year late into the ballgame and giving ourselves a chance to win.” Coach Glen Harrison, said. “We just didn’t have as much success with our hitting and specifically, hitting with runners in scoring position as we needed.”
The defense and pitching were two areas of marked improvement for the team as they cut their errors from a year ago down from 68 to 42 and walked 19 less batters.

“I am looking to build on the success of this year,” Harrison said. “We put a lot of emphasis on defense and pitching this past off-season and we will continue to do that next year, however we must improve our hitting and we will address that as well.”
The program will lose nine seniors off this year’s team that in Harrison’s two years have started to set a tone for the program. Eight of the nine players who are graduating started at some point during the season.
“We will return Mark Johnson, Terrance Lucas, Charles Boosa, Ryan Duggan, Trevor Claytor, Josh Chavez, Bowie Farris, John Collins, for next year’s lineup,” Harrison said. “As for our next year’s pitching staff goes Roman Arnold, Brayden Flynn, Brendan Davenport and Dylan Tekell will help solidify the varsity pitching and catching duties.”
With the returning nucleus and the hard work the team has been putting in, Harrison is excited for next year.
“Our team chemistry was much improved this year from last,” Harrison said. “We had more players putting in time in the off season to get better and I look for that to increase in attendance this next year as well.”

That one thing was playing football and earning a college scholarship.

 Davis saw both those dreams come true in April when he signed a letter of intent to play ball at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar Missouri.

Davis always knew he had a chance to achieve his goals even if others didn’t believe in him.

“My friends and some of my other classmates asked me where I was going to high school at,” Davis said. “I told them I was going to Denton High and they all told me that if I went there I wouldn’t be able to excel in football.”

Davis, who plans to play defensive tackle hasn’t decided on a major, but knows he wants to minor in psychology.

“All I know at this point is that I want to do something to help other people out,” Davis said. “A lot of people helped me out, so I just want to return the favor.”

Looking back on his four years on campus, Davis notes there isn’t anything he would change. Yes he says he made mistakes, but he learned from them to make himself better.

“I’m not perfectly happy with my past, but I live just one day at a time,” Davis said. “I don’t look back on what I could have done, but learn what I can do with my future.”

It’s with that attitude that Davis approaches every day with a smile on his face.

“I have always had it in the back of my mind that if anyone says I can’t do something, I’m going to prove them wrong,” Davis said.

The scholarship opportunities for the students are the senior scholarship, the junior travel award and the Global Citizen Scholarships for freshman and sophomores.

Premio de Oro (Gold Medal) – Top 5% of the nation

1.            Kody Jones, 9th grade, Level 1

2.            Gabriela Godina, 11th grade, Bilingual Level 2

3.            Vanessa Jimenez, 9th grade, Bilingual Level 2

4.            Omar Akram, 10th grade, Level 2

5.            Elena Souris, 11th grade, Level 2

6.            Alejandro Ruiz, 9th grade, Bilingual Level 2 (scored in the top 1% of the nation)

7.            Ariana Rodriguez, 11th grade, Bilingual Level 2

8.            Yolanda Narcisso, 12th grade, Bilingual Level 3

Premio de Plata (Silver Medal) – Top 15% of the nation

1.            Giovanny Gomez, 9th grade, Bilingual Level 2

2.            Flor Macias, 9th grade, Bilingual Level 2

3.            Taylor Beatty, 10th grade, Level 2

4.            Rosalena Granados, 9th grade, Level 2

5.            Danielle Jacobson, 9th grade, Level 2

6.            Katy McGregor, 12th grade, Level 2

7.            Christopher Penny, 10th grade, Level 2

8.            Anna Ryu, 10th grade, Level 2

9.            Isaac Warriner, 10th grade, Level 2

10.          Cynthia Hernandez, 11th grade, Bilingual Level 3

11.          Nicolas Cortes, 11th grade, Level 2

12.          George Roberson, 10th grade, Level 3

13.          William Root, 10th grade, Level 3

14.          Cristal Benitez, 11th grade, Bilingual Level 4

Premio de Bronce (Bronze Medal) – Top 25% of the nation

1.            Stephen Ashcraft, 9th grade, Level 1

2.            Andy Ye, 9th grade, Level 1

3.            Pedro De Santana, 10th grade, Bilingual Level 2

4.            Gus Cocchiarella, 10th grade, Level 2

5.            Cynthia Pantaleon, 10th grade, Level 2

6.            Tasnya Rasheed, 10th grade, Level 2

7.            Nicole Beisel, 11th grade, Level 4

8.            Emily Gray, 11th grade, Level 3

Mención Honorífica (Honorary Mention)– above the national average

1.            Fawaz Alhumaidi, 9th grade, Level 1

2.            Ellen Biggerstaff, 9th grade, Level 1

3.            Abdalla Justaniah, 10th grade, Level 1

4.            Peyton Lenaburg, 9th grade, Level 1

5.            Jose Cortes, 9th grade, Bilingual Level 2

6.            Blanca Guijarro, 11th grade, Bilingual Level 2

7.            Samuel Re Calderon, 10th grade, Bilingual Level 2

8.            Michelle Acogido, 10th grade, Level 2

9.            Jacob Audirsch, 10th grade, Level 2

10.          Taylor Sorrells, 10th grade, Level 2

11.          Annya McManus, 9th grade, Level 2

12.          Rachel Villarreal, 10th grade, Level 2

13.          Emily Curran, 11th grade, Level 3

14.          Kendall Wagner, 11th grade, Level 3

15.          Johnathan Penny, 11th grade, Level 3

16.          Ethan Young, 10th grade, Level 3

17.          Kevin Ye, 9th grade, Level 1

I credit my liking the film wholly to Jennifer Lawrence. She embodies her character, Katniss, a teenager who is drafted into the titular Hunger Games as the female representative of ‘District 12,’ and is truly great in the role. Josh Hutcherson, who plays her male counterpart, Peeta, also does a good job with what he’s given, particularly at the end. Other standout performances come from Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Lenny Kravitz (Cinna), and Stanley Tucci (the on-air host of the games).

It should be explained at this point what The Hunger Games are.

Each district selects a male and a female to fight to the death in a large arena with the other contestants, while the audience watches live from home.

The tradition of having such a war started when the people of the country revolted… this is their punishment from the government.

Most of the film is very effective. Director Gary Ross refuses to make the film about the fighting, instead focusing his camera on Katniss most of the time. This allows for adrenaline-filled action scenes as well as parts that inform us about Katniss. But the chemistry between Lawrence and Hutcherson is what drives the film. In fact, most of the character relationships are very authentic and keep the film grounded.
But The Hunger Games bites off more than it can chew, at times, and doesn’t make good usage of its long running time. In a film featuring children killing other children, I expect some heavier themes to be explored. It had a great opportunity to grill the reality-TV-filled world we live in today, but instead it just makes light jokes about it. And while the violence wasn’t graphic, it didn’t help my understanding of their overall situation and I would have much rather seen how the characters felt about it.

Too much of the film was setup for a sequel. But why shouldn’t it be? The Hunger Games will go down as one of the highest grossing movies of all-time, and Lionsgate, the film’s distributor, should expect the same dollar amounts for its two sequels in the works. Eventually, we’ll be able to judge the series as a whole, and maybe we’ll find that it is truly brilliant. But as long as the rest of the films deliver the same level of excitement, entertainment, and Jennifer Lawrence to its audience, I won’t be able to complain.

Those seven students consist of William Root, Omar Akram, Wade Cope, Kevin Ye, Emily Fu, Rebecca Fu and Anna Mitchell. Other students who competed, but didn’t advance to state, but helped the team take a third place overall finish in the region were Chris Murillo, William Parker, Alex Elizalde, Lauara Niguidula, Nico Cortes and George Roberson.

The two teams advancing to state are number sense which grabbed a first place finish as a team and saw  Root place first individually. Spelling and vocabulary also earned a first place team finish and had a tie for second place individually in Akram and Emily Fu. Rebecca Fu placed fifth individually.

“I am extremely proud of everyone that participated this past weekend,” UIL Coordinator Fred Mueller said. “I want to thank the students and the coaches for their hard work this season.”

“I learned that the cancer had become ‘metastatic’ and spread to my liver, lung, spine, and pelvic bones,” he said. “At this point, I was given a life sentence of about a year.”

Mr. Massegee, Dean of Instruction, was first diagnosed with cancer in February 2011.

“A pulled tooth erupted into ‘adenoid cystic carcinoma of the sinuses’ which was dormant cancer cells under the tooth,” he said. “The entire left side of my face was removed from the bottom of my eye socket down through the top row of my teeth. This was all reconstructed with the bone and tissue from my right Fibula bone in my leg.”

The Fibula was completely removed and used as bone structure while the tissue was used to rebuild the face itself.

“The leg is still not completely healed,” he said. “That is why I now have a limp. That surgery was quite extensive and I was on life support for three days. Then I spent a week in ICU, then another week in a regular room. Two weeks later, I had to return because much of the tissue was dying and had to be removed.”

The next procedure was successful, and a few weeks later, Mr. Massegee began aggressive radiation and chemotherapy. This treatment went on for seven weeks.

“I was very sick and lost over 120 pounds,” he said. “Upon its completion, I was told that the cancer in my face was gone and have since had two more surgeries to help repair the damage. These surgeries have resulted in only minimal improvements because of the stubbornness of the leg tissue.”

On Thanksgiving Day in 2011, Mr. Massegee’s mother passed away. Though this was tragic, he was ready to start fresh in 2012.

“I was ready to dive into my work and complete my PhD,” he said. “That is, until I received my death sentence.”

Now, Mr. Massegee’s focus has changed.

“My new mission is to complete my book and to spend time with my dog on a few road trips,” he said. “My emotions and feelings throughout this experience have been very much on a roller coaster ride and I have to say that I’ve experienced every emotion possible. My job has always kept me grounded and the students who respond to my assistance have been the ones to make me want to go another day. It has always been my passion to help students who need me most, watch them turn things around, and watch them experience new success so that they can continue on independently.”

Associate Principal Mrs. Renee Koontz, who set up a spaghetti dinner benefit event for Mr. Massegee, wanted to help in his time of need.

“We all know someone who’s been touched by cancer, and the ability to help someone is important,” she said. “Brian’s been important to the Bronco family, and we just want to support him.”

According to both Mr. Massegee and the numbers, she has succeeded. The event raised over $11,000.

“I am completely overwhelmed by the benefit by the school,” he said. “It has brought together so many different aspects of my life and I don’t know that I could ever express the gratitude that I have for how much this will help me—but most of all how appreciated this makes me feel. I am hearing from students I have not seen in over 7 or more years and I am seeing a respect and appreciation from young people that everyone should witness. It is amazing.”

It’s times like this when he questions why people think each successive generation of students is worse than the last.

“Kids are going to be kids no matter when they are born,” he said. “People are going to be human when they are most in need. This is absolutely amazing to me to see what wonderful young adults all of these kids are becoming. There’s nothing wrong with our kids today.”

Massegee feels completely at ease with life and the decisions he has made.

“There is really nothing I would do differently, and this is the honest truth,” he said. “Believe me, I have thought a lot about it. I did a job I absolutely loved and was even considering moving back into the classroom up until my final ‘death sentence.’ There is nothing in the world quite like teaching and how good it makes me feel to watch the transformation of a student as they learn new things.”

It becomes even more rewarding if those students were labeled as at risk or a problem.

“These are always my favorite because they are just screaming for some real learning—they just don’t know it yet,” he said. “They need a teacher who gets them and who is willing to take on that challenge with a genuine (not routine) effort. The kids always know if we care, no matter how much we try to pretend in some cases. I just want to be remembered as an educator who truly wanted to make a difference. I have always had the personality of someone who has to save everyone. I know this is unrealistic in a sense, but it is who I am and what I instilled in my job. I always believed there wasn’t a student I couldn’t turn around.”

The students that end up going in a wrong direction are the ones that Massegee is most passionate about, but he can’t always change them.

“I tend to remember those more than the successes because I feel like I have done something wrong,” he said. “I have used those experiences to improve upon my personal skills and it has only led to helping others.”

This doesn’t mean he quits; just that he learns from the experience and takes that knowledge into the next challenge.

“It is about never giving up and accepting the fact that we cannot always succeed,” Massegee said. “Teenagers have to learn this before they leave high school or the world will eat them up. There is so much potential walking those hallways and every single experience is molding them into what they will be in their adult lives. It is so easy to fix these things when in high school, but not so easy after. I just wish they would gain a feeling of urgency so that when their four years of high school end, they are prepared for what will hit them without mercy.”

Both team and individual successes were on display this past weekend. The computer science, number sense, and spelling teams all took home gold in the team competition, while both the calculator and mathematics teams advanced as the second highest scoring team in the region.

William Root captured first place individually in computer science, and number sense, second place in mathematics and fourth place in literary criticism. Omar Akram won first place in spelling, fourth place in mathematics and fifth place in number sense.

Also qualifying for regionals were twin sisters Emily and Rebecca Fu. Emily finished second in spelling and third in editorial, while Rebecca placed third in spelling and fourth in headlines. George Roberson made regionals in three events, finishing second in headlines, third in news writing and second in current events and Issues.

Laura Niguidula and Aaron Reecer placed third and fourth in ready writing, while Andy Ye grabbed second place in chemistry. Chris Murillo placed third in computer science and fourth in science. T

Two others made it as alternates those being Ana Mitchell fourth place in spelling and William Parker fourth in computer science.