Huskies put the smackdown on Mack Town

On Friday September 18th, the Huskies delivered a blow to McKinleyville with the defense leading the way. The Huskies shut out Mckinleyville until the 4th quarter, when senior QB Kyle S. connected with Brenden T. for a 24-yard TD pass. McKinleyville struggled against the Huskies defense all day. The Panthers passing offense only managed 159 yards in the air, a mere portion of what they usually average along with a 40 points per game average. Along with only 159 passing yards, the Panthers rushed for just 86 yards. The Panthers mustered out 393 total yards in the game with over 150 yards coming on kick returns and a 26-yard interception return.

The Huskies managed over 410 yards of just offense led by an explosive ground game. Huskies had over 310 yards on the ground with a plethora of people touching the ball. Dylan K. also had a solid game in the air as he connected a 43 yard TD pass with senior wideout Ryan W.

Churchman C., Victor D.L.S., Ben F., Ryan W., Nik L. led the way for the Huskies' scoring. The Husky defense also managed to sack QB Kyle S. 4 times with Ryan I. having two along with Victor and Ben each having a sack. Overall, the Huskies improved to 4-0 on the year, while the Panthers moved to 1-3.

The Huskies went on to beat Orland, Ca 24-17 and their next game is at Del Norte High School in a Big 5 matchup

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The Panthers currently (1-4) roll on and take on their rivals Arcata at home. Both games will be at 7:30 on October 2nd.

Senior Bronson Macy enjoys reporting on sports for Modes of Writing.

Is this the year for Husky football?

This year's Husky varsity team has had a very strong start. Starting the season 4-0, with a dominant win two weeks ago over cross river rival Ferndale, and another dominant win over McKinleyville, the Huskies have their toughest game of the year so far in a week-five battle against Orland High School. The Huskies feel optimistic about the game. The playoff hopeful Huskies have a tough schedule ahead of them.

Junior Tyler Reback plays varsity football when he's not revising his work for Modes of Writing.

Golfers make first putt of the year.

The Husky golf team and their new coach, Rich Barsanti, are getting ready for their home event at the CC course on September 28th. Here’s what assistant coach Jack Millsap had to say about a few things.

Millsap was the coach for the last three years until he took up the vice principal position at FUHS.

Millsap told me that golf teaches you integrity, something a lot more valuable than strength or precision that other sports teach you. “Golf is a great sport you can play your entire life.”

Even though the tournaments are free to spectators, it would be hard for students to make it due to the times, usually noon-evening. But, if you're a golf enthusiast come see our Husky golfers.

Caleb C. is a senior at Fortuna High School in the Modes of Writing class. He loves fiction and fantasy stories, electronics, and reading science articles.

Husky Homecoming is coming October 12-16

Everyone is excited for this year’s Homecoming. Raven Coit, Activities Director and English teacher at Fortuna High, says this year's Homecoming will be very patriotic and she looks forward to seeing everyone get involved. She has also confirmed that this year was going to be very high energy, and there will be a special surprise at the lip sync rally. 60 to 70 percent of the students at Fortuna High get involved with Homecoming week every year and Coit would like to see that number go up.

Another teacher we interviewed was Brooke Raven Sandberg. When asked what her favorite part of Homecoming was, she responded, “I love watching all the student excitement with lip sync, and the float building…” Brooke is looking forward to watching the students participate in all the great activities during homecoming week this year. 

Baily M., a freshman at Fortuna High, says that he is looking forward to watching the boy cheerleaders at the lip sync rally. That is his favorite part because he thinks it’s very funny. He plans on participating in all the dress up days and in lip sync as well. As for Thursday night football, Baily is rooting for the juniors to win.

Kathy S., a junior at Fortuna High, says, “I love watching everybody do lip sync.” Although she will not be participating in the classic and hilarious lip sync, she will be representing the juniors at Thursday night football, and of course she is rooting for the Juniors to win this year.

Ben P., a sophomore at Fortuna High,  says his favorite thing about Homecoming week is lip sync, of course. He plans to participate in float building, lip sync, and dress up days. As for Thursday night football, Ben is planning on the seniors to win. 

Guadalupe O., a senior at Fortuna High, said that he could not believe how fast the past three years have gone. “Being a Senior means like, yeah you are an upper classman and you’re going to graduate this year but I kinda don’t wanna leave. Like if I had an option I’d come back probably because I really like being around all the people and the staff; I like being around the school.” He says his freshman year was his favorite year for homecoming. Guadalupe tells us that the themes for homecoming have always been fun and throughout the past three years, his freshman year was the best. Guadalupe plans on participating in lip sync this year even though his schedule is very full due to taking tons of pictures that we’ll all be able to see in the 2015/2016 school yearbook. He is also busy with being in honors band and being the assistant drum major for the school’s marching band. He is expecting seniors to win Thursday night football, but as for our male cheer teams, he is rooting on the juniors. 

Homecoming week will be in October 2015. Thursday night football will be held on the Husky Field at 7 pm, and the lip sync rally will be in the Damon gym after. Homecoming night will begin at 5 pm for the JV game and 7:30 pm for varsity. Come and support your juniors in black and your seniors in blue.

Layla is a junior at Fortuna High School. She enjoys writing and making music in her free time.

Catrina R. is a junior at Fortuna High School. She likes to read and write fictional stories.

Fall in the making!

Apple Harvest is coming up very soon on October 3rd and 4th, 2015. Main Street in Fortuna and Clendenen’s will be open to you to go enjoy pie sales, street sales, a barbeque, live music, and much more!

Community member Jessica Smith enjoys going to the Apple Harvest, spending time with her family and kids. She has attended almost every year, Smith and her family's favorite activities that Apple Harvest provides would have to be the hayride and the petting zoo that the Fortuna FFA chapter holds.

Make sure to come down and enjoy free hay ride transportation, Clendenen’s Cider Works apple orchard tours, apple cider, fresh apples and plenty more.

Tezrah J. is a senior in high school who enjoys her modes of writing class. She loves to be outdoors and with her friends.

Huskies throw down in the big showdown

On Friday, September 11th at the 50th annual Milk Can game at Fortuna High, the Huskies put a throttle to the Ferndale Wildcats. The Huskies came into the ball game without a loss, beating both North Medford and Wheatland. On the other hand, Ferndale came into Fortuna with a 1-1 record, defeating Trinity High, but losing to Valley Christian High. Nevertheless, you would have  thought that the game would be a fierce competition between the Big 5 host Fortuna and the Little 4 guest Ferndale.

Fortuna proved to be just too much however, as they took control from the first moments of the game. Senior halfback Dante V. led with way with 98 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Dante's touchdowns were a explosive punt return and a 25 yard dash to the goal. Sophomore Fullback Churchman C. also had a great game with 92 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.

Along with a great offense, the Husky defense came into play as well. Senior Ben F. had an interception to offset an early Husky turnover, a real key to the momentum swing that Fortuna gathered and never looked back on. Also, the Huskies contained both the pass and the run and allowed a mere 6 points to Ferndale, which is small in comparison to Fortuna’s 41.

Bronson M. is the contributor to this article. Bronson is an avid sports fanatic, especially baseball and football.

Large 2015/16 enrollment crowds classrooms

Large enrollment numbers in Fortuna High have caused overcrowded classrooms and complications in the schedule. Principal Clint Duey stated that the enrollment numbers this year in Fortuna High alone are around 890 students. That’s about fifty students more than last year’s numbers. The last time the enrollment was this high for the entire district was 2011. A lot of the inflation of numbers has to do with the larger than usual freshman class this year.

The numbers have caused many of the classes at Fortuna High to become overcrowded, and has made schedule changing more difficult than usual. Student schedules are harder to switch around this year, mainly because all of the classes are filled to the brim with students already.

The master schedule that Duey creates every year always has to start with the least amount of teachers as possible based off of the estimated enrollment for that year. The enrollment this year was larger than expected, so the schedule was not ready to accommodate all of the students.

Though the numbers have caused a bit of a struggle, the high enrollment is not all bad. Schools earn more money for each student that attends the school, so the more students that come to Fortuna High, the better. This money can go towards new programs, or existing programs that need more funding.

Codi Oswald is a senior at Fortuna High in the Modes of Writing class. He is part of the Fortuna High Marching Band.

California drought affects local citizens

Gary Rotbergs of Scotia says that the drought affected him a lot because part of his job is hauling water, but there is no water to haul. He said that he doesn’t know of anything being done to help it besides rationing of water. There is a limited amount of water people are able to use, and some examples are: only being able to wash your cars and water your lawn two days a week for ten minutes. He stated, “For the most part, the people of scotia have been obeying the water use rules.”

Also he said that this drought has affected the community majorly, because there is no water in the rivers for fish to live in, and you're not allowed to grow a garden or anything like that because it uses up too much water. It’s also killing everyone's grass and plants because no one is allowed to water their grass regularly.

Kendall A. is a senior at Fortuna HIgh. She enjoys the Modes of Writing class she is currently taking. In her free time, she also loves to go to the beach and hangout with friends.

Fortuna’s runners start strong

Like other fall sports, Cross Country is very active. There are six league meets and three finals meets. Cross Country members go to many different areas, like their first meet will be located in  Santa Rosa.

Of course these trips cost money, so the members must earn money through fundraising, like the Rodeo Run for example, that raised quite an amount of money. Cross Country also has a jog-a-thon. They run around town supporting and representing Fortuna High School. They get together and do this for an hour or so, but before so they try to get groups to sponsor them. This is all part of the fundraising for trips and meets. Cross Country is a fun and great sport to be a part of.

The runners will run at least 2 miles every race, and the most will be 3.5 miles. They have a meet every week, either on Fridays or Wednesday.

Coach Josh Quintal spoke about how successful the program is. Due to the current coaches, there have been three students that have gone to state finals. The current coaches are Josh Quintal and  FHS math teacher Jen Hayes. They keep the athletes working hard at practice and school. Like every other sport, school comes first.

The athletes also look promising this year; they are energetic, enduring, got each others’ backs, and are also hard-working.

       

Donovan G. is a kind, honest senior runner from Fortuna High. He likes food, games, and hanging out with friends.

Fortuna High students exhibited at the Humboldt County Fair 2015

Approximately 53 exhibitors from Fortuna Union High School were at the Humboldt County Fair August 24th through the 30th. They showed a variety of livestock, vegetables, fruit, small animals, and many homemade products.

One of the many livestock exhibitors was FFA President Beth. Beth talked about the animals she had shown which included pygmy goats, chickens, sheep, and a dairy replacement heifer, saying she “had the privilege” to sell her lamb at the Jr. Livestock Auction. She liked how well-organized it was and the variety of buyers that had come.

Beth said she would tell a new member of the FFA who wanted to raise an animal, “They should do it! If you have any doubt ,do it anyway! It is such a rewarding and knowledgeable experience. So many people will help you! And you make friends and memories that will last a lifetime. Fair is my favorite week of the whole year.”

Beth also participated in many other things besides the Jr. Livestock Auction at the Humboldt County Fair. She took part in the Livestock Lead Competition on August 28, where her and her lamb “Toby” dressed as tennis players to represent the different uses of the lamb.

The Livestock Lead competition, created by Fortuna High graduate Emily Dale in 2013, is a pageant to show off knowledge of multiple products made from the animals to win some cool prizes!

If you have an interest in raising animals, and are part of the FFA, think about getting a livestock animal for the Humboldt County Fair next year!

Molly R., a Fortuna High senior and FFA officer, writes for her Modes of Writing class.

Love is in the air

Fortuna High has a wide variety of sports to offer the students, one of those

sports is tennis. Tennis season is here, and the team is excited for the upcoming games. Fiona R., a junior player, enjoyed playing tennis during middle school P.E. Now she is a part of a supportive, family-like team. Cheyenne Z. agrees saying, “Everyone can rely on each other.”

When games are coming up, Fiona says she gets nervous and then excited from the adrenaline she gets from the game. There a many to love about tennis as an audience member, but as team players, Fiona and Cheyenne love learning new skills and staying active as well as meeting new people. To anyone thinking of joining, Cheyenne and Fiona want you to know that it's important to be patient and to just do it.

Melina C. is a junior at Fortuna High School. She likes reading, drawing, and enjoys her Modes of Writing class.

Fortuna High changes staff

During this year at Fortuna High, there has been an assortment of staff changes including new teachers in classes such as Spanish, agriculture, history, and English. There are also two new guidance counselors this year, Hannah Gomez and Marina Oliman.

According to Principal Clint Duey, Fortuna High has hired Hannah Lovfald, a new agriculture teacher to replace Sandy Dale. Dale was involved in writing a grant for 4.5 million dollars that will link the agriculture science curriculum of fifteen Northern California High Schools with Shasta Junior College and College of the Redwoods.

Acrelia Alvarez is a new resource teacher that is replacing Michelle Roslosnik, who will also now be overseeing the Special Education Department. Steven Stockdale is replacing Ruth Dekat who has retired after 42 years. Jacey Spies is a new social science teacher to replace Mike Louv who has been reassigned to independent studies.

The newly added freshmen English teacher Elyse Dorman has taken on the challenge of teaching large classrooms of kids. Before Dorman transferred to Fortuna, she was previously a student teacher at Ferndale High School.  Angela Alvarado, the Spanish student teacher last year, replaces Jaime Montoya.

Fortuna has claimed its historical amount of kids this year, including a freshmen class of approximately 275 students, which according to Duey has been the largest incoming class in many years. So far Dorman has enjoyed her time at Fortuna Union High School and is very appreciative of the friendly staff here.

Jackson S., a Fortuna High senior, enjoys writing for Modes of Writing.

Drake B. is a Fortuna High senior that likes animals.

Back to School Night 2015 set for September 23

The Fortuna High School Staff invites parents to Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. Back to School night is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers and to hear an overview of the classes their student currently attends.

Each class session will last eight minutes, with five minutes passing time between each class. Class schedules and maps of the school will also be available in the main office if needed. Principal’s secretary Robin Eckerfield said, “I enjoy meeting the parents and giving directions.”

Eckerfield explained that the staff will be focusing on communicating more with the students’ parents.

Many teachers offer extra credit to students whose parents attend, an easy way to improve grades. Back to School Night is also a great way to get your parents more involved with your classes.

Back to School Night Schedule:

         Period 0 - 6:15-6:25 PM (Jazz Express and Leadership)

Period 1 - 6:30-6:38 PM

Period 2 - 6:43-6:51 PM

Period 3 - 6:56-7:04 PM

Period 4 - 7:09-7:17 PM

Period 5 - 7:22-7:30 PM

Period 6 - 7:35-7:43 PM

Additionally, seniors and their parents should plan on attending the senior meeting in the library after Back-to-School to go over deadlines, graduation requirements, and information for colleges.

Senior Parent Meeting 7:45 - 8:30 PM - Library -- Counselor Karla Austin will meet with senior parents to discuss college application procedures, scholarships, and financial aid, along with important information just for seniors.

Natalie N is a junior at Fortuna High School who enjoys her modes of writing class. She spends her extra time at the gym and hanging out with her friends.