MONARCH

MESSENGER

Volume 1, Issue 5 May 20, 2013

A GIANT LEAP OF FAITH By Megan Koenigsman

This year, the eighth grade

students at TMP-JH have been

getting ready for Confirmation.

This is a very big step in their

faith lives, and they have been

preparing for it over a year now.

With the help of Father Peter

and Mr. Bill Meagher, the relig-

ion teacher at TMP-JH, the stu-

dents have grown immensely in

their faith. In order to be con-

firmed, the eighth grade class

had to write letters to the

Bishop explaining why they

wanted to be confirmed. They

also had inter-

views to show

their knowledge of

the Catholic faith.

Finally, they had

to complete their service hours.

The students from St. Jo-

seph’s Parish have already been

confirmed, but they are still

helping the other eighth grade

students on their journey to be-

ing confirmed. The eighth

grade class has learned so much

this year, and soon the Catholic

Church will have 44 more

proud, confirmed Catholics!

THOMAS MORE

SOCIETY

By Raegan Billinger

St. Thomas More’s vision, am-

bition, and devotion to God and

his family are the values and mor-

als that TMP and the Thomas

More Society strive to follow.

The society is made of people

from all over the country who are

committed to Catholic education

and willing to give large and

small amounts of money to help

our school. In fact, the Thomas

More Society’s donations helped

get our new junior high school

started.

The Thomas More Society has

gotten gifts and pledges totaling

$3,731,244 for this school over

the last year and a half and has

reached 76% of their five year

goal. It was created to continue

the growth and success of the

Catholic Schools of the Heart-

land Parishes.

It takes $737,000 per year to

keep the junior high running.

The donations from the Thomas

More Society help a lot with

those costs. Without the Thomas

More Society, it would be a lot

harder to keep this school going.

Bryan Weber receives the sacrament of

Confirmation from Bishop Edward J.

Weisenburger at St. Joseph Church. Look-

ing on are his sponsor, Aaron Weber, and

Fr. Barnabas.

Photo by Mitch Weber

JH STUCO GIVES BACK TMP-JH STUCO decided to give back to the Thomas More Society. Below, STUCO President Joe Flax presents Advancement Director Jeff Brull with a check for $250 to show the students’ appreciation and support of the Thomas More Society.

By Taryn Rupp

The first year for the new Thomas More Prep-

Marian Junior High was a huge success. It was

tough at first; but when we all adapted, things

went smoothly. I am even more excited to see

how the second year goes! There will always be

improvements to be made, though.

I had just enough time between classes to get

to my locker, grab the books I needed, and get to

class. It would have been really nice to have a

few extra minutes to use the restroom, get a

drink, or talk with friends.

I liked how we had a chance to get homework

or studying done in our Academy class. How-

ever, it was during the third hour which means

we hadn’t been given all of our assignments yet.

I think we should’ve had it later in the day after

visiting all our classes.

Our band worked together really hard to

sound our best this year. It was tough choosing

music because of the experience difference be-

tween the seventh and eighth grades. Most of the

music was a little more challenging for the sev-

enth graders and almost too easy for some eighth

graders. This is why the bands should be sepa-

rated next year.

At lunch, we should make some kind of

arrangement that allows us to sit next to our

friends. Also, the times should be switched when

each class goes to the lunch room.

Another concern was our lockers. Half-

way through the year, we should switch the bot-

tom and top lockers so everyone gets an equal

opportunity to have books dropped on their

heads. There also needs to be some other place

for us to put backpacks and gym bags, instead of

stacked on the top of all the lockers.

The number of dances and fun nights did-

n’t seem like enough. We worked hard in school

every day, and it was great to have a few nights

to have fun, hang out with our classmates, and

dance.

The last major change should be our

Eighth Grade Night. Even though we won’t be

moving to a different building, it would still be

nice to have a larger celebration for our hard

work and achievements during our junior high

years.

By Mark Loftus

I would sincerely like for anyone who reads this article to read it in Morgan Free-man's voice. We are the first. Many people can't say that. We set the standard for genera-tions to come; and whether they strike too low or utterly shatter this standard, it doesn't matter. We will always have something over them. We started this, we set the goals, we overcame and went beyond; and we will al-ways have this junior high somewhere in our hearts and minds. Together we accomplished many things. We excelled both academically and athleti-cally. I, for one, think that in the future, peo-ple will look at this school and say, "Wow, to think that he/she used to go there." We've done well; now we can do better. Let's get out there and shoot the TMP-JH vision through the roof. Honestly, I think we all can do it.

FIRST CHANGES

NEWSPAPER STAFF Editors Mark Loftus, Taryn Rupp

Section Editors Alison Helget, Clara Lee

Reporters Lizzie Leiker, Madyson Koerner

Alexyss Lambert, Lori Leiker,

Megan Koenigsman, Trevor Pfeifer,

Heather Befort, Alison Schibi

Raegan Billinger, Hayden Lowe,

Jodi Veach, Megan Brin,

Katelyn Zimmerman, Morgan Choitz,

Tucker Roades, Bridget Heimann,

Matthew Moeder,

Circulation Managers Alison Helget, Clara Lee

Sponsor Mrs. Carol Brull

I WON A MAJOR AWARD! MOVING ON There are several awards the

students in the junior high can

win. The major school awards

given out on Awards Night,

May 15, for eighth graders were

the Bishop's Award of Excel-

lence, the Principal’s Award for

Scholarship, and the Service

Citation. The major awards

given to the seventh graders

were the Christian Leadership

Award, the Scholarship Award,

and the Service Award.

The Bishop's Award of Excel-

lence is the highest award given

in the junior high. It is given to

the person voted by the teachers

who shows excellence in all

they do. This award was given

to Megan Koenigsman.

The Principal's Award for

Scholarship, which is given to

the person with the highest

grade average, was won by Jodi

Veach. If the person who re-

ceives the Bishop’s Award of

Excellence has the highest aver-

age, this award goes to the per-

son with the second highest

grade point.

The Service Citation is given

to the student who has done the

most terms of service for TMP.

This was awarded to Kendra

Werth.

The KSHSAA Award is given

to two eighth graders who dis-

play a commitment to excellence

in academics and extracurricular

activities. The winners were

Jodi Veach and Joe Flax.

The American Legion Award

is given to an eighth grade boy

and girl who displayed leader-

ship and strong citizenship both

at school and in their commu-

nity. The recipients were

Bridget Heimann and Tucker

Rhoades.

The seventh grade school

awards are similar to the those

given to eighth grade. The

Christian Leadership Award

went to Hope Aufdemberge.

This award is given to the stu-

dent who has shown excellence

in everything he or she does.

The Scholarship Award is

given to the seventh grader who

has the highest grade average

and was awarded to Anna Speno.

The Service Award goes to the

student who has done the most

items of service for TMP and

was given to Elly Lang.

By Meagan Brin

Saturday, May 18th, was a

very special night for the eighth

graders. There was a beautiful

Mass that took place in the

Chapel. All the eighth graders

gave their parents roses and

special letters thanking them for

everything they’ve done.

Following the Mass, the stu-

dents walked over to the Can-

teen for a dance. The theme

was “Hollywood Night.” The

parents did an amazing job

decorating for the dance.

There was a slideshow that

was shown with baby pictures

and recent pictures. Also, there

was a photo booth where every-

one could take crazy pictures.

It was a very exciting night

for the eighth graders to see

how much they’ve grown as a

class and a little sad because

they will be moving on.

They’ve been with each other

through it all but are ready for

the next part of their journey

through high school.

By Lizzie Leiker

Recently, Mr. Dewitt brought

some sad news to the students

of TMP; he is moving. Dewitt

was offered a job in Lawrence.

“It’s really sad that he has to

leave us; but at the same time,

it is really thoughtful of him to

do what he thought was best

for his family. We know he

FAREWELL he is leaving us with a heavy

heart,.” said Gabby Chittenden

(8).

He has done many won-

derful things during his four

years here including starting up

the junior high and making us

feel at home. Needless to say,

he will be missed by all the stu-

dents at TMP.

The TMP-JH competed in

League Math Relays on April

22 in Dodge City. This was a

way to test the student’s math

skills and comprehension. Both

7th and 8th grade teams won first

place.

“I thought Math Relays were

a fun and exciting experience to

compete in,” commented Au-

tumn Hohmann.

Members of the 7th grade team

were Anna Gottschalk (2nd in

Geometry), Gracie Schmidt (5th

in Geometry), Hope Aufdem-

berge (4th in Numeration and

Geometry), Anna Speno (5th in

Numeration and 5th/6th in Alge-

bra), Ciara Seib ( 3rd in Algebra

and 4thin Data Analysis), Haley

Aufdemberge ( 6th in Data

Analysis), Elly Lang ( 5th/6th in

Algebra), and Tabitha Brandel

( 1st in Data Analysis and 3rd in

Geometry). The alternate for

this team was Ashlyn Pfeifer.

On the 8th grade team was Al-

ison Helget (2nd in Numeration

and 3rd in Data Analysis),

Megan Koenigsman ( 1st in Al-

gebra and Data Analysis), Alex-

yss Lambert (1st in Geometry

and 2nd in Data Analysis), Jodi

Veach (2nd in Algebra and Ge-

ometry), Autumn Hohmann (4th

in Data Analysis), Valeria

Chavez, Clara Lee, and Heather

Befort. The alternate for this

team was Madyson Koerner.

MAKING A

MARK IN

MUSIC By Madyson Koerner

Overall, this year has been a

learning experience for everyone.

The students and faculty have

worked together to make this

school year a success. We have

all learned to work as a team and

make this junior high run as

smoothly as possible. “It wasn’t

easy, but we had to figure out

how to make it work,” said Car-

men Brull (8)

Sky high standards have been

set in academics and athletics.

On the academic side, the Schol-

ars’ Bowl Team and Math Relays

both won first place at the MCAA

League tournaments. The athletic

teams also had a great year win-

ning three league titles.

“The students performed well

and grew academically this year.

Athletically, I saw so much po-

tential for TMP’s future, and I am

excited to see their talent pro-

gress,” said Melissa Schoepf, jun-

ior high math teacher and girl’s

head basketball coach.

The bar has been set high, but

with God in our school we can

achieve excellence every year.

by Bridget Heimann

On Wednesday, May 8th,

the junior high band performed

their pieces at the TMP Spring

Concert. They played “Valley

Forge”, “Abington Ridge”,

“The Incredibles”, and “Pirates

of the Caribbean”. The band

students liked all of the songs,

but the favorites were “The In-

credibles” and “Pirates of the

Caribbean.”.

“We played the best we possi-

bly could have played,” said

Mrs. Amrein, “I couldn’t have

asked for more.”

Another concert that had been

very much anticipated was the

TMP Spring Choir Concert. It

was held on Thursday, May

16th. The JH choir, Cantus Veri-

tas, performed pieces including

“Praise the Lord” and “Africa”.

“This year has been fantastic,”

said Mr. Brandel, ”I have never

enjoyed working with a group

of people this much in my entire

life.”

. By Katelyn Zimmerman

Since the whole junior high

raised tons of money for Pennies

for Patients, we got to have a

pizza party and another dodge

ball tournament. Each class got

delicious cheese pizza and pop

for lunch.

“The pizza made everything

about that day better,” said Kayla

Vitztum (7).

ON YOUR MARKS,

GET SET,

THINK!

GOING OUT

WITH A BANG!!!

THE PERFECT COMBINATION

At 1 o’clock, we went to the

Field House to play some fun

games of dodge ball in the gym.

“I thought that it was awe-

some to have another dodge ball

tournament because we got out

of school,” said Gracie Wasinger

(8).

The lucky winning team was

Team Number 2.

HAVE A GREAT

SUMMER

BREAK!!!!

SPEAKER ON

COMMUNICATION

SKILLS

TALENTED TEACHER Ever since Mrs. Brull can re-

member, she has always wanted

to be a teacher. “I love it. I en-

joy seeing the kids learning. I

love to see them finally under-

stand something,” mentioned

Mrs. Brull. She has been teach-

ing for about 37 years and has

taught everything from K-8.

“I might be the only teacher

who has taught at all three

Catholic schools in Ellis

County,” exclaimed Mrs. Brull.

She also taught at Kennedy,

Holy Family, and St. Mary’s in

Ellis.

Mrs. Brull does a lot for our

school. She sponsors STUCO,

Scholars’ Bowl, newspaper, and

yearbook. Mrs. Brull has ac-

complished a lot through teach-

ing.

By Hayden Lowe

TMP-JH was very fortunate to

have a young, talented speaker,

Meg Hunter-Kilmer, come and talk

about communication skills be-

tween boys and girls. This is an

important skill.

She also lectured on dating. She

stated that, “Dating is complicated.

The purpose of dating is to find

your future spouse, and the pur-

pose of marriage is to get your

spouse to Heaven. God has put you

with certain people to help you

become better in your faith and to

get to heaven. He has made all of

us to become saints, with Him, for-

ever and always.”

By Lori Leiker

Mrs. Brull was born on Octo-

ber 30, 1947. She is an only

child in her family. As a child,

she attended a country school

which had grades 1-8 in one

room. She was the only one in

her grade for seven years.

Mrs. Brull is happily married

to Mr. Brull who is a science

teacher at the TMP Senior High.

Together they have three sons.

One of them is the Advance-

ment Director at TMP and an-

other is filling in as a teacher

this year. Mrs. Brull has six

grandchildren. All of them ei-

ther attend TMP, Holy Family,

or are too young for school.

This year there is a total of five

Brulls from the same family in

our school.

SERVICE DAY AT TMP

families who need help with

medical expenses. Kayla Vitz-

tum (7) raised the most money,

and Tucker Rhoades (8) com-

pleted the most laps finishing

with a total of 35.

While the Walk-a-thon was

going on, the second group of

students spread spread across

campus to do various chores

both inside and outside the

buildings. Their jobs included

cleaning the grounds and help-

ing set up for ACE.

As the day ended, the stu-

dents were gathered in the

cafeteria one last time, given

refreshments, and dismissed.

by Trevor Pfeifer

On April 21, the TMP-JH had

its service day. It consisted of

tons of activities and a few dis-

cussions.

The day started with a docu-

mentary about bullying. After-

wards, Mrs. Clark talked about

how serious bullying is.

Lunch was prepared by the in-

ternational students attending

TMP and consisted of foods

from countries all over the

world.

Shortly after lunch, everyone

was split into two groups accord-

ing to what they would be doing

for the day. One group was sent

to participate in the Walk-a-thon

which raised money for TMP

GETTING TO KNOW

A TEACHER

By Tucker Rhoades

Mr. Balthazor is our TMP-JH

science teacher. He was born in

1951 and has been teaching for 35

years.

“The year went great consider-

ing it was the first year,” said Mr.

Balthazor. He likes science be-

cause it’s creative and you can do

many different things. He likes

teaching because he can do some-

thing different each year and he

can watch the kids learn and grow

over the year. Mr. Balthazor has

done various projects this year in-

cluding starting Science Olympiad.

During his free time, he likes

boating at the lake and spending

time with his grand kids.

BREAKFAST OF

CHAMPIONS

7th GRADE TRACK

AND FIELD

By Jodi Veach

The Breakfast of Champions

took place on April 15, 2013.

Junior high students who were

on the Bishop’s Honor Roll for

the 3rd quarter were invited to

enjoy juice and a cinnamon roll

during class time. There were 51

junior jigh students who met this

requirement.

The “Breakfast of Champions”

was provided by the Hays Ki-

wanis Club. “I like this program

because I want to give back and

encourage students to get good

grades. I think it’s very impor-

tant and students should be re-

warded,” stated Derrick Buss-

man, president of Kiwanis Club.

. by Heather Befort

The 7th grade track team had

great success this year. The

girls have been undefeated and

took first at the MCAA League

meet. The boys, although not

quite undefeated, also did ex-

tremely well. They took 2nd at

the MCAA League meet.

“The best thing about track

was hanging out with friends at

practice,” Gracie Schmidt (7)

commented.

“The worst thing about track

was getting yelled at by the

coaches,” said Hope Aufdem-

berge (7).

By Alison Schibi

As the school year winds

down to an end, the eighth grad-

ers have managed to compete in

one last sport as junior high stu-

dents. A lot of hard work was

put into the track and field sea-

son from practices to successful

track meets.

The athletes used their talents

and abilities from God to gain

many points at track meets, and

they set a foundation for future

track success at TMP Junior

High.

Gabrielle Chittenden (8)

stated that her favorite track ex-

periences this year were the

practices, coaches, and placing

at meets.

The 8th grade girls took first at

the MCAA league meet in El-

linwood, while the boys took

third. The athletes took pride in

all of their accomplishments

this year and so did their

coaches.

8TH GRADE TRACK

AND FIELD

At the Hays Invita-

tional Track Meet,

Gavin Schumacher (7)

(left) soars in the long

jump while at right

Ashtyn Toepher,

Hailey Jensen, and

Brianna Romme (7)

clear the hurdles

JH READING

FIENDS

During the 2012-

2013 school year, the

junior high students

at TMP read a total

of

143,771 pages

outside their text-

books.

WAY TO GO!!!!!