Kony 2012 Youtube video makes an impact on Montezuma

by Morgan Sanders

I’m sure you have heard about the Kony 2012 video on Facebook or Twitter. If not, Kony 2012 is a video about a warlord named Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and their actions in central Africa. 

The video brings light to the subject and shows how The Invisible Children plans to “make him famous”. The video’s goal is to raise awareness. After being posted to Youtube, the video had over 70 million views in just seven days. 

The LRA has been kidnapping children for over 26 years and making them into sex slaves and child soldiers. They have kidnapped over 30,000 children. 

In the video it mainly shows the violence happening in Uganda, but it is also happening in Sudan and Congo. Kony  has made his way to the top of the International Crime Councils list for most wanted criminal. 

Invisible Children was created in 2003 after three filmmakers went to Africa looking for a story. After returning from their trip and people viewing their footage, people wanted to help and created the organization.

They first started working in Uganda in 2005. In Uganda, Invisible Children works with locals to develop programs where there are needed on the ground. Their mission is to use film, creativity and social attention to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA-affected communities in Central Africa to peace and prosperity. 

This campaign has been called Kony 2012 because it is a time sensitive mission. Right now, the United States has 100 troops stationed in Africa helping them with the repairs of the damage of the LRA. 

At Montezuma, students and teachers are interested after watching the video and want to make a change. In Miss Farrington’s  current issues class, students are writing letters to policymakers about how they feel about the subject. In the video, it states that in order to raise awareness they are involving 12 policymakers and 20 celebrities to raise awareness. 

After watching the video, my personal reaction was that I wanted to do something to stop Kony. I believe this is the reaction most people have after viewing it. 

There are many things you can do to raise awareness; you can order the action kit, sign a pledge, donate money and repost the video to Facebook.

I ordered an action kit as my contribution. Many people have supported the cause, but I have also heard a lot of criticism about Kony 2012 and what Invisible Children really is. This is not anything the government has started; it was started by a nonprofit organization to raise awareness and to raise funds to help stop it and help the victims recover.

If you have any questions or want to learn visit www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html and www.kony2012.com.

Boys track gears up for the season

by Andrea Farrington

The boys track season is starting off with warm weather and a total of 24 boys on the team, which includes three seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores, and eight freshmen.

The three seniors out this year are Stephen Vavroch, Shane Lyons and Matt Armstrong. They are all looking forward to the upcoming season.

Lyons says, “My goals for this season are to maintain good grades, get back in shape and stay involved.” He has been out for track for two years.

Vavroch’s goal is to make it to state, and it is his fourth consecutive year.

This year is Armstrong’s first year out for track. His goal is to have fun.

Coach VanVeen said, ”I am looking forward to seeing how much our returning athletes have improved from one year to the next. We have some very solid kids coming back from last year. We’ll need them to make that jump for us to compete in the conference. We also have some promising newcomers that need to make an impact.”

The boys kicked off their season with an invitational indoor meet on Tuesday, March 13 at Iowa State University.

Four advance to All-State

by Natalie Kirton

On Saturday, March 10, 14 students had the opportunity to perform in front of three judges while at the State Speech & Drama competition in Clinton, a two-hour drive from Montezuma. Some students chose to leave the night before competition and stay in a hotel. Others woke early in the morning and rode in a group to the school. 

Students whose performance received an over-all I rating were Luke Goodman, Cassie Corbin, Alyssa Lyddon, Aly James, Mariah Hirsch, Shena Bryan, Clara Johnson, Karah Hansen and Abbi Nelson. Macy Taylor and Destiny Romberg received over-all I ratings in two categories. 

Zach Gibson and Niall Lyons received II ratings, while Seth Fahlenkamp received II ratings in two categories. 

“We had an awesome season and everyone worked really hard! Liesl Roorda and Derek Bates deserve a huge thanks for all the time they spent getting us to where we are now,” said Hirsch. 

Four of these students received the honor of moving on and performing at the All-State program, hosted in Cedar Falls at the University of Northern Iowa. These students are Hirsch in Storytelling, Taylor in Literary Program, Goodman in Prose and Johnson in Storytelling. They will be performing their pieces on Monday, March 26, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Math department welcomes student teacher

Cory Sheeley will be student teaching with the high school math department for the duration of the school year.

by Natalie Kirton

Montezuma High School has recently welcomed a new face into its math department. Cory Sheeley, a student at William Penn University, is working under Alison Pargeon and Stacy Schultz as a student teacher in order to finish his schooling. 

Sheeley graduated from Oskaloosa Senior High School in 2006 before moving on to get his teaching degree at William Penn University. 

“I chose to become a teacher because I wasn’t successful in high school and graduated 163 of 168. I want to get kids like me, who do not care as much about school, interested in math and science. Engineering, Computer Science, and Biology are all in high demand,” said Sheeley. 

Before student teaching at Montezuma, Sheeley taught ninth grade Physical Science and  10th through 12th grade Physics at Oskaloosa Senior High School. Through these experiences, Sheeley has learned a lot about classroom management as well as the keys to having an effective and productive learning environment. 

“Students learn in different ways, and I am starting to pick up on various strategies,” said Sheeley. 

During his free time, Sheeley likes to play golf. 

“I am an avid golfer and play about 250 to 300 rounds a year. I also play in recreational leagues such as slow-pitch softball, basketball, dodgeball and flag football. I play a lot of ping-pong and ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’ as well. I am extremely competitive and will compete at anything,” said Sheeley. 

He also enjoys hanging out with his friends, as well as watching movies and shopping with his fiancé.

A fact that his students do not know about him is that he has never had a sip of alcohol in his life. He and his best friend both took a vow never to drink. 

Sheeley’s future plans include graduating from William Penn University, getting married in the summer, hopefully getting a teaching position around Oskaloosa and eventually starting a family.

Teacher Talk: Scott Stanton

by Bridgette Moore and Kayla Werner

After Scott Stanton graduated  from Monmouth College, he toured 48 states and Canada with his rock band, Kalico. They toured for five years before Stanton went into teaching music. 

Stanton first taught at the Yorkwood Community School District in Monmouth, IL. He was the choir director there for four years. 

He then moved to Price, UT  to work as the Director of Instrumental Music at Carbon County School District for seven years. 

While in Utah, he also had a job at the College of Eastern Utah as a music department chair for seven years. Stanton’s final teaching position before entering Iowa was Head of the Instrumental Music Department at Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA for three years.

He taught at two schools in Iowa before his position in Montezuma. In Oskaloosa, he taught at William Penn University as the Director of Fine Arts for three years. He spent five years as the Center Director and Administrator at Buena Vista University in Newton, IA. 

He started working with C. L. Barnhouse Music Publisher in 2000 to publish the pieces he has composed and continues to work with them today. The earliest piece of music that he remembers composing, called Tijuana Tears, was in eighth grade.

This marks the fourth year of Stanton’s teaching career at Montezuma Schools. While he was still an administrator at Buena Vista, he received a call from the principle at the time, asking if Stanton wanted to get back into teaching. 

In his free time, Stanton likes to play golf and play with his current band, ProMusica, on the weekends. 

His best experience is seeing the growth over the four years from where it was and now winning the Jazz Band Festival class 1A.

Academic fair takes place March 20

by Morgan Sanders

On Tuesday, March 20, the academic fair will be taking place in the high school gym from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  

The academic fair is a fair in which every student in the junior high and high school is required to participate. Each student must have a project that focuses on two subject areas of study and have a project board to display their project and what they have learned. They will then write a reflection paper on their projects.

Students presented to judges on March 13 and 14 to determine whether they gain a white participation ribbon, a red ribbon or a blue ribbon. 

Students will be judged over their board organization, readability and creativity, the introduction, main idea and conclusion, if they had two disciplines and how enthusiastic about their content, eye contact and voice while presenting. 

During the academic fair from 5:00 p.m. to 7 p.m., the junior class and their parents will be having a potato bar in the cafeteria to raise funds for prom. The event will be free will donation and is open to the public.

Take a stand against hunger

by Vincent Bushong

Every year, 15 million people die from hunger-related causes. One way to help fight world hunger is by participating in the Empty Bowls program put on by the sixth grade SPRINT class. 

The SPRINT students will sell bowls and serve a soup supper for a price of ten dollars per person on March 27. Soups will be donated, and the proceeds will go to hunger fighting organizations to help end food insecurity.  

The Empty Bowls event is to take place from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the school’s multi-purpose room. Last year, the event brought in over $500; this year’s sixth graders set a goal of breaking $600. 

Sixth grade student Vance Bushong said, “Even though our event is small, we can make a difference.”

This project helps the students to see the importance of fighting world hunger and get a sense of what life is like beyond their own lives.

Sixth grade student Breck Goodman said, “You can’t say, ‘I’m not starving, so why should I care?’”

FFA chapter competes at Districts

by Bridgette Moore

On Saturday March 3, the Montezuma FFA was in Muscatine, Iowa, competing in Conduct of Meetings, Individual Sales, Individual Radio Broadcasting and Individual Job Interview. 

The Conduct of Meetings Team was comprised of Vincent Bushong, Clara Johnson, Alex Brenner, Cheyenne Peters, Steve Kopp, Mackenzie James and  Brittany Bender. Jack Little, Noah Sikes and Mikey Lyons were alternates. Kendra Cranston participated in Individual Sales, Nathan Wheeler participated in Individual Radio Broadcasting and Kendra Doty participated in Job Interview. 

The chapter came home with second in Conduct of Meetings, third in Individual Sales and Individual Radio Broadcasting and fourth in Individual Job Interview.

 Conduct of Meetings will move onto the FFA State Convention, held on April 22 in Ames, Iowa. 

Other teams competing at State are Business Management, Market Plan, Ag Communication and Ag Sales.