Six inducted into the Torch Club

New National Honor Society members, from l to r: Colleen Johnston, Katelyn Gregory, Courtney Petersen, Destiny Romberg, Kendra Cranston and Macy Taylor are inducted during a ceremony on Friday, Feb. 24, and light their candles representing knowledge.

by Andrea Farrington and Bridgette Moore

On Friday, Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m., two seniors, one junior and three sophomores were inducted into the National Honor Society during a ceremony in the junior high gym.  Community members, students and staff were present for the induction. 

To be selected into the NHS, also known as the Torch Club, sophomores must obtain a grade point average of 3.5 or above and seniors and juniors must obtain a grade point average of 3.25 or higher. The sophomores accepted will be probationary members for one year before becoming full members. 

If a student meets these standards, then they must fill out an application  explaining how they demonstrate leadership, service, scholarship and character in their daily lives.  

These applications are then reviewed by a panel of five teachers. The students that teachers felt fulfilled these four qualities were selected into the NHS.

The students that were selected for demonstrating these qualities this year were seniors Kendra Cranston and Destiny Romberg; junior Macy Taylor; and sophomores Colleen Johnston, Courtney Petersen and Katelyn Gregory.

Juniors Halley Ogan, Tyler Swenson and Norman Martin were inducted as full members this year after their probationary sophomore year.

These new members join with the current NHS members Natalie Wheeler, Nathan Wheeler, Stephen Vavroch, Rachel Ranfeld, Alexis Ferguson, Aly James, Kaylin Hansen and Austin Battreall.

During the ceremony, students lit candles representing the lamp of knowledge and the four characteristics required for acceptance into NHS.  Older members spoke on the importance of those characteristics as a standard for the Torch Club and the school.

The high school band played for the induction ceremony, and the event ended with a reception with cake for the new members.

A major aspect of the Torch club is community service. Past activites the Torch Club has been involved in include blood drives held in the high school gym and helping deliver meals  for the Meals on Wheels program.

Successful fundraising for cancer

by Natalie Kirton

For the past three weeks, Montezuma students have been celebrating life through fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This fundraising project, called Pennies for Patients, began on Feb. 6 and ran through Feb. 24. 

Each grade competed against each other to raise the most money to be donated to the society. This was done by setting up boxes in each homeroom for students to drop money in. 

Students aggressively put money in, hoping to be the class with the biggest donation. The senior class brought in the most, having a total of $119.41. In second place was the seventh grade, who brought in $88.60. 

From third place to sixth place consecutively were tenth grade with $81.91, eighth grade with $71.73, ninth grade with $60.75 and 11^th grade with $55.62. 

In total, Montezuma students brought in $478.02 to give to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Other donations were made through having a guessing jar full of change in which students paid a quarter to guess the amount inside to raise money for their grade.  Students also sold hot chocolate, as well as poems and balloons for Valentine’s Day. These products made $391.14.

All together, Montezuma will be donating a grand total of $869.16 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This money will go towards researching and finding a cure for cancer.

Why do we stereotype?

by Andrea Farrington

“I am a blonde, so I am stupid.” “I wear black, so I an emo.” “I am skinny, so, therefore I am anorexic.”

Have you heard any of these commonly used stereotypes? 

What are stereotypes? They are simplified, fixed beliefs about a group of people. Think for a minute about these specific stereotypes: overweight people, men, old people, teenagers. We all form an overall opinion about each of these groups and not enough on the individuals themselves. For example, some old people may be grumpy, but that doesn’t mean all of them are. 

Stereotyping is used everywhere, such as in the workplace, school, community, states and even countries. To my main point, why do we categorize all students into “preps”, “nerds”, “emos”, “jocks”, etcetera? 

Everyone is different; no individual wants to be like everyone else. We all have our own opinions on things,  have different senses of style, eat different foods. 

Since I am a senior this year, the stereotypes I am classified as today will mean nothing when I leave this small town of Montezuma. I will soon be labeled as different things. 

We can’t let stereotypes form who we are and who we become as a person. We as people need to learn how to overlook the stereotypes and see the people behind their labels. We will soon realize that if we overlook these labels we learn more about people and the society itself.

Track is taking off

by Bridgette Moore

On Wednesday Feb. 22 the Montezuma Girls Track team started their first practice. Coach Megan Carlson returns for a second season of track. It is expected to be a team of 16 girls.

The only senior out this year is Elizabeth Ostrem, who has been out for track since seventh grade. She is nervous, excited and looking forward to her last year of track season. 

Jennifer Maki, a home-schooled junior, joins the team for her first year of track at Montezuma High School.  

Maki said, “I’m looking forward to getting to know the team and to get stronger and faster because I love running and sports.” 

Monika Fetzer, sophomore, looks forward to her third season of track.  

She said, “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong. After each meet, I want to be able to say; I gave it all I could, I gave it my best.” 

Alex Brenner, a freshman member of the team is looking forward to doing hurdles and putting together a record-breaking 4x1 team.” 

Carlson is excited to start working with the new freshmen that will be out for track. Their first meet will be the High School Indoor Track and Field Invitational at Wartburg on March 13.

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.