BAFA Student Noah McClain and

his father, Staff Sergeant Chris Westcott

#PawPrint
Broken Arrow Freshman Academy
1st Nine Weeks Volume 1, Issue 1
A Simple Reunion
by Austin Gaylord

What is family? Family is someone who is always ready to catch you when you fall down,
always ready to help you when you need it, and always ready to create memories with you. Family
is love. So when your family is separated due to military deployment, the time apart can be
difficult. Normal people deal with this every day, people who live in this very town, students who
go to this very school.
Noah McClain, BAFA student, thought Tuesday, September 23
rd
was a normal day. He went
to his classes, had lunch, spent time with his friends, and expected to catch a ride home with his
aunt, Mrs. Dibler. Instead, he was surprised to see his father; Staff Sergeant Chris Westcott was
there to pick him up. It was a surprise because Westcott was supposedly still on deployment.
Noah knew he was back in the states but had no idea he was home in BA.
As Westcott waited patiently for his son to come to the office, he answered a few questions
about his time abroad. Westcott, a Tulsa Police Officer, just arrived home after his second
deployment overseas in Afghanistan. He was stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan for almost a year.
Compared to his first deployment in Iraq, its been a lot easier to keep in touch with Noah. They
had more frequent access to the internet and FaceTime. Despite enjoying serving in the Army
Reserves, Westcott has missed his son tremendously, saying the hardest part is not being able to
see your family.
After so long apart, Noah was very surprised to see his dad walk out of Mr. Rountrees
office. There was an immediate hug and, maybe, a few tears. Noah, a quiet young man, didnt
overly express his shock, but you could tell he was very happy to have his dad home. Noah would
rather work with computers, not really interested in following in his fathers footsteps, he said
with a laugh.
Once the initial shock wore off, the reunited pair was ready to celebrate. As they left for
dinner, one couldnt help but feel joy for the father and son. Family really is about love, memories,
and having these things across time and distance.








Mrs. Harris Bubbles Experiment
By: Trinity Brush

On August 28, Mrs. Harris a Biology Teacher on the Iota
team conducted the first science experiment that she does
with her class every year. Its called the bubble experiment.
The bubble experiment is an inquiry based science
experiment. Its purpose is to get the students to think
critically while having fun! Mrs. Harris found this experiment
years ago in an old chemistry book; this activity allows
students to get more comfortable with writing lab reports.
During the experiment one of the questions that was
asked was which bubble solution makes the best bubbles?
One bubble solution consisted of soap, water and sugar; the
second solution consisted of soap, water, and salt. The
students concluded that the bubble solution containing sugar
created the best bubbles.

What did you think about this lab?
"Fun; I like bubbles." ~Evianna Camacho
"Hard to make bubbles from the salt solution." ~Katelyn Klempa
"I had fun making bubbles in Pre-AP Biology." ~ Logan Melton
Why are you doing this lab?
"For fun and because Mrs. Harris is the best teacher!"
~Caden Malone



















STUDENTS
REFLECT ON
THE LAB:
Fashion
By: Rylie Day
Fashion has changed
many times over the years
from the hippie look in the
70s, to the bucket hats and
overalls in the 90s. Fashion
today is influenced by the
past. Bucket hats have come
back in to fashion and so has
the hippie look. The flowy bell
bottom pants are gaining
popularity for the girls and
mullets have, sadly, made a
reoccurrence in boys
hairstyles. High-wasted shorts
are favored over normal shorts
and Converse have made a
huge come back, especially the
white, blue, and red ones.
For the upcoming cold
weather you might even see
the 60s mod-fashion coming
back! Shift dresses, black
tights, and knee-high boots
are expected to be seen. For
winter, sweaters are heavily
favored for the girls and the
guys seem to like the
windbreakers, trench coats
with fur hoods, along with
beanies. Vans, Uggs,
Converse, and Nike are going
to crowd the halls this year;
some popular stores to check
out are American Eagle, The
Buckle, Abercrombie & Fitch,
and, of course, Nike apparel.
Fashion is very diverse
and these trends just keep
making appearances. They
probably wont disappear.


A Modern Students Take on Bullying
By: Austin Dodwell

At school lately there has been a lot of talk about bullying. I know it happens and is a hard
topic which needs attention. Bullying has been around for a while and people always say the same
thing about stopping it: Stand up for yourself. But, a lot of times this makes it worse.
Why should we all strive to fit in? We were made to stand out. I realize this sounds cheesy,
but its as simple as that. Feeling like we need to fit in is unnecessary. Does it really matter what
other people think? I know this is sometimes a hard thing to understand, but once you realize it
doesnt matter what others think, your life will be a little easier. Sometimes people bully others
because of what they say, and theyll end up twisting it. The bully makes it something totally
different then what you meant. My advice is to stay quiet in these scenarios. You see, silence can
never be misquoted.
***If you need help with a bully, always seek help from a trusted adult. They care about you and want to help you!













Book Review
By: Meaghan Rashid

The Perks of a Being a Wallflower is an
interesting book for those who love to read or
for those in search of a good book. Its
heartbreaking. Enlightening. Its a sensation.
A lot of teens can relate to this book because,
it involves everyday problems that teenagers
might be going through. Perks of being a
Wallflower mostly relates to shy people, but it
could just as easily relate to a kid having

a tough time making friends at a new school.
The book is about a quiet student named
Charlie, that wrote letters about his freshman
year in high school; dealing with traumatic
terrors from his past. While Charlie is at a
football game (even though, he is a quiet
introvert/wallflower) he makes friends with
some seniors named Patrick and Sam. After
meeting Sam, Charlie begins feeling attracted
to her but she is already in a relationship, and
he doesnt admit his feelings to his friends.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was also
made into a movie a couple of years ago. The
movie is different from the book; they didnt
add some things into the movie that were in the
book, and also added things into the movie that
were not in the book. The Perks of Being a
Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky is definitely my
favorite book so far.

Pep Assembly Excitement
By: Haylie Johnson

The first ever Freshman Academy Homecoming Pep Assembly was a success. Thanks goes to
the Student Council for arranging this huge and fun event. Students released our Tigers, along with
all our Tiger Pride. The football players, who danced to the song Fancy by Iggy Azalea, were Caeleb
Stanton, Devin Clayton, Anthony Diaz, and Austin Garrison. You guys were awesome! The stands
were full of signs made by each academic team. The peppiest team contest was won by team Iota.
You guys were dripping from head to toe in your tiger spirit. Good job to all the teams on
participating in our contest. For team Iota, one day during your academic achievement, you will be
able to go to the cafeteria, to play on your phone, eat some food, and socialize for your excellent
school spirit shown at the pep-assembly during homecoming week. Make sure you thank all your
fellow classmates that are in student council for putting together the whole pep assembly. All of us
should be proud to be a Broken Arrow tiger!