Softball Finishes the Season

     The softball team had a great season, but their season came to an end in districts with a record of 12-14.  
     Head coach Jodi Hendrickson's favorite memories about the season were beating Gothenburg for the first time in years and getting first place in the Scottsbluff tournament. 
     Hendrickson has been coaching Chadron softball for 5 years and loves coaching, because she likes to watch the girls grow in softball and as responsible ladies over the four years. Hendrickson states that the assistant coaches have a lot of knowledge and are a great asset to the team. 
     Hendrickson has high hopes for next year's season and every year of experience makes them better. She said that they need to stay focused on every game, and they have another shot at state.             According to Kayla Rumpf, the team's senior pitcher, the season went a lot better than they all thought it was going to go. Kayla's favorite memory about her senior year is beating Gothenburg, winning the Scottsbluff tournament, and the bus rides. Kayla's biggest achievement is pitching a no hitter, making it as far as they did in districts for the past 2 years, and making a bond with the girls she will never forget. One thing Kayla would change about the season would be making it farther in districts.

Government Community Service Project

      In Craig Nobiling's government class he has had all of his students participate in a community service project for 12 years.

      Nobiling got the idea trying to come up with a way to help the community. "The first idea that came to my mind was the Fur Trade Museum," states Nobiling. "There's no reason not to help a volunteer organization."

      Some people may think there is not really a benefit of doing community service, and that it's more of a punishment, but Nobiling thinks differently, wanting the students to experience the idea of giving back without getting something back in return. "If you do something kind, you shouldn't always expect something back," says Nobiling.

      In this project the students help close down the museum for the winter season. Whether it's cleaning up the outside grounds or doing anything on the inside of the museum before it closes down such as, mopping, dusting, etc. they pitch in.

      In all 12 years of this project existing, only 1 student has asked to not participate, said Nobiling.

      This project is not a grade, nor has Nobiling thought of making it a grade. "It would be tough for me to come up with a rubric."

Wanderlust Cardinals next trip set

     The Wanderlust Cardinals are a group of students and parents that are interested in traveling abroad and love the travel experience. 
The Wanderlust Cardinals was started by Mrs. Paopao and Mr. McCarty. The students and their parents are going to Germany, Italy, and Switzerland in 2017. The trip will cost $4800, and the money will pay for everything except lunch and souvenirs.

      The Wanderlust Cardinals hold several fundraisers over two years to come up with some of the money such as, Chadron’s Got Talent, Traveling Hobo Band, selling candies, and other little items during Easter. The Wanderlust Cardinals have also have done dances and other events for the students to attend.

The Chadron High Football Team in Review

     

Coach Lecher congratulates the team after winning their final game of the season in overtime against Gordon/Rushville.

     The Chadron High School football team ended the year in their final game against Gordon/Rushville on October 16 with a total of 3 wins and 5 losses. According to many seniors and coaches, the season had many ups and downs.

     The Chadron High football team faced many obstacles. Jayden Stack, a senior wide receiver, said the biggest obstacle was "overcoming the inexperience at most of our defensive positions."
     Kane Wellnitz, a senior wide receiver, added, "We had trouble getting fired up after we lost."

     The seniors believe many of their teammates will fill varsity spots well next year because of their love for the game. Stack said, "I see a lot of the sophomores this year, who for a lot of them was their first varsity action, stepping up next year and playing the way they were taught."
     Naleka Sayaloune, a senior fullback, defensive end, kicker, and punter, said he thinks Marc Fernandez and Brendinh Sayaloune will step up to the plate because "they both work together to encourage other players and they both put in a lot of effort."

     In review of the year, head coach, Mike Lecher said, "We had some close, frustrating losses." He believes the team needs to improve on blocking at all positions and their running game in order to be prepared for next year. Lecher said the team played their best game at Chase County because they "executed well and the players did their proper assignments."

     The final game marked an end of high school football for 9 seniors. According to Mr. Lecher, many of the seniors will be missed for their hard work, dedication, and leadership.

Cardinal Singers Year Two With New Director

     

Cardinal Singers performs at this year's Sweet Singsation.

     Chadron High School's show choir group, the Cardinal Singers, are all ready halfway through their second year with choir director Mrs. Wendy Mahr. "I am proud of them for so many reasons, but I guess the number one reason is that they are so willing to work hard as a group and that they are supportive of each other. Lots of high schools select groups that have talented students, but not all of them truly work like a team," says Mrs. Mahr. 
     Principal Jerry Mack has also said how proud of this group he is. "The school has received multiple positive comments about the professionalism of this group. The kids in this group are not only leaders in and out of the high school, but they also present themselves exceptionally well," he said.
     This group of kids practice almost everyday at 7:00 a.m. Choreography, harmonizing and lyrics are just the basis of the beginning of the year agenda. Picking songs is another must to be ready for the beginning of the year. "I look at the talented singers in my group and find things that will both challenge them and interest them," states Mrs. Mahr. "I also consider what the end goal of the work they are doing is. There are many different types, styles, and formats of music they sing throughout the year." 
     Jazz sets, Christmas sets and show choir sets are just a few items that the Cardinal singers work on. These different sets require lots of time and preparation before performance time. Mrs. Mahr said, "The process for show choir season is to break the individual pieces down into vocal parts, run sectionals, practice, and slowly put all of the pieces into place, practice some more and then start adding choreography, practice, then put all of pieces together and perform!" 
     Not only do the Cardinal Singers perform for the community's viewing, but they also travel for competitions, festivals, and participate in many fundraisers. "This year the singers had their Sweet Singsations which was held on October 20, an ice cream social that will be held the 29th of October and perhaps a dessert event after the winter concert," said by Mahr, "Fundraising money goes towards the costs of travel, music, supplies, equipment, and registration for special events." 
     After two years of directing the Cardinal Singers, Mrs. Mahr has made some great progress. She said, "These kids are talented, crazy, intense, funny, committed, and really fun to work with! I love directing them and I can't wait for the years to come."

Seniors - Where does the time go?

     Seniors at Chadron High School have recently finished the first quarter of their last year. High school has gone by quickly for most of the students.
     Students like Greg McCallum echo this. McCallum, who plans to join the military after graduation said, "I'm dreading the day I have to grow up for real." 

     Most people would think that these students are nervous to become adults, but Josh Redfern, who wishes to attend college through joining the military, said that he will be fine as long as he can leave Chadron. Harlee Byrd, who plans to attend Chadron State College with a major in psychology, feels that she is prepared because of the knowledge she has gained through her parents and schooling. 
     Seniors are now learning how Chadron High has prepared them through career based classes and teachers who go beyond the regular lessons to give personal advice. One student in particular, Emmy Mills said, "I'm glad I went to a good school that boosted me to be a better person and set goals." However, she is not sure where she would like to attend college or what career path she would enjoy. 
     At Chadron High School, seniors have a range of challenging and simple classes. Depending on what path they choose, they can have a stressful or laid back year. Senior Seth Sloan is set on pursuing business and music at the University of Nebraska in Kearney and is happy to take hard classes that will prepare him for his future. 
     There are benefits to the the senior life, however. A student who plans to attend Chadron State College, Matyas Bellu said that he feels "cooler" and more respected as a senior. Hannah Jamison, enjoys getting out of class early, but would argue that underclassmen are disrespectful to senior authorities. Jamison wishes to pursue a career in dental hygiene through Chadron or Kearney. 
     All together these seniors are cherishing their last few quarters at Chadron High School. Most would agree that the time has flown by, and they can remember their first quarter as a freshman like it was yesterday. 

Homecoming Week a Success

 

After battling the first three competition Tate Cullers lead the cross country team in a lip sync battle singing "Party in the USA against the football team.

     Chadron High School's homecoming week was held Oct. 12-16th with dress-up days, powder-puff football, power-puff volleyball, a pep rally, the football game, coronation, and the dance.

    Students dressed up everyday in different outfits to show school spirit. Monday was Flare Out, Tuesday was Twin day, Wednesday was Disney day, Thursday was geriatrics vs pediatrics, and Friday was, as always, Spirit Day. Hannah Kennell said, "I thought the dress up days were so fun this year, and I feel that we had a lot of students and teachers participate in the days."

    Powder-puff football and Powder-puff volleyball is when the boys and girls do the opposite sport, for example the boys do volleyball and girls do football. Any girl or boy that signed up was allowed to play. The girls played flag football, so no one got hurt. The boys played regular volleyball.

    Coronation took place at half time. Homecoming King was Harlie Kennell, and Homecoming Queen was Hannah Jamison. They both felt very excited and seemed very happy to get it.
     The pep rally was about half an hour filled with games for each fall sport. The winners of the games were the football boys.
     The football boys won in overtime and allowed no chance for Gordon making it to play offs. 

     Chadron decided to change a few things about their homecoming week. The student council decided they would move the dance to Friday after the football game and moved the football game to an hour earlier than usual. Mrs. Bauer believed it was a good thing to do, and it seemed like the dance ran very smoothly. Many students said that the music at the dance was good, updated and well played. They had various music and played both fast and slow songs for every student to dance.
      Homecoming is always a fun and exciting time for school and gives every student a fair shot in having a good time. 

Girl's Golf Goes to State

   

At the home meet, Alipine Hickstein putts the ball.

     This year the girl's golf team had a very successful season, ending with an exciting trip to the state tournament.
     "It was an excellent season. Everybody greatly improved, and we met our goal," said coach Loni Watson. 
     Five of the golfers on the team made it to state. One of them was sophomore Alpine Hickstein. This was Hickstein's second trip to state, as she made the trip solo last year and received 6th place. This year Hickstein was able to make the trip with her team, and was awarded 2nd place. "I was a totally different player this year, and my mental game was a lot stronger," said Hickstein. 
     The first day Hicktein said she struggled because she was stuck in the native grass, but she managed to get everything together the next day and claim second place.
     Watson feels that the best meets of the year were districts, and the last day of the state tournament.      The team has many strengths and some weaknesses. "It's hard to indicate strengths and weaknesses of the team because the sport is so individualized. Each player has their own strengths and weaknesses, but every player vastly improved on their weak spots," said Watson. 
     She said she enjoyed seeing each golfer get better this year, and it was a very fun season.  

New Bright Teacher: Chadron High School

     Mrs. Wendy Mahr is the new choir teacher at Chadron High School, but this isn't her first teaching job.
         Mrs. Mahr used to teach in Colorado, where she taught music, drama, and a second grade class. Before teaching, she was a nanny for a singing family in Austria. She also has had summer jobs such as directing musicals in Denver, but most of the time she likes perfecting the art of Parkour.
     Mrs. Mahr was excited to teach at Chadron High. Mrs. Mahr wanted to teach at Chadron High "because it is amazing."
      Mahr's favorite part of being a teacher at Chadron High is "being a part of a school that cares so much about their students." Her goals for her students for the year are to "get students excited about vocal music and musical theater."
     Mrs. Mahr picked the music field "because its possibilities are endless." However, that's not all she teaches she also does Cardinal Singers, and CHS men's dancing team.
     Mahr has avB.A. in Psychology, a minor in music which allows her to teach Musical Theater and Choir.
 

Freshman say, "Goodbye Middle School, Hello High School"

       High School is a big change compared to middle school. Classes now being 90 minutes and figuring out the figure 8 hallway can be challenging for incoming freshman, but for Luke Tiensvold, Colton Olson, and Trysha Brierly this transition has been fairly easy.
      They enjoy having more freedom, the new learning environment, and overall is a lot more fun than middle school. "Chadron has made it really easy. The teachers and upperclassmen are really helpful and welcoming at the beginning of the year," stated Trysha Brierly.

       These three freshman are enjoying the harder classes, because their allowed more time to do their work and are learning more. For Luke his favorite class is physical science. "You learn more by doing experiments and get more involved in what your learning," said Luke. 
      Trysha and Colton's favorite class is Algebra 1. "You have more time to do your homework unlike middleschool and Mrs. Drinkwalter is a good teacher," stated Colton. 
      These freshman are learning that grades are more important than middle school. 

New Water Fountain Splashes into Chadron High

     Recently, Chadron High School has had the privilege of acquiring a new water fountain. Not only can students quench their thirst momentarily, but they can fill up their water bottles with ease. Chadron High senior Kyle Baumann said, "I love the new water fountains. Filling up my water bottle before was a time waster. The new water refill system does everything for me. I don't even need my hands like I did with the old water fountains."
     The change from manual to automatic water fountain/bottle fillers has become very beneficial to the students. It used to be that the students would need to tilt the bottle until the stream of water could smoothly flow into it. Thumbs and fingers of students would be bruised after pressing down the button that activated the stream. "It was a smart move on the school's part to put in the fountain," Baumann says. "I don't have to worry about holding my water bottle still anymore while filling up. It saves my thumbs and fingers a fair amount of pain, too."

Chadron High School Volleyball Sweeps the Court

 

Passing the ball, Alex Nobling sets up a play while Jadyn Mccartney steps out to hit and Allie Johnson covers.

The Chadron High School volleyball team has an undefeated title this 2015 season. They have won games and tournaments left and right. Winning Western Conference was a big accomplishment for the varsity team, but as of right now the team is focusing on preparing for districts that will be held in Alliance in two weeks. The team's biggest goal is to go to state and win the championship title.
Don Matt is the head coach of the Chadron High volleyball team with Morgan Greene by his side as the assistant coach. "I think we've been playing really well," Matt and Morgan both agreed. Although many of the girls on the team have been playing since they were in sixth grade, there are a couple of things that the two coaches mentioned were a tough challenge for the team. The first and most important was getting the girls to gel together, which in translation means getting the girls to come together and work as a team. 
            "The biggest set back for us would be people getting hurt or us losing our heads. Right now, this far in the season, we can't have either," says senior captain Chandler Hageman.
Because districts are coming so quickly, it's crucial that the team begins to prepare for the big games. "Play every game like a district game," Greene said. The team doesn't have a team that they consider a 'big competitor' besides themselves, according to Matt and Greene. "Once we learn to compete with ourselves we will be with everybody else," says Matt. 
            Hageman on the other hand says, "The only obstacle we need to overcome is facing Ogallala in districts. Once we get past them and districts, state will be nothing new for us. We just need to make sure and keep our heads calm and play how we know how to play." She isn't worried about districts too much right now.
On another note, the upperclassmen girls are adjusting very well towards the new underclassmen. "It always takes the upperclassmen a little bit to get used to the freshman because neither of us are used to playing with each other," mentioned Hageman. Matt said that it's caused the juniors and seniors to step up and take action in teaching the freshman. "The team has done a really good job of helping each other out," said Matt. 
          Although it may seem as if the seniors are the teammates that everybody relies on but according to Greene, "Everybody has their specific roles and parts. The team doesn't rely on just one player; they rely on each other." Hageman said, "Everyone, on or off the court, helps. The best players wouldn't be where they are right now without the help of their teammates." She also said that leaders are the ones to step up and speak out when something needs to be said. "They are the ones who play every game like it's their last."

Senior Reminder

The seniors of Chadron High School need to turn in their senior and baby pictures and a congratulatory note from their parents by January 15 for the yearbook. They can send a hard copy of their pictures, or it may be emailed to Jill Paopao, yearbook adviser, at jill.paopao@chadronschools.net.
The senior picture for the wall composite needs to be a hard copy, vertical, and wallet sized photo. Students may turn in the same photo for the yearbook and the wall composite.
For the congratulatory note, it needs to be around 25 words or less. These letters can be typed and emailed to Mrs. Paopao, or it can be sent to her at school.