FFA Area Leadership Contest
Stover & Reed Advance to State

By Krissy Boxell
November 19, 2007

On Saturday, Nov. 17, FFA members who advanced from district competed in the Area V Leadership Contest hosted by Krum HS. Many Ponder students participated in the contest and two will have the opportunity to compete at state. After winning 2nd in district, Senior Seth Reed took 2nd place in Job Interview at area as well. Freshman Morgan Stover defended her title, placing 1st in Junior FFA Creed for the second time in a row.

Other FFA teams participated in the events on Saturday as well. The Junior Skills Team, comprised of freshmen Taylor Dunlap, Anna Reed, Skylar Stout and Amber VanDenBiggelarr, were awarded 4th place. Junior Delanie Darnell placed 5th in Senior FFA Creed. The Senior Skills Team, consisting of juniors Cheyenne Tawater, Nikki Johnson, Courtney Kitten and senior Courtney Eaton, took 7th place.

Reed and Stover will compete on December 1st in the state contest in Huntsville.

Lions and Lady Lions Shine in Ponder Basketball Tournament

The Ponder Lions and Lady Lions placed first or second in every division of the Ponder Basketball Tournament. Click the division images to go to the PABC tournament page for results, all-tournament teams and photo galleries.

Varsity Boys Division
By Ashley Britt
November 19, 2007

Fighting hard on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the varsity boys made Ponder proud by winning their division in the Ponder Tournament for the fifth year in a row. With some very good defense and offense the boys won every game by almost 20 or more points over their opponents.

“I am half way pleased with our start for the season,” Coach Boxell said. “We still have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish our goals and dreams.”

The Varsity Boys division included Dunbar JV, Frisco Liberty, N. Crowley JV, Central Heights and Little Elm.

On Thursday they played Dunbar JV and Frisco Liberty. In the Dunbar JV game the score was 85-50 and against Liberty, the score was 60-52. Friday, they played N. Crowley and Central Heights. Again, in both of these games there were overwhelming scores. The score was 72-45 in the game with N. Crowley and the score was 55-17 in the Central Heights. On the last day, Saturday, they played Little Elm to decide who would get first place in the tournament. That game Ponder earned 57 points, while Little Elm only mustered up 41.

All of boys put a lot of effort into these games and if they want to “accomplish their goals and dreams” then they are definitely on the right track.

Nathan McPherson was named MVP of the tournament for the second year in a row. Jesus Lujan and Joel Garza were named All Tournament.

Their next game will be on Nov. 20 against Princeton and it will be here at Ponder.

Varsity Girls Division
By Keegan Farley
November 19, 2007

Thursday, the varsity girls began a journey that would lead them to a championship game in the Ponder Tournament. The girls did not win the tournament, they took home second place, bringing hopes for a promising season.

“We played a lot of good teams and had a few close games. Though we placed second as a team, we are getting better and becoming more of a team each game,” senior Angeleena Young said.

Young along with seniors Tate Moore and Candice Smith were a few players selected for the All Tournament Team, chosen for their sportsmanship and skill level on the court. The Lady Lions faced Sanger in the championship game. It was a hard fought, suspenseful game that unfortunately ended with an upset, giving the deserving Lady Lions a second place medal.

“It was a good way of getting this year’s season started, and I look forward to doing our best this year,” Moore said. “As long a we practice hard and stay dedicated we should have a good a chance of making it to the playoffs.”

Junior Varsity Boys Division
By Parker Brooks
November 19, 2007

Throughout last week the Ponder basketball tournament took place. The JV boy’s team competed against other teams of the same division. The team went undefeated through the entire tournament winning them first place in their divison.

On Thursday they competed against the Dunbar 9th grade team to enjoy success with a score of 77 to 48. The next day they defeated Frisco Liberty in a close and difficult game with a score of 39-28. Saturday the boys beat Krum 62-46 to advance to the final round of competition. In the championship game they played against Little Elm and emerged victorious with a score of 57-46.

“Congratulations to Jared Newton, Landon Hendrix, Marco DeLira, Alex Huerta, Benji Garza, Kaleb Broadstreet, and Jorden Young for an outstanding tournament!” says Coach Young “ We will be in action again Tuesday night versus Princeton.”

Junior Varsity Girls Division
By Kristen Kimmel
November 19, 2007

The JV girl’s division consisted of Ponder, Krum, McKinney and Whitewright. The Ponder JV team played against each of the other three schools Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Lions defeated Whitewright 61-15, McKinney 38-30 and had only one loss, against Krum 49-45.

1st place went to Krum, 2nd went to Ponder and 3rd went to McKinney.

9th Boys Division
By John Boyer
November 19, 2007

When November comes around each year, Ponder looks forward to three things: cool, autumnal weather, Thanksgiving and the annual basketball tournament. This year, the Ponder basketball fans can also take pride in the results of the 9th-10th grade boys’ team.

This year, the participating 9th grade boys’ division teams were from Frisco Liberty, Dunbar, Krum, Little Elm, Sanger, and Ponder. Thursday, Ponder and Dunbar faced off in the junior high gym, resulting in an impressive 67-40 victory for Ponder.

Friday, Ponder played against Little Elm in the junior high gym, giving Ponder a second victory with a slimmer margin of 48-36.

For the concluding game on Saturday, the Lions went up against undefeated Liberty, resulting in an unfortunate, though close loss, with a final score of 52-56.

Despite the final loss, Ponder still placed 2nd, ahead of Dunbar and behind Frisco Liberty.

“I think we’re proud of what we achieved,” sophomore Zach Hendrix said.

9th Girls Division
By Ashley Laughlin
November 19, 2007

The 9th grade girls division consisted of Ponder, Krum and Gunter. Friday, at 5:30 in the junior high gym, Ponder played Krum, defeating them 41 to 39, in a very exciting game.

Gunter was unable to attend their scheduled games because of confusion with timing. As a result, Ponder took first place and Krum took second.

Across the Universe
By Lindsey Allen

Like most, you probably try to avoid buying a C.D. consisting of merely a few worthwhile songs. Luckily, the Across The Universe soundtrack, with its exceptional 16 tracks, leaves no room to be hesitant.

These tunes, taken from the recently-released movie, are all co-written by the legendary John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with the exception of “Something”, written by the talented George Harrison. This Beatles vibe created the inspiration for the film, an artistic musical which promotes peace and love in the 1960's. The album features classic, popular songs such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Hey Jude”.

The tracks have been re-recorded by the Across The Universe cast, and surprisingly well. While these actors’ and actresses’ skills are no comparison to the heavenly voices of The Beatles, they prove, with their raw vocals, to be better than many artists on the radio. All of the melodies seem to radiate a mystical and dreamy feel that is sure to have a relaxing effect.

This album will not necessarily cater to a large variety of audiences because it is obvious that the musical style is constant throughout the entire soundtrack. But for anyone who is the least bit of a Beatles fan, Across The Universe is out of this world.

By Kaleb Broadstreet
November 19, 2007

Coming this week . . . Hairspray & Live Free or Die Hard

Tracy Turnblad is an overweight teenager with all the right moves who rushes home everyday to watch The Corny Collins Show. Tracy, played by newcomer Nikki Blonskey, dreams of one day being on the Corny Collins Show. She gets her chance when one of the stars leaves the show and she is picked to replace her. Tracy instantly becomes a hit on the show and becomes famous throughout the city. Tracy’s new fame catches the attention of Amber Von Tussle and her mother Velma who try to get Tracy off the show. Throughout the movie Tracy learns about racism and how the world can be prejudice.

Even if you are not a fan of musicals you should give Hairspray a chance. There are no boring songs in the movie; all the songs are fast and full of energy. Hairspray also has a good message about not letting anyone’s judgment keep from you achieving your dreams.

You should also see this movie just for the hilarious site of seeing John Travolta in a dress.

Starring: Nikki Blonskey, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeifer, Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, and Brittany Snow

Rated: PG- for language, some suggestive content, and momentary teen smoking

Hairspray hits the shelves on Tuesday.

John McClane is back in this fourth installment of the very popular Die Hard series. This time he takes on an internet-based terrorist organization.

When there is a breach in the FBI security system, Matt Farrell is suspected as the hacker, so John is assigned to bring him in. John thinks this is going to be a normal pick-up and drop-off, but he’s wrong. A terrorist group, led by Thomas Gabriel, tries to kill John and Matt. They then get caught up in the terrorists plan to shut down the United States computer infrastructure. And if you know John McClane, then you know he is going to do everything he can to stop it.

But let’s face it; you don’t see a Die Hard movie for the plot, you see it for the explosions, gun fights, and crazy stunts. This movie does not disappoint in the category. As in all Die Hard movies, this installment has awesome stunts.

Although Bruce Willis is old now, he is still very good as the New York City cop.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, and Maggie Q

Rated: PG-13- for intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation

Live Free or Die Hard hits the shelves on Tuesday.