Lunch rush at the Market Street Cafe

Students at Bickleton High School are often seen at the Market Street Cafe during their lunch hour. Since students often order lunch at the cafe, many call ahead to make sure their meal will be ready at noon when they drive down to pick it up. Unlucky students who forget to call ahead often get stuck waiting for their food during the lunch rush. Here, Danielle Raschko, a senior at Bickleton High School, is paying at the counter of this town’s little general store and cafe. PHOTO BY JESSICA CUMMINGS/BICKLETON HIGH SCHOOL

We’re thankful for …

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, some of the Unleashed kids — student reporters, photographers and artists from around the Yakima Valley — are sharing what they’re grateful for this year.
Some are local, like the terraces at Franklin Park. Some are personal, such as banana pancakes with toasted pecans and powdered sugar with steaming hot syrup. And some are universal: Life itself, clean water and food, shelter.
Plus, there are many more.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Jessica Serrano, La Salle High School
• Faith and justice.
• Family and loved ones.
• Diversity.
• Freedom of speech.
• Strawberrries.
• Philanthropy and philanthropists.
• Forgiveness.
• New beginnings.
• Art.
• Life itself.

Lisa Garrigues, Naches Valley High School
• My caring parents.
• My protective older sisters and brother.
• My supportive friends, teammates, teachers and coaches.

Hannah Naughton, Davis High School
• My family’s health.
• Banana pancakes with toasted pecans and powdered sugar with steaming hot syrup.
• My parents’ love.
• My friends.
• My two crazy sisters.

Samantha Knittle, Davis
• Marching band.
• My family.
• The sun and warm weather.
• School (but not homework).
• Clean water and food.
• My friends.
• Free speech.
• My teeth.
• Drum Corp International.
• God.
• Chocolate.
• Swing sets.
• My teachers.

Hannah Kivi, Riverside Christian School
• Freedom of religion.
• My parents.
• My friends.
• My Bible.
• Softball.
• My house.
• My school.
• Unleashed.
• Our country.
• Music.
• My ability to write.
• Gum.

Lety Clark-Olivero, Eisenhower High School
• My parents.
• My siblings.
• Shelter.
• Sustenance.
• My cell phone with its unlimited texting.
• Jesus.
• A healthy body.
• Laughter, life, love and a little dancing mixed in there somewhere.
• My boyfriend.
• My friends.

Kami Cross, Eisenhower
• “One Tree Hill.”
• Starbucks Christmas decorations.
• A car that runs (most of the time).
• Addicting books.
• Cuddling.
• My loving family.
• Thursdays.
• Friends.
• Football games. (And the end of football season.)
• Rainy days.
• Strawberry-pineapple iced teas.
• Musicals.
• Running through the sprinklers at night.
• My bed being right under the heating vent.
• Peacoats.
• Family videos from when I was little.

Georgia Gempler, Davis
• Freedom.
• Education.
• Family.
• Animals.
• Shelter.
• Opportunity.
• Books.
• Technology.
• Snow.
• Music.
• Artistic expression.
• Free time.
• Movies.

Loren Button, Riverside Christian
• Jesus.
• My parents.
• My home.
• My friends.
• “Guitar Hero: World Tour.”
• Being a senior in high school!

Colleen Fontana, Davis
Long books and warm blankets on cold rainy afternoons. Music and iPods and singing loudly in the shower. Friends to understand me and parents to confide in. Sisters to cry to and brothers to make me laugh. Raspberry peach iced teas from Lincoln Avenue Espresso and blue Papermate pens.
Warm winter coats and old furry boots. Moleskine planners from Inklings Bookshop and sledding down the terraces at Franklin Park. Stick shifts and curly hair and laughter and bright pink nail polish. My camera, Benji, and pony tail holders.
Summer thunder storms and the smell of the rain afterward. Games of kick the can and lap tag. Volleyballs and pianos and coffee. Thank goodness for coffee, and the roof over my head and the God over my roof and this life with which I have been blessed.

Sean Nagle-McNaughton, Davis
• Books.
• Music.
• Friends.
• Parents.
• Brothers.
• Kindness.
• Knowledge.
• Challenges.
• Grandparents.
• Conversations.
• Peace and quiet.
• Those who help others.
• Nature.
• Happiness.
• The whooshing sound of deadlines going by (just kidding).
• The world I live in.

Janessa Mains, Eisenhower
• My family.
• My friends.
• My camera.
• Knowledge.
• Books.
• My cat George.

• Animé.
• Gay pride.
• Music.

Hannah Besso, Davis
• A supportive family.
• Loyal friends.
• Laughter.
• Sports.
• Music.
• Weekends.
• Summer.
• Good food.
• Snow.
• Sleep.

Libby Young, La Salle
• God.
• My family.
• My friends.
• My school.
• Church.
• My cats.
• My teachers.
• Life.
• Dance.
• Vacations.
• Books.
• Freedom.
• My iPod.
• My cell phone.

Kacie Cross, Eisenhower
• God.
• My parents.
• My sisters and brother.
• My friends.
• Boys.
• Music.
• Dancing.
• Paper.
• Air.
• Elephant Ears.
• Food.
• Eyes.
• Hands.
• Computers.
• Telephones.
• Movies.
• “One Tree Hill.”
• Books.
• The saying, “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
• Tennis.
• Musicals.
• Makeup.
• Showers.
• The color blue.
• Rain.
• Relationships.
• Life.
• Love.
• Laughter.

James Hibbs, Davis
• Books.
• The Davis High School library and its librarians. They keep it open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday to help kids study.
• Doug Johnson and Avid.
• Food.
• My siblings.
• My parents.
• Kenneth Capp and epistemology as manifested in “Theory of Knowledge.”

Alex Braman, Davis
• Davis High School.
• My friends (We make Davis fun).
• My iPod (I take it everywhere).
• My camera (I want to take it everywhere).
• My family (They raised me how I am today).

Jasmine Okbinoglu, Eisenhower
• My family and friends.
• Music.
• Books.
• Food.
• Tennis.
• Laughter.
• Summer.
• Swimming.
• Movies.
• Art.
• Nature.
• Candy.

Jessica Cummings, Bickleton High School
• God.
• My loving family.
• My church.
• My fellow believers.
• My friends.
• My gifts and talents.
• My country.

Alyssa Patrick, Eisenhower
• John Mayer’s lyrics and musical talents.
• Sunday nights, squished on the couch between my mom and sister, watching “Grey’s Anatomy.”
• My brother.
• Authors who lace so much into each sentence that my mind never has to stop unraveling new clues.
• Jim and Pam. Always. If the writers on “The Office” break them up, I will have a nervous breakdown.
• Rachel’s Challenge, Leadership Camp and Invisible Children.
• Mango ice cream.
• “Benny and Joon.”
• My family.
• Teachers who never stop teaching the way they believe they should teach, even when some of their students don’t give them that effort in return.
• Broadway.
• Ike’s Little Theater.
• My car, its CD player, and 20-minute drives at the end of long days.
• My bed.
• My physical health, so I can dance.
• My opportunity to go to college.

— Want to see more artwork by artist Samantha Knittle? The Davis High School senior has an online portfolio. To check it out, visit http://samanthaknittle1.tripod.com.

Sarah Palin: Represents Christian Values

By JESSICA CUMMINGS
UNLEASHED STAFF

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, John McCain’s vice presidential candidate — who would have thought?
To tell you the truth, before the media started talking about her, I didn’t even know who she was. I consider myself a conservative Christian Republican. (Some of my left-leaning friends have used the term “ultra-right wing extremist,” but I’m not particularly fond of that.)
I’m not all for McCain: I feel he’s too liberal. But with Palin as his vice president I am definitely more willing to support him — not with my vote, because I’m still too young, but with what side of political discussions I find myself supporting.
Palin is the person I feel that best represents me and my beliefs. She is a Christian and as such I know she and I will have a lot of fundamental views in common, such as the importance of the family, the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, that abortion is murder no matter how you look at it, and that liberty isn’t free; it comes at a great price but one that’s worth paying.
Palin makes it clear that this is what she believes. Even though she knows the media will hound her for it, she still stands for what she believes.
That in itself has earned her my respect and support.
I believe this country could use people who have a strong conviction of what is right and what is wrong and are not afraid to stand up for the right cause even if it brings public ridicule.
I’ve read about what she has done in Alaska: cutting state spending dramatically, making school funding more efficient, aiding seniors, working to make the oil companies more competitive and removing the gas tax when fuel prices went up.
I wish other state governors would follow her example.
To me, it seems she has the right idea of how to run things. People don’t need bigger government to help them, they need efficient government that makes people work for what they receive.

— Jessica Cummings is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Bickleton High School.

From Big Cities to Bickleton: Exchange Students Say It’s a Big Change, But They’re Enjoying It

By JESSICA CUMMINGS
BICKLETON HIGH SCHOOL

BICKLETON — Two exchange students — one from Vietnam, one from Brazil — have joined the junior class at Bickleton High School.

Their arrival brings the class total to 11 students and makes it the largest class in the entire high school.

Rodolfo Amaral, 15, is from Curitiba, Brazil; Duc Nguyen, 16, is from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Both boys say the biggest difference between their hometowns and Bickleton is the size. Both cities are much, much larger than Bickleton, a hamlet of about 100 people located about 50 miles east of Goldendale.

Curitiba’s population tops 3.2 million. Ho Chi Minh City and its surrounding areas are home to more than 9 million people.

Amaral describes Curitiba as a city with “a lot of parks, a lot of trees. It’s called the example town of our country. It’s very clean, and the people are very nice.”

Nguyen says Ho Chi Minh City is “foggy” with “a lot of dust.” But he also says it’s “a nice city, a lot more humid than here.”

Bickleton is a big change for them.

“Everything, pretty much everything” is different, Amaral says of Bickleton, adding, “It’s very small, and the people are nice.”

Bickleton students have welcomed Amaral and Nguyen warmly. But some still have trouble pronouncing their names. Most call Rodolfo “Rodo,” and pronounce Duc’s name as “Duke.”

“They’re interesting,” says 16-year-old Johanna Jensen, a Bickleton High School junior. “They’re really open. They’ll answer any questions about their homeland. … I never knew anything about Vietnam before I met Duc.”

The foreign students are also a change for Bickleton, which — according to Rick Palmer, 54, the superintendent of the Bickleton School District — hasn’t had an exchange student in at least seven years.

Both boys are being hosted by Kristi Roberts, a 56-year-old registered nurse who lives near Bickleton. She says things “were pretty quiet” about her house until the boys arrived.

“I had actually been praying lately about the quietness of my house, and well, I didn’t really expect this as the answer God would give, but then when the opportunity presented itself I guessed this was the answer,” she says.

Neither Amaral nor Nguyen got to choose where they were going to go to school in the United States. Amaral says he got to choose the country, while Nguyen says he got to choose the country and the region.

“I choose the region with Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and California,” he says.

Ngyuen says he wanted to come to the United States “to see how the world sees the Vietnamese” and experience a different culture. This exchange is his first time in the U.S.

Amaral says he wanted to get to know the country and improve his English. He’s been here before, traveling to Florida and New York on a family vacation.

Nguyen and Amaral both speak English well. Amaral also speaks Portuguese and Spanish, and Nguyen speaks Vietnamese.

Bickleton High School English teacher, Silvia Navarre, 38, says both boys are “very intelligent and studious.”

Bickleton High School science teacher Barbara Seymour, 58, says, “they are very observant, and they seem always to be on task, and the work they’ve handed in has shown they have good study skills.”

Nguyen says he plans to become a businessman when he’s done with school.

“I want to do something for my community, improving the condition, and then I want to do something for my country,” he says.

Amaral wants to go to college. He plans to be a journalist, or study literature.

Meantime, both Nguyen and Amaral say they like Bickleton High School.

“I’m having a great time here, and so far I’m liking it,” Amaral says.

— Unleashed reporter Jessica Cummings is a junior at Bickleton High School.

High Gas Prices Mean Fewer Trips to Town for Bickleton Teens

By JESSICA CUMMINGS
BICKLETON HIGH SCHOOL
BICKLETON — Sixteen-year-old Junior Hernandez works six days a week at grain elevators in Roosevelt, about 25 miles south of here.
To save money, the Bickleton High School junior has been carpooling to work this summer.
High gas prices, he says, “made me broke, made me think a second about what I’m going to do, and where I’m going to work.”
Across the country, consumers of all ages have been noticing the high gas prices. In larger cities and towns, people can opt to take public transportation. They also don’t have as far to go for groceries and entertainment.
But for those who live in rural areas like Bickleton and have to drive about 40 minutes to get to a town of notable size, high gas prices pose a greater hardship. Here, it’s difficult to avoid spending a lot more money on gas — for fun as well as necessities.
“If we’re going to go to town to have fun, we make it a trip that’s going to benefit us by going grocery shopping or on parts runs,” says 16-year-old Morgan McBride, a junior at Bickleton High School.
Like many Bickleton teens, she says her family has been trying to conserve, cutting back on trips to Sunnyside, Yakima and the Tri-Cities. McBride estimates her family goes to town once every two weeks.
The price of gas “makes me think twice about going to the movies and visiting family or going swimming or camping,” Hernandez says.
Bickleton doesn’t have a movie theater or a large shopping center.
“When we make trips to town we think of other stuff we have to do and we stock up for at least two weeks,” says Holly Goodnight, a 15-year-old junior at Bickleton High School.
Tricia McBride, a 17-year-old senior at Bickleton High School, lives in Alderdale, about 25 miles southeast of Bickleton. The upcoming school year, she says, is going to be “harder” because of high gas prices.
“Going to school is going to be super-expensive,” says McBride, who estimates she spends about $100 a week on gas.
“I get a lot of pressure not to go out and do things,” she says. “I used to go to the Tri-Cities to shop, and now I go closer” to home.
The same goes for Hernandez, who says he watches “what else I buy because I know I have to spend so much every week on gas.”

Bickleton Prom: a Community Tradition

By JESSICA CUMMINGS
BICKLETON HIGH SCHOOL

BICKLETON — Bickleton High School students recently danced the night away at this year’s “Northern Twilight”-themed prom.

But it wasn’t just high school students who were doing the dancing.

What makes Bickleton’s prom different from most high school proms is that the community is invited, too.

“It’s a community event, and if the community didn’t come hardly anyone would be there,” says 38-year-old Robin Goodnight, whose children attend the Bickleton school. She says she has came to the community prom “on and off for 20 years.”

This year’s was “very fun,” she says. “It had a nice theme, the kids had a blast, and the music was wonderful.”

The juniors worked diligently this year, planning and putting on the prom, and most agreed the results were spectacular.

After walking through a tunnel and an archway of silver balloons, guests emerged on the edge of the dance floor, which was peppered with silver balloons and tinsel. Round tables covered with indigo tablecloths and surrounded by white, fabric-covered, blue ribbon-tied chairs were situated on the outskirts of the dance floor.

Jeweled table centerpieces, complete with electronic candles, glowed at each table. A deep blue backdrop covered with silver stars surrounded the dance floor. And strings of white lights wrapped in blue gossamer peaked from the walls to the ceiling, where a disco ball caught and reflected light onto the dance floor.

The decorations, says 16-year-old Johanna Jensen, “were really pretty. I think (the juniors) put a lot of effort into it and did a really good job.”

Tricia McBride, 17, the junior class president, says she “liked the decorations a lot, probably because I put them up and know how much time they took.”

Disc jockey Nahum Ray played a wide variety of music, from country and rock to fun songs like the Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide.

There’s no question: Bickleton School is a small school in a small community. Only 37 people — including teachers, community members and students, some as young as seventh-graders — attended this year’s prom.

Because there are only 15 teens in the top two grades, it really wouldn’t work to host a junior- and senior-only prom, as many other schools have. But students don’t seem to mind.

“I like the community thing,” 17-year-old Devona Kibby says of Bickleton’s prom.

Kim Clinton, 39, and Tom Whitmore, 49, are this year’s junior class teacher-advisors. They helped organize the prom and also attended the event. Whitmore is a former Bickleton High School student and says he has attended prom “every year since 1980 except for last year.”

In earlier days, the prom featured live bands, not DJs, he says.

“This year we had the fewest number of adults I’ve seen at prom, only about two couples who weren’t involved,” meaning they weren’t chaperones, Whitmore says.

“The set-up hasn’t changed much since I was in school,” he says. “They still only use part of the gym.”