Student makes robot in Industrial Technology

Above: Benjamin Ostrem, a freshman, demonstrates how the robot he made in Industrial Technology works.

Below: The robot was made of syringes, PVC pipes, wood, and rubber bands, which created an arm that could pick up items when the syringes were manipulated.

by Elizabeth Ostrem

This semester, the Industrial Technology class was given the tough task of building functioning “robots.” The students worked in pairs from early March until April 13, designing and constructing their mechanical instruments.

 Due to the difficult nature of the assignment, only one student, freshman Benjamin Ostrem, finished on time.

Ostrem’s robot was made largely with PVC pipes, syringes, wood, rubber bands and even a bullet shell casing for a wrist joint. The machine is capable of picking up and depositing small objects by manipulating the water pressure in the pipes. 

Syringes mounted onto a manifold serve as a control panel for the device. By pushing or pulling the syringes, one can adjust the robot’s direction, height and grip. 

Food coloring added into the water helps to identify which syringe hooks up to which pipe. Each syringe operates a different part of the robot.

Ostrem said, “I learned a lot about hydraulics and mechanical advantage from doing this project, and I had fun building it. I think my favorite part of making it was cutting out wooden gears using a band saw with my dad.”

The arm of the robot rotates on a platform situated on top of a gear. The shoulder and elbow joints allow it to move up and down. The claw can grip and pick up objects while the wrist allows the claw to rotate.

Ostrem said the most difficult part of the project was constructing the claw because he had to carve out the pieces using both electric and manual saws. Part of the difficulty was also in finding suitable materials. The gears had to be carved out of wood, and the bullet shell casing for the wrist joint had to fit precisely inside of one of the pipes.

When the robot was finally finished, Ostrem took it for a test and found the results to be “excellent” despite his misgivings.

“Surprisingly, it operated very smoothly the first time after hooking up all the hoses,” he said. “Usually you end up fixing a bunch of problems before it works correctly, but it performed perfectly from the start.”

Industrial Technology teacher Dwain McClure said of Ostrem’s project, “It’s exceptional. It employed all the principles we were working on.”

Following this project, students in the Industrial Technology class will finish the school year by building picture frames, and then will continue on to sheet metal tool boxes, both of which they will be allowed to keep.

Students rewarded with open campus

by Kayla Werner

Freshman through juniors were allowed to go off campus for lunch as a reward for raising their scores on the ITED and ITBS tests this year. 

The open-campus lunch was an incentive for students while taking the Iowa Assessment tests. If a student showed growth in math, reading and science, then the student earned the privilege of open campus lunches. 

These three tests were used because they are the tests that the school reports out to the state.

Principal Brian Moretz said, “The juniors handled this privilege quite well this week, and I can foresee this continuing in the future for our students.”

They each get a maximum of three days to use their free pass to go off campus from 12:15 to 1:05 p.m. 

A total of 36 juniors earned at least one open-campus lunch. Only  one student lost their remaining opportunities  for open campus lunch due to being late for class .

Juniors had to use their open lunches during the week of April 17 to April 20. Sophomores have theirs the week of April 23 to April 27 and freshman have their week from April 30 to May 4. Students do not have to use their open lunch times if they don’t want to, but they cannot be carried over to following weeks.

Cassie Corbin, a junior, said, “The open lunches are a great way to prepare us for college.”

JH girls' track takes first at Early Bird Relays

Eighth grader Cassidy Ely  runs in the 4x800 meter relay during the Early Bird Relays on April 12. The team received third place.

by Elizabeth Ostrem

The junior high girls’ and boys’ track teams took first and second place last Thursday, April 12, at the Early Bird Relays in Montezuma. Five other schools participated in the home meet this year: Belle Plaine, Iowa Valley, Keota, Lynnville-Sully and North Mahaska.

For the girls’ team, Kate Maschmann swept first place in three separate events: the 100M dash with a time of 13.23 seconds, in addition to both the 200M hurdles with a time of 30.59, and the long jump with a jump of 14’1”.

In relays, the 4x100M teams took first and second place, with times of 59.68 and 1:06.17 respectively. The girls’ 4x200M team, 4x800M team and 1600 distance medley team all took third place, with times of 2:18.81, 12:55.24 and 6:35.24 respectively.

In individual events, Aly Fahlenkamp finished in third place for the 200M dash with a time of 32.55, and Aliya Pargeon and Lauren Slings placed second and third in the 1500M run, with times of 6:20.57 and 6:48.74 minutes respectively. Alisha Arendt placed third in the high jump with a jump of 4’2¾“.

The final team standings for the girls were: Montezuma with 119 points, Lynnville-Sully with 117 points, Iowa Valley with 117 points. North Mahaska with 92 points. Belle Plaine with 87 points and Keota with 12 points. Lynnville-Sully and Iowa Valley tied for second place with 117 points each, leaving North Mahaska, Belle Plaine and Keota to take  fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

For the boys’ team, Bobby McCulley took first in both the 100M and 200M dash, with times of 13.25 and 26.49 seconds. Skyler Romberg placed second in the 400M dash with a time of 1:02.68, and Kaleb Kriegel won the 800M run with a time of 2:26.42 minutes.

In field events, Dominque Ward took second in discus with a throw of 102’1”, and Logan Price placed second in high jump with a jump of 5’0”. Carson Losure and Romberg took third and second in long jump, with jumps of 15’1” and 15’1½“ respectively.

For relays, the boys’ team placed first in the 4x100M with a time of 52.89. The team also took first in the 4x200M relay with a time of 1:48.51, the 4x400M relay with a time of 4:25.23, and in the 400M shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 1:15.51.

The final team standings for the boys were: Lynnville-Sully, taking first with 148 points; Montezuma, taking second with 140 points; Belle Plaine, taking third with 89.75 points; North Mahaska, taking fourth with 81.75 points; Iowa Valley, taking fifth with 53.75 points; and Keota, taking sixth with 42.75 points.

Coach David Brondyke said of the boys’ team, “We had a great showing from our 7th and 8th grade team. I am very proud of all of our athletes and their hard work.”

High school band plans trip to Florida

by Elizabeth Ostrem and Kayla Werner

Every four years, the high school band takes a trip beyond the boundaries of Montezuma to share their talents.  They will go to Florida this year.  

In the past they have gone to Florida, Canada and other places around and outside of the country. On the last trip they went to Orlando, Florida, with the school’s color guard team.

Although they have not always performed on past trips, they will play at Disney World this year. They will be performing “Swing Machine,” “Birdland,” “Friday Night Football,” “Deja Blues,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday in the Park,” “Abaco” and “Viva La Vida.”

Senior flutist Natalie Wheeler said, “I am so excited for the Orlando trip. Our band has been working hard for the past year getting ready for the show. We have really come a long way.”

The trip will be from June 1 through the 6. There is going to be 28 people total on the trip: 22 students, five chaperones and director Scott Stanton. The band will travel by charter bus to and from Orlando.

Kaylene Corbin, a freshman saxophonist, said, “I’m excited for the trip to Florida. I can’t wait to be with my fellow band mates at Disney World riding rides and riding in a charter bus.”

There will be a going-away concert open to the public on May 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the high school. The band will be performing their concert material for Disney as a send-off to friends, family and other members of the community.

Class of 2011 reflects on life after high school

by Andrea Farrington and Morgan Sanders

Part one of a series

Last year Montezuma sent 29 students out into the “real world.” Some had plans of going to college, others military and some straight into the workforce. Now four students weigh in on what it was really like to leave the halls of Montezuma. 

Alexa Wheaton

Alexa Wheaton planned to attend Central College to get a four-year degree double majoring in elementary education and special education with an endorsement in math and reading. 

She currently is going through with her original plans and is also working at Madison Elementary School assisting a kindergarten teacher and loves it. 

Her advice to the class of 2012 is, “Go out and experience everything; it really doesn’t matter what your degree says on your diploma. It matters more about what you get out of that course, what you are involved in and who you meet along the way.”

Hope Kriegel

Hope Kriegel planned to go to a small school and play volleyball. 

She is now at University of Northern Iowa because she quickly realized how much it was going to cost and UNI offered the most financial aid. She also has changed her major from social work to elementary education. 

Kriegel found that the biggest change from high school to college was being on her own and not having a set schedule all the time. 

Kriegel says, “My advice is to go out and live, make your mark and don’t take no for an answer. There is so much out there and there is so many opportunities waiting for you.”

Calli Zimmerman 

Calli Zimmerman planned on going to Iowa State University and majoring in agriculture business or economics.

She has followed through in attending Iowa State University and has also added a secondary agribusiness major.

After going to college, she realized how much you really need to study. Zimmerman advises that you should get ready because it is tons of fun but you need to focus on your grades. 

Elizabeth Jones

Elizabeth Jones planned on going to Des Moines Area Community College and getting her psychology degree.

She is now attending DMACC for nursing and taking care of her daughter when not at school. 

Jones’s advice is, “Don’t slack off in college because if you do you are just wasting your time and money.” 

Watch for more responses from the class of 2011  in our next edition as the series continues.

School forced to start later for years to come?

by Andrea Farrington

In the state of Iowa, the tourism industry is trying to make it so that schools in Iowa are not able to start school earlier than the last Monday in Aug. because schools have been starting earlier in Aug. and it has been a problem for families going to the state fair.  

The bill has recently passed the state House and has moved on to the Senate for voting. 

Currently the law requires schools to start on Sept. 1, but schools have the opportunity to get a state waiver if they would like to start early and most often receive permission.  

The new law would still allow schools to pay a $100 waiver fee, but the earliest they could start is the last Monday in Aug.  Last year. some schools were starting as early as Aug. 15.

I personally think it is a great idea for the state of Iowa to make it so no school can interrupt the state fair. I understand that a student’s education is very important, but at the same time the Iowa State Fair is just as important to lots of families who participate in events. FFA members in the fair are likely to win scholarships that will be going to further their education. 

Starting later this fall does raise the possibility that we will be going further into the summer. Other schools have gone until the end of June, and they were fine. I know I have always been upset about having to leave the fair to go school, therefore I completely agree with this bill.

Kindergarten roundup meetings to be held April 11

by Natalie Kirton

Children  gain the basics of understanding colors, letters and numbers through preschool and kindergarten. The things they learn at this early age become the building blocks of their future education. 

There will be a parents’ meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wed. April 11 regarding kindergarten roundup held in the elementary library. Parents must bring updated immunization records and birth certificates to the meeting. Also, children must be at least five years old by Sept. 15, 2012 to be enrolled in kindergarten next year.

The actual kindergarten roundup event will be held on Monday, April 16. Current preschool students should report to the preschool room as usual, but afterwards will be sent to the library. There will be two roundup sessions: one for the morning preschool class and another for the afternoon class. 

A parents’ meeting for preschool registration will be on Wed. May 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the elementary library. Parents must bring their child’s birth certificate, social security number and immunization records. 

Children must be four years old by Sept. 15 to be enrolled in preschool. Parents of children who are nearing preschool age can contact the elementary office at 623-5129 for more information.

A review of 'The Hunger Games'

by Heaven Lorenz

“The Hunger Games” opened in theaters March 23. It made over $153 million just from its opening weekend, and that number is still growing. We, freshman of Montezuma, read the book as a class just weeks before the date above.

The story is about what was left of America after it haa fallen. When the districts tried to rise against the Capitol, who controls them, they lost. As punishment and to show their control, the Capitol forces the twelve districts to give up two children from the ages of twelve to eighteen to fight in an arena to the death. 

After talking to some of the students who went to see the movie, I’ve come up with a simple understanding of how well we all liked it. 

Some read the book and compared the two together constantly.  These people could see major differences in the movie, and many were disappointed. Suzanne Collins herself wrote the movie’s screenplay, so I don’t have much room to complain, but it seems that some of those alterations still linger in the mind. 

Then there are the ones who looked at the movie and the book as two completely different items who enjoyed seeing it.

There were some bright moments in the film. Even I will admit that Jennifer Lawrence’s performance as Katniss was completely breathtaking. She was able to take the script that was written so differently from the book and still pull the same emotions from it that was given as you read.

 Since the book was written from Katniss’s point of view, we didn’t get to see anything she didn’t. We will never fully know what really happens in the book outside of Katniss’ view point, but in the movie it shows them setting up the arena over an impressive computer that is controlled by many people. 

The climax of the book is when the mutations are set loose. In the movie, this is the one part that does not disappoint. The wolves aren’t anything like what they are in the book, but they still are really impressive. They were created to strike fear and they were successful. 

The movie somewhat follows the book, but given the fact that they let Peeta have both his legs, the fact that Haymitch was missing from the Reaping, the mayor’s family being cut out completely and that Cato never was at the feast trying to bring Clove back from the dead still clings to my brain and bugs me. A lot. 

Even though there are alterations, I know I’m going to watch the sequel when it premieres. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not for the movie but for the books.