TAG tastes the college experience

Nathan Wheeler, Natalie Wheeler, Rachel Ranfeld, Natalie Kirton, Katie Benson and Kaylin Hansen eat lunch in the cafeteria at Wartburg College for the Iowa Talented and Gifted Young Scholars Program. (Abby Clark photo)

by Natalie Kirton and Rachel Ranfeld

On Tuesday, April 12, six students traveled to Waverly for the Iowa Talented and Gifted Young Scholars Program, as well as approximately 120 students from other Iowa schools. This conference was held at Wartburg College and was a day full of activities. 

Instructor Abby Clark brought students Kaylin Hansen, Natalie Kirton, Rachel Ranfeld, Natalie Wheeler, Nathan Wheeler and Katie Benson to participate in the conference. Check in began at 8:30 a.m. at McCaskey Lyceum, followed by a small continental breakfast. President Darrel Colson welcomed students and Wartburg senior Abbey Hempen spoke about how taking initiative in high school can ensure a better future.

Wartburg staff led students to different parts of campus to partake in one of eight morning workshops, such as The Brain, Studying Abroad, Social Media and Civic Engagement. These workshops were designed to be a preview of courses offered at the college. 

Afterward, students reported to lunch in the Mensa, or cafeteria. Because Montezuma students were set to leave early, instructor Abby Clark, a Wartburg graduate, guided them on a tour of campus, ending at the college fair in the Hall of Champions. Represented colleges were Buena Vista, Central College, Graceland University, Grandview University, Iowa State University, University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, Luther College, Simpson College and Wartburg College. 

Lastly, the TAG group moved on to their final workshops, which consisted of Socrates Café, Secret Gospels, Social Media, Exploring the Nature of Science and The Brain. 

Abby Clark said, “We had a wonderful time learning about different career opportunities and college experiences, including everything from dessert in the cafeteria to a tour of the dorm rooms. I was glad to have shared some of this college with my students.”

Class of 2011 evaluates their future goals

by Hope Kriegel

Part 3 of a series

Graduation is just around the corner and the seniors are eargerly waiting to be officially done with high school. We will have completed 2,330 school days since we were kindergartners. 

After all this time, we have thought about where we hope to be in the future, what we think the younger students need to know about high school and what we will miss after we leave.    

Vincent (Vinny) 

Buchanan

Vinny wants to be managing a hotel or fine restaurant in 10 years. He tells younger students to keep up with their schoolwork. Vinny will miss hanging out with his friends the most. 

Katurah (KT) McKee

In 10 years, KT sees herself as a nurse, helping people, living life to the fullest and being happy. KT wants to tell the freshmen, “There will be dark days that really suck and there will also be good days that everything goes great but no matter what, just have a positive attitude!” 

She is going to miss making great memories with everyone and just bonding and being with them, being on a team and growing with each other in sports the most. 

Shannon Sutfin

Shannon wants to be working as a nurse in the Cayman Islands in 10 years. She tells younger students to “Get involved in as much as you can throughout high school because once it is over, you’ll wish you could do it all over again.” Shannon will miss being able to walk through the halls and know everyone by name the most. She will also miss being involved in sports. 

Dakota McFatridge

Dakota will be working in 10 years. His advice is to get good grades and play sports. Dakota will miss baseball and hanging out with his friends the most.  

Teona Sutfin

Teona says, “I should be working in a dental office as a dental hygienist, married with kids and living in a bigger town in 10 years.” Her advice is to make as many memories as possible because it's over before you know it and start planning for college early! Be prepared to grow up quickly because we all have to. Teona is going to miss her friends the most. She says, “They have gotten me through the last 13 years. I love them to death!”

Spencer Roorda 

Spencer hopes to be working as an engineer traveling around the world for his job. He tells the younger students to “Be sure to take advantage of every opportunity when you’re here because when the end comes, you don’t want to ask yourself where your high school experience went.” Spencer will miss his friends and participating in sports the most.  

Hope Kriegel

Hope wants to have a stable job doing what she loves and helping children in 10 years. She also hopes to be married and possibly with a child or two and loving her life.  Hope tells the freshmen, “Take chances, push yourself, make mistakes and learn from them. Do what makes you happy, be around the people you love and just have fun. Never accept less than you deserve or let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.” She is going to miss her family and knowing everyone so well. Also, she will miss playing high school sports and all the memories she made while playing.

Wyatt VanDee

Wyatt wants to be married with at least one child, and living on his own farm raising cattle in 10 years. His advice is to do homework and turn it in on time. Wyatt is going to miss being in class with his friends the most.  

To be continued…

JH raises awareness for African issues

by Bryan Stanford

Andy Erselius’s seventh grade geography class recently completed a project to raise awareness of factors that affect the people in Africa. 

The issues that students decided to present ranged from lacking clean water to fighting HIV and AIDS to providing education for women with needs. Other topics focused on blood diamonds, orphanages, the fight against malaria and provisions for the basic needs of people.

The criteria for the project was that students were to choose an issue that occurs in Africa that intrigued them. After that, they were to research the topic, find an organization that works toward that issue and present their findings to the class. Aliya Pargeon said, “After learning about the issues in Africa, I wanted to help children in Africa.”

The class wanted to raise money for an organization that the students presented. The class had a tough time deciding between Play for Hope, Girls Education Fund and Waves for Water. Play for Hope is an organization in Rwanda that is helping to build up youth that are in the shadows of the genocide of the 1990s through sports. Girls Education Fund helps women get the education they deserve. 

“I was looking for a project that students could present to their classmates that required them to learn about issues that some people in the United States take for granted,” Mr. Erselius commented. They decided to donate money to Waves for Water, an organization that provides portable water filters so people all over the world can receive clean water. 

The geography class was able to raise enough money to purchase a Family Use filter system that will provide enough clean water for 14 people for the rest of their lives. 

Stressed about ACTs

by Rachel Ranfeld

The pressure is on for students across the Midwest. 

ACT testing was given in a center set up at Montezuma High School for the fourth consecutive year Saturday, April 9. Fifty-three students were registered, of which 40 were from Montezuma, leaving 13 from nearby schools.

Afterward, we students agreed that the science portion of the test was the most difficult of the four. Because of the time limit, many of us felt rushed and didn’t finish individual tests, but filled in the few remaining answers at the last minute. After all, it wouldn’t count against us if we guessed wrong.

As we all know, ACTs are a big deal for getting college acceptance letters and scholarships. We all aim high and try our hardest to get the best score, which is a 36. Although that’s not very likely since our Iowa average is 21, we can still hope. 

However, we aim to get a 28, at least, in order to be eligible for the full-ride Burgett scholarship to Grinnell. 

So these next 2-3 weeks are going to be tedious as we await the results, because we know one great score could open the door to the best schools in the nation whereas one low score could make it difficult to even reach for the door handle.