Chanute High School 1501 West 36th Street Chanute, Kansas 66720
Friday, March 1, 2013
Volume 5, Issue 7
thecometonline.com
Photo Illustration by Danae Decker
News..................... 2 Opinion..................3 Sports..................4 Student Life.........5 Arts......................6 Entertainment.....7 Feature.................8
What’s Inside... Page 3
Pro/Con: Should seminar end?
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Comet girls face Indy at sub-state tonight.
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on point TARA GUINOTTE SENIOR
Senior Jack Martin has earned a spot in one of the most prestigious institutions in the country. Martin received his acceptance letter to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. on Monday. According to U.S. News, West Point had an acceptance rate of 10.6 percent in 2011, making it among the top 15 most prestigious schools to be accepted into in the country. Going into the military has always been a dream of Martin’s, as it has been in his family from past generations. “My grandpa was in the military, and he was going to teach at the Air Force Academy, so I guess it’s always been a part of my family,” Martin said. Martin believes the military will benefit him in a variety of ways. “I hope it helps me become a better leader and a better person, both academically and physically,” Martin said. The application for West Point was anything but short. Martin had to take a physical fitness test, a medical physical and a 45-minute eye exam. He also had to submit his transcripts, ACT scores and a list of activities he is involved in, evaluations by three teachers of different departments and two places of employment and get at least one nomination from a congressional representative. “West Point won’t even look at your application until you get a nomination from a senator or a congressional member,” Martin said. “So to apply for each nomination is a whole other application process. I ended up with four because I got two from one person.” After submitting his application in October, Martin had to wait approximately four and a half months to hear whether or not he got accepted into his first-choice school. The wait was excruciating. “I was checking the mail almost every day waiting to hear something,” Martin said. Martin said it was an honor to be accepted into the prestigious military academy.
“A lot of people apply each year, and I’m very happy to be chosen as one of the people that got accepted,” Martin said. If Martin had not been accepted into West Point, he was planning on going into the ROTC program while attending Kansas State University. “I knew it was a slim possibility of getting in, but I applied anyway,” Martin said. Martin looks forward to the discipline that will come along with attending the military academy. “I’m looking forward to all the structure and meeting all the people I’ll be rooming and training with for the next four years,” Martin said. There are also downsides to attending a disciplined academy. “Not getting to leave the base [is what I’m not looking forward to,]” Martin said. “The total days that I get to leave the base on break the first year isn’t even a month for the calender year after I begin there. It gets better over the four years, but it’s still not very much time off and I won’t have very much time at home. [My parents] can come visit almost any time, but there’s limited time I would be able to hang out with them if they came.” Martin said he would not have been accepted to West Point without the many members from the community that helped him along the way. “There are so many people that helped me,” Martin said. “The three teachers that wrote evaluations for me were Mr. (Derek) Liggett, Mrs. (Stacy) Henson and Mr. (Kevin) Blair. So I’d like to thank them, and Dr. (James) Hardy and some other people in the community wrote me letters of recommendation. All the teachers that helped me through the process [I want to thank], because I couldn’t have done it by myself.” Chanute High School guidance counselor Jason Feeback noted all of the hard work Martin has done in order to be accepted. “Jack put in a lot of hard work to get to West Point, and I think it’s a deserved honor,” Feeback said. “He’s done a great job here, and we’re looking forward to great things in the future from him.”
Aldrin avoids the ‘ruff’ life Look-Alike: Demetri Martin and Brady Roush
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Piecing together your perfect prom
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Weird Obsessions
STORME JONES SOPHOMORE Life of a therapy dog is not what we would consider “ruff.” Chanute High School therapy dog Aldrin did not get his life of leisure free of charge. Aldrin, named after astronaut Buzz Aldrin, has been at CHS for six years. At an early age, Aldrin possessed the 19 characteristics a dog must have to become a service dog. He underwent a two-phase training course at the Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services (CARES) training company located in Concordia. CARES first gets the dogs when they are puppies, then sends them to the basic training that is needed to be a service dog. The second phase takes place at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility where they give the dog the finishing touches of training to become a therapy dog. Together the phases last 18 weeks. The primary purpose of a therapy dog like Aldrin is to calm students down and let them relax while with the dog. Grooming and combing Aldrin can be therapeutic for some students. From teachers to students, most everyone at CHS enjoys seeing Aldrin. Some students actually require they get their
Hoop-It-Up For A Cure raises less money than in past years ALEXIS THUSTON JUNIOR
Storme Jones/ The Comet Chanute High School therapy dog, Aldrin, catches a quick nap in the commons area. Aldrin has been a part of CHS since 2006. He helps students in a variety of ways such as relaxing them when they need their “Aldrin fix.” “Aldrin fix” every day before school starts so that they can have a good day. He is also used to reward students. In 2006, CHS paid $500 for Aldrin’s training, vaccinations, his certification as a service dog and also to train assistant principal Johnny Lawrence as his handler. Though Chanute Public Schools own Aldrin, when he is not at the school he stays with the Lawrence family. “(Aldrin) comes home pretty tired on Fridays,” said owner Johnny Lawrence. “If you get to know him and hang around him you will get to see his personality.”
Lawrence said that Aldrin has a special connection with his daughter Jaymi, a sophomore at CHS. “Having a therapy dog at home is fun because he doesn’t make noise or messes like most dogs do,” Jaymi Lawrence said. Aldrin isn’t the only therapy dog in Chanute Public Schools, in fact there is a therapy dog at every school in our district. For many, seeing Aldrin may be the high point of their day. According to Secretary Linda Uden, Aldrin’s favorite part of the day is when the UPS delivery man comes and gives him a treat.
For the past three years Chanute High School has participated in Hoop-It-Up For A Cure. This event raises money for CHS’s Relay For Life team. For the event t-shirts are sold and players and fans wear them for one of the home basketball games. In the past years, according to StuGo sponsor Karen Graham, Hoop-ItUp For A Cure typically raises around $1,500. This year Graham said around $400 was raised. Shirts were sold for $15 dollars, with $5 taken from each shirt to go toward Relay For Life. Graham noted that the first year the school did Hoop It Up For A Cure the seniors used the shirts as their class shirts for spirit week. That of course raised more money, but since then the school has still done a great job of raising money. “CHS students and staff do such a great job raising money for different causes and organi-
zations,” Graham said. Hoop-It-Up For A Cure all started because of former assistant boys basketball coach Eric Holmes. His friend makes the shirts and Holmes showed the shirt idea to Graham. She loved the idea and thought CHS should do it. Despite raising less money than normal this year, Graham would like to see Hoop-It-Up For A Cure continue. “I hope we will continue it. It’s for a good cause,” Graham said. She also expressed how as the program continues there are possibilities for different shirt colors. Hoop It Up For A Cure is for a cause that effects people all around us. For junior Katy Batten, the cause behind Hoop-It-Up For Cure hits home for her as her mom has been battling with breast cancer. “Before it wasn’t a big deal to me,” Batten said. “Now it hits me at home. I appreciate all of the donations people give because I know how helpful it is.”