Product Review: McRib

Photo Credit: McDonald's

by Keaton Ingle, senior

The McRib is back at McDonald's! Grabbing one of these for dinner is a great way to start off December with its sweet, savory taste. Its barbecue sauce is full of flavor the instant it touches your mouth.

The McRib costs around $3 for just the sandwich. Its made from a rib patty, pickles, onion, a square of molded barbeque meat, plus a bun. If you want fries and a drink, you can have this whole meal for around $5. The McRib is only a seasonal item on the menu and comes to McDonald's around the beginning of November.

Personally, this is my favorite meal of any restaurant, even restaurants that are considered a lot nicer than McDonald's. Even though you can get a cheaper meal with the combo that I mentioned already, I think that it's best with a sausage McGriddle and a large vanilla ice coffee. The contrast of all the flavors makes this meal very desirable for my taste buds and would recommend this meal to anyone wanting a savory taste.

Opinion: Why SOLs are Unfair

by Riley Lawson, junior

SOLs, SOLs, SOLs. It's all you'll hear all day long in a Virginia school; after all, it's what the entire school year revolves around. At least that's what it seems like in a class that has the state-required test at the end of the semester. SOLS only lead to stress on teachers, stress on students, and altered classes.  

Stress on Teachers
The Virginia SOLS, which began in 1998, are a flawed system; all they do is make teaching harder for teachers. SOLs put so much stress on teachers due to the fact that they have to make sure the students learn all of the materials that they will be tested  on in the limited amount of time they have. It ends up that the classes revolve around them.  This means that teachers may not have time to teach additional material that is not on the test, even if it would be beneficial to the student. For example, learning to do more writing instead of just answering multiple choice questions would help teach skills that might be needed in college. In Science, you might not have as much time to do experiments, which are good for learning, but they're not like the written work that's tested on the SOL.

Stress on Students

Additionally, SOLS cause a lot of stress on students due to the fact that their entire school year revolves around it. From the first day of school, to the very end, all that they are told is that they need to prepare for the SOL and that "This is going to be on the SOL." Pretty much if you fail an SOL, you're not going to pass th class and then you'll have to retake it. All students do all year is stress about the SOLS.

There's even more stress involved when it's time to take the SOL. When you see the test, it gets you anxious and even after you take it, all you do is worry if you passed it. It's not even a good measure of what you've learned. Since it's multiple choice, you can kind of guess on the SOL sometimes without having to fully understand everything. But the opposite can also be true. Some people have test anxiety. They're so nervous and stressed out about the SOL that it can cause them to overthink it and do bad even if they know everything.

In conclusion, the SOL tests are a flawed testing system. The students' year should not revolve around a test; it should be the other way around. While some form of test is necessary, I feel that it should be done on a case-by-case basis. The tests should be on what was taught in the class and the teachers should have much more involvement in what goes on the test. A final exam that's created by the teachers would be a better way to test students on what they learned in the class.

The Stranger Game: Book Review

(Book Review) by Mary T., sophomore

The Stranger Game is a dark, suspenseful, mystery novel by Cylin Busby, and was published on October 25, 2016.

The main character is a fifteen-year-old girl named Nico Morris. When she was eleven, her older sister, Sarah, went missing at the age of fifteen.

Before Sarah's disappearance, she would verbally and physically abuse Nico. Nico could never tell their parents because they wouldn't believe her and it would make Sarah become more cruel towards her.

Despite how Sarah treated Nico, everyone else saw her as a wonderful person. She was the head cheerleader, made good grades, and was beautiful.

Once Sarah went missing, Nico felt as if her life took a turn for the better. She was no longer being tormented everyday, she didn't have to live in Sarah's spotlight anymore.

Nico and her family searched for Sarah for four years, with all the leads and attempts coming to dead ends. People began to assume that she was dead, until the Morris family receives a call about a girl found a few states over claiming to be Sarah.

The Morris' make their way to meet the girl who's saying she's Sarah. Once the family sees her, they all believe it's really her, everyone except Nico. Nico notices small differences about Sarah, her hair is darker, she's slightly shorter, and thinner than Sarah was before she went missing.

Nico was the only one to recognize these differences, so she feels as if she's overthinking it.

Sarah doesn't recall much of anything from her experience. She only remembers waking up on a bench when the police found her. She has cigarette burns all over her back, evidence of sexual abuse, a healed broken arm, and some missing teeth.

After the family brings her home, more and more things point to this girl not being the real Sarah. If this isn't truly her, what actually happened to the real Sarah?

 There's many twists and turns throughout The Stranger Game.  This book is great for anyone who enjoys mystery novels.

J.I. Burton Honors Hispanic Heritage

Students Alma Perez and Aaron Madrigal; Teacher, Mrs. Adams

by Caitlyn Collins, sophomore

John I. Burton’s Spanish classes recently celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month and Day of the Dead.

Hispanic Heritage Day is a national holiday that is celebrated in Hispanic and Latin countries from September 15 to October 15. Citizens in these countries commemorate their culture and history by highlighting their food, letting children make crafts, and participating in other festivities. The countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, and Mexico come together for their anniversary of independence.

Hispanic Heritage Mural colored by 2nd block Spanish

Madison Adams, Burton’s Spanish teacher, said she does not celebrate the holiday exactly as if she has Hispanic heritage, but she enjoys reading stories and bringing the holiday into the classroom. Ms. Adams wants other students to recognize the holiday and realize that is it something to celebrate. She finds introducing new cultures and ideas to the classroom extremely fun and enjoyable. In her class, students played online webquests that let them read and answer questions about the holiday. They also created murals and had a party dedicated to the holiday. 

Mrs. Adams makes it a priority to teach students not only the Spanish language, but also about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. "It is important in America because so often we are focused only on ourselves and our American culture," she explained. "I think it opens up a brand new portion w don't get to experience every day."           

Day of the Dead mural

On October 31, students celebrated Day of the Dead, which shares a connection to Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve.  On this day, people in Hispanic countries  decorate their loved one’s graves and set up altars with family photos, flowers, candles, and ceramic skulls. On these days, they eat their family member’s favorite dishes and pan de muerto, a bread recipe for the dead. Burton students in Mrs. Adams's Spanish classes celebrated the day by learning about these traditions and enjoying treats in class; they also colored a mural depicting a "sugar skull."

Although they know the Spanish language even better than she does, Mrs. Adams works with Hispanic students who are new to John I. Burton and our country by bringing English into her curriculum to help them learn their new language and how it relates to Spanish. She tries to make them comfortable by helping them realize that she understands their culture decently well. 

Alma Perez, a John I. Burton freshman, recently came to America from Mexico in order for family members to work. Alma attends regular classes although she doesn’t know English well. “It is difficult and makes me nervous,” she said about not understanding the language. In her classes, she learns through a combination of immersion in English classes and online technology. Although she prefers Mexico because her extended family is still there, she is adjusting well and especially enjoys shopping in America. 

Aaron Madrigal is another Burton student who came to America from Mexico. Unlike Perez, he has lived here most of his life. His family moved to America when he was four years old to open Mexican restaurants in the area. El Dorado, a restaurant in Wise, is one of the restaurants owned by his extended family and he has a part-time job there now.

When Aaron started school, he was held back in kindergarten because of his weakness in English, but now he considers himself fluent in both languages. A variety of teachers and tutors assisted him in learning English when he was an elementary school student to help him catch up with native English speakers.. Since Spanish is still spoken at his home, it came naturally to him and he never had to consciously learn it.

Aaron does not notice a difference between the dialect taught in Spanish class and the language spoken at his home.“There might be a difference, but I don’t notice,” he said.

Both Perez and Madrigal said that Burton students have been very welcoming and they have not encountered racial prejudice at school. However, Madrigal said he has heard a few racial slurs while working his part-time job at El Dorado overheard from customers who thought that he couldn’t speak English.

Madrigal says that the food in his family restaurants is mostly authentic, but in Mexico, there is a shorter path from farm to table. For example, he said if his family were eating beef, chances are it would have come from a "cow right outside the door."

He prefers living in America over Mexico because there are more opportunities here, although he said he would like to spend time there to learn more about his Hispanic heritage to honor his family.

Tyrell Ingram and Keaton Ingle also contributed to this article.

Cross Country Makes it to State

by Keaton Ingle, senior

Cross country is a sport that takes extreme endurance and love for running. These are the qualities that motivated John I. Burton's Cross Country team to qualify for state finals.  plus, the entire boys team qualified as a team.

Bethany Powers, individual qualifier

The boys' team got second place at regions with 49 points, making it eligible to go to state as a team. Owen Lindsey led the boys' team when he came in third place overall with the other runners not far behind; he had placed first in district.

Burton sent one individual competitor, junior Bethany Powers, from the girls' team to state. She's made it to state before when she attended a different school, but this is the first time she's made it since being at Burton. At regional, she placed twelfth.

Boys' cross country

Making it to state is a challenge and hasn't been done in years for the J.I.B. cross country team. Most of the boys team who went to state were not even on the team last year, so they achieved an impressive accomplishment. It will be exciting to see how they improve next year since most of them are underclassmen. The recruiting has been outstanding from the second-year coach, Mr. Robert Fultz.

The state meet had the best runners in Virginia and Fultz said is an honor just to go. To be a finalist in state a runner needs to place in the top 15 out of 104 runners. Owen Lindsey placed 16th while the rest of the team was 40 places behind him. Bethany Powers got 60th place out of 100 as an individualist for the girls.

"The course was a challenging course. It even had a two foot deep river you had to run through. We will have it next year, though, since we know what to expect now, " Jonah Cochrane said.

While the team was attending state, they even managed to take a day to visit some historic sites around Washington, D.C., making it a fun and educational trip.

The Origin Project Publishes Student Writing

The Origin Project student anthologies
(source The Origin Project)

by Keaton Ingle, senior

The Origin Project has made its way to John I. Burton.
Norton Elementary students have participated in this program for a few years, but this year an opportunity came to the high school. Students in the Online Communication class that writes the Burton Blog will be participating. The Origin Project makes these kids really think about what home is and makes them think about the small details in life that makes home home.The program was started by Adriana Trigiani, the author of Big Stone Gap and ten other books.

Trigiana says on her website, “I always loved when guest artists came to our school. It sparked something in the students to meet writers from other places, and I know for sure it changes the lives of the writers.”

The Origin Project gave each participant a small orange journal to put stories and notes in as they write about their home, family, and sense of place. At the end of the project, each student will submit one piece of writing to be published in an anthology of all the student writers taking part in the project. The people who participate in the project will be invited on a field trip to celebrate the publication of the anthology of student writing and hear professional authors read and talk about writing.

My own attitude about having this chance to do the Origin Project is really joyful. We have looked at some writing from Rick Bragg, an author who won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism, to get a feel of the sense of imagery we need to have in our writing to make it good.

We have also done a poem to get us started on it  modeled after one called "Where I'm From." We brainstormed a list of things we remembered about our home and childhood to give us ideas.  The poem is still in progress; however, it's showing us the importance of home.

Another student in the class, Caitlyn Collins, said, "It is a fun experience for us to see all the small details that make my home." She continued, "My favorite part so far is sharing it with my classmates."

At the end of the semester, the students who participated will choose their best, or favorite piece of writing and submit it to be published in the anthology.

Girls Basketball Gets Going

by Tyrell Ingram, junior

It is finally basketball season here at Burton! Everyone is excited that the girls and boys both have done this school and the city very proud. We have a winning tradition here at Burton. In order to win, you have to have a great philosophy and Coach Chris Smith's philosophy is “Coaching is still a work in progress as this is only my second season as the head girls basketball coach. I learned some wise words from J.I. Burton state champion coach, Dr. Mike Goforth, now our principal. Those words were Effort, Attitude, and Ability."

He explained that a great player isn’t someone who just has the ability to be a great player. "They must also have a great attitude every day, and put forth great effort every day," he said. "If a player is lacking in any of those three areas, their performance is not going to be as successful as it could be. I am going to build my coaching and teaching philosophy around those three aspects.”

In order to have a successful program coaches have to express themselves and let parents know the expectations, as well. Coach Smith says his way of communicating with parents is to "have a preseason meeting with parents and players where I discuss the team rules and expectations. I give the parents and players the opportunity to also tell me what they expect from me as a coach. If I know what they expect from me and they know what I expect from them, our season usually goes pretty smoothly.”

While all this sounds good there’s always a problem in any sports with players missing practice. ”The only time this issue really occurs is in the early season when seasons overlap," Smith said. "For example, volleyball season, band, or cross country overlapping into the first couple of weeks of basketball season. If this occurs, there is no issue. If players miss basketball for any other reason, there are consequences listed in our rules contract that are pretty straight forward.”

Coach Smith describes himself as a new coach. " I have to learn from each team that I coach and take what I can from each team and their experiences. As a coach, every year the team dynamics are probably going to change based off of individual player strengths and weaknesses, " he explained. "So, the way I coach and strategize for each season is going to be based on those strengths and weaknesses.”

Coach Smith said that it is still too early in the season to tell exactly who his starting players will be for sure. Senior Sarah Mullins and Sophomore Maggie Williams were both starters on last season's team. "They will most likely start again if they continue to improve," said Coach Smith. Senior Zoe Ellis also started some games last season and got substantial playing time from the bench. The other spots will be up for grabs between Sr. Kaitlin Lindsey, Junior Akyssa Holinger, and Freshman Kaylee Jenkins.

Coach Smith’s expectations for this year are”like any other coach's expectations for their team. I want my team to be constant. Consistency is the key to success." He expect them to consistently show up for practice, play as hard as they can play and practice hard,and be there for each other as a family. "That will lead to consistent wins," he said.

Before They Were Burton Faculty and Staff

by Hunter R., senior

When the faculty here at Burton looks back on their lives, one of the things they remember is their first jobs. Some of the first jobs worked by Burton employees back when they were high school or college are secretary, a bag boy, waitress, disc jockey, bank teller, and insurance company employee..

Being in school limits people to only part-time jobs most of the time. Like most students, most of the teachers we interviewed had part-time jobs as their first jobs. Many kids may think that jobs are forced on teenagers by their parents; however, all of these teachers chose to get a job on their own because they wanted to have their own spending money.

Mr. Robert Fultz worked as a bag boy at a grocery store as his first job. He said, "I made around $2.00 an hour." That was the minimum wage at the time, but it is way less than the minimum wage today, $7.25 per hour. This job was only part-time and he only worked there a year and half. He learned communication skills and how to work with the public from this job.

Mrs. Stephanie Adams' first job was as a secretary at the Wise County Administrator's Office, "It was very difficult managing school and work because I was married and a full-time college student, but I was able to use time management skills to allow time for studying and only working Monday through Friday days helped me out too."

 Mrs. Addison got an even earlier start in the work force while she was a high school student. She said, "I was able to use work release, so I attended a few classes and then went to work." She worked as a bank teller for a few months, mading minimum wage at that time, which was $5.15 per hour. She decided to get this job to gsave enough money to buy a car. In addition to earning money, working as a bank teller with the public also taught her communication skills.

Mrs. Marshia Hunsucker's first job was a full-time job at an insurance company. She said, "My guidance counselor recommended that I graduate, get married, and get a job, so I did just that." She ended up working at the insurance company for sixteen years before changing to her job at Burton. She also stated that the job taught her communication skills and how to work with the public.

Mrs. Roop has had some really good jobs and some not-so-good jobs, she said. Mrs. Roop's first job was working as a waitress at Bonanza. "I made around minimum wage, which at that time was about $5 per hour." She was not nervous about interviewing even though it was her first job. She felt confident about getting the job because one of her extended family members owned the restaurant.

Her favorite job was being a disc jockey for a radio station in Tenessee because she got to attend special events such as the Bristol races and meet lots of people, including some celebrities. Her lest favorite job was working at a nursing home because she didn't like teh way that some of the staff treated the patients.

We are glad that all of our faculty decided to leave those previous jobs and come here to work at Burton!