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Read the following article about how seniors in Vermont persuaded their school board to have their final football game.

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**A Bennington victory before the football game even begins**
Posted at: 10/22/2011 11:48 PM Updated at: 10/23/2011 1:18 PM By: Dan Levy

BENNINGTON, Vt. - For many people in the community, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event,and all week long, many people feared it might not be able to take place. It wasn't just a football game for Mount Anthony Union -- it was senior night. On top of that, the Fighting Patriots were taking on their arch-rivals, Brattleboro.

When Bennington teachers went on strike earlier in the week, all athletic and extra curricular events were canceled, but that's when seniors came up with a game plan. Even before the Fighting Patriots took the field Saturday night, they had already scored a victory. After Bennington teachers hit the picket lines earlier in the week, most people in the community figured their football team would never see any scrimmage lines.

For Peggy Apple, that meant her son would have missed his final high school game. "My son kept believing he was going to play," Apple says, "and I was trying to tell him I don't think the way things are going you're going to have a chance."

Senior Majorette Emma Leak would have missed out on twirling the flaming baton on Spinelli Field, something she had been looking forward to since she was a little girl.

"When the teachers went on strike we felt, ok, fine, let them have their day, or maybe two," says Lena Leak, Emma's mother. "On Friday it was getting closer and closer and all the seniors banded together and said, "You know what, we're taking back our night."

And so Emma Leak, along with other senior captains of their respective teams, wrote letters, and contacted school board members, and convinced them to take a vote, and allow the students to have, and to be able to savor senior memories. The plan worked. "I am excited," Emma declared. "This is my last game and I get to twirl my fire. I'm just more excited than anything else."

The excitement filled the grid iron and music filled the air -- even though it was students who had to lead the marching band because striking teachers weren't allowed. "I'm glad that the school boards saw through all of it to let the seniors play," said Susan Plaisance, a Mount Anthony Union supporter, "The kids can get back the days missed but they'll never get back senior night."

"I think it was really good that the administration decided to come together and make this happen especially for the seniors because this is the moment for them," Apple.

Unfortunately for MAU fans, Brattleboro won the game 14-12.

As for the other battle in town, negotiators for both the teachers union and the school boards believe that a framework for discussion has been established and they hope to meet again on Monday ton continue their talks.

270 Bennington teachers have now been working 490 days without a contract.

1. There are several complex sentences in this article. Rewrite __two__ of them using a different coordinating conjuction. (W4 - complex sentences)

For example: Original sentence: While I was at the grocery store, I ran into my best friend. Rewrite: As I was at the grocery store, I ran into my best friend.

2. Rewrite __two__ sentences by adding a transition word or phrase that would work for that text structure. WRITE THE SENTENCE BEFORE **__AND__** THE SENTENCE YOU ARE ADDING THE TRANSITION TO. (W6 - Transition Words)