The Chief Online - Pontiac Township High School

PONTIAC TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
The Chief Online
PTHS Marching Indians
By Matthew Birkett
Another year, another season of Marching Band. We’re getting close to our final
performance of the season, the fabled U of I Competition, with renewed hope. This is
the first year in a while that all of our drill has been put on the field by the first football
game, leaving us more time than usual to refine our marching and add in moves and
poses we would otherwise be unable to do in our show.
The show, as you may have seen, is America-themed complete with references to
several important parts of our country’s history, including Martin Luther King Jr. and the
events of 9/11. The music includes segments from “Shenandoah,” “Amazing Grace,”
and the “Star Spangled Banner.” Our performances, other than football games, have
included the Illinois State University Marching Band Festival competition where we
rd
placed 3 place-Class 1A and the Washington Panther Invitational where we placed
th
4 place-Class 3A. Make sure to congratulate Marching Band members on their hard
work and wish them well as the march towards the U of I Completion.
Click HERE for the Music Department’s website
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October 2015
October 2015
Inside this Issue:
Sports
2
New Teacher
Report
3
Inside this issue:
Literary Society
3
Upperclass Acts
4
Fall Concert
5
Movie Review
6
Pop Culture
7
All Hallo’s Eve
8
FFA Update
Cheerleading Update
By Sarah Albrecht
By Victor Johns
Pontiac FFA had a busy September. To start off the month, the
FFA Chapter helped out at the Thresherman’s Reunion and
served food at the Rusty’s Drive-In food stand. On Sunday,
September 6, 28 members volunteered to carry sponsor signs
in the parade. On Wednesday, September 9, we had our first
Chapter meeting. After the business portion of the meeting, the
members played bags as an activity. Around 25 freshmen
attended the University of Illinois Greenhand Conference on
September 23 to learn about leadership and ways to become a
leader in their chapter.
On September 26, Dallas Hones, Emma Jacobs, Jenna
Leonard, and Victor Johns helped with the St. Jude Walk to End
Childhood Cancer which was held at Hancock Stadium on the
Illinois State University Campus. Adam Ledford, Ryan
Lauritsen, Lucas Roe, Micah Clauss, and Lucas Giovengo
competed at the Section 9 Land-Use CDE Contest. At this
contest students were able to evaluate soil profiles, formation
factors and characteristics, and calculate slop. Lucas Giovengo
place 3rd and Adam Ledford placed 9th as individuals with the
team placing 3rd overall!!! The October Chapter meeting will be
held on October 22 with a costume contest as the activity.
At the end of the month the FFA Chapter will be attending
National Convention which is held in Louisville, Kentucky. The
Chapter is a Model of Excellence finalist as the top chapter in
the United States and Amy Wyant is a top 4 finalist in the area
of Veterinary Science.
If you have ever attended a PTHS varsity football
game, you have probably noticed fifteen girls on the
sidelines yelling and cheering with Indian pride.
These fifteen girls make up the 2015 varsity football
cheerleading squad. There are five new additions to
the team this year, all of whom are freshman. These
five girls, in alphabetical order, are: Jasmine
Bischler, Nicolle Leon-Araujo, Grace Meiner,
Makinzi Simmons, and Rebecca True. This team
has been practicing together since mid-summer and
have been working hard on cheers, stunts, and
tumbling.
Make sure you cheer along with them next time you
are out supporting your varsity Indians!
Golf Congratulations
Congratulations to the Boy’s Golf Team and Coach
Ritter on winning the IHSA Regional at Pontiac Elk’s
Golf Course and advancing to the IHSA LaGrange
Park Sectional at the Broken Arrow Golf Course in
Lockport on October 12. Jacob Curry was the
medalist and led the way for the Indians with an 80,
followed by Matthew Schrock 81, Jordan Tribley 84,
Alex Olson 87, Griffin Nyi 88, and Tyler Monahan
99.
Ali Schrock and Molly Ruddy represented PTHS at
the Girls Golf State Finals during October 15-17 in
Decatur. Ali took 2nd in the sectional with an 80
th
and Molly shot an 85 which for 8 place.
FFA information can be found HERE.
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New Teacher Report: Ms. Janz
Literary Society: PTHS’s
Reading and Writing Club
By Jeanette Wooldridge
By Allyson Shoff
Have you ever finished reading a book and just needed
someone to talk to about it? Have you ever written a story and
wanted constructive feedback from someone? Literary Society
may be the club for you. Meeting in Mr. Christie’s room every
Wednesday during the activity period, Literary Society is one of
the only completely student run groups in the school. Facilitated
by Reading Director Allyson Shoff and Writing Director Danika
Mayback, Literary Society aims to improve writing skills and
have a good time reading together.
The Freshmen Learning Center this year has caused
the old math wing to look very different. Within this little
community is a new teacher called Ms. Janz. Ms. Janz
is a math teacher who previously taught at Reed Custer
High School for four years. In her free time she
coaches volleyball, cruises around in her Jeep, and
spends time with friends and family. The biggest thing
that she did this summer was that she went to a
concert at Lambeau Field. She says that the best thing
about PTHS so far is that everyone is super nice and
helpful, even the kids! Whenever she gets the time she
loves doing adventurous/ outdoor activities and to ride
her motorcycle. When Mrs. Janz was younger she had
an amazing math teacher that inspired her to become a
teacher and she hopes that one day she will impact
students’ lives like hers was. I think that everyone will
join me when I say that PTHS welcomes you and
hopes that you have an amazing first year here!
We have just finished up reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by
Scott Lynch and will be starting The Name of the Wind by
Patrick Rothfuss shortly. Our goals are to read at a moderate
pace and have different writing prompts for people to complete
every week. On Wednesdays, other members will read the
writing each person has done, giving helpful suggestions and
commenting on what they enjoyed.
We understand that some people can’t make it to every meeting,
so we keep a well organized Google Drive folder that is shared
with all of the members and have an organized Skype group that
is used to catch people up or to just chat.
Does this sound like fun to you? We’d love to expand our
group, so please drop by on the next Wednesday in Mr.
Christie’s room to sign up!
Student Survey:
Favorite Halloween Activities
Kamryn Moore- ABC Family movies
Breair Thweatt- Trick-or-treating
Nate Stock- Seeing my sisters’ faces after going trick-or-treating
Camryn Tickle- Carving pumpkins
Dylan Hillyer- Haunted houses
Allie Alsdorf- Fun costumes
Tylar Melvin- Watching movies
Andrew Kelly- Fright Fest at Six Flags
Abby Wargo- Decorations
Helmet displayed in LACC. Learn more about Fire
Science HERE.
Loryn Beal- Candy
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Upperclass Acts
ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Vice President of
Key Club, Treasurer of Fellowship of
Christian Students, Vice President of
Senior Class, C.A.P.T.A.I.N.S, Peer
Partners, Peers in Action, Science Club,
Student Council, Library Worker,
National Honor Society, and Golf
3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST:
Golfing, Business, and Computer Science
PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL:
Attend ISU with a double major in Business
Administration and Computer Science.
FAVORITE MOVIE: Happy Gilmore
NICKNAMES: Moll
MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG:
“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten
FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS:
Mashing(Computer Networking) /
Sweetwood(Psychology)
ROLE MODEL(S):
My surgeon and my mom
ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Football
manager and C.A.P.T.A.I.N.S.
FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH
SCHOOL SO FAR:
Watching my best friend graduate
and go to college.
3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST:
Math, Health classes, and Culinary
Arts
PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL:
Go to college to become a
surgeon.
FAVORITE MOVIE:
The Blind Side
MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG:
“Changes” by Kelly and Ozzy
Osbourne
WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL
REMEMBER ABOUT ME:
My sense of humor.
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND
$1,000,000? Pay for college,
give to a charity, and put the rest
in a savings account.
IF YOU WERE STRANDED
ON A DESERT ISLAND,
WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD
YOU WANT WITH YOU?
My phone, water, and a boat
LAST WORDS OF ADVICE:
“Can’t go wrong doing right!”
ROLE MODEL(S): My Grandma and
Grandpa Lee, my Parents
Alexis Flynn
MOST POSITIVE MOMENT:
Making all conference in golf all 4
years.
PET PEEVES:
When people stop right in the
middle of the hallway.
FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH
SCHOOL SO FAR: Prom
Molly Ruddy
FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK:
American Sniper by Chris Kyle
FAVORITE TEACHER:
Mr. Sweetwood
FAVORITE AUTHOR:
Nicholas Sparks
MOST POSITIVE MOMENT:
Getting the call for the transplant.
PET PEEVES: When people walk
really slow in the hallways.
WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL
REMEMBER ABOUT ME:
Takes charge, caring, beautiful
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND
$1,000,000? I would give it back
to Lurie’s Children’s Hospital for
other patients.
IF YOU WERE STRANDED
ON A DESERT ISLAND,
WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD
YOU WANT WITH YOU?
Food, water and medication
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LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Don’t slack
off and have fun in your senior year.”
Fall Coral Concert
The Pontiac Township High School Music Department proudly presented its
Fall Choral Concert “Fall Landscapes” on Sunday October, 18 at 3:00pm in the
PTHS Auditorium.
Attendees enjoyed selections from the Concert Choir, our two women’s
ensembles Bel Canto and Cantabile, our Men’s Choir and male barbershop
quartet, We’ll Take it From Here! Also heard from was the PTHS Madrigal
Singers. The choirs presented music in Latin, Hebrew, Macedonian, French,
Filipino and English. Listeners experienced music from the Renaissance and
Baroque periods as well traditional Spirituals, American Folk Songs and English
Madrigals. Madrigal Dinner also went on sale
Music Review:
By Mary Kate Cupples
One song that is really hitting up
the charts this week is “The Hills”
by The Weeknd. I know what you
are asking me, is that supposed
to be “weekend?” No. It is
actually Weeknd. I always
thought that The Weeknd was an
actual band but it turns out it is
just one person, his name is Abel
Tesfaye, but he likes to go by his
stage name The Weeknd. He is
from Toronto, Canada.
How did he become famous you
ask? He randomly uploaded his
songs onto YouTube and got so
many likes, comments, and
subscribers he made more
music. The Hills is his most
famous song currently. The song
is about how he is always calling
the girl that means the most to
him and being honest with her.
Take a look on The Weeknd
page on YouTube and check out
some of his songs.
Girls Tennis
Update
By Carlie Weaver
Our PTHS Girls Tennis Team is very
proud to have recruited some great
new athletes this fall. The new
freshman girls include some strong
beginners. These girls are Carly
Bohm, Caiti Corrigan, Katie Sparks,
Sydney Baier, Ishika Patel, Bethany
Jewell, Chloe Bachman, Megan Eck,
and Morgan Edens. We also
welcomed a powerful singles
sophomore, Cam Tickle. Finally, we
added juniors Shelby Jennings and
Aubrey Gill as a fabulous doubles
duo. These girls have been a delight
to work with this year and we plan on
ending the year strong. Don’t worry,
however, we’ll be back for more in
the 2016 season with who knows
how many wonderful new additions.
5
Book Review: The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Review by Allyson Shoff
In a dystopian world or illness and poverty ruled by those with silver
blood and supernatural powers, those who live in the Stilts only
await their time to go to war and die. Seventeen year-old thief Mare
Barrow is no different. When she is suddenly offered a job, the only
way out of being sent to war, she takes it without a second thought.
She is sent to the Silver Palace to work as a servant. When she
falls to her near-death from the balcony, she expects it to be the
end, but she is saved by a latent power inside her. The Silvers take
her in and hide her from the world. The only way she can stay alive
and protect her family is pretending to be a Silver, but what if she
just wants to bring them down?
The story is fast paced and full of secrets, adventure, and betrayal.
As Mare gets a hold on her powers, a dangerous confrontation
between The Red Army and the Silvers is approaching. The story
rushes through the events of her journey, leading to the exciting
climax and a twist at the end.
I really enjoyed this book. There were a few points that did seem to
drag on, but it always picked up. I would recommend this book to
any fans of dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games, Matched,
or The Grisha. The Red Queen is the first book in an expected
trilogy. The second book comes out next year. There is already one
novella published with another in the way in 2016.
Visit the author’s website:
victoriaaveyard.com
Movie Review
By Kamryn Moore
Camp Takota is a dramatic comedy directed by Chris and
Nick Riedell. The main character is Elisa (Grace Helbig)
who thought that her life was falling into place. She had just
finished writing her book and was getting married in two
weeks her dream man, or so she thought. After Elisa gets
fired from her job and find’s out her fiancé is cheating on her
she needs to find a summer get away.
Soon she finds herself back at her old summer camp where
she is reunited with her former best friends (Hannah Hart
and Marmie Hart) who never left camp. When the camp
becomes jeopardized, the three counselors must come
together to save the camp. Throughout the summer Elisa
learns that you’re never too old to go back to your roots.
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The Chief Staff
Ask Lex and Sar
Dear Lex and Sar,
The first quarter of the school year is almost over and it seems like the
classes get harder every week! The teachers seem to be piling on more and
more assignments and it is hard to keep everything on track! How can I
make this next quarter easier for me to balance my school work, sports, and
social life while maintaining good grades and participation?
Sincerely, A Stressed Out Student
Dear Stressed Out Student,
We totally understand where you are coming from! School can be very
challenging, especially if you participate in sports and extra- curricular
activities. One way to stay organized is to use your planner and make sure
you know when things are due; that way, you don’t have missing
assignments piling up. Also, use any time given in class and your study hall
to get work done. Wasting this time gives you more work to do at home! And
always remember to just breathe and do the best you can. Staying calm and
not worrying will keep your stress to a minimum. Good luck with the next
quarter!
Kamryn Moore, Editor-in-Chief
Alexis Hall, Editor-in-Chief
Sarah Albrecht
Matthew Birkett
Mary-Kate Cupples
Shelby Jennings
Victor Johns
Taylor Parsons
Allyson Shoff
Carlie Weaver
Jeanette Wooldridge
Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor
Look for the print version of
The Chief in
The Pontiac Daily Leader
XOXO, Lex and Sar
Pop Culture
By Shelby Jennings
You’ve probably heard the hits “Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging” or
“Centuries” by Fall Out Boy sometime in your life. Whether it was on the radio or
at a concert, Fall Out Boy continues to amaze with their music. As the band’s
main songwriter (and pizza lover), Pete Wentz said in an interview that the band
has a “new perspective” on things. Every album, especially after their hiatus
from 2009 to 2013, seems to come out with a brand new image. Fall Out Boy’s
newest album, American Beauty American Psycho debuted earlier this year.
They recently performed at the iHeart Radio Music Festival all the way in Las
Vegas on September 19th. When the band played their newest anthem, they
pulled out a surprise guest. Fetty Wap came out on the stage and met his “Trap
Queen” with Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries.” As an unlikely duo, these two
surprisingly made a great match.
Operation Endangered Species –
The Alligator Snapping Turtle
Project
State Farm Advisory Board
Click HERE for the Live Turtle
Cam!
You can watch their performance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9firHkPTy4
PTHS on Social Media
Check out PTHS on Facebook and Twitter using the icons at the top of our page
or click HERE.
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CATCH UP WITH PTHS
EVENTS AT HIGH
SCHOOL CUBE
All Hallow’s Eve
By Allyson Shoff
The night is approaching where we will all don our costumes and head into
the night to scavenge for candy for spook the neighborhood children. Many
people are excited about Halloween, but just as many don’t know the origins
of this spooky holiday.
Halloween is an old holiday that dates back to the 1500’s. The holiday is of
Celtic origin and was originally celebrated as the separation of autumn and
winter. This was a time when it was believed horrifying creatures could enter
our world. People began to dress up in order to hide from these creatures.
Parts of their harvest were left on their doorsteps as offerings.
It’s easy to see where some of our modern day practices of Halloween come
from. Jack-o-lanterns are similar to the carved turnips used in Ireland and
Scotland during the earlier celebrations of this holiday. Our costumes derive
directly from what people wore to hide from the creatures; modern day
costumes are a little sillier, however. Instead of dressing up like goblins and
demons, many children today dress up as butterflies or pirates. Trick-orTreating is similar to the offerings of the harvest left on the doorstep, though
I doubt the “demons” they were offering to would have wanted Butterfingers
or M&Ms. I bet they would have hated that peanut butter taffy as much as I
do!
Just remember when you go out this year, to be safe and respectful of
others. Remember the normal stuff you hear every year. Check your candy.
Don’t stay out past curfew. But there are other things to remember as well.
Halloween is a time of trickery and some people will bother animals such as
black cats, so keep your pets indoors to prevent anything from happening to
them.
I hope everyone has a good time this year! Let’s hope it’s not too chilly!
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Happy Hallowen from
The Chief Online