Special First
Day Issue
ECHOES
Issue 1 | Volume 114 August 2014
The Independent Voice of Abraham Lincoln High School | Council Bluffs, Iowa | ALechoes.com
School kicking off before holiday Photo taken by Tanner Hochsetler
Nathan Vorce
Co-Editor in Chief
Dani Rambo
Opinion Editor The summer has been no longer than usual, but due to a late last day of school, classes have started today, Aug. 28, later than almost all the other schools in the area. Students and staff believe the late start is due to Iowa wishing for schools to start after the Iowa State Fair ends, which was held this year from Aug. 7-17. According to iowastatefair.org, Iowa state law requires that classes begin no earlier than the calendar week of Sept. 1, unless Sept. 1 falls on a Sunday. In that case, schools
can begin any day the week before the 1st. School districts can avoid this by filling out a waiver and submitting it to the Iowa Board of Education. Council Bluffs Community School District starts the week before Labor Day. With the later start, teachers do have more of an advantage by getting prepared for the new year and cleaning up their room to welcome their students. “The later start has given me more time to prepare for this year, get in a few training sessions and clean up my room a bit,” reading teacher Libby Foster said. “The downfall to starting school later is worrying
about my family and making sure they are taken care of for school or daycare.” Foster said that starting
many kids have checked out and it becomes harder to bring back kids’ focus after Memorial Day. By then kids
“With the later start, it has opened up my schedule more, since I am super busy in August.” -Sarah Widick, junior earlier is beneficial for kids because by mid-May,
are more concerned about summer, that school is no
longer a concern. One of the pros about a later start is now more people are able to attend the Iowa State fair and enjoy time with families. Before, attending was a problem since the fair started about the same time as school was about to begin. For one student in particular, the later start for school has helped her out more for getting ready for the year. “With the later start it has opened up my schedule more since I am super busy in August,” junior Sarah Widick said. “Although getting out later messed me up a little since I am more used to getting out in May,
not June.” Administrators have also noticed positive changes in the school board pushing back the first day, benefiting students both in school activities, as well as outside of school. “I’ve noticed kids are getting in more activity practice, and the kids also have an opportunity to work more to support their families,” Principal Todd Barnett said. Although the first day has created quite a bit of stress for some people, others are thankful for the extra time given to prepare for the upcoming year and what seems like more time for summer.
Students and staff give advice to upcoming freshmen “Get involved, try new things. Step outside of your comfort zones.” -Michael McLaughlin, Assistant Principal
ALECHOES.com
Upcoming Events
“Don’t stress, have fun.” - Karlie Petersen, junior
Sept. 1
Labor Day
“Choose the right people to be friends with.” - Addie McClain, junior
Sept. 4:
Schedule correction sheets due
Sept. 20 :
Homecoming 8-11:00pm $10 tickets
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Feature
August 2014
Spread Designed By Jessi Borwick
Get Involved! What ALHS has to offer...
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! S T R O P S Football
Soccer Wrestling
Swimming
Basketball Track
Baseball Softball
Tennis Cheer
Volleyball
Dance Team
Golf
MUSIC! Marching Band Jazz Band Concert Band Show Choir Concert Choir Jazz Choir Orchestra
Robotics Club
ROTC
Journalism
Beautify ALHS
FCS
iJag
Speech
Student Council
10-1 Book Club
ALL-IN
Latino Success CLub
Mock Trial
DECA
Organic Gardening CLub
CAP
Photos Courtesy of Crimson & Blue Yearbook
CLUBS!
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Sports
August 2014
Will Schademann | Sports Editor
Echoes
Bikers partake in state-wide race Hailey Carson Reporter
W
ith the hot sunny weather summer is known to bring, most are just itching to go outside to enjoy it. There are a variety of activities to partake in, but there’s one in particular that brings in a lot of attention in the late weeks of July. RAGBRAI, which is shortened for Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, is just like the name implies. The ride is always west to east because of headwinds and the midafternoon sun. Towns who would like to host the riders for a night send requests, and then the directors looks for possible routes. Starting on a Saturday, most riders head to the starting town and stay the night to begin riding to the next overnight town in
the morning. It’s common for bikers to have a group, because with three or more people they are eligible to bring a support vehicle. There are only 1,500 vehicle passes for each ride though. “As a driver, I am responsible for getting the teams gear to the next overnight,” RAGBRAI driver Jean Carson said. “Luckily the drivers take a different route than the riders but we still have a lot of traffic to deal with, all kinds of other vehicles that carry gear.” For riders who do not have a support vehicle, there are semi trucks that can transport a large soft texture bag of no more than 50 pounds, sleeping bag, and tent. Don’t forget your tent, because chances are you will be sleeping outside a few nights. Most overnight towns are small, so hotels and motels can’t hold everyone so its first come, first serve.
A team of riders riding in this year’s RAGBRAI Photo by Diane Hobbs
In late January, the route for the next summer is released, and people always call ahead to reserve the rooms. People who apply may be set up with a host house in the overnight town that will allow the team to set up tents in their yard. Tent city is a large field arranged so riders may set up tents there. If nothing else is available, riders may have to stay in tent city, and may be a block away from the nearest port-a-potty. “Sometimes we would walk to get street food, or we had food on the truck,” RAGBRAI rider, Kerry O’Grady, said. “After that we would sit around in a circle and talk.” The 2014 route started in Rock Valley on July 20, and ended in Guttenberg on the 26th. You can buy passes to ride on individual days if you can’t ride the whole week. Week riders are traveling a total of about 431 miles when they reach their
final destination, so a decent amount of training is needed to help get you through the week. “I start trying to eat healthy and ride my bike as often as I can,” O’Grady said. “I do longer distances and more hills.” 2014 was the 42st year of RAGBRAI. It began 1973 with John Karras and Don Kaul when they wanted to ride across the state and write about what they saw. They invited the public to join them. 300 people in the beginning, 500 at most, and 114 who did the whole ride. The ride gained some popularity, and it was scheduled for August 4th the next year. RAGBRAI has passed through 780 towns and stayed overnight in 125 towns. It is a great way to travel the state, meet new people, and get exercise. To register, head over to ragbrai. com.
Young runners bring fresh talent to team Tanner Hochstetler Reporter
The 2014-2015 school year brings a fresh new start. The boys and girls cross country team is on its way to bigger and better opportunities. The young teams this year face new goals to accomplish. Being such a young group there’s no telling what kind of spark they are going to ignite this year. “The upcoming freshman are promising. Most of them keep up with varsity so I believe we will have a lot on varsity this year. I’m excited to see what the season holds and to improve myself as a runner,” sophomore Mikayla Olsen said. Cross country coaches Traci Stoop and Scott Milner have been at it since the beginning of summer working hard and training these athletes. Summer
conditioning consists of running, running, and even more running! “We do hill days, speed days, and long distant days.” Mikayla Olsen said.
“I mainly focus on keeping my pack together, but I push myself to pass the person in front of me.” -Kevin Branigan, junior Summer conditioning helps the athletes get to know their fellow teammates, and it also helps the team build stamina. During meets, stamina is a key ingredient
because players run in “packs” to stick together and to push each other. It’s not always about running though. Cross country requires strong mental focus. One must keep a manageable pace while pushing himself/ herself to pass the person ahead. “I mainly focus on keeping my pack together, but I push myself to pass the guy in front of me.” junior Kevin Branigan said. This year’s season is all about setting goals and achieving those goals. “My goal is to arrive at practice everyday with a positive mindset so I can continue enhancing my performance as the season progresses,” senior Kaylee Willadsen said. The first official meet for the boys and girls will kick-start the season into full swing on August 30. Meets are fairly short and are held at either golf courses or a campus.
The girls cross country team posing with Coach Traci Stoop Photo by Kaylee Willadsen
2014 Football Schedule Friday 8/29 7:00 Varsity vs Sioux City North
Saturday 9/13 10:00 A.M, JV vs Thomas Jefferson
Monday 9/29 6:00 JV vs Denison- Schleswig
Monday 10/13 4:30 JV at Gross Catholic
Saturday 8/30 10:00 A.M JV at Sioux City North
Friday 9/19 7:00 Varsity vs Sioux City East
Thursday 10/16 7:30 Varsity at Sioux City West
Friday 9/5 7:00 Varsity at Lewis Central
Saturday 9/20 10:00 JV at Sioux City East
Friday 10/3 7:30 Varsity vs West Des Moines Valley
Monday 9/8 7:00 JV at Lewis Central
Homecoming Dance
Friday 9/12 7:00 Varsity at Thomas Jefferson
Friday 9/26 7:30 Varsity at Des Moines Lincoln
Monday 10/6 6:30 JV at Ralston Friday 10/10 7:00 Varsity at Des Moines Hoover
Friday 10/24 7:00 Varsity vs Ankeny Centennial