Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Journalism takes a bite
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Students receive letters from soldiers
Eighth grader Seth Fahlenkamp enjoys the letter he received after writing to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan the previous school year. (Andrea Farrington photo)
by Andrea Farrington
Recently, Seth Fahlenkamp, Jake Hasley and Matt Duggan had a great surprise in English class when they opened letters from Dustin Thomas, David Delarosa and Vincent W. Meyers. English teacher Roxanne Goudy also received a letter from LTC Dave Flynn, Commander.
In his letter Fahlenkamp learned that Thomas is married and has two children, rides a motorcycle, likes the Pittsburgh Steelers and scored 292 out of 300 on his physical training test.
Thomas’s closing was inspirational. “Knowing that you appreciate what we do over here makes it a lot easier to do what it is we do. Thank you for the support. Take care of yourself,” Thomas said.
The letters were in response to those written by seventh and eighth grade students last spring during a friendly letter-writing unit in Goudy’s English class. To practice that concept, students wrote “Letters to Soldiers,” a new project last year, to soldiers in Iraq to feed positive feeling and appreciation to the people in the armed forces.
In these letters, students wrote about the weather, hobbies and school. Goudy plans to continue the project again, because it gave the students a chance to connect with someone in the service.
This idea came from the program, Forgotten Soldiers Outreach which sends packages and letters of encouragement to deployed soldiers whose families cannot afford to send packages continually. The web site is http://www.forgottensoldiers.org/about-us/
The students wrote the letters, which were then sent in bulk to Forgotten Soldiers Outreach for screening and directing purposes.
National Honor Society collects for blood drive
Senior Katy McKee donates one pint of blood at the Montezuma High School blood drive. Each pint of blood can be used to save three lives. (Niamh Lyons photo)
by Niamh Lyons
According to the Blood Center of Iowa, the probability of a person needing a blood transfusion is 95 percent if he or she lives to be 72 years old, so it is easy to see donations are collected each year as blood supplies are used.
There are requirements for donors, like being healthy and being at least 16 years of age. Some donors decide to give “double red.” This means they donate twice the normal amount of blood.
Every year, students, staff and community donate blood at the blood drive held by the Torch Club, or National Honor Society.
Allison Pargeon is the new advisor for the Torch Club. Seniors in the group include Courtney Latcham, Shannon Sutfin, Teona Sutfin, Spencer Roorda, Kirk Salnave, Katy McKee, Calli Zimmerman and Alex Peck. Juniors are Stephen Vavroch, Kaylin Hansen, Nathan Wheeler, Natalie Wheeler, Austin Battreall and Aly James.
These students are in charge of setting up for the donation, bringing the donors to the gym and taking them back to class, making sure they ate and cleaning up the gym afterward.
The 2010 blood drive was held Nov. 5 in the high school gym. Thirty-two donors - students, former students, faculty and staff members - signed up.
The goal was to receive 30 units of blood and that goal was met from 28 donors. Last year, 38 units were collected from 50 donors.
Braves put it together for season finale
by Bryan Stanford
The junior varsity Braves finished their season the right way, with a 26-8 victory against the Warhawks from North Mahaska.
The Braves played well and were full of excitement and enthusiasm on the field and sideline.
Defensively, the Braves were solid all night. The entire defense flowed well, got to the ball, and had a good tackling performance. They were also opportunistic, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass as well as a big goal line stand late in the third quarter when the score was still 18-0.
Offensively, the Braves were able to do a little bit of everything. They ran the ball well, due to the push the offensive linemen were able to get up front, while the running backs ran hard and picked up yards when maybe there were not any to be had.
The junior varsity squad was able to throw the ball consistently, which has not happened for most of the season so it was good to see receivers and tight ends get in on some more action.
Coach Keith Sietstra said, “As coaches, we were so excited for kids to end our season on such a positive note. The junior varsity season can be grueling but they kept working hard and we ended the season with a 3-4 record.”
Braves cannot overcome first half struggles
by Bryan Stanford
The Junior Varsity football team struggled to start, but had some success in their 28-7 loss against BGM. Unfortunately, the JV came out flat and had trouble on both offense and defense.
“We just did not come out with the intensity and excitement that you need to have to be successful playing this game,” Coach Keith Sietstra said.
Offensively in the first half, the Braves struggled to move the ball. After halftime they were a very different team. They played a physical BGM team toe to toe in the second half.
The Braves flew around, tackled well, blocked well and ran hard – all things that it takes to be successful. The Braves’ only score on the night came in the fourth quarter, when Kane Barker recovered a punt snap fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Offensively the Braves were able to move the ball consistently and march from 20 to 20, but could not find a way to put the ball in the end zone.
Coach Sietstra also commented, “We hope to iron some things out and finish our last two games of the season on a high note.”
High tosses and hopes for competition
by Calli Zimmerman
Five mornings a week 17 girls are throwing, spinning and dancing with flags. The 2010-2011 Montezuma colorguard team is under the direction of Mr. Brian Nolton.
They practice one hour every morning to “Bad Medicine” by Bon Jovi. They are to perform Dec. 3 at HyVee Hall.
Nolton said, “The girls are working hard, and the routine is turning out good. We need to keep working and polish it so it’s precise.” Nolton would like to finish the routine soon so then the team can practice and polish until the competition. They also got new flags (silks) for this season.
This year they have 17 girls on the team; 16 perform and one acts as an alternate.
The team consists of: Senior captains, Courtney Latcham, Teona Sutfin and Shannon Sutfin, and Seniors Krista Engelbarts, Aly Breese and Katy McKee; Juniors Emily Long, Aly James, Brynna Steele, Shena Bryan and Natalie Wheeler; Sophomores Katie Benson and Carly Steele; Freshmen Katelyn Gregory, Julie Audas, Colleen Johnston and Tiffany Heishman.
JH Braves finish strong against the Warhawks
by Bryan Stanford
The Montezuma eighth grade football team ended the season in style with a 22-14 victory against North Mahaska.
Offensively the Braves, led by Mitch Stevens, jumped out to a great start with a controlling lead, 22-0 before halftime.
The Braves continued to have a great rushing attack, totaling 284 yards on the night. Stevens gained 198 yards on fourteen carries with three touchdowns.
The defense did their job, as they only allowed North Mahaska 127 yards of total offense. The Braves also created two fumbles that DC Patterson recovered.
The leading tacklers for the eighth graders were Joe Peck with 8, and Stevens with 13. The Braves ended their season with a winning record, 3-2.
JV aces out a 9-1 record
by Cami Shaver
On Thursday, Oct. 14, the junior varsity volleyball girls slayed the HLV Warriors and won, 25-16 and 25-12.
Courtney Petersen led serves with 12 for 12 and 4 aces. Shena Bryan served 7 for 7 with 2 aces and Cami Shaver served 6 for 8 with 2 aces.
The JV team turned in a tremendous season. They had been undefeated until Keota came along and that was the only game that they lost.
Even after Keota took away that one game from the Bravettes, they got right back up, kept their spirits up, and charged back onto the court to end the season with a 9-1 record.
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