Fourteen fresh footprints in Montezuma halls

Brittany Thompson

Blake Simpson

Jacob Sikes 

Cheyenne Vogt

Kyla Lemke

Noah Sikes

Mara Thompson

Teana Towne

Tesla Ely

Timothy Kibbee

Brenton Simpson

James Hulbert

Ryan Thompson

Willow Ely

by Vincent Bushong

This school year  brings 14 new students to the halls of Montezuma Junior High and High School.

New high school students include Cheyenne Vogt, a senior returning from North Mahaska; James Hulbert, a sophomore from Lynnville-Sully; sisters Mara and Brittany Thompson, a sophomore and freshman from East Des Moines; Tesla Ely, a freshman returning from Grinnell; Noah Sikes, a freshman from North Carolina; and Brenton Simpson, a freshman from Mt. Pleasant. 

Montezuma gained one new eighth grade student, Jacob Sikes from North Carolina.

New seventh grade students are Willow Ely from Grinnell, Kyla Lemke from North Mahaska, Blake Simpson from Mt. Pleasant, Ryan Thompson from East Des Moines, Timothy Kibbee from Lynnville-Sully and Teana Towne from Urbandale. 

The new students have  positive attitudes  toward attending Montezuma. They say what they like most about the school are the friendly students and inviting environment. The returning students enjoy reconnecting with old friends. 

Some students like the welcoming teachers; others appreciate the allowance of cell phones between classes and during lunch. 

Tesla Ely says the block scheduling “makes the day go by a lot faster.” 

On behalf of our school, we welcome you  and hope you enjoy your time

 here at Montezuma  Community Schools. 

JV Braves win big at Lone Tree

by Colton Talbert

The JV Braves anhilated the Lions on September 6 at Lone Tree with a  28-6 win. It was a well-fought game. 

In the first quarter, Seth Fahlenkamp and Bryant Sutfin recovered fumbles.

Dillon Wilhem threw two touchdown passes to Mitch Gibson and Bryan Gregson. 

Gregson also had a three-yard touchdown run and scored four more points from two-point conversions.

Coach Keith Sietstra said, “We saw a lot of good things from this young group of guys. We have been telling them that we need to control all of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.” 

Defensively, the Braves were solid and started the game off with creating turnovers on their first two possessions.

Offensively, the Braves stayed consistent through the entire game putting together several drives of over 60 yards. 

Elijah Bryan said, “The first half started slow, but we cane back in the second half and brought home a win.”

Take a look inside yourself at SCI

Anatomy students and teacher consists of, back, l to r: Carrie Weber, Bridgette Moore, Matt Armstrong, Madison Dawley, Emily Long, Alexis Ferguson, Kendra Cranston, Destiny Romberg, Shena Bryan, Andrea Ferrington, Natalie Kirton and Morgan Sanders.

by Natalie Kirton

One student peers at the villi in a large intestine. Another notices the differences between a healthy lung and a smoker’s lung. A third studies an enlarged ovary. These different specimens are on display at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines (SCI). 

On Tuesday, September 13, the Anatomy classes traveled to tour the Body Worlds Vital exhibit at SCI. 

Inside, were actual specimens of the human body, preserved through a process called plastination. Plastination occurs when the natural fluids of the body are replaced with a polymer solution to enhance preservation.

The entire exhibit took roughly two hours to go through, and students were able to view everything from the different parts of the brain to an actual body. 

“One of the most interesting things I learned was that we have 60,000 miles of capillaries, veins and arteries in our bodies. That’s enough to stretch across the world at least two times,” said senior Destiny Romberg. 

Students were also able to compare the amount of fat on a healthy person to the amount of fat on an obese person by looking at slices of the body. 

After everyone was through the exhibit, students were allowed to view other parts of the science center before gathering in the gift shop. 

Chaperone Nancy Gray and teacher Carrie Weber then drove students to share a meal at Applebee’s before returning to school. 

Senior Kendra Cranston was glad to have been able to go on the tour because she “liked seeing a real version of what our body is supposed to look like”. 

The Body Worlds Vital exhibit will be at the Science Center of Iowa until October 31, and cost of general admission is $19.25 for adults and $13.50 for children.