Bloomingdale Yearbook

With the first black club day came the very first Guitar Club meeting, where members got together to hang out and play the instrument they loved, whether it was electric guitar, acoustic guitar or bass. Sponsored by Ms. Lisa Nichols, the club met out on the patio and jammed out, playing various songs and electrifying riffs.

“The guitar club went well,” said junior Andy Steele, who was instructed to snap pictures of the club as his assignment for photography class. “It was just a bunch of people playing stringed instruments, and wasn’t organized at all. The members just played whatever they wanted to.”

There were only two outlets on the patio, so people with electric and bass guitars switched off using two amplifiers. Peter Jensen, a freshman, was one of the students that had to share the output jacks, having brought an electric instrument.

“The first guitar club was pretty cool,” he said. ” I liked it a lot.”

In the end, everyone got to play for at least a little bit. This club offered a way for students to bond and become increasingly better guitar players.

Last Friday night, the Varsity football team traveled to Durant. They were unable to contain the Cougars, losing 21-0. The game started off well for the Bulls, with quarterback Eugene Perry completing a 40-yard pass. After that however, the Bulls fumbled the ball away at the five yardline.

Durant scored once in the first half, leading 6-0 through two quarters. The second half was all Durant, with Senior John Hicks scoring two rushing touchdowns, and their defense collecting a safety. A fumble late in the fourth sealed the deal for Durant, celebrating the win on their homecoming night.

“We’ll watch the film and make corrections and continue to work on our fundamentals,” said Coach James Booth, when asked how the team is going to spend their bye week.

The next game is October 9th vs. Plant City, which is homecoming. “I’m looking forward to the homecoming game.” Said junior Tyler Bird. “It’s going to be fun.”

Both the boys and girls swim teams lost to Newsome at Fishhawk on Thursday, September 24. The swim teams spent the week anticipating the chance to conquer Bloomingdale’s rival school.

“I hope we kick Newsome’s butt! And good luck swimmers!”  freshman diver Lisa Worley said. “The divers are cheering you on! I’m upset divers aren’t going, even though we don’t have much to do with the swim team.”

Newsome won both boys and girls events with scores of 109-71 boys and 121-59 girls.

“We’ve got some talent,” Coach Thomas Beard said. ” They had more depth, but we have serious talent. We’re going to be prepping for districts now, and that’s the real deal.”

Yearbook editors in chief attended the Herff Jones yearbook cover workshop on Wednesday September 23.  They were there to finalize their cover and set their budget for the year.

“I’m most excited about getting our cover completely done,” Chantelle Cloutier said.

The editors met with a professional graphic design artist from Charlotte. He offered them feedback on the cover they had already designed.

“Most schools came in with just their theme and no idea of what they wanted,” yearbook adviser Ms. Heather Hanks said. “Chantelle and Sarah already had a full cover design ready to go. The graphic artist was very impressed, and the publishing representative thought it was amazing. I’m really proud of what they’ve accomplished so far this year.”

Though the staff was excited about the cover, they wouldnt say any details as it traditionally remains a secret revealed to the seniors the end of the year.

In order to get ready for the upcoming soccer season, the new coach, Troy Smith, began to get the team in shape Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school.  Under the hot sun, hopeful to impress the coach, the boys ran anything from short sprints to half miles at a quick pace.

“I want to make the team again, and since we have a new coach I’ve been running as hard as I can,” said sophomore Scott Shaw.

Although many of the returning upperclassmen haven’t attended the optional conditioning, many new freshmen and sophomores have attended in order to get acquainted with the coach. Their plan is to make sure Troy Smith knows who they are so he’ll recognize them when tryouts come along.

“I went to about two if the condtionings after school and it’s way too hot,” senior and returning starter Evan Blythe said at the end of practice. ”I’ll see everybody at tryouts!”

Many juniors and seniors joined in the heavy rush to purchase a class ring. The prices of these rings ranged from $200 to$600, but it didn’t stop the determined students.

Some planned for their rings to be simple, but some were more complex.

“I want [mine] to be white gold with a pink stone and with the either the engraving NHS or SGA on the side,” said junior Lia Barrett.

There was a variety of options to choose, from the smooth-top stone to script engraving, and many had in mind exactly what they wanted.

But these rings were not always just a piece of jewelry to some students.

“I think it represents… high school and… it’ll bring back those memories we created,” said junior Bethany Dutton.

These rings were not just a piece of eye candy or “bling”,  but were a representation of the hard work and memories that these students put forth and the lasting ‘good ol’ memories of high school.

As junior Lia Barrett simply put, “[When] I look at my ring, I’ll think of the good times I had in high school.”

Wednesday was the first Black club of the year. Black club was the third club of the month and offered an array of different academic, creative or friendship opportunities.

Art Club allowed students to let their creative energies flow. It also handled art related things around school, like the art show. Guitar Club was just a place for friends to hang out and jam together on the patio. In Commanders Club, all of the top ranking cadets met to plan upcoming events, such as Drill Meets, Pep Rallies and community service. Herpetology was a club where reptile enthusiasts, and animal lovers of all sorts can go to play with Ms. Weber’s menagerie of creatures.

There’s no doubt students enjoyed their first black club day.

“It was amazing and there were lots of little animals there,” junior Kat Thompson said. ”I got to play with my little bearded dragon, and it was epic! It’s a great place to hang out with all my friends and socialize about the coolest reptilian creatures.”

On Tuesday September 15, the varsity volleyball lost to Brandon in three matches, though the junior varsity team pulled out a win.

The crowd was all pumped up and ready to beat the Eagles. Everyone was dressed in red from head to toe cosidering it was a red out game. The volleyball team actually got their shirts during the JV game. So after the JV game everyone got their red out shirts to show their support for the Bulls.

The game lasted for three matches, all lost to Brandon. The first, they were still pumped up from the red out. By the last game, the girls seemed exhausted.

The next time game against Brandon is on October 8 at Brandon High School.

On Thursday September 17, the football team lost to Leto, 22-15 .

Leto took the lead 6-0 in the first quarter and Bloomingdale didn’t score until the third quarter, but the game wasn’t over yet. The offense managed to score 13 points in the last quarter.

“We beat ourselves with all of the penalties we got,” Jake Smith said. ”We’re better than them and should’ve won.”

The band didn’t play at this game, but the football game was enough to keep fans interested

“I wish the band would’ve played. But it was my first game and I had alot of fun!” said freshman Matthew Yeatts. “I can’t wait till the Homecoming game, I heard that’s the best one!”

From extra bright colors, to leggings, all the way to “big” hair, the 80s came back with a bang! In most outfits today there was at least one article of clothing that dates back to the 80s trends.

One of the most notable trends back from the 80s was the skinny jean. This trend came back from the past and was probably the most worn jean since the bell bottom.

At first, this type of jean was barely worn by males but the invincible style crossed the gender spectrum. Now girls were not the only ones sporting this style, but boys had also taken on the trend.

“Skinny jeans appeal to me,” junior Jesse Carrillo said, “the way they feel. At first, when they came out, I was skeptical about them but I bought a pair and they squeezed my legs. It was weird, but now I cannot go back to normal jeans.”

Some boys say that celebrities influenced their style.

“About a year and a half ago, I saw somebody wearing them on TV,” said junior Tevin Gage, “and I said, I need to step up my game, so I converted.”