Wa Kaller

Wa Kaller
October 2009
Wamego High School
Wamego, KS
Vol. 45 Issue 2
Deaths from texting increase awareness
Most high school students would
tell you the one thing they can’t live
without is their phone. It is a known
truth; students text at games, at work,
in class, and even while driving.
While many might not consider
cell phone usage a problem while driving, it is a concern in Wamego. According to www.gsha.org, 18 states and
the District of Columbia have banned
texting while driving. Currently, there
is no law in Kansas prohibiting texting
while driving, but that’s not to say there
won’t be. According to The Topeka
Capital Journal, a bill introduced in the
Senate this summer would give states
two years to ban texting while driving
or lose federal highway funding.
Detective Holly Harwood, who
works with the Wamego City Police,
said that texting while driving is a
serious issue everywhere, including
Wamego. Although there recently
haven’t been any accidents in Wamego
regarding texting while driving, other
Photo by Wade Hall
By Hannah Kientz
Teens texting while driving has become a serious issue.
places in Kansas have had serious accidents.
“Actually, about three days ago,
I was in my hometown attending my
best friend’s 17-year-old daughter’s
funeral,” said Harwood.
Harwood said she’s been best
friends with the mother for over three-
fourths of her lifetime and was devastated when she heard the cause of the
accident was texting while driving.
“All it takes is that half second
when your attention is diverted and in
such a short time, you can lose control.
It’s a total life-altering experience that
See Texting, pg 2
See Homecoming, page 13
See Routh, page 3
a look inside
Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Student Showcase . . . . . . . 3
Editorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bookshelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Music Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . .10
Movie Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . .11
Arts&Leisure. . . . . . . .14
Comic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
2
Feature
October 2009
Texting
Continued from pg 1
can affect your parents, siblings, and
friends,” said Harwood.
Accidents regarding texting
while driving have a big impact on
people.
According to Harwood, the
17-year-old’s senior class consisted
of 10 to 12 students, yet 750 people
attended the teen’s funeral.
“[Texting while driving] occurs
a lot. A lot of kids do it and it’s sad
that it takes something like that to
open eyes,” said Harwood. “I want
kids to understand, especially after
watching my best friend go through
with that and to see what that did to
her, the community, and friends.”
However, texting while driving
is not just a concern with teenagers. Some cities have no texting
while driving ordinances in place for
people under the age of 18.
Harwood said she disagrees
strongly with this.
“It’s not just teens who are
texting while driving. If a law gets
passed, it shouldn’t stop with just
teens,” said Harwood. “I’ve seen
adults texting and there’s nothing
that says a 20-year-old can text better than a teenager.”
Harwood said she hopes
Wamego will put in an ordinance
banning texting while driving, but
has doubts because of the long pro-
“People who text
and drive are twice
as likely to cause an
accident than if they
were intoxicated.”
cess.
Harwood said if the law is
passed, police are able to pull a
student over and give them a ticket
if they believe them to be under the
age of 18 and are texting. It can be
enforced by state statues, by deputies,
and even on the interstate by all levels
of law enforcement.
According to a University of
Utah study, people who text and
drive are twice as likely to cause an
accident than if they were intoxicated.
Because of this statistic and other
similar ones, texting while driving
has increased public concern.
A popular video on the internet has also made the concern a hot
topic. The video was created to warn
teenagers about the dangers of texting
while driving by showing extremely
vivid scenes of a serious accident.
The video, however, has been
considered by many to be too graphic
and disgusting to show for educational purposes (Kansas State Collegian).
Harwood is in the process of putting together a presentation to inform
students about texting while driving.
Harwood will present it to all
schools within the Pottawatomie
County area in a few months, and
hopefully before the end of the
school year. Her best friend is extremely active in the presentation, in
hopes to inform kids of the loss of
her daughter.
“You’d be surprised by how
many accidents involve kids [because
of texting while driving,]” she said.
“I’ll admit, I’ve texted and drove
before, but after seeing that, I just
can’t.”
FFAers participate in Fall Super Day
By Cole Woodworth
The Wamego FFA made the trip
to Holton for Fall Super Day on Sept.
23.
Fall Superday is designed to put
multiple contests on the same day to
reduce the number of days students
are out of class.
At the Entomology contest, members were given instructions and split
into groups. The first group started
with identifying 50 out of 73 insects.
The second group took a written test
over the basics of entomology. Matt
Gordon and Elizabeth White both
placed in the top 20.
At the Nursery/Landscaping event,
members competed in five areas. Mem-
bers had to identify ornamental plants,
landscaping tools, answer questions
over a landscaping practicum, pest
disorder identification and had to take a
general knowledge test.
The Land Judging Career Development event at Fall Super Day involved
11 members. During the contest, members had to evaluate six different holes
around the Holton lake area. The holes
were dug anywhere from three to five
foot deep. Members had to describe to
soil texture, depth, erosion, slope, and
many other aspects.
October 2009
Student Showcase
3
Routh selected as FFA district officer
After three years of hard work in
FFA, Cassie Routh, a senior here at
Wamego High School, has become the
first district officer at WHS in 10 years
according to Andy Morton, advisor.
A requirement to become a
district officer is an interview process.
It consists of slating or a ranking that a
panel of judges put the competitors in.
Next, the competitors have to give
a speech in front of voting delegates,
advisers and guests on why they want
to become a district officer. The panel
then votes for the candidate they believe deserve the position or is the most
qualified for it.
After being asked why she decided
to become a district officer, Routh
stated, “To extend my leadership skills
and to represent Wamego FFA.”
According to Routh, leadership
skills, social skills, communication
skills and responsibility are the most
important attributes that one can gain
from being a district officer.
She says, “You gain all of these
skills by organizing activities for the
FFA members.”
One of the activities is Kiddy
Photo by Starla Simmons
By Starla Simmons
Routh poses for a quick picture in front of the FFA bulletin board.
Barnyard, when the elementary students and preschoolers come to pet
and have contact with different farm
animals. Judging and contests are also
held, where FFA members travel to sur-
The WaKaller is the official newspaper of Wamego
High School. The mission of the WaKaller is to inform and
to express student opinion while raising awareness and
giving recognition. The newspaper staff is also a member
of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.
Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters need to
be signed. The WaKaller reserves the right to edit all work
received. The mailing address is 801 Lincoln St., Wamego,
KS 66547.
Views expressed in the WaKaller are not meant to
represent those held by the faculty, administration or the
USD 320 Board of Education.
STAFF
hannah kientz (editor) starla simmons mallaurie serb
olivia parrish trenton modean olivia divish
rachel hatfield ryan blanchard wade hall
lacey cragg laurina hannan (artist)
michelle haskins (photography)
lori goodson (advisor)
rounding areas to judge many animals
and identify the differences between
them. There is also FFA week. This is
a “spirit week” for FFA members and
will be celebrated in February.
4
Editorial
October 2009
By Olivia Divish
Take about five seconds and think.
Can you name all the sports going on
this fall? No? Big surprise, but I bet
you did think of football and volleyball. This is the sad truth of sports
favoritism. We can all see that there are
the popular sports that everyone goes
to watch and the ones that are often
forgotten, such as girls’ tennis or cross
country, they often take a backseat.
We pride ourselves on having an
excellent sports program but it’s not
equal. The entire town fills the stands
for football and volleyball games
whether it’s a home or away game.
When was the last time you went to
support the students while they ran or
played tennis?
I’m not singling out football or
volleyball players themselves. Frankly,
the opposite. They are students just like
myself who I feel should be treated
equally. I am merely talking about the
glamorization of the particular sport.
I’ve seen this first hand, after being on the Girls’ Tennis team for my
third year. The team gets all excited
for our games then we look out the
fence and there’s a parent or two and
the occasional boyfriend. It really
brings their your moral when nobody
supports them just like it boosts their
moral when there’s a crowd cheering
them on.
It’s not just fall sports either.
During the winter, what sports are going on? There’s basketball of course,
but do you realize that there is also
wrestling? In the spring there is track,
but there is also boys’ tennis, softball,
baseball and golf. I’ve heard people
say things like, “ I didn’t know we had
a golf team!”
People don’t realize that this
makes the kids playing the unpopular
sports a little jealous. They may not
all be interesting, but students play it
because it’s important to them. These
sports are just as interesting as any
other. Also, many students play multiple sports so they feel that unfairness
Picture by Rachel Hatfield
Sports favoritism affects school teams
The Raider football team in the homecoming game.
several times.
You get even further into the
argument and notice the difference in
attendance of the Varsity and Junior
varsity games. What’s so bad about
junior varsity in any sport that hardly
anybody goes to watch them? They’re
still your friends and your peers. But
why do these sports get so much attention anyway? Maybe it’s because they
are easy for people to follow and understand. Or maybe it just seems like
there’s more attention because there’s
more parents when you have more
kids on the team. Whichever it is, we
need to realize what we’re doing.
We obviously don’t have a problem with school spirit, just look at our
Raider Nation! We need to take that
spirit and spread it out to actually support all the sports. Imagine what the
other teams will think if we have that
much support behind us in everything
we play. The bottom line is that we
need to support all our schools athletes
and sports equally.
Check out the
Wakaller
online in color!
Just follow the links from the schools website!
October 2009
The Bookshelf
Feature
5
Even with death everyone learns to live
by Mallaurie Serb
Everyone deals with death differently. Some believe it happens because
of them. But through living the life
that they have they learn that death is
just another part of living and having
friends means the whole world to the
ones who are hurting.
Olivia Silverstein: Her father has
died but he is not the only person she
has lost. Her whole family is falling
apart and all she wants is to get out
of there. Fatima Garcia: Her family
does an assortment of jobs. Anything
from house repair to gardening. She
has helped her family with these jobs
for as long as she remembers but she
just wants to stop being the embarrassment of the town. Vanessa Reynolds:
Moving again, she finally has a place to
call home. After her father left her and
her mom they had moved from friend’s
house to friend’s house. She misses the
life she once had. All three of the girls
are at the bottom of the social ladder
but with the help of each other they
make it through high school.
Deep in the Heart of High
School
By Veronica Goldbach
Julia was her best friend; she was
her only friend but she was her world.
Amy, a sophomore in high school,
didn’t know how she was going to go
through life knowing that she was the
one responsible for killing Julia. After
going to Pinewood for the recommended time that the judge said, she
was hoping that she could fight the urge
to drink. She had to fight to survive the
life that she had created for herself--a
life of being alone and lost. Even with
all the things that had happened to her
she still manages to make it past her
past and live in the present which turns
out not to be as bad as she thought.
Love You Hate You Miss You
By Elizabeth Scott
Fifteen-year-old R.D. is living with
his grandmother and his grandmothers boyfriend, Earl. R.D. was held
back a year and is always getting into
trouble and sometimes he thinks it’s
just because he is Mexican-American.
But he really isn’t a bad kid, he’s just
having a rough time. With his father out
of the picture and his mother in prison
he has it rough. It only gets worse when
his grandmother leaves with her new
boyfriend and Earl unexpectedly dies.
He keeps it all a secret from his school
and neighbors but he doesn’t know how
long he can survive.
A Map of the Known World
By Lisa Ann Sandell
Cora’s brother died in a horrible
car crash, leaving her family in pieces.
He father no longer talks to her or her
mother. Her mother is now a control
freak, creating a prison that she calls
home. The one person she has sworn to
be enemies with for life, the one who
was in the car when her brother drove
down the road without his headlights
and the one who survived the crash, is
Damian. But something about him is a
mystery to her. As the year goes on, not
only is high school a reminder of the
reckless brother she knew, but also the
artistic brother she never knew she had.
Messed Up
By Janet Nichols Lynch
Feature
6
October 2009
Halloween’s history then and now
By Lacey Cragg
The Celtics who lived 2,000
years ago celebrated their new year
on Nov. 1. November 1 marked the
end of summer and harvest and the
beginning of winter, a time of year
associated with death. According to
history.com, Celts believed that on
the night before the new year, (Oct.
31) the boundary between the living
and the dead became blurred. On
Oct. 31, the Celts celebrated Samhain which was believed that the
ghosts of the dead retuned to earth
causing trouble and damaging crops.
Celtic priests built sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to
burn crops and animals as sacrifices. During this celebration, Celts
wore costumes typically consisting
of animal heads and skins. Pope
Boniface IV designated Nov. 1 All
Saints Day in attempt to replace the
Celtic festival of the dead with a
church sanctioned holiday. The celebration was called All-Hallowmas
originating from Middle English
“Alholowmesse” meaning All Saints
Day. The night before, Samhain
began to be called All Hollows Eve
and eventually Halloween.
The Halloween traditions were
brought to America by European immigrants. The first celebrations were
“Play Parties,” public events held to
celebrate the harvest. In the middle
of the nineteenth century, Halloween
was not yet celebrated everywhere in
the country, but by the second half of
the nineteenth century, America was
flooded with new immigrants. The
new immigrants popularized Halloween nationally. Taking from the
Irish and English tradition, Americans
began to dress up in costumes and
go house to house asking for food
or money. A practice that eventually
became known as Trick-or-Treat.
In the late 1800s, Halloween
became more about community and
neighborly get togethers than about
ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. Parents
were encouraged to take anything
frightening or grotesque out of Halloween celebrations. By the twentieth
century, Halloween had lost most of
its superstitious and religious overtones.
By the 1920s and 1930s Halloween became a community centered holiday with parades and town
wide parties. According to history.
com, Americans spend an estimated
$6.9 billion annually on Halloween,
making it the country’s second largest
commercial holiday.
Make sure to check out the
Wa Kaller online in color!
Go to the high school website and click
on “Wa-Kaller”
October 2009
News
Think you know the answer to
this issue’s
Mystery Picture?
By Ryan Blanchard
The answer to last issue’s Mystery Picture is:
The Schonhoff Dutch Mill
The Schonhoff Dutch Mill was built in 1879 by immigrants from Holland.
The Schonhoff family constructed the mill approximately twelve miles north
of Wamego and used locally available building materials (except for the main
windmill shaft, which was transported from Leavenworth). However, they
abandoned the mill after fifteen years because they realized that milling was not
as profitable as they had originally thought.
In 1924, the City of Wamego decided to have the Dutch Mill relocated to
City Park. To do this, every stone of the mill had to be numbered, taken down,
then shipped to the Park using 35 carriages. When the stones arrived at City
Park, they were then reassembled in the exact same way they were constructed.
Today, the Dutch Mill sits about two blocks east of Lincoln Street and is
right beside the Historical Society Museum. It is about 40 feet high and 25 feet
in diameter, and is the only functioning stone mill in Kansas today.
7
Sports
8
October 2009
Seniors show leadership in sports
“Leaders aren’t born, they are
made. And they are made just like
anything else, through hard work. And
that’s the price we’ll have to pay to
achieve that goal, or any goal,” said
Vince Lombardi, one of football’s most
accomplished and respected coaches.
Those three years of waiting to
become a senior is one of the longest
delays for a teenager. That moment
when you become a senior, you feel
important and like you finally have an
opinon.
There are some astounding leaders
out on the football field, volleyball
and, tennis courts and cross country
course. With 30 senior boys and girls
playing fall sports this year, they are
finally able to help lead the teams they
have battled with for three long years.
The seniors sports players will
instill the same respect and devotion for their sports that the seniors
before them and the seniors before that
instilled within them. The fall sports
season has been one the seniors and
underclassman will always remember, full of losses, victories and most
importantly comrodery.
Football 2009 Scores
Sabetha 6 Wamego 13
Hiawatha 29 Wamego 27
Marysville 52 Wamego 0
Chapman 15 Wamego 40
Concordia 15 Wamego 35
Abilene 47 Wamego 16
Clay Center
Rock Creek
Senior Football players
Nick Johnson
#3
Marc Rolph
#5
Casey Hitch
#7
Kendal Poe
#8
Chris Hartwick
#42
Kaleb Dugan
#52
Shay chambers
#58
Brandon Swiger #59
Damon Irvin
#67
Josh Dunback
#80
Photo by Rachel Hatfield
By Rachel Hatfield
Wamego wins its homecoming game against Concordia.
Boys’ Cross Country 2009 Meets
Manhattan Inv.
Wamego Inv.
Clay Center Inv.
Tonganoxie Inv.
KU Inv.
Newton Inv.
Chapman Inv.
Senior Cross Country boys
Conner Nickerson
Jordan Umscheid
Kevin White
Roman Krummenacher
Ryan Patton
Girls’ Tennis 2009 Matches
Manhattan JV Inv.
Chapman
Wamego Inv.
Hayden Varsity Quad
Sacred Heart JV Inv.
Chapman Inv.
Wamego JV Quad
WB Rural Inv.
Concordia Inv
Senior Tennis girls
Alyssa Detwiler
Anna Lea Kutsch
Cassie Wolf
Kendra Hodges
Elizabeth Scherer
Makenna Dehart
Girls’ Cross Country 2009 Meets
Manhattan Inv.
Wamego Inv.
Clay Center Inv.
Tonganoxie Inv.
KU Inv.
Newton Inv.
Chapman Inv.
Senior Cross Country girls
Mayabeth Jagosz
Stephanie Neilsen
Volleyball 2009 Scores
Wabaunsee Inv. 5th Place
R. Creek 25-19, 25-21 Win
R.Valley 25-16, 25-21 Win
Marysville 25-14, 23-25, 25-20 Win
Clay Center 24-26,14-25 Loss
Silver Lake 23-25, 25-18, 19-25 Loss
Rossville Inv. 1st Place
Concordia17-25,24-26 Loss
Wamego Inv. 1st Place
Abilene
Varsity Tri Man/JCity
Chapman
Sabetha Inv.
Senior Volleyball girls
Abbie Boyda
#2
Lindsey Lenord
#4
Samantha Bonderer #5
Crystal Long
#7
Ashley Quintanilla
#12
Feature
October 2009
9
Sleep deprivation leads to tired teens
By Laurina Hannan
Every once in a while, there will
be a student in class who will doze off
during a lecture over the U.S. Constitution or on how to calculate the magnitude of a vector.
The class may decide to have fun
by waking the student but end up tapping him or her on the head. Usually
the student will apologize and explain
and he or she didn’t have enough sleep
last night.
Several teen students have their
afternoons filled with activities ranging
from sports, homework and working, to
daily living.
Brent Holmes, the anatomy and
physiology teacher at WHS said, “Getting enough sleep is just as important as
having a healthy diet and exercise.”
“I worked until 8:00, and I got up
at 6:00. I got six hours of sleep. I tried
to do homework. I was catching up on
my late homework,” said junior Krystal
Gee.
“I read a chapter in my APUSH
book and slept eight hours. I woke
at 7:00. I went to bed at 11:00,” said
junior Sertrice Grice.
“The average teen needs seven
to eight hours of sleep. It is about the
same as adults. When (teenagers) hit
puberty, the changes actually adjust to
what adults need,” said Holmes.
These side effects can have the
most harm when the students are at
school. If the student does not get
enough sleep, the complications
snowball.
“It starts with problems with
memory, losing focus decreases in
mental capacity and inability to comprehend. With even more loss of sleep,
they can develop sleep deprivation
which mimics the flu,” said Holmes.
“Your immune system will suffer.”
The school’s pandemic flu plan
states that any student showing flu
symptoms will be excluded from
school until symptom free for 48 hours
or cleared by a physician. A student
who is contagious will have to be
away from school.
Teachers expect students to do
their homework by the next class period. The students will stay up late to
finish their homework and wake early
the next morning to be at school.
When homework is taking too
long, to the point where students are
not getting enough sleep, the students
will have difficulty concentrating.
“After more lack of sleep, a
student can develop REM (rapid
eye movement) deprivation. Once a
student gets far enough behind, their
body will make them sleep,” said
Holmes.
Students need a regular amount of
sleep each night to do well in school.
A good night’s sleep will help a student in school, he said.
“Studies have shown students
who have a good number of hours
of sleep through the semester have
greater grades than students who
don’t,” said Holmes.
Cheaper by the Dozen fall play
Director: Mr. T-Shane Roberts
Assistant Director: Mrs. Jennifer Topliff
Mr. Gilbreth
Mrs. Gilbreth
Ernestine
Frank
Jackie
Dan
Bill
Fred
Anne
Lillian
Martha
Mrs. Fitzgerald
Joe Scales
Miss Brill
Larry
Ryan Blanchard
Laurina Hannan
Ellyn Anderson
Ethan Anderson
Sydney Lippman
Wes Gately
Conner McManus
Eric vonSeggern
Maggie Blanchard
Stephanie Neilsen
Alicia Kilian
Cat Wethington
Steven Fox
Sertrice Grice
Alex Landers
Understudies
Merle Jeltsch
Elizabeth Flanagan
Stage Managers
Nathan May
Molly Delay
Synopsis:
Anne Gilbreth, an attractive high school girl, is a member of a large
and unique family. Her father decides to apply his unorthodox methods
from being a great pioneer of industrial efficiency to his big family. The
results are very embarrassing, funny and extremely effective! But Anne,
however, thinks it makes her and her family seem ridiculous to everyone
else at school. Mr. Gilbreth pushes ahead with better organization for his
large family. He makes a chart for the children to initial after completing each chore, using a rug as an imaginary bathtub to demonstrate how
to take a really efficient bath, and appoints a utilities officer to enforce
consequences on wasters of electricity. Even though the situations seem
ridiculous, there is a serious reasoning behind actions taken. Mr. Gilbreth
has a heart condition which he’s keeping secret. Anne, the oldest, rebels.
Mr. Gilbreth and she are miserable from the lack of misunderstandings
between both of them. As the end draws near, Mr. Gilbreth begins to realize how much Anne has matured and how important his family is to him.
Dates:
November 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Dinner will be served from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
Tickets will be on sale soon.
By Wade Hall
October 2009
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5 S tars= Cou ney-w
4 S tars= Mo !!
3 S tars= BOO
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1S
Movie
Love Happens
All About Steve
Movie Reviews
11
Falling in love...
with crosswords
Plot
What We Think
When a self-help author arrives in
Seattle to teach a sold-out seminar,
he unexpectedly meets the one
person who might finally be able to
help him help himself. Dr. Burke
Ryan (Aaron Eckhart) is a therapist
who asks his patients to openly
confront their pain and is secretly
unable to take his own advice. Eloise Chandler (Jennifer Aniston) has
sworn off men and decided to focus
on her floral business. As each
struggles with the hurt of love and
loss, they realize that in order to
move forward, they need to let go
of the past. And, if they can, they’ll
find that, sometimes, love happens
when you least expect it.
Overall, the film was satisfactory. The movie was somewhat
slow and never seemed to pick
up until the end, when there is a
twist in the story. Those looking
for a sappy love story with a bit
of wit or humor would like this
movie. One interesting plot point
is that Jennifer Aniston’s character writes words like “quidnunc,”
“poppysimic,” and “sesquipedalian” on the wall behind paintings
in the hotel. These lead Eckhart
and Aniston to each other. The
slowness and predictable plot
take away from the film, but the
twist adds a dash of shock. Consequently, I give the film three
and a half stars.
Mary Horowitz is a cruciverbalist—a crossword puzzle constructor. When she is set up on a blind
date with handsome cable-news
cameraman Steve, Mary thinks
the chemistry is undeniable—that
Steve is “the one.” Steve, on the
other hand, thinks Mary is crazy.
Mary, who just knows she’s found
her soulmate, decides to do anything and go anywhere to be with
him. She begins to pursue Steve
relentlessly as he crisscrosses the
country, covering breaking news
stories. But when Mary becomes
embroiled in the news story of
the year, Steve and Hartman, the
cameraman, begin to see her differently. And all who encounter Mary
will realize that sometimes the ones
who don’t fit in are the ones who
really stand out.
This movie is great for a person looking for a good laugh.
Mary Horowitz does all kinds
of “stalker-like” actions. The
movie, in general, is a comedy
and intends to be funny, but
the overall feel of the movie
changes by the end. There is
love, stalking, deaf children,
apple faces, mine shafts,
friendship, crosswords and
most importantly, self-respect.
Reviews by Trenton Modean and Rachel Hatfield
Rating
“Alcohol is no
more of a cure
than a Band-aid
is on a bullet wound.”
“Crosswords
are like life.
They’re only
boring if you
have no sense
of adventure.”
Reviews
10
Staff
October 2009
Picks
Music
Hannah
Starla
Mal
“Fishing in the Dark” by Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band is one of my
favorite songs and is a classic. It
reminds me of summer and good
times with friends.
“Five Minutes to Midnight” by Boys
Like Girls is a great song and has
a great beat. They are one of my
favorite bands and never fails to put
me in an upbeat mood.
Compiled by Trenton Modean
Don’t like what you see? Let us know! Drop
any suggestions or comments on Dr. Goodson’s
desk in room 217.
Wade
“A Whole New World” from the
Aladdin movie is one of my favorite
songs because it reminds me of a musical. I like Disney songs in general.
The song is just magical and flowing.
Olivia D.
“You Found Me” by The Fray is
one of my favorite songs because the
song’s lyrics are great, and I can relate to them easily. The song is great
to listen to when you want something mellow and not so “rock-ish.”
“Konstantine” by Something Corporate is my favorite song of all time.
Ten minutes of the most beautiful piano
melody one will ever hear and a story of
two broken hearts trying to mend themselves make this the most scintillating and
emotional song I’ve ever heard. This is
definitely one of the most beautiful songs
ever written.
Olivia P.
“One Time” by Justin Beiber is
my favorite song because Justin has
a stunning voice for being only 15
years old. The lyrics are also great and
catchy. The song makes me want to
dance and puts me in a good mood.
“Big Green Tractor” by Jason
Aldean is one of my favorite songs
because Jason is one of my favorite
artists. The song is very happy and
calm and always puts me in a good
mood.
Lacey
My favorite song is “Stay Together
for the Kids” by Blink 182. Although
Blink 182 usually has humorous songs,
this song is not one of them. I like it
because almost anyone can relate to
the lyrics, and it’s different than their
expected “make fun” songs.
Rachel
The WaKaller staff picks favorite music songs for the month of October,
ranging from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to Something Corporate
12
Feature
Student
clubs in all
shapes and
sizes
FBLA
By Mallaurie Serb
President, Hannah Kientz; Vice
president, Jamie Clark; Secetary, Liz
Scherer; Treasurer, Susan Phillips; Historian, Abby Huddleston; Stuco Rep,
Beth Scott
Activities: Salsa dancing, adopt a family and cooking from different Spanish
countries.
Culinary Arts
Members of Red Culinary Team: Abby
Huddleston, Elizebeth Hazelwood,
Molly Delay, Olivia Divish.
Members of White Culinary Team:
Brennon Briggs, Cody Wilson, Alicia
Kilian, Amanda Scheideman.
Members of Black Management Team:
Candice Purkeypyle, Mallaurie Serb,
Starla Simmons.
Activities: state competition in Wichita.
Link Crew
By Michelle Haskins
Link Crew kicked off the year
by welcoming freshmen into the high
school on Aug. 13th for Freshman
Transition Day, led by counselor
Shelley Rickstrew. Freshmen had a
tour of the high school last spring to
get familiar with the building. The
Link Crew members train two and a
half weeks at the end of the summer.
Meetings are mandatory.
Senior, Amanda Scheideman,
said, “My favorite part of Link Crew is
getting to know freshmen and helping
them out.”
Link Crew has two partners from
the junior or senior class. They show
the students around the school, show
them where classes are located, who
the teachers are and what to expect.
President, Cole Hemphill; Vice
President, Trenton Modean; Secretary,
Kelsey Peterson; Treasurer, Brittany
Warnow; Public Relations, Cassie
Routh; Historian, Sam Bonderer.
Activities: Trick or Treat so kids can
eat, Coat drive, Boo and Valentine
grams and computer camp.
Spanish
FCCLA
President, Brittany Hosfelt; Vice
President, Richard Biswell; Secretary,
Monica Devora; Treasurer, Shannon
Calkins; Membership, Kelsey Mackeprang
Activities: Fall Leadership Confrence
and babysitting.
Senior Kevin White said, “My
favorite part of Link Crew is hanging
out with my crew, I guess.”
Freshman Transition Day started
at 8:10 and lasted until 1:30. Freshmen
were welcomed in the lower gym by
the faculty members cheering for them.
They had an assembly to kick off the
day. The Link Crew performed a dress
code skit for the students to show them
what is expected. Link Crew helps the
freshmen get through their first year of
high school and get situated; it helps
the freshmen connect with the upper
classmen.
Freshman Ashley Steffens said her
favorite part of link crew “is getting
candy.”
Dominique Taylor said her favorite
part was “doing the games.”
Rickstrew said, “The Link Crew
October 2009
NHS
President, Liz Scherer; Vice President,
Seth Klein; Secretary, Chelsea Prockish; Treasurer, Conner Nickerson; Stuco
Rep, Sydney Lippman.
Activities: Highway Clean-up and Blood
Drive
Weights
President, Kendall Poe; Vice President,
Kevin White; Secretary, Amy Melby;
Treasurer, Ciera Conrad; Stuco Rep,
Ryan Patton.
Activities: Mud volleyball, competitions
Stuco
President, Tera Ingalsbe; Vice President,
Samantha Bonderer; Secretary, Sydney
Lippman; Treasuser, Jace Rickstrew.
Class/ Club Reps: FFA- Jace Rickstrew;
FCCLA- Richard Biswell; NHS- Sydney Lippman; Spanish- Beth Scott;
Freshman- BreShawna Briggs, Madison
Wiegers; Sophomore- Ryan Pachta; Junior- Josie Gonzales, Bailey Bettencourt;
Senior- Tera Ingalsbe, Jace Rickstrew;
Weights- Ryan Patton; FCA- Stephanie
Neilsen.
Activities: Homecoming, pep rallies, and
dances.
philosophy is encouraging participation
and building relationships.”
Link Crew meets with their
freshmen once a month. Their last
meeting will be at the end of March.
Rickstrew states, “Beginning of
April, we start recruiting for next year’s
juniors and seniors.”
She is definitely encouraging all
eligible students to tryout.
Leaders are Bailey Bettencourt,
Olivia Divish, Macy Ebert, Mariah
Ekart, Josie Gonzales, Jessica Hobbs,
Mayabeth Jagosz, Bradi Jensen,
Steph Neilsen, Brook Powers, Ashley
Quintanilla, Amanda Scheideman,
Liz Scherer, Mallaurie Serb, Cat
Wethington, Bryan Adams, Steven Fox,
Conner Nickerson, Damon Irvin, Seth
Klein, Corbin McMillin, Taylor Shaffer,
Dexter Walsh and Kevin White.
October 2009
Feature
13
Fall Homecoming
By Olivia Parrish
Fall Homecoming has been a
tradition at Wamego High School for
many years. Each year, the 10 candidates participate in the Homecoming
parade and the pep rally, activities that
are designed to entertain the student
body while also embarrassing the
nominees.
Homecoming was held on October
2 this year while Wamego went headto-head with Concordia winning 35 to
15. Mayabeth Jagosz and Seth Klein
were crowned Homecoming king and
queen.
Along with the game, there was
also a Homecoming parade and dance.
The parade was held during school and
each class took their float down Main
street. The dance was held at the high
school after the game.
Seth Klein and Mayabeth Jagosz are congratulated by Trent Callender and Elyse Pachta.
Arts & Leisure
14
October 2009
October Word Search
By Lacey Cragg
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Bat
Carving
Cauldron
Cobweb
Costumes
Crow
Football
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Halloween
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Haunted
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Jack O Lantern
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Leaves
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October 2009
Comic
15
Feature
16
?
?
Compiled By Wade Hall
?
Questions
of the
Month
?
October 2009
?
?
What was your favorite TV show growing up?
“Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,
Growing Pains, I loved the
Moppet Show!”
“Power Rangers.”
“Smallville.”
“Ninja Turtles.”
~Jeff Bullock~Senior
~Brittany Winsor~Junior
~Ethan Anderson~Freshman
~Mrs. Topliff~Teacher
What is the funniest thing you have seen or heard in
high school?
“When the food fight broke
out between the homecoming
candidates this year.”
~Ashley Quintanilla~Senior
“When someone spilled water
in the hallway and people
were slipping.”
“In history class, singing
the Chinese Dynasty song
with Mr. Hornung.”
~Rebekah Sweet~Junior
~Charele Duncan~Sophomore
What do you think is the single best decision you’ve
made in high school so far?
“Not to eat hot pocket.”
“Being an FFA officer.”
“Taking all my hard classes’
freshman and sophomore year.”
~Ryan Toms~Senior
~Cole Woodworth~Junior
~Courtnii Carley~Sophomore