September '06

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One Copy Free

The Black & White Johnston High School Student Paper

September ‘06

Vol 16 No. 2

Stegman’s murder impacts school BY LARISSA FRENCH NEWS EDITOR The murder of former Johnston student Matthew Stegman has left students and teachers in shock. “(Sophomore) Kasi (Dickerson) called me, and she was crying,” senior Blake Boever said. “The only thing she could say is ‘Matt’s dead’ . . . It still hasn’t soaked in that he’s dead yet; I don’t get how that could happen to someone so young.” Stegman was found murdered in the

Woodland Cemetery at 9:30 am on Sept. 3. According to Police Sergeant Todd Dykstra, the cause of death was “multiple stab wounds.” Five individuals have been arrested and charged with murder in the first degree. If convicted, they could receive life in prison. Dykstra would not state the motive, because “they’re still trying to determine the particular motive.” Dykstra said the motive would be released at trial, if there is one. English teacher Sarah Wessling had Stegman in her homeroom. “Certainly,

I have needed time to reflect,” Wessling said. “I think as more details are revealed, with each new piece of information, my heart feels heavier about how malicious this was.” Although Wessling only had Stegman in her homeroom, Wessling and Stegman still talked. “He was often writing poetry that he wanted to share, so I would read (his poems). He would collect song lyrics, and we would talk about that . . . I enjoyed him,” Wessling said. According to senior Chris Leslie, Stegman not only wrote poetry, but

he also wrote his own music, using his acoustic guitar that he had named “Eleanor.” Leslie said that Stegman’s favorite bands included Metallica, Dimmu Borgir and Rammstein. In addition to writing, Stegman ran for the junior varsity cross country team. “I remember at the Ankeny meet, it was real important for me to meet his parents,” cross country coach Dave Beason said. “He was so happy that I could meet his parents. It was a neat deal.”

see STEGMAN page 3

DRAGONS UNVEIL NEW OFFENSE

Antonio Rodriguez/Dragon

Dragon defenders swarm to make a tackle against Hoover on Sept. 8. The Dragons went on to win 50-7. For a related story, see page 14.

Summit Middle School receives sports walls

In this issue...

BY DAWN WILKENS STAFF WRITER

Survivor: Cook Islands: race war or something more?

At Summit Middle School, there are four new sport wall training stations available in the recreational room that were installed Aug. 22, according to Shari Walling, Physical Education (PE) teacher. The sports walls are located on the right side of the rec room. The walls are blue with five spots for lights. The lights illuminate and the person working with the wall hits the lights and moves on to the next one. If the person misses the light, it shows up until they hit it. The sports walls are supposed to help develop one’s sports and motor skills. The walls can also help build one’s strength, endurance, stability and reaction time, according to Walling. “The controller and each panel installed was approximately $3,500 each,” Walling said. “We received a grant from the company (Sportwall International, Inc.) and Mr. Busby allotted money toward the fitness enhancement of students and Sum-

Trying out the rock climbing wall for the first time, senior Blake Boever enjoys scaling. “It makes me want to go back to middle school again, because we didn’t have as many opportunities as (the students) do now,” Boever said.

Dawn Wilkens/BW

mit PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) provided $6,000 toward the purchase.” The PE classes at Summit have started using the walls. The Urbandale, Johnston and Waukee (UJW) swim team has used the training reaction wall and the rock climbing wall during their practices when

they are not in the pool. Junior varsity swimmer Amanda Hatfield uses the sports walls for dry land training. “I didn’t understand why we were using them, but then I found that it was making us quicker and our upper bodies stronger,” Hatfield said. Hatfield enjoys climbing on the rock wall for practices. “You don’t go right up the wall, but you go around the wall because it goes around the whole room. It’s hard and challenging,” Hatfield said. Only the PE teachers at Summit and trained coaches are allowed to reserve the rec room for helping to train their athletes at this time. Contact Walling to schedule training and usage times.

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Learn everything about cancer and its treatments and read personal stories

Doubletruck

Mike Slusark sits down with Republican candidate for governor, Jim Nussle

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