Monday, November 30, 2015

Elites are the Socks of Choice

       For the majority of the guys at Chadron High, socks are a major part of their wardrobes. The most popular socks walking around the halls are Nike Elites.  "I buy socks that will match my clothes or how cool they look," stated sophomore Coy Bila.
      These socks come in many different colors and styles. Also according to Chadron High School guys elites are good for sports, not just because of style, but they help your worn out sport shoes be more comfortable. "My favorite pair of Elites are my blue and black, because of their pretty colors," said freshman Luke Tiensvold.
      Both Coy Bila, who owns 15 pairs of elites, and Luke Tiensvold, who owns 6 pairs, say they prefer Nike Elites over normal black and white Nike. For Keagan Shuck, Brooks Roberts, and Spencer Margetts all three own several pairs of Elites, but like their normal Nike socks the best. "Elites are cool, but they are expensive. So I'm fine with wearing normal Nike socks," said Spencer
     "If I'm wearing shorts I'll wear a pair of my Elites, because it makes my outfit look better," said Brooks.
   

Companion Animals Projects

     Mari Beth Moore's companion animal's class is currently working on their small animal projects. Each group of students has selected a different animal to make a presentation about. The students have to create a model of their animal, as well as a presentation to share with the class.
     "One of the best projects was created by Kyla Parish and Danielle Johnson," said Ms. Moore. The girls drew a large poster of a tortoise for their model and it was neatly done and easy to read.
     Brooklyn Stack, Aubree Noble, and Emily Blaylock are doing their presentation on chinchillas. They used colorful note cards and popsicle sticks on their presentation to make it unique. "I learned more than I originally had known about the animal, and thought it was fun to research them," said Brooklyn.
     Hunter Hawk, Travis Fankhauser, and Miakayla Koerber are doing their project on guinea pigs. They created a cage out of a shoe box, and drew their model."I learned guinea pigs are great pets and work really well for small families. They originated in South America and come in many different colors," said Hunter Hawk.
     Cody Madsen, Beau Jersild, and Drew Jersild chose a tortoise for their project. "I learned that it is important to plan what you are going to do so you don't wait until the last minute. I also had fun learning about different animals and creating our tortoise model," said Cody.
   

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Semester Graduate Counting Down the Days

     The fall semester at Chadron High School is coming to an end and as many students are thinking about the next semester and their classes, senior, Mikaela Hastings is preparing for her college career.
      Hastings is the only senior whom has decided to graduate at semester. Hastings has planned to stay in Chadron after she is finished with school. Hastings will attend many of Chadron High's activities such as National Honor Society's senior trip and induction, baccalaureate, honors night, and graduation.
      She wants to find a job at a nursing home, using her Certified Nursing Assistant position. In, addition Hastings is planning on taking generals online through Western Nebraska Community College for the next semester. Hastings said, "I will eventually be attending the University of South Dakota to get a bachelors in nursing and then go on to become a nurse anesthetist."

Friday, November 20, 2015

Pinata Fun in Spanish

     In Renae Noble's Spanish class, she has had her students participate in making a pinata for the last 10 years.  This project is worth 100 points, unless the student, and or group goes above and beyond on their project. If this is the case, extra credit points are available. Mrs. Noble states that there has been many memorable pinatas, both good and bad. "One of my favorites is still the Finding Nemo character, Squirt, that is still hanging on the wall," says Noble.  According to Mrs. Noble, one of the worst pinatas that has ever been handed in, was one that a student took home and spray painted knowing that he/she wasn't going to get done on time. " I try to be open to all ideas. There are a few things I have to say no to, but I try to keep an open mind to all ideas," says Noble.
     Mrs. Noble usually allows 2-3 days to form their pinata, and then another week to complete the remaining parts. After that, students can come in and work during the day when they have free time, or they can take their projects home to complete. A later due date will be set towards the end of the semester. If a pinata is not complete by the given due date, the student will have to sit down with Noble to come up with a game plan to get it done. "We decide together what percentage of the pinata is complete. I have given grades as low as 50% on a project," states Mrs. Noble.
     According to Brayden Richardson, a sophomore at CHS, he is participating in a group to complete his pinata. " We are trying to do something simple, so we have enough time to get it done," states Brayden.
     Jared Fernau, also a sophomore in the Spanish class, says that he is going to go over the top on his project. Fernau thinks a week and a half is more than enough time to get the project done. A lot of students try to remake an already seen pinata, but Jared is coming up with an original idea. 
     Cody Madsen, another student in the Spanish class states that the "Pinata Project" is an appropriate project. "It is important to get us into the Spanish culture," states Madsen.

Chadron High Wrestling Begins

     Ever since the fall sports came to a close, Chadron High boys have shifted their attention to a specific winter sport: wrestling.
     The Chadron High wrestling team, under the coaching of Jamie Slingsby, began conditioning early Monday morning Nov. 16th at the school.
     The seniors on the wrestling team this year include Tate Cullers, Kane Wellnitz, Isaac Brodrick, and Curtis McMann.
     Last year, senior Willy Cogdill took home a gold medal from Lincoln. Seniors on the team have high hopes of making it to state this year.
     The team consists of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors who will compete against teams from all around the Panhandle including some teams from Wyoming.
     
   

Speech Season: Talking to Walls

     The 2015-2016 speech season started Tuesday the 17th. With Joe McCarty and Rebecca Dubs as the head coach and assistant coach, they say that they are excited for this year. "This is my first year helping with an activity like this in Chadron," said Mrs. Dubs. "I'm excited to work with these kids!"
     Speech consists of nine different events ranging from a serious speech to an oral interpretation of drama (OID) that can be performed with multiple people and is usually comedy. "It's time to go hard and not stop. I'm determined to make my speech goals and dreams come true," said senior Amrit Chima.
     Although this is Mr. McCarty's last year, the team is sure to make it last. With practices after school almost everyday and more, the group is preparing to earn their way to state or doing well at districts. "Speech is what I look forward to," said junior Emily Blaylock, "I'm ready for waking up early, traveling, and being able to do what I love to do."

Girls' Basketball is Finally Here

     Girls' basketball season has officially began. "The team seems to be very excited and should do well throughout the season," said Coach McLain. 
     According to McLain he has a very good team. "We seem to have good depth this year, which is a strength, as well as competitive practices. We also have several girls who are capable of tearing down the backboard at any given time with 360 reverse between the legs boom boom thunder slam dunks, which should make games very exciting," said McLain. 
     There are 21 girls out for basketball reaching for their goal of winning the championship at state.  The girls seem to be working very hard in practice. "We push ourselves to the fullest to reach our goal," said Chandler Hageman. 
     The basketball team was struggling to find a manager. Coach McLain said, 'We currently have 19 girls applying for the managing position this year. After a very tough interviewing process led by Mr. Lecher and CHS alumni Rick Barry, we have cut that number down to 3. With their expertise, we are fairly confident we will get the best manager possible for the gig." 
    Coach McLain is excited to see where he girls go this year. He believes they should make it far in the season with the talent of girls he has on his team. 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Take the ACT!

    Chadron High School students can take their ACT whenever they want either at the college or the high school at 8 a.m. on the dates that it is offered.
    During the Junior year in April and June is the best time to take it, because students have more knowledge in English, Math, and Science "under their belt," said Mrs. Watson, guidance counselor.       The test costs $39.50 unless the student has a free and reduced lunch, then they can take it for free two times. If students are late for taking the test, then the money that was spent for the ACT is wasted, as students are not admitted after the 8 a.m. start time.
    The students have around four or less hours to finish it. Mrs. Watson says, "Guess everything before the times runs out." A score above an 18 is the goal to get into college, but the higher the score, the more scholarships the students get. The best score any student can get is a 36.

Do You Use Your Locker?

      Chadron High School is filled with lockers. However, how many people really use them? Brice Hudson said that he hasn't used his locker once this year as he carries everything in his backpack. "Probably less than half of students use a locker, maybe even less," said Mr. Mack.
      So why do we have so many lockers if there not being used? According to Dustin St. Andre he used his locker once a day until it broke, so now he carries his things with him. "I don't think we should get rid of the lockers, because then where would we put our stuff?" said St. Andre. "Do our lockers get repaired?" asked St. Andre. "We do have locker replacement on our strategic plan for the district.... which means it's probably a few years out," said Mr. Mack.
      "We should get cubbies," said Hudson. "Or bigger lockers so it's would be easier to get into to," said Elijah Dryden.  However, St. Andre doesn't think these ideas are right, because then students wouldn't have a place to put their stuff.
     "We'd want to replace them with bigger lockers, so they would be used more," said Mr. Mack.
      The idea of replacing the lockers with benches was never thought of. "That's not a bad idea. We haven't had it recommended before. We have looked into adding benches or more seating in the commons area and near the office," said Mr. Mack.
   

   

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thanksgiving Break: What do you do?

      Chadron High School has Thanksgiving break the 25th, 26th, 27th of November. Students and teachers make plans for the long, peaceful break.
      Elijah's Dryden's favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the delicious food. "I love the varieties of foods that are displayed during the Holiday," said Elyjah. Mrs. Lanphear is also excited for the food but mostly the cherry pie.
      Unlike Mrs. Lanphear, Elyjah travels to 45 miles to Oelrichs, South Dakota, where most of his family is from.
      Mrs. Lanphear's family has a ton of fun and loves to wake up late and hang out in pjs with family. Elyjah also likes spending time with his family and "pigging out" during Thanksgiving.
       Most people have there favorite dishes that they are excited for. Mrs. Lanphear family loves her husband's pecan bars. Dustin St. Andre's family has different favorite dishes.
       However, Dustin's and Elyjah's personal excitement for the break is being able to relax and go hunting.
   
   

Cardinal Singers excel at Best of the West

  

On November 7th, the Chadron Cardinal Singers competed at Best of the West in Scottsbluff. The group performed a Grease medley, 1650's Broadway, and Lost in the 60's Tonight. They received two silver ratings and one gold rating on their performance, which is a step up from last year with a bronze.
    This competition has been going on for 35 years. This year there were 14 schools and 23 choirs at the festival. "I felt like we did well based on other performances with the same set. We connected on stage, and we showed what Chadron High can do," stated Brooklyn Stack, member of the Cardinal Singers.
     "They could always improve, but overall they sang great, and I couldn't be more proud," claimed director Wendy Mahr.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Student section fires up

     
At the last home volleyball game the student section's theme was "white out."
      At Chadron High School the school spirit is carried out by the student section. 
      Principal Jerry Mack states that there has never been a problem with the student section except for a few years ago there was a hand held sign that had inappropriate things written on it. Mack loves the student section and supports it 100%. He thinks its "very well monitored"  and that the kids in the student section do a good job making sure they don't just single out one opponent and that they cheer for every single player. Mack states that the student section should be more distracting and crazy. Mack also stated, "At state competitions they have hidden NSAA people sitting in the crowd watching to see what school has the best student section. Whoever has the best student section and shows the most pride and spirit wins. The school gets mailed the report that the hidden NSAA people have filled out. The very first year they decided to do this Chadron High School got first place. "Mack tries to get the word out as much as possible by using his Twitter and also putting it in the announcements. 
     This year senior Harlie Kennell is the one that is mostly in charge. Jerry Mack thinks when the class of 2016 graduates the leader next year will be Brooks Roberts.
     Senior Emmy Mills is also a big part of the student section. Emmy stated, "Harlie is the one that comes up with the themes, and they come up with the themes based on the games or the opponents we are playing." Emmy loves when other student sections come, because it's "constant battling." One thing that Mills does not like is when students come to the game and sit in the student section and are not dressed up following the theme. She states, "There is no point in cheering and everyone can agree." Emmy states that it makes the playing environment 110% better because they get the players pumped and excited to bring out a victory. She isn't sure who will be the new leaders next year, but she strongly thinks that Spencer Margetts or Brooks will lead a lot being seniors next year.
     The student section is very important at Chadron High School to the teams, the students, the parents and the principal.

Decal business for FBLA

     The Chadron High Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter has newly introduced their decal business. Not only does FBLA work on leadership skills and building knowledge, but they also encourage entrepreneurship.
     Brenda Budler, one of the two FBLA advisers, came up with the idea to put together this business. "I originally saw a demonstration of this equipment in Nashville, TN at the National FBLA Conference. I immediately thought it would be a great addition to my FBLA chapter," said Mrs. Budler. A grant was written by Mrs. Budler, and she received the grant. The business has all the equipment necessary and now has an FBLA entrepreneurship group running it. 
     Many opportunities will come with this business. Mrs. Budler said that the money is paying off the expenses right now. She also said that in the future, she hopes to have the business up and running and use the profits to give scholarships to students going to state. "We are almost a third of the way to breaking even so far," said Mrs. Budler. 
     The FBLA business will be open to the community more this winter. The only exposure to the community was at the Harvest Festival downtown in early October. They plan on having members approach businesses in the near future and be set up with the cake raffles during the winter sports. 
     These decals can come any way you would like them. So far, the group has only concentrated on 6x6 and 4x4 sports decals for windows, however they will eventually be able to be customized with athletes names and numbers depending on their preference. "There is a great selection of the decals we can make," said Mrs. Budler.  

Sculpture mystery solved

     Have you ever noticed the sculpture of George Washington in Chadron High School's Office? The bust hanging on the wall is a mystery not many people know about. 
     According to Mrs. Williamson, administrative assistant of athletics at Chadron High, the information the school has on the sculpture was provided by Rex Jones. Jones was executive director of the Nebraska School Activities Association at the time it was gifted and still lives in the city of Chadron today. Williamson said that Gutzon Borglum, who sculpted Mount Rushmore, gave the bust to Chadron High, but she is not sure of the reason. She said there is not a lot of information on the piece as it has been lost and forgotten over the years. Williamson claims that there was something hidden inside of the sculpture, but unfortunately it was lost as well. 
     Vic Bradley, math and science teacher at Chadron High, described a different story, however. Bradley said that he learned the story from Bruce Parish who used to be the athletic director for the school. According the Bradley, the sculpture was gifted by Gutzom's son, also an accomplished sculpture, along with several others to schools around the area. The son gave these sculptures to schools in order to advertise the new Mount Rushmore after Gutzom passed. Bradley said that the certificate of authenticity for the sculpture was lost and eventually, student's interest.
   

Volleyball makes it to state

     For the past 2 years volleyball has gone to state on a wild card, seeming to fall short until this year. The Lady Cards beat Gothernburg in 3 easy sets on Friday Nov. 6th. "We came out on top with a well earned win," said Talyah Huss.
     In the middle of the season the team lost a very important player, Jayden Garret, the setter of the team. Coach Matt said, "It was tough, but Talyah Huss came in and did a nice job until Jayden could come back."
    The team only lost 4 games out of 33 in the regular season. The team, like every other team, has weaknesses and strengths. Matt said, "I think team unity is our biggest strength and our biggest weakness can be our serving."
    "Most people only see the end result of each point, but all of the girls have to do their job for the team to be successful," said Coach Matt.
    The Lady Cards seemed to pull out a great season, and ended up 2nd seed at state and according to Coach Matt, every team has a chance to take state.

Children's book project

     For 2 weeks Mrs. Lanphear's English 2 class was making childrens books with Mrs. Uhing's second grade reading class. The high school students worked with either 1 or 2 little second graders to help create an imaginary story to write their book about.
     According to Mrs. Lanphear, one of the high school English teachers, this project went very well overall. The high school students started with the end results and knew how they were going be graded, which helped to develop their book. 
     Mrs. Lanphear stated, "I came up with this project in December 2014. I tweeted Mrs. Uhing and we decided to wait until when we had a small enough class and extra time to do the project." This year Mrs. Uhing asked Mrs. Lanphear if they could do the project and Mrs. Lanphear said yes because she had a small enough class.  
      The project was a way to learn without just using pencil and paper. The benefits of this project were to show that students knew literary devices and parts of the plot. They also taught the second graders about the parts of plot and literary devices. Lanphear said it was a lot of extra work to do this project, but it was worth it in the end.
     According to junior Selena Gomez, a student that did this project, she said she enjoyed spending time with the little kids and getting out of the classroom. She stated that, "The hardest part of this project was putting all the ideas of the second graders together into a story and trying to keep them on task. The benefits of the project was to teach them the plot diagram." 
     Selena thought that the second graders were awesome, and she loved them. They were super smart for second graders. She liked the book they created, but the website they used really didn't have great pictures that matched their stories.

FFA Meat and Cheese sales

     The Chadron FFA chapter is currently having a meat a cheese sale. These meat and cheese sales are replacing the labor action that was held in the previous years.
     The labor auction was held last year and earned the chapter quite a bit of money. The chapter chose to not do the labor auction this year because some of the buyers didn't get the work they bought, and it was time for a change.
     These sales are being held to raise money for the state convention, shop equipment, and other causes. The chapter is hoping to earn about 5,000 dollars from the sales, because that is about how much the labor auction earned them.
     There are a variety of products that can be purchased, including a variety of meats and cheeses. If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the items, see an FFA member for more information.

More water fountains arriving

     Recently in Chadron High School a new water fountain has been installed. But now there will be an installation of not one, but three more throughout the school. Jerry Mack, principal of CHS, says that he thinks the new drinking fountains are a good idea, and also that he is anxious to get more of them in the school. Mack states that the drinking fountains get plenty of use, but he himself never uses it. "I just fill my water bottle in the office because it's closer," says Mr. Mack.
     Mack also states that one new drinking fountain was installed into each of the four district schools. "Three more will arrive and be installed int he high school, replacing all current drinking fountains in the main part of the building," says Mack.
     Mr. Mack also includes that most of the funding for the drinking fountains is coming from a grant that funds 'green' projects, and that the district covered the remaining costs. 

Chadron High One Act Production

   
The cast of CHS's one act play. Photo by: Kevin Oleksy
     For the last nine years, Chadron High has entertained the community with their one act plays. This year, a collaboration of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors under the direction of Jill Paopao and Brenda Lanphear will perform The 11th by David J. LeMaster. The play will first air to the public on Friday November 13th at 7 p.m. with a dinner prior to the performance at 5:30 p.m. Dinner theater tickets are $12, while the play and dessert bar cost $5.
     The plot of the play doesn't follow a traditional storyline. Rather, it will displays how the events that took place on September 11, 2001 affected the everyday lives of United States citizens.
     This production isn't like the plays performed in the past. "It is very different as it didn't follow a storyline," Paopao said. "There are a lot of individual vignettes happening all at the same time yet all of the individual stories are connected around the central theme of September 11th."
     Junior Colette Mahr plays Katie, a high school student who witnesses the attacks from footage shown in her history class. "Even though it's a fairly small part, it's a challenging role, and she shows the panic that many people felt that day." Small roles such as Mahr's help the audience realize that the 9/11 attacks affected students just as much as adults.
     The attacks also sparked the harassment and social separation of the minorities within the United States, more specifically Muslims. Senior Amrit Chima said, "I got the part of Ahmed, a Muslim student in an American high school when the attacks occurred. He is shunned by his fellow students after the attacks," he said. "It's difficult to see the way that that group of individuals was treated after those tragic events took place."
     The one act cast will head to Bridgeport Saturday to take part in the one acts festival. A school performance will be held on November 23rd. District one acts, which will take place at Chadron State College, will land on Saturday December 5th.

Monday, November 9, 2015

FFA Members Take a Trip to Nationals

    Chadron High School’s FFA chapter sent 6 members in various grades and 1 adviser, Mr. Jon Cogdill, to the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, from October 26 to October 31. Each member had to pay $380 of out of pocket expenses and the chapter paid for the entire adviser expense and the rest of the members' expenses.
     This was the first time that the Chadron High FFA Chapter had students sent to the convention. The members did not qualify for the national convention, however, they were given the opportunity to experience and learn more about nationals. Freshman, Hailey Watson said, “I learned that we need to let more people know about FFA, and I also learned how to become a better leader.”
      The students left Chadron on the 26th and drove to Denver, Colorado. They flew out of Denver and into Indianapolis, Indiana. They then rented a car and drove to Louisville, Kentucky.
      In Kentucky the members and Mr. Cogdill, went to a Kip Moore concert, convention sessions, the Lousville Slugger Factory, and an Expo. 
      Matt Kerner, senior said, “I went and hung out with my cousin I hadn’t seen in four years. He took me to the Cardinal hall of fame where we ate at.”

NHS fall induction held

   
     The National Honor Society induction was held at the Chadron High School auditorium on November 9, 2015 at 7:00.
     It is an educational organization that promotes recognition for students who reflect outstanding accomplishment in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. In order to get into this club you have to have, and maintain, a 3.65 GPA. Students are invited to this club on the second semester of the sophomore year and eligibility ends the fall of the senior year.
     The NHS does service projects, collects canned goods, etc. that "help enhance greatness in other activities," according to Mr. Uhing, who sponsors the club along with Mrs. Bauer. During lunch meetings, they discuss their service projects, national bylaws, etc.
     The club has officers that can be from any grade, but they have to be nominated and voted upon. The president of the National Honor Society is Allie Johnson, Vice-President Shoilee Rahman, Secretary Kiya Passero, and Treasurer Jayden Stack.

Interact hosts coat drive

 

Chadron High School’s Interact Club is hosting a coat drive from now until November 16th.
  Boxes for drop off are located at the high school in the commons, in the Walmart entryway, and at the middle school. 
Coats will be picked up every Tuesday and Thursday, and washed every Wednesday and Friday. As the coat drive comes to an end, the donated coats will be distributed to the Northwest Community Action Partnership, the police department for the local children in need, and other areas that are in need. 
If there are any questions, you can ask Aly Crow or Mikki Hastings.