Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Speech team starts

     Kids talking to walls, muttering to themselves, talking in multiple voices, what does all of this have to do with what I am talking about... Speech session.  Speech session has finally started in Chadron High School.
     Practices began November 28th, and the first competition is January 21st, said speech coach Rebecca Dubbs. 
     Speech is a fun activity where students get to create and perform speeches, scripts, and stories, and you get to rehearse the same speech throughout the season, said Dubbs.  
     There are many different types of speeches: persuasive, informative, extemporaneous, humorous & serious prose, entertainment, poetry, duet, and oral interpreation of drama.  
     Speech meets are held with 3 rounds with 2 flights each.  Students present their speech two times for different judges.  If placed first or second in their round and flight, they will present one more time in a final round.  
     Meets are on Saturdays but districts and state take place during the week. Meets begin at 8:30 and don't get home till around 9 or 10 PM.

Quinton Aaron speaks at CHS

     On November 14th, Quinton Aaron, a well known actor from The Blind Side, came to Chadron High School to talk to students about bullying.
     According to Mr. Mack, principal, CHS did not have to pay for expenses in order to have Quinton as our speaker. A grant from Gering paid for his expenses. Furthermore, students sold tickets for $10 to have dinner with Quinton, but the money will go the Quinton Aaron to help with travel expenses.
     In 2009, Quinton Aaron's acting career launched when he played the role of Michael Oher. Because of the film, The Blind Side, he was nominated for several awards including Teen Choice Awards, MTV Movie Awards, and Black Reel Award. Later on in his life, he was featured in several t.v. shows and movies.
     However, in 1990, he created a foundation called The Quinton Aaron Foundation. Through this, Quinton wants to reach out to kids who gets bullied and find ways to stop it. The foundations goal is provide hope, encouragement, and confidence to kids.
   

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Thanksgiving

     Thanksgiving is always full of family, fun and food. It's a time to think about all the things your thankful for, and also time for thinking, "Why did I eat so much?" 
     At Chadron High School, senior Kaitlyn Haug,  claims that the biggest thing she is thankful for is that her life is not a terrible one, and she has people around her that love her. Sophomore, Carstyn says that she is thankful for her friends and family. 
     Thanksgiving is the perfect time of the year to gather with family and enjoy their company. Many families have traditions for what they do every year and certain foods that they always have. Kaitlyn's family goes around the table before they eat and everyone tells about what they are thankful for. Every year the common foods that her family has consists of turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and stuffing. As for pie, Kaitlyn is not a fan of any so she doesn't really pay attention to the pies her families have. 
     Carstyn's family doesn't have a typical "tradition" every year, while her family just comes together at her house and enjoys the holiday together. At her family's Thanksgiving they have both ham and turkey, as well as a huge variety of different foods. Her favorite pie is chocolate, even though that it's not typically at a Thanksgiving dinner and her least favorite pies are apple and pumpkin.

How Allergies Affect Chadron High Students

      Grass, dogs, cats, fruits, dairy products, gluten, medicine, metals. What do these all have in common? They're all allergens, which can affect the daily lives of some Chadron High students.
      Taya Leija, a sophomore, is allergic to multiple things people are around daily. She is allergic to anything with gluten or dairy, grass, cats, Paraben (a chemical compound used in cosmetics and other products), latex, alfalfa, nickel, and copper, which are just a few. To deal with all of these allergens Taya said, “I can't eat anything that has gluten wheat or dairy. I take allergy medicine for cats. I just don't deal with the other three." However, when she comes in contact with her allergens above, Taya said, "I just have to use a steroid cream, but if I eat it I have to let it run its course.”
April Hardy, a senior, is allergic to Aspirin. When coming in contact with her allergen April stated that she "breaks out in itchy hives from my thighs, along my ribs, and underarms." However, no medical attention was needed when she came into contact with Aspirin at first.
Madison Stein, a freshman, is allergic to bananas. As a young child, she used to break out in hives, but now she gets really itchy for a short period of time. To be prepared, she carries cream to help soothe the itching.

Dog People vs. Cat People

    The age old question...cats or dogs? This has been a question asked for centuries and will continue to be asked until the end of time. At Chadron High, students have their own definite thoughts about what makes the perfect pet.
    Senior, Mallory Rhembrandt and sophomores, Luke Tiensvold, Alexys Fernandez, and Moriah Hastings all err on the side of the mighty K-9. All of these students are proud dog owners and make time in their busy lives to play with their furry friends for at least 30 minutes a day. Alexys even said, “I play with my dog periodically throughout the entire day.” 
    The students all have good reasons for being the dog lover they are. Mallory has had her dog, Stella for two years and has become very attached to her. Luke is also very attached to his seven year-old dog, and told that they even “sleep together some nights.” Moriah is also very fond of her three four-legged pets. She said, “They keep my stress level down, are great company, and always are there for me.” These students definitely have great reasons to back-up their unconditional love for their pups.
    Teagan Westemeier, a senior, and Michael Collins, a junior, both consider themselves cat people. Teagan recently got her cat, Smudge, and has been completely infatuated by it ever since. Although she is a dog owner as well, she swings more towards being a cat person rather than a dog person. Michael has multiple barn cats. He doesn't see them too often, but it's always nice when he does. They are very useful to have around because they “eat the mice and help out a lot.”

Monday, November 28, 2016

Cardinals Cards for Sale

       The Chadron High wrestling and basketball teams will be selling Cardinal Cards as a fundraiser. Each card is twenty dollars and has 20 plus discounts for stores around town. Assistant boys’ basketball coach Jordan Nelson thinks Cardinal Cards are a great way to get the community involved in the school. “It encourages students to get out of their comfort zones and develop their social skills,” said Nelson.
The Cardinal Cards encourage people to shop local because the cards only work for local store discounts. They are a great source of revenue for the winter sports that help pay for expenses. Colton Olson, sophomore, enjoys selling Cardinal Cards because he enjoys going out into the community and interacting with people. He also enjoys that it benefits the basketball team.
 

State Volleyball

     After winning the sub-state title, the Chadron High School volleyball team made it to state, held in Lincoln during November 10-12.
     The Chadron girls were matched up against Malcolm in the first round, an undefeated team. Head coach Donald Matt's first thought about Malcolm were, "They are big, but we can handle them."
     The game got away from Chadron very fast, and the first set ended 14-25. The girls never had the lead and the second set also went Malcolm's way, and ended 18-25. Going into the third set, not winning any sets, Coach Matt still had faith and told the girls, "We are still in it, we just needed to clean it up, and control the ball." Malcolm got ahead very quickly, and ended the last set 11-25, winning the game.
     The Chadron girls did a few good things. They served well and hit well when they set it up, and also Teagan Westemeier had a few ace serves that helped the girls gain a few points. They also had many weaknesses during the game. The girls did not ball control well, did not handle passing on any level, and just panicked.

Stein's Now-Literal "Green" Party

   In light of some claims that voting machines had been hacked, Green Party candidate Jill Stein began a fundraiser to pay for three states to recount their votes. In the three states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), the margin by which Clinton lost to Trump is extremely narrow. In order to become the president-elect, Clinton would have to overturn all three states after the recount.
   However, Stein claims that she is not asking for the recount so Clinton can win. In an interview with PBS reporter John Yang, Stein said: "... this is not done to benefit one candidate at the expense of the other. This is being done because Americans came out of this election not happy campers. [...] I think Americans are looking for a way that we can improve the system."
   She continued: "This was an election in which we saw hacking all over the place - we saw hacking into the Democratic party's database, hacking into voter database in Arizona and Illinois, and evidence that it was attempted much more broadly [...] At the same time, we have a voting system which has been proven to basically be wide open to hackers. That is, we have voting machines in Wisconsin, for example, that have been barred from California (actually made illegal) because they have been proven to be drop-dead simple to go in and reprogram with malicious software."
   So far, Stein has raised over four million dollars to pay for the cost of the recounts. According to Stein's Twitter account, surplus funds will be rolled over into more election integrity initiatives, such as recounts in other states.

Nike's New Revolutionary Technology: Self-Lacing Shoes

     Last year Nike revealed their plans on a new project: self-lacing shoes. The project is based on the futuristic self-lacing shoes first seen in the movie: Back to the Future II.
     Finally, after a long wait, the shoes, marketed as the HyperAdapt 1.0, are being released on November 28, 2016. However, the HyperAdapts will only be released to two Nike stores: Nike's Soho and Nike+ ClubHouse for $720 according to Ahiza Garcia, published by CNNMoney Sport on November 15, 2016.
     "When you step in, your heel will hit a sensor and the system will automatically tighten. Then there are two buttons on the side to tighten and loosen. You can adjust it until it's perfect," said Nike senior innovator Tiffany Beers.
     So far there are two different designs. One is a black and white-blue lagoon color scheme, while the other is a metallic silver and black-white color scheme. The sneakers are light weight and must be charged (rechargeable as well). The battery life lasts about two weeks.

Chadron High Game Night

     On November 18th, the FCA Booster Club put on a game night in the High School gym from 8-10:30 pm.  
     According to Chadron High principal Jerry Mack, the activities consisted of team competitions like doge ball, spike ball, and mat ball.  All CHS students were invited to attend, and pizza and drinks were provided.  Mack stated that the event was chaperoned by Cardinals Committed sponsors and various FCA Booster Club members.
     During the night, the attendees were able to hear a speech from Former CSC All-American Football Player Trelan Taylor.  According to Mack, Trelan spoke on "the life of a high school and collegiate athlete."
     The game night was a night that has been in the works for many years.  Mack said, "Years ago, the weekends between fall and winter sports had little to do and there was the concern that students engaged in drinking or other poor choices.  This 'Fun Night' was geared to have a place for out students to come together and have fun and celebrate the transition between seasons."

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Trick or Treating for Canned Goods

     On Friday October 29th, the Chadron High School Future Business Leaders of America chapter separated into several groups and went door to door throughout the community "trick or treating" for canned goods.
      FBLA organizes this event every year to collect cans to donate back to the Immanuel Lutheran church for their food pantry. The students collected around 250 to 300 cans this year.
     This event has been a tradition for several years at Chadron High. FBLA participants dress up in their costumes, and the group that collects the most cans is the new champion. Not only is this event fun for the members, but it's a good way to give back to the community.
     The FBLA sponsors, Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Budler, have organized this event since 2005 and hope to keep the tradition going.
     Some of the students that participated were Greta Welch, Kaci Waugh, Alyssa Noble, and Myia Haymaker. 
     Kaci Waugh said, "By taking a little time out of my day, I am helping out my community and collecting cans that will go to a very noble cause." Waugh also said community service was one of her favorite things about FBLA and their Feed Nebraska campaign.

Sandstrom at the head of the class


     Eight years after graduating from Chadron High School, Michael Sandstrom has come back to teach Social Studies after a few years teaching at Yuma, Colorado. Sandstrom graduated from Chadron State College in 2012 where he participated in football. He graduated with a degree in secondary education with an endorsement in social studies.

     Sandstrom graduated from Chadron High School in 2008 where he is currently teaching US History, A.P. US History, Civics, and World History and helped coach football and will assist with girl's basketball. Though he is now a colleague with some of his former teachers and he says he is not afraid. "It's been fine having them as colleagues. I think that I'd been out long enough where I felt like everyone was pretty understanding that I had grown up and was no longer in high school where I was comfortable coming back."

     Coming back to Chadron has many up and downs for Sandstrom. "Working with the staff and being under Mack and being in the same department as Mr. Nobiling. mostly being with all of this great staff is amazing." Having his sister as a student gives Sandstrom little concern. He said, "Honestly I think that if anything I would border being tougher on her than on most kids. I'm not worried about showing favoritism. It will be a little bit different at first when she is in class."


What it is Like to be New at CHS

     Being new can be frightening in any situation, but being a new at a school is especially intimidating to a teenager because of the unknown. At Chadron High School, this is no different.
     As students move in, they have to adapt to their new school. Kendra Smyres, a new sophomore, said, "Moving to a new school, means knowing no one. You also don't know how the teachers will react, so it's hard to adapt to their rules."  Lindsay Tobacco, a new junior, stated, "I get excited when trying something new. Why care about what others think? Their opinions will not get you what you want. Only you will."
     Making friends can be one of the most difficult or easiest parts of moving depending on the person. The students at CHS gave Kendra and Lindsay good impressions, but if you tend to be shy, it's harder to branch out. However, for Kendra, on the first day she enrolled here, she said, “The first class period I had someone come up to me and declared me her new best friend.”
    There are many reasons to move to a new place. People move because of family, jobs, to save money from housing, and to establish their own household. For Lindsay, she moved for her passion; she wanted to play basketball and is hoping to make friends on the team.
     The town itself seems to please both girls, just like this high school. The education level shocked and pleased them both. Kendra Smyres said, "The school gives students great learning opportunities, with visits to the college and things like Upward Bound, which my old school did not provide." 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

CHS one act play opens


This year's one act play is "Journey to the World’s Edge: A Folk Tale in the Irish Tradition." It is about a young girl who has a deformed foot and is treated poorly by everyone in the village until she decides she wants to change to fit in. She then discovers that it okay to be different.
The one act team will be performing Friday, there will be a dinner from 5:30 to 7:00. The dinner and play cost 12 dollars. They will perform Saturday with Gordon. Gordon performs at 1 and Chadron at 2. It costs 6 dollars to watch both.
One act coach Jill Paopao says it is a pretty difficult play, but it is competitive and creative.
Districts is December 3 in Sidney. Last year the team placed 3rd and were only 2 points away from 1st. There are 6 seniors on the team this year. The one act team is nervous for districts but feels confident says coach Paopao.

Heating and Cooling Issues in Chadron High

     The heating and cooling system of Chadron High School does not work properly, according to Principal Jerry Mack.
     The 25 year old heating and cooling system was built in 1968, and the school replaced the boilers 8 years ago, said Mack. It needs replaced, including all of the air handlers, so there can be control of the room temperature from room to room.  As of right now, the boilers push hot air to the ramp to get heat all the way to wing.  So the school doesn't have any control throughout the whole building, said Mack.
     Since the cost is $3 million or more to replace, there might not be a short term solution. Making changes is going to be hard, stated Mack, since in the spring of 2013 the community did not pass a bond to fund the renovations.  Mack stated, "We need to pursue another bond in the future or hope to find the money somewhere to replace the heating and cooling system."
     The temperature of the school definitely affects the learning environment of the students, said Mack.  Some days it has been 85 degrees in the rooms and some of the students have to bring blankets to stay warm in class.  This also affects the students' health.  Mack stated, "I think from going to hot to cold is hard on the body, for me it stuffs me up."  The body odor has also increased because of the temperature in the rooms.

Fall Choir Concert

     


     On October 27, Chadron Middle and High School held a fall concert in the high school auditorium. The Middle School concert started at 6 while the High School's concert started at 7:30.
     The middle school performance include middle school students, which consists of 5th grade choir, 5th and 6th grade choir, 7th and 8th grade boy's and girl's choir, and junior cardinal singers. While the high school fall concert consisted of the concert choir class, Cedar Street Women's choir, and cardinal singers.
     Mrs. Mahr, choir teacher for both schools, said they all did a great job, and she was proud of everyone.  

Senior Pictures

     Senior year is full of so much excitement and one of these excitements is to get senior pictures taken. A part of the senior picture process is to turn in a senior picture for the composite wall and the yearbook, and the deadlines for these pictures is fastly approaching.

     Yearbook adviser, Mrs. Paopao, has requested that senior pictures are turned in by January 15th. Pictures can be turned into her through her email, (jill.paopao@chadronschools.net) or may be turned in as a hard copy. The senior pictures for the wall needs to be a hard copy, vertical, wallet sized photos. Students may turn in two separate photos or the same photo for both the yearbook and wall composite.

     Although senior pictures can be very expensive, it is important that the school receives both the wall composite and senior picture by the deadline. If pictures are turned in after this the deadline, there is a risk that the senior picture will not be in the yearbook and a school picture may be used instead.

     Senior year is full of excitement as well as precious time spent with family. Parents are asked to submit a baby picture and a congratulatory note for their senior. It is asked the the note is 25 words or less, when the note is longer than this it is difficult for staff to fit the note in the area given. The notes can be typed and emailed to Mrs. Paopao or sent to her at the high school. As for the baby pictures, they will be used in the baccalaureate slide show and returned by the end of the year.

Chadron High Blood Drive

         
At the Blood Drive, Marcus Fernandez donates for the first time.

The Health Profession's students sponsored, and worked, the blood drive.
Front (left to right): Kaylee Garvin, Kaci Waugh, Destiny Rhoden, and Danielle Johnson. Middle: Mallory Rhembrandt, Sylissa Jennings, Teagan Westemeir, and Marquis Burwell. Back: Corbin Johnson, Michael Geiseler, and Sean O'Brien.

            On October 26th, the Chadron High School health profession's club sponsored the annual blood drive, held in the CHS auditorium. 
            The blood drive had a great turnout and exceeded the club's expectations, as told by the club's leader, Mrs. Larson. This year's blood drive had a resounding 43 participants sign up to donate, breaking their goal of 38. 
            A third year member of the club, Mallory Rhembrandt, helped with the blood drive and said that the United Blood Drive services out of Rapid City, SD, traveled to Chadron to help with the event. 
           The club is hopeful that they will put another blood drive on next year to help the community and save lives. Larson said, "To run more efficiently next year, we will try to request more help to get people through faster, because we had to turn some people away." 
          The blood drive is a great opportunity for the health profession's club to get experience with job shadowing a seeing what a job in the medical field entails. Mallory said, "The blood drive is a great thing to do for out community and great experience for students at CHS."

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

New teacher Cheryl Butler

     Chadron High School's new Physical Science teacher, Cheryl Butler is "having a great year" as a new faculty member.
     Butler moved here because her husband was given a raise to work for the forest service in Chadron. She stated that the best thing about Chadron is the people. She said, "Everyone here is just good people."
 She also likes the small town atmosphere here. She likes Chadron, and she doesn't know what she doesn't like.
     Butler was brn in Oklahoma but was raised in Colorado. She also went to high school in Colorado, and she has a daughter named Taya.
      Butler has worked as a teacher in Chadron before, but she was a professor of Chemistry at Chadron State Collage. She also taught as a high school and middle school teacher in Colorado. She said that education is her passion, and if she was not a high school teacher she would want to go back and be a professor at the collage. She also said that if she wasn't a science teacher she would want to be a math teacher.
   

Nintendo Switch

          Nintendo just announced the release of their new video game system, the Nintendo Switch. They plan of putting the product on the shelves sometime in March 2017. This system is the first to come out after the WiiU console was released five years ago on November 18, 2012. The starting price for the Nintendo Switch will be somewhere between $300 and $400.
          "The Switch has six different pieces of hardware: The screen equipped Switch itself, the TV-connecting Dock, the Pro Controller, the left and right detachable Joy-Cons and the Grip that can house them both," said Lucas M. Thomas in his online article "Nintendo Switch: The Unanswered Questions" published on October 26, 2016. All these products, except the Pro Controller, will be included in packaging. The Switch comes in black and white, and can be argued, to closely resemble the WiiU (unless the Switch is in Pro Controller mode). The control system can be played on your TV and/or control screen. This allows you to play on the TV screen or anywhere in your home.
          Zach Carattini, junior at Chadron High School and video game enthusiast, has been playing video games all his life. He heard of the Nintendo Switch through like-minded video game friends. Besides the video trailer uploaded on YouTube under the Nintendo Channel, he believes that the Switch hasn't had a lot of advertising, "I honestly haven't seen a lot," he said. 
         Carattini is also excited about the new games being released on the Switch, which include but are not limited to: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, and Super Mario.

CHS Interact Members Deliver Dictionaries on the Reservation

     On November 1, the Chadron High Interact Club delivered dictionaries to third graders on the Reservation to help increase their vocabulary.
     According to Interact President Danielle Johnson, "The Dictionary Distribution consisted of passing out Dictionaries to third graders on Pine Ridge.  We traveled to different schools on the Reservation and showed the students how to use them and showed them the different resources it offers.
     Johnson stated that the service project was performed by high school Interact members, Rotary members, and the group's sponsor, Roger Wess.  The group left the school at 6 in the morning and returned at 4 in the afternoon.
     Student volunteer Kaylie Elliott said, "We gave them dictionaries because the children on the Reservation are bright, but the circumstances they are in don't always allow them to shine as bright as they can.  We gave them a tool they need to excel and expand their vocabulary, while also expanding their future opportunities."

Sub District Volleyball

     On Monday October 31, the Chadron High School volleyball team claimed the Sub-District title in Alliance by sweeping Bridgeport and Mitchell.
     The first game had them faced against Bridgeport, which ended quick with the Cardinals taking all three sets, 25-12, 25-16, and 25-12. The second game, against Mitchell, was also quite easy for the Cardinals, and they swept them 25-12, 25-14, and 25-15.
     "The girls had a lot of strengths and started fast right away in both games," said head Coach Matt. "The girls played good defense, and stayed competitive the whole time," he stated.
      The Cardinals did not have very many weaknesses during the games. "We had a little trouble with ball control, but it wasn't bad, just a little off at times," said Coach Matt.
     

The Electoral "College": How Your Vote will Affect Student Debt

   What is quite possibly the most controversial and globally-publicized election in American history will come to a close tonight. People all around the nation will cast their vote for one of four candidates: Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson, or Green Party Jill Stein. For many kids who are graduating this year, or are just starting their college careers, this is the first election that they are able to participate in. One of the things that said kids are concerned about: student debt. Who has the best idea when it comes to payment for a public college education?
   Donald Trump wants to remove "regulations" to make college more affordable, but has failed to elaborate on what regulations should be removed and what new ones will take their place. According to his advisors, debt-free college is "absurd." While his current plans are very vague, Trump and his team are purportedly working on taking a market-driven approach to student debt. By having private banking institutions finance tuition rather than the government, colleges will have better lending discipline. They also plan to come up with a way to hold the colleges more accountable for the viability of any issued loans.
   Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, desires to make college tuition-free for students from families who make less than $125,000 a year, and debt-free for everyone. She also plans to allow students to use Pell Grants to cover living expenses and other costs year-round. To help cover said expenses, students would be expected to work at least ten hours a week. Unfortunately, Clinton's plan fails to address for-profit colleges, which play a huge part in the student debt crisis.
   Gary Johnson's stance on student debt is shaky. He has not stated a direct viewpoint on the situation - simply stated that he would "consider reducing student loan interest rates" if he becomes President. In the Goldberg interview, Johnson announced that he would "really take a hard look at how students might [...] receive some sort of benefit or reduced interest rate. [...] If the Federal Reserve can bail out all the big banks, it seems to me that we might arrange lower interest rates for these loans to get paid back."
   Jill Stein supports what she calls a "federal bailout;" just as the Federal Reserve bailed out Wall Street, it is able to purchase all of the student loans and nullify them, therefore putting the money back into the hands of the people so they can put it back into the economy. Stein is also a proponent of tuition-free schooling from preschool to college, and the knock-back of standardized testing.