Graphic by Brian Hwu.

By Tolu Salako

Staff Writer

The motto many CHS students live by is work hard, get into college and maintain a well-paying job. Students know knowledge is important; however, many students tend to care more about their numeric score.

Society today has caused students to work as hard as possible in order to maintain a high grade point average (GPA). The competitive nature of Coppell makes it even harder for students to become part of the top 10 percent, a goal many want to achieve.

Students come to school to learn, and what they have learned is tested through exams, orals and quizzes; but what they get from it is a number – the number most students are obsessed with.

Teachers are put in a tough spot in trying to make students care more about what they have learned rather than the two tenths of a difference between a 96 and 97 on the weighted GPA scale.

“The problem is that society says that the number is important, forcing [students] to care more about the number than the knowledge,” AP psychology teacher Jack Crocker said.

It is a widespread assumption that colleges only care for the grade students get in high school when in fact, extra curricular activities and their knowledge come into play when deciding if they want to accept a student into the college.

“My grade is more important because having a better grade will open up more opportunities and as terrible as it sounds, having better grades has a greater affect when applying for colleges,” sophomore Sydney Nguyen said. “I understand knowledge is important, but colleges care more about your grade and transcript.”

Many students’ main priority is college, and having worked for 12 years to get into the college of their dreams, the number means everything to them.

“I can honestly say I cared about the grade far more than my knowledge in high school,” 2010 CHS graduate Hiba Ibad said. “But now, since I plan on going to graduate school, my knowledge is a lot more important than it was back in high school because if I don’t learn anything now, I won’t really get anywhere with my career.”

Four out of the seven classes in the average student’s schedule consists of the four core classes: math, English, science and history. Not all students plan to pursue the same careers yet all are forced to take classes that do not interest them, making them not care for what they are being taught.

Since students are not interested in these subjects, they will take the AP level provided for the core class, work hard toward getting the grade, and by May, after taking the AP exam, all of the knowledge they have crammed into their minds is officially no longer used.

“The problem with high school is that it is so centered around the number,” senior Tori Clift said. “When I get that 2400 on the SAT or that 100 on the math test, I just say in my head ‘Is that it? Is that all I worked for?’ which stinks when coming to think about it.”

Knowledge is important but tends to go unnoticed because students are so focused on the score. It is not until much later in life students see the importance of the number as well as the knowledge.

The cafeterias this past Saturday were filled with swarm of expo guests exploring the various attractions at the expo with the Public Service Academy students standing out in their matching red shirts.  Not only did these crowds of people fill both cafeterias, but they were also inside the lecture hall, the Commons, the large gym and even outside with the petting zoo.

This was the second annual PSA Free Health Expo and was held by the students of the academy themselves.  The expo included face painting, a petting zoo and dozens of vendors ready to display their knowledge.  Not only was it a fun place to visit and hang out at, but it was also a great place to learn about careers in the health field.

Planned and operated by the students themselves, they were responsible for contacting vendors and coordinating their presentations at the big expo.  Students got to learn more about the careers they were interested in while displaying their knowledge to the hundreds of guests that attended the expo.

“The expo is a way for us to provide service to the community and service learning,” PSA coordinator and Health Science teacher Brenda Brinkman said. “The service component is obviously our students working eight hours that day to put this thing on,”

Students involved in the medical aspect of the academy have definitely been hard at work getting together with the vendors and perfecting their presentations, but it is all for a great cause.  Sophomore Jenn Love said the hours dedicated to planning the expo was well worth it.

“Obviously the whole idea behind PSA is public service.  Public service is helping others and the whole purpose of [this expo] is to educate the community on different topics, like what would be best for them,” Love said.  ”And we have the vendors coming in so they can meet them and figure out plan relating to the different topics they’re covering.”

Not only is the medical side of the academy actively involved in the expo, but also the education branch has been busy testing experiments.

“On the education side of PSA, we are doing science experiments that are elementary school-aged friendly,” sophomore Ali Martinez. “I’m working a booth called Ghost Writer where you take lemon juice and you write with it on a piece of paper and then you apply heat to the paper and it makes it show up kind of like invisible ink.”

The expo’s goal is to help students understand and learn more in depth about the career paths they wish to pursue in the near future.  Whether it is educational or medical, the expo promotes both of the very different sides of the academy.

“It has helped me learn how to prepare for different activities you might do in the classroom in the future,” Martinez said.  You have to do trial and error; you can’t just go into a classroom and decide you want to do this with your kids. So it teaches you preparation skills that will get you ready for actual teaching lessons.”

This was the academy’s second expo, larger than the first one that occurred last year, which had over 1,500 people attend.  Not only were there entertainment aspects to the event, but also ways to give back, such as the spring blood drive.  There were also free health screenings and a lecture series with professionals talking to promote wellness and health.

“The connection to the community is since we are health care and education, we want to understand the needs of the community and because of health care, promote wellness,” Brinkman said.   “And that is why we’re offered the health screenings and all the different things that are at the expo. And my expectation with the academy students is that the expo grows every year.”

Her expectation was right; the expo was a huge success with tons of people showing up to find out how to live a healthy life and what career options are available in the healthcare field.  With dozens of vendors presenting their information, lectures, blood donations, a petting zoo, face painting for the kids, various colleges, and even school clubs, there was plenty of activities available.

“It was really fun, I did not think there would be as many vendors as there were and as many things to do as there are.  I walked around and looked at a few booths, a lot of clubs from the school are here,” Martinez said.  ”The National Art Honor Society is here, Love Your Neighbor, Operation Smile, and it’s really neat to see all these clubs I might want to join and different organizations that are really cool and I did not know about.”

The Health Expo was a hit- not only with its visitors- but also with the academy students themselves.

“Overall I think it went a lot smoother than I thought it would be.  There were more people, it was really organized and the vendors looked very professional.  There were not many major road bumps or anything, so I think it went pretty well,” PSA sophomore Mason David said.

Many of the visitors were also impressed by how organized the expo was and how many activities were available.

“It was quite fun.  The most interesting thing was probably all the interactive stuff they had here.  It’s cool to get a hands on experience and that kind of thing,” sophomore Chris Reed said.

In addition to being a graded major project, it also helps them understand their future careers.

“It’s a good experience to work with the public since that’s the goal of our academy. This expo is giving us a feel for working with different age groups and the public, which we will have to do in our future careers,” Martinez said.

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For the Coppell High School Band, 16 is a sweet number. In December, 16 members of the band qualified for a spot in the All-State Band, the most in CHS history.

The 16 all-state band qualifiers smile before heading off to the airport to compete at the All-State Band competition in San Antonio, Texas. Photo by Rowan Khazendar

Generally, band is set up in a two-semester format. During the first semester, the band focuses on their marching show for football games and competitions. This is a completely different type of music than what they work on in the spring. The spring semester is explicitly marked as what students call “concert season.”

“We get our etudes [All-State audition music] in August. Everyone who plays the trumpet gets the same music to practice so that the competition is fair,” senior All-State member and Drum Major Brandon White said. “Then you perform at All-Region and if you move on you go to Pre-Area, then Area and then All-State. It gets harder to move on at every level.”

The foundation of many of the All-State members’ success lies in their efforts to rehearse their pieces.

“[CHS band director Scott Mason] gave us a really generous amount of time to practice our music in class,” sophomore flutist Brandy Sun said. “If you used this time to your advantage, it was really a huge benefit. I knew coming out of my freshman year that I wanted to step it up this year and advance further in the competition, and [extra practice] really helped me out.”

The previous record number of CHS All-State Band qualifiers was 15 in 2004. No one could have predicted this vast amount of success, not even Mason.

“The night before the competition, I could have only listed one or two students I felt confident would advance,” Mason said. “The results shocked me. I was so pleasantly surprised at the record-setting outcome and was very proud.”

The All-State students are equally proud of their accomplishments.

“Mr. Mason told us that he never thought that record was broken and that he was incredibly proud of all our hard work,” Sun said. “That is something I am really going to be proud of for a long time.”

Even though the practice hours helped the band members get started early, it took more than just practice to advance so far into the competition. You have to have the drive to work hard while practicing and memorize each note. Moreover, All-State students must remain calm and composed during their performance.

“The real thing that pushes students through the levels of the competition is their practice,” Mason said. “The harder you practice and the more familiar and comfortable you become with the piece, the better you will do on the day of competition. It just makes sense.”

Sometimes, though, the difference between qualifying and being rejected is extremely close. Sun reminds herself to be humble and continue her hard work.

“I try not to let this honor define me as a musician,” Sun said. “There are a lot of people who I thought deserved the award that did not get it. It really comes down to how well you play your piece one time, and it is easy to mess up. I really am very honored to be an All-State sophomore and I plan to continue working so hard.”

At a school like Coppell, so many people make it deep into the competition only to barely miss qualifying for All-State. White advises these students to not become discouraged.

“I would encourage people in band that do not make it to state to keep their heads up,” White said. “You have to act really confident and practice diligently. Try not to let your nerves get to you.”

The Coppell Band is proud of their great accomplishments this year, and plans to progress further in the future – and hopefully re-break its record.

All-State qualifiers for the 2011-2012 school year are Mark LeGros, Parker Mason, Chris Lugo, Brandon White, Jonathan Bolton, Sean Nelson, Landon Grissett, Aidan McGraw, Nina Jang, Jason Fang, Madeline Zill, Benson Huang, Lauren Walter, Cinnie Lin, Harini Suresh and Brandy Sun.

Coppell High School hosted the first Science Night at the Museum. The science fair projects of students were displayed throughout the small gym for guests to look at. Students had been working on their projects since the beginning of the first semester. Photo by Brian Hwu.

By Lauren VerDuin
Staff Writer

Organized chaos and excitement begins as families and children enter the building. The small gym on the right contains the individual science projects created by Coppell High School science students while colorful booths line the hallway ahead.

The sound of voices and music fill the air as they explain and perform their specific demonstrations.

What used to be known for the past six years as CHS Science Fair is now referred to as Science Night at the Museum.

The decision to “spice up” this yearly tradition was made by science teacher Shari Hunt. To make the event more interactive and lively for students, Jennifer Martin teamed up with other science teachers Jodie Deinhammer, Sunny Richardson and Angela Binder.

“Ms. Hunt the rest of us teachers wanted to make Science Fair more enjoyable for students,” Deinhammer said.

Hunt headed this year’s Science Night at the Museum.

“This is my second year here and from what I know it has been a big ordeal with lots of projects,” Hunt said. “Mr. Hunt came to me last year and asked if I would take it on. Mrs. Martin has been organizing it every year before that, so I said yes. The key thing is that I did not do this by myself. I have pulled in some awesome science teachers that helped out.”

As a result of her previous experience with the science fair, Hunt developed a new idea that she thought would expand and strengthen the program.

“The one thing I saw was that we had so many students participating that we had projects spewing into the lecture hall and auditorium,” Hunt said. “Projects were even on the floor, and I just wanted all of the projects in one place so that viewing and judging was convenient. This, along with the idea of making it a night where parents could come and making it more of a community event, formed into the Science Night at the Museum. I really think it could grow to become something that is really cool.”

One new and creative element of this year’s Science Night at the Museum is the participation by anatomy classes as well as any other science teachers. Students of Deinhammer, Binder and Richardson all created hands-on booths to display at the event.

“My anatomy students designed booths to teach elementary students basic concepts on health and wellness,” Deinhammer said. “We had a variety of demonstrations from dissections and heart rate testing to muscle fatigue and stretching demos. The goal was to get elementary kids excited about science.”

Students chose demonstrations they felt would engage the kids and allow them to literally “get their hands dirty.” One such booth attracted many as parents and students advanced down the hall.

“Our group chose to do a pig dissection,” senior Emilio Primero said. “We cut out the main organs of a fetal pig which are the heart, the kidneys, the lungs, the stomach, the intestines and the liver. We wanted to see if the kids could match up the name tags to each organ to get the students thinking.”

The unique innovations of the students at CHS caught the eye of many. Parents and children enjoyed viewing the variety of the interactive booths along with the impressive individual science fair projects that lined the school gym. While some displays were simple yet eye catching, such as the vision test, others showcased more complex demonstrations that required more thought and involvement.

This year’s Science Night at the Museum was an accomplishment. From senses tests, to hands on dissections and memory tests, the participation of multiple science classes in the science fair this year seemed to be a success. Over 400 students and families partook in this special night and feedback was nothing short of positive. Hunt along with the many other science teachers that made this night possible hope to have the opportunity to expand and make this possible for years to come.

In poverty-stricken Africa, kids are exposed to harsh conditions of starvation, illnesses, lack of family support and human trafficking. Because of New Tech@Coppell’s Hope for Africa Club, African kids have the opportunity to express themselves through their artwork.

A group determined students from the executive board of the club are laying out plans for a compelling art auction in order to collect donations for the Touch a Life Foundation.

“Touch a Life is a nonprofit organization that raises money for trafficked children in Africa,” senior Haley Mathews said. “They have facilities they build for when they rescue the children. There they can provide education, food, water and other resources they need.”

Three years ago, NTH@C and Touch a Life began working together through Pam Cope. After the death of Coppell student Taylor Storch and Cope’s son, Jantsen, Cope built Taylor’s House in Ghana, a refuge house for children.

“There was a core group of students who wanted to keep up that relationship [with Cope],” Hope for Africa sponsor Kolby Kerr said.

After time spent in Ghana, Kerr has a better understanding of what the auction money will provide.

“I did spend some time in Ghana,” Kerr said. “It was a trip for a non-profit organization called Village Exchange Ghana. I was actually with my wife who was doing economic alleviations there. While she did that I taught a group of women accounting skills and English.”

The students heading Hope For Africa have connections of their own. In fact, the group desired to import art from the very hands of their sponsored child.

“Comfort is a little girl we’re sponsoring,” senior Sloane Ansell said. “The only thing the kids do not know is their own age. Other than that we know she is really sweet and she loves to draw.”

The auction will be hosted at Barnes & Noble in Lewisville on Feb. 23 from 5 – 9 p.m., where the spectators and auction goers will be greeted with a live canvas spray painting by Texas Woman’s University art student, Alicia Berdan. Art is to be from the art programs at TWU, NTH@C, Coppell High School and North Lake College.

The group hopes to not only receive artwork from Comfort, but other children’s work for the auction, like native drums and jewelry. Touch a Life employee, Rachel Johnson, visited Ghana and has returned with many artworks for the auction.

Aside from the artwork, the board has put together musical entertainment. Musicians include CHS seniors Teddy Croft, Brindan Martin, Maddie Resler, Michael Fix, Rachel Swaldi and others who have yet to be confirmed.

Among all of the entertainment and auctioning, Mathews said that the group did not have a specific goal for the auction.

“It is not really a money goal for the auction specifically,” Mathews said. “It is more like a year long goal. But this is our big event, and we are just hoping a lot of people will come. We have it as an event on Facebook that a lot of people have confirmed for, so we feel confident about that.”

Kerr commended his students on their effort.

“I cannot emphasize enough that I don’t do much,” Kerr said. “They are the heart of this organization. I’ve never met a group of students like them.”

Photos of selected artwork to be auctioned can be viewed below. Photos courtesy of Haley Mathews.

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Junior Jake Boaz holds up his Flow Check app on his iPhone. Flow Check is a hair rating app created by Boaz in just over six months. Photo by Rachel Bush.

The Apple iPhone has become an iconic part of American culture. The device is used by millions of people every day, including what oftentimes seems like the vast majority of CHS students.

For the past year, however, while most iPhone and iTouch users frittered away their time accumulating applications, junior Jake Boaz was hard at work constructing his own app – “Flow Check”.

With Flow Check, users can upload photos of their “flow” (hairstyle) from Facebook to be rated and commented on by others. Boaz’s app is complete with features such as a worldwide leaderboard and the ability to bookmark your favorite flows.

Flow Check was released to the Apple Store on Jan. 18. Flow Check is a free app, but its counterpart “Flow Check Pro” is one dollar and eliminates all advertisements present on the free app.

Perhaps the most entertaining aspect is scrolling through all of the submissions and rating their “flows” on a scale from one to 10. Other well-received elements of Boaz’s Flow Check are its integration with Facebook and its worldwide leaderboard.

“It’s cool how it interfaces with Facebook, how it pulls up all of your albums and you can pick your pictures from there,” Coppell parent Charley Hellmuth said. “I’m 37 and bald, so I don’t have very many pictures of me with hair any more, but I found one from seventh grade and I’m on the leaderboard now!”

Like any great invention, Flow Check began as a simple idea in Boaz’s head.

“At the end of last school year I noticed a lot of people around the hallways were obsessed with ‘flow’ and how their hair looked,” Boaz said. “I looked on the app store and noticed that there was really nothing that goes with rating hair or flow so I thought ‘there probably should be’.”

Boaz’s idea was a simple one, but it launched him into a harrowing seven-month process that would test his determination and vision. Boaz soon realized that it takes more than just a good idea to be successful; you have to be able to execute your idea efficiently as well.

With the assistance of his father, Boaz decided to outsource the development of Flow Check to freelance professionals in India. The foreign coders and programmers were a great asset to Flow Check’s development, but communicating with them also posed challenges.

Flow Check is an app where users can upload their "flow" and compare it to others' around the world. Graphic courtesy of Jake Boaz.

“When you’re working with developers, how you want it to look can be very different from how they picture it in their head, so you have to be very specific with color, outlook and everything,” Boaz said. “That process takes a long time because you have to get it very fine-tuned. I probably changed the app 40-50 times.”

Flow Check is a sophisticated application, and creating it took considerable financial support. However, Boaz is hopeful that Flow Check will be profitable despite the cost of producing it.

“I don’t really want to disclose the cost but the average cost of a normal app is $5,000 to $8,000,” Jake said. “This is a global market. If you spend $5,000 to $6,000 on an app and you have 20,000 users that buy it, you’ve already doubled your money.”

Though Flow Check is poised to rake in the profit, Boaz has gleaned equally valuable experience that will serve him well in the business world in the future.

“I had to write an entire terms and conditions by myself, I had to set up a company, I had to do a bank account that would route all my money through it, there was iAd Network – there were all sorts of things that were over my head,” Boaz said. “But you get through it, you understand it, and it’s actually helped me a lot in business today.

The entire process of creating Flow Check took Boaz a total of seven months, and countless hours on the phone with India or planning features for the app. Even after Apple initially barred Flow Check from the App Store, and even after some told him it was dumb, Boaz did not give up on his idea.

“I’m very proud of him because there were many times he could’ve given up on it, no question,” father Russell Boaz said. “I’m very proud of him for persevering through it. For his age, I think it’s a pretty great accomplishment.”

Though Flow Check has only been published a few weeks, word of it has caused buzz around Coppell. Thus far, Jake’s app has impressed users, earning 4.5-star rating on the App Store. The app has already been filled with dozens of uploaded “flows” and most users are thoroughly enjoying the experience.

“I thought it was pretty fun,” Hellmuth said. “Kids are going to love that and be posting funny pictures of themselves. I think it works out well.”

Boaz is optimistic that his app could be the next big thing. Everyone has hair, so Flow Check does have a very wide audience.

“I think it does have the potential [to get popular],” Jake said. “We’ve even had a few sales in China and Switzerland. I think it has potential because a universal thing is flow.”

Thus far, however, Flow Check hasn’t caught on very much outside of Coppell. Moving forward, Boaz and his father are planning on launching a viral marketing plan to expose the app to people all over the nation, or even the world.

“Now that we’ve got [Flow Check] done, we’ve got to launch a viral marketing plan,” Mr. Boaz said. “That’s the next step. We need to do it pretty quickly while there’s some buzz about the app.”

This past Friday, as part of the state-wide School Board Appreciation Month, the Coppell High School Red Jackets hosted a breakfast to show their gratitude for the seven men and women who serve on the CISD Board of Trustees.

This past Friday, as part of the state-wide School Board Appreciation Month, the Coppell High School Red Jackets hosted a breakfast to show their gratitude for the seven men and women who serve on the CISD Board of Trustees. Photo by Rowan Khazendar.

The students, with the help of some administrators, planned and executed the event to give their thanks on behalf of all CHS students.

“This is an event for the Red Jackets to converse with and honor the school board,” senior Elizabeth Pittman said. “We want to thank them for all they are doing for the school.”

The planning process was not easy, and the success of the endeavor required the help of all the Red Jackets. Not only did they provide food and decorations, but each Red Jacket wrote a personal letter to the board members expressing their appreciation.

“We had to make a food list, and every Red Jacket member had to bring a breakfast food item like bagels, muffins or fruit,” senior Alexis Meyer said. “We also had six people on the decorations committee, and they came to the school at 6:50 a.m. and set up all the decorations. Each board member also received a gift bag with different trinkets and handwritten letters from the Red Jackets.”

The board members were quite pleased with the scale of the event and the sentiments offered by the students. Many of them expressed an equal amount of gratitude to the students and teachers at CISD schools.

“It is wonderful to be part of such a great group, but I don’t think I need to be honored as much as the teachers and the students should for all that they do,” first-year board member Amy Dungan said. “The opportunities for the kids here are just unbelievable. We have a school where kids can do engineering, science, history, mock trial, choir, band and athletics. Any opportunity you want to try is open to you. And if you think of something new, they are willing to investigate.”

The Board of Trustees is composed of seven men and women who are dedicated to the success of the school district. President Anthony Hill, Vice President David Apple, Secretary Susie Kemp, Thom Hulme, Bennett Ratliff, Dungan, and former president Cindy Warner all campaigned for a spot on the board in order to make a difference in the community.

“I decided to run for the school board because I believe in kids,” said Hulme, who is in his fourth year on the board. “I think the primary reason for my job is the 10,000 kids who go to our schools, seeing them grow and develop and putting the best programs in place for them that we can.”

This group of seven works in coordination with the rest of CISD’s administrative staff, dealing with policy changes and initiatives that would affect the overall functionality of different aspects of the school system. It is their individual dedication and overall cooperative spirit that makes them such an effective team.

“I have been in Coppell for 10 years, but I have been a superintendent for 22 years, so I have had 22 different sets of board members,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff Turner said. “In Coppell, the community has done a great job of choosing men and women who are deeply devoted to providing quality education for the children. They work together wonderfully.”

The work the board does for this school district can often be difficult, causing controversy among the board members or within the community, but the motives of the board remain sincere.

“These board members love Coppell, and they love Coppell kids,” Dr. Turner said. “They work hard to do whatever it takes to provide the students with a quality education.”

The board members enjoy getting the chance to visit with the students whom their policies affect.

“I love events like these because they give me an opportunity to interact with the students,” said Warner, who is in her 12^th year on the board.

The efforts put forth by the Red Jackets were greatly appreciated, and their gratitude was well-conveyed.

“These events make me feel special,” Hulme said.

Students cheered for hunger to come to an end. Photo by Jodie Woodward.

By Thomas Hair
Online Copy Editor

On Feb. 5, hundreds of millions of people across the world will tune in as the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. While this contest will feature two phenomenal football teams, it will also mark the conclusion of a very different fight: The Souper Bowl of Caring’s fight against hunger.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is a massive charitable effort during the weeks leading up to the actual Super Bowl. The organization collects donations from participating institutions nationwide and then allows the participants to allocate the donations to charities of their choice.

“Souper Bowl of Caring is about everybody giving a little,” Souper Bowl of Caring President Tracy Bender said. “There are over 140 million people that watch the game on TV and if everybody gave something to help people in need it could really make a great impact and difference for people who are hungry.”

The actual Super Bowl generates lots of buzz in the United States. The Souper Bowl of Caring seeks to harness this energy to engage people in serving their community. The fundraising campaign’s football theme and connection to the actual Super Bowl makes it an exciting opportunity of service even for apathetic teenagers.

“It’s really unique how we have so many organizations such as football teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins, just teaming up to fight hunger and tackle hunger,” Student Council vice president senior Abigail Femi-Ogunyemi said.

If there is a school that has proven that it understands the concept of pitching in, it is Coppell High School. Last year, CHS surpassed its goal and accumulated over 16,000 canned food items. Not only did CHS’s grand total exceed expectations, it was also the highest grand total in the entire nation.

Guests from organizations supporting this event were present at the pep rally. Photo by Jodie Woodward.

As a reward for its benevolence last year, Coppell High School was selected as the site of the Souper Bowl of Caring’s North Texas kickoff event this year. This kickoff event included a “fight hunger” pep rally on the morning of Jan. 13, capping off a week of school-wide donations in preparation for the event.

The CHS gym was bustling with activity even hours before the pep rally began, as hordes of corporate representatives graced Coppell High School with their presence to observe the kickoff event. A long list of Souper Bowl of Caring sponsors was present, including Albertson’s, Kroger, JACK FM 100.3 and Radio Disney.

A local high school hosting the kickoff of such an enormous, nationwide event piqued the interest of many, including local media. News channels CBS 11 and WFAA Channel 8 covered the pep rally, as did other media sources such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A segment on the Souper Bowl of Caring with footage from the kickoff event appeared on WFAA noon and evening shows, and is available as web content on CBS 11’s website.

“It’s worth so much local coverage because of its impact on the community,” WFAA journalist Bryan Titsworth said. “This really tells the community a lot of how kids are getting involved in their own community and how they can help people and how it’s making such a big impact.”

The kickoff event itself was in the traditional CHS pep rally style. The band played, the cheerleaders cheered and assistant principal Sean Bagley egged on the sea of students. This time, however, students were not cheering for their school, but rather, for attacking hunger.

Former Dallas Cowboys player, Drew Pearson, shows off his Super Bowl ring to encourage students to win the fight against hunger. Photo by Jodie Woodward.

Legendary Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson was there to give CHS some extra motivation. The three-time Super Bowl champion’s booming voice echoed throughout the gym. His cries of “Are you with me?” and “I can’t hear you!” elicited a far greater response from the students than the half-hearted cheer of run of the mill pep rallies.

“I used to watch [Pearson] play football for the Cowboys,” Titsworth said. “I was a big fan of him back then and it’s great to see him take pride in his community and help out. He’s a great guy.”

Pearson charged students to “work together as a team to make a difference” as he concluded his passionate speech. The three fourth-period classes that collected the most cans (Jennifer Furnish’s class, Kyle Dutton’s class and Angelina Wu’s class) certainly fulfilled Pearson’s challenge, and were awarded with a cookie party, a pizza party and off-campus lunch, respectively.

“We have a very small class so we just said ‘Let’s get together’ so we can help other people and do something nice,” Wu said. “The important thing is that you help other people who need help.”

The canned food items raised by Wu’s class and the rest of CHS will be donated to Christian Community Action (CCA) in Lewisville. By donating cans, Coppell students are directly feeding hungry mouths in their own community.

“It is important to have events like the Souper Bowl of Caring because a lot of people don’t realize that there are a lot of people within our own communities that aren’t doing so well,” CCA representative Jake Rice said. “It brings awareness about what CCA does plus the obvious benefit of providing us with food.”

Matching up to last year’s momentous total of 16,000 cans will prove to be quite the challenge. However, CHS is already well on its way, having already collected 2,000 cans by the kickoff event, by the time the Souper Bowl of Caring had begun.

Even though the excitement of hosting the kickoff event has passed, Coppell students are encouraged to continue racking up the cans in the coming weeks until Feb. 5.

“Last year we raised 16,000 cans, and this year we just want 100 percent participation – it’s a team effort and everyone has to get involved”, Femi-Ogunyemi said. “Houston is trying to beat us so we just have to hold on to our belt right now. I smell a rivalry!”

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