Seniors hold presidential election at MHS

Nathan Wheeler (above left) and Stephen Vavroch (above right) used campaign posters and took positions on important issues as they ran for the 2012 presidential election held on Feb. 16.

by Andrea Farrington

Posters and fliers fill the school to announce that there are two new candidates for the 2012 presiential election.  These candidtates are not politicians but seniors involved in government class.

New history teacher Leah Farrington has decided to have her senior government students participate in a presidential election because she feels the students learn more by participating in role-play activities than they do in a traditional class setting. Also, they learn about the election process, see the content and apply it to the 2012 presidential election. 

Farrington said, “This is one of my favorite activities to teach because I enjoy seeing the students develop into the different roles and responsibilities of a presidential election.”

This semester is the second time that the activity will take place.  Destiny Romberg and Matt Armstrong ran as candidates during the first semester government class.

This semester’s presidential election consisted of two candidates, Stephen Vavroch and Nathan Wheeler. Students really enjoyed this activity because everyone gets involved and its something different from the traditional note taking.

The big brother candidate Stephen Vavroch is planning to improve the environment, create more jobs and lower taxes. He chose his topics by looking at current issues in our world today and has been spending his time campaigning, creating commercials, and reaching out to the American people. His slogan is, “Stephen Vav-rocks your world!”

Survivor candidate Nathan Wheeler is looking to better America by promoting ethanol, going green, furthering the Farms to Schools Act and keeping jobs in America instead of outsourcing. He looked at what he would like to see change in America and implemented the topics into his campaign. He has been spending the majority of his time making commercials, going around to different people talking about his views and making signs. His slogan is, “Don’t be a squealer. Vote for Wheeler!

The election ended on Thursday, Feb. 16 as class members voted for the canditates they most supported.  The results ended with Stephen Vavroch as the 2012 president with 65 percent overall votes, leaving 35 percent of votes for Wheeler.

Focus on the Future

by Morgan Sanders 

With less than three months left of school, there are many things for seniors to be thinking about, where to go to college, where they will live and financial aid just to list a few. 

As soon as students enter high school, they are forced into thinking about what they want to pursue after high school. 

Freshman year, students take a class called Careers where they learn how to make a resumé and  do activites to help them prepare for possible future jobs. 

Sophomore year, students go on a job shadow for English class to learn more about what they think they want to do. This is important because it puts a student in the atmosphere of the job they are planning to do and will show them if they even like it.   

Junior year, students are allowed to go on college visits to learn more about where they would like to go to college. Senior year, students go on college visits and need to find out where they are going to go to college and what for. 

College is expensive. Right now, seniors are working on receiving as much free money as they can from scholarships. The community and colleges themselves gave out $278,000 in scholarships last year. There are many ways to achieve help to pay for college. Students must take advantage of the opportunities they are given. It will help in the future once they finish college. They will be able to start their lives with less debt than if they didn’t put in any effort during high school.

JV Braves demolish BGM

Siraj Thomason prepares to rebound against BGM on Friday, Feb. 10.

by Bridgette Moore

On Friday Feb. 10, the JV Braves played their last game in Brooklyn against BGM and beat the Bears 28 to 18. 

“I thought our guys played extremely hard and was proud of their effort throughout the game on Friday,” said Coach Dale DeJong.

In the first quarter, Dillion Wilhelm made five points and Bryant Sutfin made two points.

 In the second quarter, Seth Fahlenkamp made two. Going to into half time the Braves had a total of nine points.

 In the third quarter, Wilhelm made two points, Sutfin made six points, Bryan Gregson made five points, and Siraj Thomason made three points. 

In the fourth quarter, Sutfin made three points. In total Wilhelm made seven points, Sutfin made 11 points, Gregson made five points, Fahlenkamp made two points and Thomason made three points. 

“I had a ton of fun coaching this group of guys and I’m excited for their future. I believe the sky is the limit for this group if they commit to getting better in the off-season. I want to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the whole team,” said Coach DeJong.

Turn of the Page: 'Thirteen Reasons Why'

by Elizabeth Ostrem and Kayla Werner

“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher is about a girl named Hannah Baker who commits suicide. Before her death, she mails out a package with seven cassette tapes with 13 stories and “reasons” to the 12 people that, in one way or another, lead to her demise. 

The book is told from the perspective of Clay Jensen, one of Hannah’s classmates and one of the 12 people, as he listens to the tapes to find how he was involved in her death.  As he listens to Hannah on the tapes, Clay gradually realizes that he saw many warning signs for her suicide but at the time did nothing to attempt to change her mind.

Liz:

I was looking forward to reading this book after hearing everyone speak so highly of it, but I have to say I was thoroughly unimpressed after finishing it. 

The way Hannah talked on the tapes struck me as incredibly pious, and the fact that she placed blame on the various persons for “causing” her death seemed pretty juvenile. The back and forth narrative between her and Clay also ruined the book’s rhythm for me.

The biggest thing I came away with from “Thirteen Reasons Why” is that you can have a bigger impact on another person than you might think; even if it seems trivial to you, sometimes words or actions can affect someone else deeply. I guess I’m glad I read it, but I don’t think this is a book I’ll care to revisit in the future.

Kayla:

I thought that “Thirteen Reasons Why” was a fantastic book. It has easily become one of my favorite books to read. While reading it, I found that it was hard for me to put down because each story kept getting more and more interesting. The closer I got to the end, the more I wanted to finish it, but I didn’t want it to ever end. 

The story itself is an extremely sad one to read, but the way it is written makes it so interesting. Some of the reasons are terrible while others aren’t as bad, and one is somewhat apologetic. The details that the author puts into Hannah’s reasons are incredible.

After reading this, I realized how the words of people could affect someone. It makes you think about how you could be affecting people each day.