Sterling Cub Reporter: December 2014

www.sterlingcubreporter.com December 2014 • Sterling Cub Reporter • 1

Scholar’s bowl gets underway

Pg. 3

Timmy the Superfan

Pg. 6

Basketball tips off

Pg. 13

DECEMBER 2014

Volume 1 • Issue 3 www.sterlingcubreporter.com

2 • Sterling Cub Reporter • December 2014 www.sterlingcubreporter.com

The Sterling High School Cub Reporter and all subsidiary publications are designated forums of free speech. The print edition is published October through May of each school year by the journalism class at Sterling High School. It is dis-tributed for no charge throughout Unified School District 376 buildings and the Sterling community. The first copy is free. Subsequent copies will cost $1 per copy. For infor-mation about being added to the subscription list, contact Todd Vogts at 620-278-2171. Letters to the editor are wel-come. Email them to [email protected]. All letters must be signed. Anonymous letters will not be printed. All letters subject to editing for legal, grammati-cal and factual reasons.

ADVISERTodd Vogts

STAFFAlex Veliz

Caleb HendricksDallas LackeyJanyssa Phillips

Kasady SmithKylah Comley

Lindsay GilmoreTaryn Gillespie

Sterling HigH ScHoolCUB REPORTER& www.sterlingstudentpublications.com

308 E. Washington, Sterling, KS 67579Phone: 620-278-2171 • Fax: 620-278-3237

OPINIONS

ADVERTISING SALESTodd Vogts’ Marketing Class

About the Cover Photo: Huckleberry Finn, played by senior Brian Walker, wipes makeup off of the runaway slave Jim, played by senior Solomon Dold, during an emotional moment of the musical. “That is the point where I kind of start to think of Jim as a real person,” Walker said. (Photo by Kasady Smith)

Voters should look beyond party lines As I sat watching the election coverage,

I witnessed our polling system being-proved wrong not only in the great state of Kansas, but all over the country, as the GOP (Grand Old Party) was able to obtain seven seats in the Senate and hold the majority for the next two years.

In the 2014 Midterm Election, the Democratic platform of the “War on Women” was not enough to defeat the Re-publicans platform to repeal Obamacare, and money proved to trump ideas or poli-cies in several races.

With the defeat, Democrats have already begun talking about who will run against Hillary Clinton — throwing out names such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul — and how the Democratic Party can make bounds moving forward in hopes of keeping power in office once the highly anticipated 2016 election rolls around.

As the final results came in, I, like may others, wondered what this meant for us going forward. If you ask Fox News, you’d hear that the Winds of Change are blowing across the country, that a GOP powered congress is what we’ve needed to get things rolling again, and that this election is a fore-shadowing for the next election in ‘16. You’d hear Rand Paul verbally attacking Hilary Clinton in response to a question that had nothig to do with her.

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan also spoke about the American people are finally realizing President Obama’s “incompetence”, which is why the GOP was able to pick up those seven Senate seats. However, this isn’t the first time

this has happened.The fact is, by the sixth year of a two-

term president’s tenure, the party out of power almost always makes very strong gains (the Democrats picked up eight seats at George W, Bush’s six-year mark, eight during Ronald Reagen’s, and 13 during Dwight Eisenhower’s).

With the Republicans obtaining the power in Congress, there is of course the initial optimism surrounding what’s to come on Capitol Hill. That will likely disintegrate once session actually begins. If you’re expecting the gridlock to be broken and for actual progress to occur, well, I’m sorry for your soon-to-be disappointment.

Instead of nothing being accomplished in Congress, nothing will be accomplished

between Congress and the President. It seems to be a never ending cycle that we as a country have not been able to figure out how to break. The problem itself is clear. We don’t vote for people. We vote for parties.

In red states like Kansas, we don’t care who the person is, but, by golly, if they have an (R) next to their name, then that’s all that matters. As people, we always try to pass the blame to someone else, and it’s not different in politics.

The gridlock doesn’t start in D.C. It starts with the voters. Whether we admit it or not, we are just as stubborn

as the officials we elect. The reason the elected officials in Washington can’t get anything done is because we put them there for irrelevant reasons. Not because of who they are, or what they can do, but because of the letter next to their name.

CALEB HENDRICKS


NEWS

For the Sterling High School popu-lation it can be hard to wake up on Wednesday, but for some it is a normal part of the weekly routine for scholars bowl practice.

“Waking up early on Wednesday is difficult, because if it is one thing I don’t do it’s waking up early,” senior Solomon Dold senior said.

For Dold the biggest thing of schol-ars bowl that he takes away from the group is playing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses on the team.

“There are people with different areas of expertise, but the biggest thing to realize is that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and scholars bowl is just a melding of all of our people,” Dold said.

The scholars bowl team thinks of these experiences as a non-stressful environment.

“We just get to laugh at each other and have fun,” freshman Katie Comley said.

Despite the all the joking around during practice the other senior mem-ber of the team believes they do fine.

“We don’t take it nearly as seriously, and as a result we have lost to a 5A or

6A school but routinely beat schools our size and destroy people,” senior Henry Weiner said.

Some students on the team think that scholars bowl is great to help broaden learning new things.

“You learn a bunch of stuff, like math, science, history, and language. It helps with intelligence,” sophomore Max Fulbright said.

One student thinks that the season is going well so far.

“I think we have a lot of chance this year,” junior Brayden Hossman said. “I think that every practice we are alway improving ourselves, but there is always room for improvement.”

Even though there has been a lack of tournaments to help the team, there is still a lot of progress individually.

“I have only gone to one tourna-ment, and the questions get more difficult as you advance, but I think we have been doing pretty well,” freshman Alley Rowland said. “It does help me think on my feet more and to help me respond quicker to questions.”

For a freshman on the team, dif-ferences are seen from junior high scholars bowl.

“For freshman it might seem dif-ficult because we haven’t taken more of the advanced courses,” Rowland said. “The pace is slower, and there are less rounds to do. And the questions are easier from junior high.”

A general goal for the team is to make it back to state.

“We went to state my freshman year, and it would be cool if we could go back again. But at this point it is just a dream,” junior Jessica Thorpe said.

The red team tries to answer a question during scholars bowl practice (Photo by Alex Veliz)

Scholars bowl season gets underwayALEX VELIZCub Reporter


NEWS

Veterans Day is nationally celebrated to thank those who have previously fought for our country, dead or alive. While we honor those men and women there are high school stu-dents preparing to become veterans just the same.

At Sterling High School there has been talk of some of the students looking into going into the millitary, includ-ing junior Kaci Wilson. Wilson is toying with the idea of becoming a officer in the Airforce.

“My grandpa went into the navy and my great grandpa was in the army,” Wilson said. “It would be a great way to help me become a doctor.”

Being a junior Wilson has just one more year of high school before she would make the commitment to the academy.

“It’s honestly been something I have been thinking about since I was 10. Being a pilot appealed to me a lot as well as being a doctor, and that’s somewhwere I can do both,” Wilson said. “With it being only a year away and it being a 10-year commitment it is kind of scary yet exciting at the same time. It would be good in the way of a schedule, a steady income, and free schooling.”

While Wilson sat in the Veterans Day cerimony at SHS on Nov. 11, they read the names of the veterans they wanted to honor, and she felt many emotions including the thoughts that that could be her.

“During the ceremony I was thinking about it being just a couple years and I could be coming home in uniform to be recognized. That would be just amazing,” Wilson said. “It would be even more moving to go to a Veterans Day assem-bly when I am in that process of becoming a veteran.”

Junior Tristan Vagts is also concitoring a career in the military.

“I plan to go into the Army the summer after my junior year,” Vagts said. “I’m going into ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) so it will start bringing in college funding before I actually need it.”

Vagts got something out of the cerimony as well. “I think this year just being older I relized that Veterans

Day is actually meaningful, It’s not just for the veterans but for everyone.” Vagts said. “I felt like the whole cerimony had an impact on me and pushed my enlist quicker.”

With the plans to enlist Vagts parents have been support-

ive and continue to back his decision.“My parents are 100 percent on board with me enlisting

and they support my plans.” Vagts said. “My enitial plan to go to the army was started by hearing stories from my great granfather who was a machinegunner in the U.S. Army.”

With Vagts joining for family reasons, Wilson’s decision stems more from careful consideration of her options.

“I have done a lot of research on the Airforce Academy and what it offers for women, and what I could do after,” Wilson said. “I don’t know for sure if that’s what I will to do, but I’ve done my research and I will continue to explore my options in this field.”

Tony Renollet carries the American Flag during the retiring of the colors. (Photo by Taryn Gillespie)

Veterans Day Celebrated

TARYN GILLESPIECub Reporter

Honoring the military brings new emotion to the high school students enlisting


Proudly supporting Sterling High School!

At Sterling Junior/Senior High School there are a grand total of three janitors.

Chad Farris, Mike Vogt, and Robert Humphreys are the three people that keep the school running and clean.

When Farris gets here in the afternoon, he starts his duty of cleaning classrooms.

“I have been working here for about seven years. I have always liked it. The kids are pretty much what keeps me here.” Farris said.

Farris, on a day of work, vacuums classrooms and cleans up after lunch. Any other day he works the games, which includes making sure the school is clean and trash is taken out.

Then in the winter Farris does the snow removal.Mike Vogt is the guy who you will see doing most of the

maintenance work.He started here at Sterling for a temporary job and ended

up staying.“I got a job temporarily here. Then I liked it so much. I

liked all the staff. I’ve been here ever since,” Vogt said.Vogt has a split shift, meaning he comes in at 6 a.m.,

then leaves at 10 a.m., then is back at 3 p.m.First thing in the morning, Vogt cleans the locker rooms

and rest rooms.In the afternoon, Vogt cleans the junior high. He leaves

at about 6 p.m.Robert Humphreys is the one of the main guys you will

see doing most of the outside work.Humphreys also drives a bus in the morning and helps

Vogt do some maintenance work.

Chad Farris prepares the bleachers for the junior high basketball games. (Photo by Janyssa Phillips)

Tip-Top FaciliTiesJANYSSA PHILLIPS

Cub Reporter

Custodial staff keeps Sterling High School clean, running


FEATURE

The biggest fan

Timmy Gee waits for the football team to exit the locker room with a sign he made. (Photo by Taryn Gillespie)


One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of spirit is “a special attitude or frame of mind.” In the middle of the Black Bears 0-9 football season, many fans, students, and even football players lost hope for a win. Everyone went to the games just for something to do on a Friday night. Everyone except Timmy Gee. Gee embodied the definition of spirit and made sure to cheer before the game all the way to the very end.

Coming from Lyons, Gee began cheering for the Bears during the 2012 football season.

“Long time ago I used to be at Lyons,” Gee said. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this is my third year a fan.”

Loving the game of football, Gee wanted to ride the bus with the team to the games.

“He showed up one day and asked if he could ride the bus and so I talked to the administration and they said it was alright and that was it,” head football coach, Matt Hendricks, said.

Gee enjoys the bus rides with the boys and coach-es.

“I love it. I love Sterling Black Bears,” Gee said. “I love them coaches.”

Principal, Bill Anderson, noticed that most of the insistance of Gee riding with the boys to the game came from the coaches.

“He supports us all the time so it was something to allow him to get to the games and let him be a part of the team,” assisstant coach, Wes Laudermilk, explained.

Gee is not the only one who gets joy from tagging along with the team.

“He brings a positive attitude and he helps the guys relax a little bit,” Hendricks said. “They enjoy him and his enthusiasm and his excitement. It’s kind of nice to have him go out of his way to support us and it takes kind of the edge off the nerves a little bit, I think.”

Gee, makes a point to make it to every game.

“I never miss no game,” Gee said. Known for yelling his signature phrase, “sack the

quarterback,” Gee also does push-ups for every point earned by the football team. Administrators have noticed the effect he has on the fans.

Students notice his dedication and enthusiasm as well.

“He has the title of number one fan for a reason,” senior, Scott Dellinger, said.

Even through tough losses, Gee is constantly sup-porting the team.

“He’s an interesting character. He is obviously very enthusiastic about our football program, he’s always there whether we win or lose,” athletic director, Monte Ball, said. “He’s always very encourag-ing of the players.”

Players agree.

“He’s my favorite. He’s funny and he sup-ports the team even though we had a bad season,” freshman, Ethan Prof-fitt, said.

Along with the team, Gee wishes the season could have lasted longer.

“I wish we go longer, longer, longer. The whole season,” Gee said.

Gee thought the boys could have had a better sea-son if they get more “fired up.”

“One reason, they need to mind the coaches, and

The biggest fanTimmy Gee shares his love of the Bears through enthusiasm, attitude, and constant support

KASADY SMITHCub Reporter

“He brings a positive attitude and he helps the guys relax a little bit. They enjoy him and his enthusiasm and his excitement.”— Coach, Matt Hendricks


A proud supporter ofUSD 376

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pay attention, and wake up, and get fired up. Turn that good old music on and get fired up,” he said.

Even though the season ended short, Gee continues to cheer for the college football games. At one game, he remembered, “I did 34 push ups for the college. We got the victory!”

With all of Gee’s enthusiasm and dedication, Ander-son has found that Gee teaches the students a lesson about love and giving.

“I think it teaches those kids kind of an uncondi-tional love for somebody,” he said. “We’re not not get-ting anything out of it, but he is. I think sometimes we get so focussed on ourselves and I think that we only think about well ‘what am I getting out of any situa-tion?’”

Anderson has also noticed the benefits Gee receives.“Just in terms of what he gains as from that and

from what our kids see and what our coaches see, as a result from that, it’s really a pretty neat thing,” he said. “I think he gains a lot of purpose in his own life.”

No matter the record or the score, Gee continues to embody the definition of spirit through enthusiasm and dedication.

“Well, Timmy is obviously a pretty just happy-go-lucky guy who really enjoys being around that venue. I think he brings a lot of excitement and joy to what we’re doing,” Anderson said.

Gee does push-ups for the football team at the last football game at Ellsworth. (Photo by Kasady Smith)


Gee takes a moment to lift his hat after a touchdown.

(Photo by Taryn Gillespie)


NEWS

244 South BroadwaySterling, KS 67579Ph: 620-278-2102

1630 Avenue QLyons, KS 67554

620-257-2300

‘Big River’ brings big applause

The Sterling High School theatre program is known all around as one of the best small school programs in the state. Some believe that consistency is key to the success.

“I think that we were very consistent on all three nights. the first one was definitely the roughest but I thought that Solomon and Brian handled it really well. The audience didn’t know that we messed up at all and as it went on it just got better and better. Not the acting nessecarily but the sing-ing got so much better and stronger towards the end of the show,” Junior Kylah Comley said.

The set for “Big River” was a challenge for the cast and crew.

“Some people don’t realize how good out set is and how much time it takes, everything was hand done with crayons. Thats crazy,” Comley said.

Credit to the cast is often rewarded, but some are left out in the conversation.

“I don’t know how many schools have a Betsy Dutton

like we do. My uncle Clark is amazing. Alot of the sound and the solos and duets and stuff are from him and a lot of people don’t know that he contributes to it as much as he does. He has started everyone at Sterling from a young age and I think that makes it so much better,” Comley said.

Even people outside of the Sterling community enjoyed “Big River”.

“Big River was extremely put together in all aspects. The music, sound, and production all went smoothly. The cast’s talent was showcased perfectly,” Meg Clark said.

The comparison between shows from other schools, even bigger ones was realized by many.

“It truly did not seem like a high school production. I also watched Lyons High School’s and Sterling’s was much head and shoulders much better,” Clark said.

All in all, Sterling High School is musical theatre dynasty. With Jester nominations almost every year, everyone knows the SHS name when it comes to musical productions.

LINDSAY GILMORECub Reporter

Cast members surround Brian Walker as Huck Finn during SHS’s production of “Big River”. (Photo by Kasady Smith)

Brain Walker, and Solomon Dold as Jim the Slave, perform a scene in the first act of “Big River.” (Photo by Kasady Smith)


SPORTS

ABOVE: Sophomore Kyler Comley leads his group in defensive stanc-es at the first day of bas-ketball practice. (Photo by Kasady Smith)

RIGHT: Assistant Coach Clark Comley overlooks freshman Dylan Drier’s defensive slide.(Photo by Kasady Smith)


Basketball season has officially begun but for some, the hard work started long ago,

“Workouts always started at 6 a.m. and attendance was always good. We usually had at least 10 to15 guys there every day,” senior Andrew McPherson said.

The coaching staff seems happy with the attendendance during the summer,

“I think a lot of people were at shooting throughout the summer, which is always good to see,” assistant coach Wes Laudermilk said.

The team did their morning routine four days a week, and it seems to put a positive feeling in the players who at-tend,

“I think it really helped my skills and a lot of other people. It also helped us grow as a team I thought,” sopho-more Edward Weiner said.

Throughout the workouts the players worked on their shooting and dribbling,

“We did a lot drills to help specifically in that area,” sophomore Max Fulbright said. “I felt like I had a better un-derstanding of what I could do as a player afterwards as well as what to do with the ball and when and how to shoot it.”

The majority of the basketball team seems to have felt the improvements they made over the summer.

“I think we had one of the hardest working offseasons we have had in a long time,” sophomore Will Dutton said. “I think we all improved a lot.”

The improvement showed during the teams summer league games,

“We had a very successful summer league, and you could really see the improvements we made,” Dutton said. “Our players got better, and we got closer as a team.”

During the summer league, there were six games a week, and it seems the players did not mind playing sometimes up to four games.

“I felt like the amount of summer league games we had a chance to play really helped us get comfortable on the court as a team,” Dutton said.

The summer workouts seem to also be taken as a way to stay in shape throughout the long offseason.

“I think the summer workouts help keep me in shape, so that way I’m not out of shape for the summer league games,” Dutton said.

With only two seniors and only two juniors, the majority of the team is underclassmen, and that seems to create more goals that need to be accomplished,

“That’s what I think is our biggest goal for this year — being the best teammate you can be — due to the lack of upperclassmen,” McPherson said.

With the underclassman having more opportunities, the

team keeps their hopes high for the underclassmen success.“Having more underclassmen just means more guys have

to step up,and play bigger roles on the team,” Laudermilk said.

The Black Bears seems to have set their sights high this season, and hopefully they can accomplish them,

“Obviously the goal is always a state championship,” McPherson said. “If you are playing, that is always the goal, but we will have to see how the season goes.”

Hard Work leads to high hopesDALLAS LACKEY

Cub Reporter

Junior Steven Hinshaw plays defense on sophomore Will Dutton during the first basketball practice. (Photo by Kasady Smith)


FUN & GAMESEvery year the same things happen without fail. Sometimes it is a family tradition, and some-times it is something a little more humorous or embarassing. Don’t be ashamed. Everyone goes through this, so why not have fun with it? The below bingo board includes statements people often make during Christmas time, activities you can do, and some funny accurances. So this year at your Christmas celebrations, take this game with you and see if you can get a bingo!

Jesus is the reason for the season

Drive safe!

Don’t eat the yellow snow!

We’ve had the same fruit cake for 5 straight years

Someone sings Frozen soundtrack

Mom burnt the turkey, we’re havin pizza

Oh…this is so...cool…thank you.

Do I really have to wait to open my

presents?

You and a relative build a

snowman

Feliz Navidad!

2 MORE DAYS TILL

CHRISTMAS!

A younger sibling sets out cookies

and milk for santa

Christmas is not a religious Holiday

anymore

Your family decorates the

Christmas tree

Your family watches

Hallmark

Uncle clark spills mashed potatoes and gravy on his

lap

Snowball fight!

Grandpa falls asleep in the

recliner

Dad falls off the lad-der while hanging up

Christmas lights

You better hope Santa doesn’t give you coal in your

stocking

Happy Holidays!

B I N G OI hope I don’t

get clothes this Christmas

Merry Christmas!

What should I get my girlfriend/

boyfriend for Christmas?


www.jacam.com

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1020 W Main StLyons, KS620-257-5677

Proud supporter of Sterling High School’s

Students, Teachers, Atheletes and Coaches!

Follow us on Twitter & Instagram!

@SterlingCub


ENTERTAINMENTNOTE: Killer Serial Fiction is a part of Sterling Student Publications. It is the home of creative writing by Sterling High School creative writing students. Stories appearing here are works of fiction. Names, characters, places and inci-dents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establish-ments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. These stories are presented for entertainment purposes only and are not intended to be read as being part of Sterling Student Publications news coverage. For more stories, visit www.sterlingstudentpublications.com/fiction.

It was a beautiful day in the greatest nation in the world, The U.S.S.R.

Stalin had been sitting at his desk working on the cure for cancer and western deviance, when Sergei, Stalin’s talking bear minister of war, walked in saying, “Glorious leader, we have reports that the vile Ameri-can President, Harry S. Truman, is building a wall right through the middle of Germany! To try and keep half of Germany under his imperialistic rule!”

Stalin quickly stood from his chair. He stared Sergei deeply and intently in the eyes before nodding his head. He quickly spun in a circle three times trans-forming into — Super Stalin, hero of the people and defender of freedom. He wore a black-spandex suit with the hammer and sickle emblazoned on the front. He then adorned the glorious banner of the union as a cape.

Stalin quickly mounted Sergei’s back. Sergei quickly sprinted out of the Kremlin and onto the road to Ber-lin. Along the way, Stalin had stood upon Sergei’s back with a heroic pose. All citizens that saw him fell to their knees and wept. Some had even had their heads explode from the sheer awesomeness that is Super Stalin. All Western deviants had hidden from his all powerful sight.

Sergei had quickly arrived in Berlin. The sight had enraged Stalin, but you couldn’t tell because his beauti-ful face didn’t allow the smudge of western oppression crease it. The free Soviet side was beautiful birds chirp-ing, color everywhere, and children singing and color-ing on the ugly wall that had the banner of Oppression and Facisim upon it. Atop of the wall was the demon Harry S. Truman himself. His eyes ablaze with fire and was cracking a whip at the poor German people forced to build the wall. Stalin had jumped onto the wall right next to Truman startling him.

“You?! After I’m done with this wall, I won’t stop

until all of your glorious union, with it’s awesome tech-nology, amenities, and freedoms, is oppressed by my western imperialism!” Truman sneered at Stalin.

Stalin had just replied with a hard stare and a wink of his mustache. Sergei yelled, “You monster! Stalin would never let you go through with your plan! He and his magnificent facial hairs will stop you!”

Truman quickly unsheathed a sword black and corrupt. The legendary sword of greed and capitalism. Stalin then pulled out the hammer of freedom and the sickle of liberty. Truman quickly charged Stalin. Stalin side stepped, dodging Truman’s attack and causing him to trip and fall. Enraged Truman let loose a howl, jumping into the air hacking and slashing. Stalin ef-fortlessly countering his blows.

When Truman had wore himself down, Stalin had walked up and barely pushed him with his finger caus-ing Truman to fall off of the wall and burst into flames. Stalin rose his fist into the air and then brought it down hard onto the wall, obliterating it.

Stalin turned to see Sergei, a tear rolling down his face. Sergei whispered, “It’s so beautiful and tragic. I guess they should’ve called him Lieman for all of the lies and corruption he spread.”

Stalin walked over to Sergei and embraced him qui-etly whispering, “Da.”

Sergei then fell to his knees and sobbed. Stalin then stood atop the pile of rubble and placed the flag of the Union on it. Stalin then pulled out an electric guitar and began playing “You Ain’t Nothing But An Ameri-can Pig Dog,” which had been stolen and rewritten by Elvis, every note causing the nearby crowd to stare in sheer awe.

At the stroke of the final note, the crowd’s heads exploded from the beauty and perfection. Stalin lifted his head and let a gentle tear fall from his eyes.

Super StalinBY SKYLER CARDER

Sterling Cub Reporter: December 2014

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