Photo By Rania Dotson | Story By Makala Finley

Third time is often known as the charm, however for the cheerleaders it’s just another year that they placed top ten in the national cheerleading championship. The 37 girls competed Feb. 12 and 13 at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The girls spent five days in florida and their time consisted of practicing for the competition, attending district dinner at Animal Kingdom and enjoying their time at Disney World by riding rides. This is the third year in a row that the varsity team has placed in the top ten at nationals.

“We’ve gotten top ten three year in a row, so we’ve definitely met those standards,” sophomore varsity member Madison Stewart said. “I think that it encourages incoming freshmen to want to be part of our top ten streak.”

Though an exciting time for the cheerleaders, for the seniors it was also a time of sadness knowing that it was their last year that they would travel to Nationals.

“It was sad at first since it’s my last year, but it’s good closure. I was just glad we made it and I was proud to have all of my friends down there with me,” senior Ashley Corey said.

In addition, the JV team were semi-finalists.

“I’m happy with where everyone ended up, it was a learning experience. I am very proud of them,” cheerleading coach Brandi Boyd said.

By Juan Garcia |

Drawing, sculpturing, and painting are some ways students express themselves in their art classes. This Saturday those students get the opportunity to show off their artistic talents at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) regionals.

“This is the biggest regional and state competition we compete in,” art teacher Claudia Freeman said.

In this stage of the competition, 70-80 Madison students are competing. Each student presents their artwork and talks with a juror and has the the chance to explain their reason behind their artwork. Each student is judged on a four point scale, with four being the highest.

“It’s always good for students to have the opportunity to explain their artwork one on one with a judge,” art teacher Margo McCarthy said.

Students going to state competition will be announced Saturday after the jurors have made their decision. But even though not all students will be advancing to the next level, art teachers are still encouraging students to be unique.

“Open the box,” Freeman said. “Keep your mind open to all the possibilities.”

Regional competition takes place at Johnson High School this Saturday.

By Christina Dimyan |

Friday afternoon the debate team left to the NFL district national qualifier at MacArthur in hopes of making it to nationals.

“I don’t expect us to get eliminated. They are both solid and have demonstrated that this year,” debate coach Chris Mifflin said.

Shamira Shepherd and Summer Mills are both competing in the individual competitions. Today’s results can be a good indicator for them on how to prepare for districts in April 2.

“Most are preparing already. The rest of the kids will prepare next week for districts,” Mifflin Said.

UIL distcits will be held at MacArthur all day on the April 2. Between 6 and 9 students will be going from varsity debate. there are 9 spots; 3 speaking and 3 debate spots. Districts is a very different experience for debaters. Rather than debaters having up to 2 losses, districts is double elimination. With that, about half of the competitors get eliminated after the second round.

“It’s a very stressful and different event, and I expect it to go well,” Mifflin said.

To debate students, all the this hard work is no different than sports. They prepare, practice, and compete in tournaments in hopes to make it to the finals.

“[Debate] gets you included in school and gives them opportunities. Some kinds need to be challenged more and this class is challenging ,” Mifflin said.

By Samantha Sanburn |

Ten students competed in the San Antonio Livestock Show wool judging event on Feb. 12. These students seniors Savina Robles, Ariel Jones, Tasha Womack, Kelly Hazlett, Patricia Ward, Dallas Campbell, Jamee Bell and Brandee Stanzione and sophomores Cody Coln and Casey Lopez.

The competition was open to all 4H and FFA members in the state.

“In a wool judging event, students evaluate wool fleeces for different quality factors.” sponsor Michael Wallace said.

One of the team members, senior Savina Robles, won second highest individual and picked up a $10,000 scholarship to the college of her choice. According to team sponsor, Michael Wallace, she plans to attend San Angelo State University and wants to join the collegiate wool judging team.