December pelladium

Thorson Claims Title

Forté Dazzles

PELLADIUM P. 10

P. 2

THE PELLA COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL NEWS PUBLICATION

12.20.2013

Volume 26

Issue Four

2

PAGE EDITOR: Gregory Frommelt

•Photo by Elizabeth Jansen

•Photo courtesy of Cyndi Atkins

Current

12. 20. 2013

RAI shapes students’ college decisions

>>> DANCE: Forté competed in the ISDTA High School Dance Team Championships Dec. 6.

The team placed second in both kick and military and fourth in pom. “Overall we had a great experience at state and I am very pleased with our accomplishments. In the months leading up to state the team worked extremely hard and I am so proud of all the girls,” said Forté team captain senior Haley Chapman.

As the first semester comes to a close, many seniors are looking towards the future. For many of them this means college and college applications. Many acronyms are associated with college applications, GPA and ACT are a couple of well known ones. But, a new three letter acronym has entered the equation: RAI. Regent Admissions Index, or RAI, is an equation that predicts at Iowa’s regent universities (UNI, Iowa, and Iowa State). It combines ACT or SAT scores, class rank, class size, high school GPA, and the number of core classes that a student has completed during high school.

“Students from Iowa high schools planning to begin their studies in fall 2009 or later must have a Regent Admission Index score of at least 245 and take the minimum number of required high school courses to qualify for automatic admission to Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at The University of Iowa,” from the Iowa Board of Regents website.

The actual equation for a students RAI is: (2 x ACT composite score) + (1 x high school rank) + (20 x high school grade point average) + (5 x number of high school courses completed in the core subject areas) . However what is the main purpose of RAI? According to an Iowa Board of Regents memo, the main purpose of RAI is to “... ensure that students who are admitted to the Regent universities are academically prepared to succeed in college.”

The RAI isn’t the only thing that has changed the process of college applications.

“The last decade of college applications has changed,” said guidance counselor Theresa Thompson. “The more prevalent use of the common application by more colleges has made it somewhat easier for students to apply to multiple colleges in a more efficient way.

Also, the different types of applications, Early Decision, Early Action, etc., which makes the deadlines so much more important.”

•Colin Jones (cjones@pelladium.com)

Soria shares memories of Ghana trip A person in few instances is able to truly experience a different culture. Spanish teacher Paloma Soria has not just experienced one differing culture, but many.

Soria was born and raised in Spain and graduated from the University of Madrid. In Madrid she met her husband, Samuel Mate-Kodjo. Mate-Kodjo added another diversity to Soria’s life due to the fact that he was born and raised in Ghana.

“We met in Spain, in Madrid and he was a student there when I met him,” said Soria.

Soria recently learned of the death of her father in-law, Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Sakite MateKodjo. Upon learning this, Soria prepared for a trip to experience yet another culture as Soria traveled to attend the funeral.

“I went to Ghana twice; this was my third time. The first time I went was 30 years ago.

The second time was 20 years ago,” said Soria.

Soria met the family of her husband in the past, despite not being able to fully communicate with them due to a language barrier. The travel was the first of many steps in the trip.

“We started here on a Tuesday, in the morning we traveled all day and arrived in Ghana the following day,” said Soria.

This trip, for several obvious reasons, did not have the same feel as the previous trips to Ghana.

“This time the trip was different because it was not a vacation time. It was a very intense and emotional week,” said Soria.

The emotions were not solely due to the fact of a funeral, but also because for the first time Soria had learned english in the United States and was able to communicate with Mate-Kodjo’s family.

“I was able to speak English with the family, because even though it was my third time

being there, it was the first time I was really able to communicate with them. So, it was an eye opening experience to be able to talk with them, laugh with them and cry with them,” said Soria.

The new experiences did not only include being able to communicate with them, but also with the funeral itself. Many things were memorable to Soria.

“The way people show respect to him because so many people came. Thousands of people came to the funeral. And they came from all over the country, so then to see so many people there celebrating, not a funeral, but a life. His life,” said Soria.

The number of people was not the only thing that Soria noticed.

“Something I had never experienced before was the music. So much music. Songs, hymns, people playing the drums, continuously. Even when we went inside the church, people outside were playing the drums. So, it was very emotional,” said Soria.

The funeral was not a funeral as many in Iowa are accustomed to. It did not last a few hours, but rather it lasted three days.

Despite Soria being away from the classroom for eight days, she felt that she was able to cope well.

“I had to prepare for eight days of school. Señora Aguilar was here in the classroom. It is kind of overwhelming to have to prepare for that long. The class was able to cover what I wanted. And when I came back I recorded the grades and got back in the routine,” said Soria.

Despite being back in the routine, the experience is something that Soria will certainly carry with her.

•Gregory Frommelt (gfrommelt@pelladium.com)

12.20. 2013

Current

Page Editor: Derrick Akers

3

18 plan early exit from classes

The yearly exodus is here. As the first semester comes to a close, 13 seniors and five juniors will be leaving school as they complete their high school requirements. The list includes seniors Cassidy Blom, Kayla Carroll, Nyran Chohan-Hopkins, Zach Elsloo, Lynnae Gray, Kyle Kersbergen, Ryan Pearson, Megan Reinier, BreAnna Russell, Colton Richardson, Brittany Sewell, Colton Taylor and Logan VanBrogen and juniors McCheala Blommers, Piarra Chohan-Hopkins, Laura Franco, Bailey Kooistra and Cheyanne Van Donselaar.

To graduate with a Pella diploma, students must have 46 credits, along with taking core classes including three years of math, science and history, four P.E. classes and a business class. However, to receive an alternate diploma, students only need 34 credits. The core classes such as math, English and science are still requirements, but no additional electives are needed.

Juniors graduating early will never experience senior year perks, such as open campus, the senior ski trip and special homecoming dress-up days, but Van Donselaar doesn’t feel as if she is missing out on anything.

“The only thing I would really like is open period, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on it because I don’t have any study halls this year anyway,” said Van Donselaar.

Thespian Festival offers inspiration

It was a weekend of performances - both watching and participating - as speech team members attended the Thespian Festival at the University of Northern Iowa Nov. 1516. Multiple workshops allowed students could attend to improve their speech skills.

Senior Jack Parisee attended the festival.

Two students received awards at the festival, including senior Davis Vande Steeg who advanced to nationals with his theater marketing package for “Don’t Drink the Water,” this year’s school play. He will compete at nationals in Nebraska in June.

Junior Victoria Karnes was honored for her costume design for the fall play.

“Thespian Festival is a really cool event. It gives kids across the state the opportunity to see some really different and more professional theater than I think they would normally be exposed to,” said Parisee.

Senior Sydney Swanson also attended.

“I liked getting to be able to perform for a crowd and have a practice round before speech season starts” said Swanson.

Three full length plays were performed for those attending,

including “Pippin,” “Time Stands Still” and “Thoroughly Modern Milly.”

Speech director Ashlee Whittington enjoyed seeing other schools’ performances.

“The play ‘Time Stands Still’ was incredible. There was a beautiful set with running water and talented actors,” said Whittington.

Speech director Suzi Jones made the decision to have every student participate in an event “This was the first time we had everyone perform, which was very beneficial,” said Jones.

The Thespian Festival showed what speech and theater could be like at the collegiate level. Student performances offered a variety.

“I loved getting to see different types of shows that pushed the envelope because we never really get to see those types of shows,” said Swanson.

“I think seeing more advanced and professional actors is crucial in developing yourself as a performer. Thespian Festival definitely provided that opportunity,” said Parisee.

•Aaron VanMaanen (avanmaanen@pelladium.com) >>>Senior Aaron Van Maanen and sophomores Craig Miller and Joseph Gaiser watch “Thoroughly Modern Milly” at the Thespian Festival. •Photo

by Elyse Parisee

Counselor Theresa Thompson understands that there are both pros and cons to graduating early, but urges those who are considering an early diploma to heavily consider the decision before making one.

“You have to really know why you want to graduate early. What is the reason? Are you going to college or taking a gap year? If it’s just to be done with high school, it’s probably not a good idea to graduate early. You miss a lot of senior activities and have to say goodbye to your friends. If you’re going to college immediately afterwards, you have to begin talking to colleges and preparing for that earlier than the other students in your grade,” said Thompson.

Alumni Livia Pezley, Class of 2013, graduated a year early and agrees with Thompson in that it is not a decision to take lightly.

“Think over it carefully. I would definitely graduate early if I had the chance to do it over, but I really wouldn’t suggest it. Now, I still have to take home papers from college for my parents to sign, and my options are very limited but college is so much fun. Your time at high school is limited, so enjoy it while you are there,” said Pezley.

•Christina Gualtieri (cgualtieri@pelladium.com)

pella.k12.ia.us gets facelit Change is coming as the district prepares to launch a new and improved website.

“This process started about a year-anda-half ago actually. When Superintendent Greg Ebeling came to Pella CSD, he started this project. It has taken some time to get off the ground because of all the stuff we have been implementing, but now is the right time!” said IT Director Ben Bollard.

The new website is looking to better show off what is going on at Pella Schools.

“The new website has a much larger emphasis on the design of it and its curb appeal. We want this site to be a representation of our district, and we want people who visit the site to not only be amazed by the things that we have going on in our district but also how we present ourselves. With this new appearance will come lots of new features, such as a photo directory, athletics pages, a scrolling image on the front page and improved graphics,” said Bollard.

Another new feature of the website include some video content. As with change, there is also some concern from the general public. However, Bollard is confident that it will be very user friendly.

“We have focused on making things easy

877-462-3687 www.central.edu

to get to and navigate to where you want.

That being said, with any new change, there will be some buttons or links that are in different places and may take some getting used to or some people may not like. However, we feel that, as a whole, it is much easier to find what you are looking for,” said Bollard.

The new website is still hosted by the staff at Pella, but they did receive some help in designing the site.

“The website will still be hosted (the server will be in our data center) and maintained by our staff after the rollout. During the design and development portion of the new website, we used a company, Flying Hippo, to help us come up with the design and put everything together,” said Bollard.

Flying Hippo has aided in the design and development of the school website. In payment for their services, the district paid $21,450. The new site is planned to go live very soon.

“The new site will go live just before everyone leaves for Christmas break, so we are down to like three weeks. This allows staff, students, and parents to get used to the new site over break before we go live,” said Bollard.

•Gregory Frommelt (gfrommelt@pelladium.com)

4

Page Editor: Ben Konfrst

Bilingual homes enhance ...

Sophomore Diana Romero and junior Simon Aguilar usually go throughout their days speaking English at school, but when they head home, it’s a different story. They speak primarily Spanish.

“We speak Spanish at my house most of the time. We know English, but we choose to speak Spanish,” said Romero.

Romero believes it is important to continue her culture. She wants to keep it going.

“We enjoy speaking Spanish at our house. We want to keep our culture continuing because it’s really important to conserve our culture. It helps others around us understand, and it’s a large part of my parents’ life. It’s so beautiful to understand where my family came from,” said Romero.

Those around Romero find it interesting that her family speaks Spanish. She is glad her friends and others support her.

“People think it’s awesome that we speak Spanish. I help my friends with their homework sometimes. People think it’s neat thtat we can sook a variety of Spanish foods as well,” said Romero.

Romero and her family enjoy some spe-

cific Spanish holiday traditions.

“My family does Los Posados. It’s before Christmas where we sing songs and make Mexican foods (like enchiladas, beans and tamales). We don’t have family in Iowa, so it’s kind of difficult to do all these things with family sometimes,” she said.

Aguilar and his family speak both Spanish and English at home.

“We speak both Spanish and English at our house. We speak Spanish sometimes when we forget words in English. I enjoy speaking two languages at home because not many people do it.

Aguilar and his family don’t celebrate any Spanish traditions here.

“We don’t celebrate Spanish holiday traditions in America. When we were in Venzuela, that is when we do Spanish traditions,” said Aguilar.

Everyone in the Aguilar family speaks Spanish. The children are the only natural bilingual speakers.

“Everyone is very supportive of me speaking two languages fluently,” said Aguilar.

•Corey Elliott (celliott@pelladium.com)

Current

12. 20. 2013

Where Are They Now?

Nadine Van Zomeren, Class of 2013, and and her sister, Avis (her identical twin) are champion equestrian competitors. Nadine has won several competitions including the UPHA Senior Pleasure Cup Sportsmanship Award, the UPHA Senior Pleasure Challenge Cup, the Saddle and Bridle’s Pleasure Equitation Medallion, the MHSA Saddle Seat Medallion Final, the National Pleasure Equitation Olympics (14-17) and a top three at the Good Hands National Horse Show Finals. Equestrian is a style of horse showing in which competitors display their control of their animals.

Where are you currently going to school?

“I took the first semester off to finish up showing horses. I will start taking classes in January at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn.”

What is a horse show like? How often do you compete?

“It’s really difficult to describe a horse show, but I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible.

A horse show always has a very exciting atmosphere. At the larger shows, there are often times people competing from all over the country and sometimes from all over the world. There are many divisions you could show your horse in, so it’s fun picking what division to train your horse for. It’s also really thrilling to watch the show, unless you are spending all of your time washing the horses and cleaning tack so that you look your best •Photo Contributed for the judges. I could write a book about what a horse show is like, so I’ll just stop there. The horse show season lasts from April to November, so it’s quite a long season in comparison to other sports. We usually go to about 10-12 shows per year.?

Will practice and competition interfere with school? How often do you practice?

“Yes, it does, so that is why I took the first semester off of school. It won’t affect school by this next January, since the season finished in November. This is also my last junior exhibitor year, so we wanted to finish everything off as best as we could. I practice pretty much every day.”

•JR Dorman (jdorman@pelladium.com)

First semester ends eight days shorter

>>>MAKING SNOW. Sophomores Zach Nunnikhoven and Samantha Fuller work on their snowflake lab report in chemistry.

This lab involved dipping snowflakes made out of pipe cleaners into a borax solution to crystallize overnight. Students were allowed to take their snowflakes home by semester break. •Photos

by Davis Vande Steeg

As the first semester wrapped up Dec. 20, some concerns existed over the time restrictions of a shorter semester. The first semester is eight days shorter than the second.

“We want to make sure that we have a specific end date in mind, so we have a clear date for palnning and preparation,” said Principal Eric Nelson.

Academic Support Coach Sheri Roslien likes the idea of tests before break.

“I like having semester tests before Christmas break because then you don’t have to gear up for the tests when you come back from break,” said Roslien.

Math teacher Doug Cutler agrees.

“I definitely prefer for the semester to be complete at Christmas break. However, it is a challenge for my statistics course, which only meets for one semester, to complete all the required material in the first semester,” said Cutler.

Nelson further explained the rationale.

“I think it’s the best assessment practice for the first semester vs. coming back for two regular days and having two semester test days. Our attendance the last two days [before break] is much higher,” said Nelson.

•Alexandria Goodyk (agoodyk@pelladium.com)

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12. 20. 2013

Sports

PAGE EDITOR: Garret Jansen

5

Numbers helps wrestlers hold own at meets

After sending junior Chase Petty to the state wrestling championships last year, the number of wrestlers has increased.

Last year the team finished with only 16 wrestlers; this ear 25 boys are out for wrestling.

“This improves the program because we have more work out partners in practice. The kids we have on the team are very dedicated, and we have had the best turn out for morning weight lifting than any other year,” said head wrestling coach Joe Burch.

Practice gives wrestlers the opportunity to improve their skills day in and day out.

“With more people at practice, there are more opportunities to improve; you are not wrestling the same people over and over,” said Petty.

Along with being able to keep each other accountable, they will not need to forfeit nearly as many matches as last year.

“Last year we had to forfeit five-to-seven weights at most of our competitions. Each forfeit is six points, so it makes it almost impossible to win as a team. Even when we would win more matches than we would lose, we would end up losing the meet,” said Burch.

With a large number of underclassmen coming back from last year, they will be expected to step up to the plate and wrestle varsity.

“Having closer to a full line-up will help keep our competitions more competitive this year, even though some underclassmen will have to step up and wrestle varsity,” said Burch.

Another benefit of having larger numbers is they will be able to have a JV team this season.

“We will have a JV team this year. That’s one thing I love about wrestling, EVERYONE gets to compete! We have a solid amount of JV tournaments this year, too,” said Burch.

“Practice has been going really well; everyone is working very hard. I think we have the heart and mentality to do very well and be successful in our first meet of the season,” said Petty •Garret Jansen (gjansen@pelladium.com)

>>>> Above: junior Isaac Naaktgeboren (left) leads the team in points per game with 19.7. Senior Jordan Pingel (top middle) is right behind Naaktgeboren with 12 points per game (before Dec. 13). Freshman Katie VanderMolen (top right) was brought up to play with varsity team this year. Sophomore Aanna Roselin (bottom right) has gotten playing time in both JV and varsity games. (Photos by Elisabeth Jansen)

Buchheit lands spot on UNI team Most athletes that don’t make the team right away will quit their sport or stop working at it. That’s not the case for 2010 graduate Nathan Buchheit.

In the time that Buchheit was here, he helped lead the Dutch basketball team to the state championship game. He was named second team all-state and to the 2010 all-state tournament basektball team. He also led the Dutch cross country team to a state title and was named all-district and all-conference as a senior. He also played in the 2008 state soccer tournament.

“The time I put into getting to where I’m at tonight was a commitment of getting up early and putting in the time. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to get shots up before school was a priority, along with getting shots and ball-handling in before practice. If practice didn’t go well, I went back to the gym after dinnner to get more shots up. Always leaving with a positive outlook on my day, in a basketball sense. Leaving with a positive outlook on everything in my life has been a high priority to me throughout my later years of high school and where I’m at today. Then, the same routine occurred while I was at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City,” Buccheit said.

Buchheit played two seasons at NIACC out of high school. He then went on to the University of Northern Iowa and redshirted his first year.

“School has always been a priority and I have always wanted to be a business major, and UNI has that. I’ve had the dream of playing basketball at UNI ever since I was in middle school. My parents would bring me to games every year and I had the priviledge of going to a NCAA tournament game. I had two people contact the coach to put in a good word for me. We had discussions for me to walk-on here at UNI,” Buccheit said.

Buchheit scored his first points as a Panther against Coe College Nov. 11.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment in what happened that night and all the other nights that I put that jersey on for our games, an accomplishment of representing more than just myself. My family, past teammates, past coaches and just those that have encouraged me in my past and continueto encourage me today,” said Buccheit.

“I’d say that you can never dream too big. People will question goals, dreams or anything that you want to accomplish in life and what it really comes to is you. Go make a difference, not only in your life but others as well, and I know without a doubt in my mind that you’ll be able to accomplish anything you put your mind to,” Buchheit said.

Buchheit would like to thank his family, past coaches and teammates for getting him to where he is today.

•Andrew Pavlat (apavlat@pelladium.com)

>>>> Senior Levi Azinger (bottom) looks to get position on his opponent. Junior Calvin VanDonnselar is declared winner after defeating his opponent. “Practice has been going really well; everyone is working very hard.

I think we have the heart and mentality to do very well and be successful in our first meet of the season,” said Petty. (Photos by Beth Speltz)

Shooting Club seeks board approval >>>Coach Jeff Siewert supervises as sophomores Jacob Baier, Carson Duryee and Alaina Rahn and seniors Rebecca Schippers and Trevor Sterk pariticipate in the state trap meet last year. (Photo courtesy of Sharon Vande Noord)

With over 30 students involved, numerous state recognitions, and higher scores than many other schools, some may say that this competition would be classified as a school “club.” However, the Pella High Shooting Club isn’t quite there yet.

Coaches, Mike VandeNord and Sharon VandeNord and assistant coach Jeff Siewert took the concept of making the group part of the high school’s extra-curricular activities to the school board Nov. 25. This is not the first time the group has taken the idea to the board.

“The sport is continuing to evolve. In order to move the shooting team forward, [the school board should] make the shooting team school affiliated, which would allow some awards such as some eligibility for awards at state,” said Siewert.

Members of the board will travel to the shooting range where the group practices.

Afterwards, the member will decide whether or not the environment is safe, and if the event should be considered to be part of the school’s extracurricular activities.

Older policies stated that students were allowed to bring ammunition on school grounds, creating a higher risk for theft and putting other students in danger.

The new policy state that the ammunition must be placed in a secure area, either the student’s homes or the safes in the designated areas, and must be kept there for the remainder of the school day until needed.

Through all the hard work, there is special meaning within the team.

“Shooting club means a lot. Within the club we are all sort of our own family, whether everyone realizes it or not. Year after year we grow as a team and put more and more into it in hopes to watch it grow,” said four-year member of the group, sophomore Brent VanDerWeil.

Board members were expected to vote on the issue Dec. 16.

•Jack Sytsma (jsytsma@pelladium.com)

6

PAGE EDITORS: Editors

Kuyper reflects on Christmas’s past

In Focus

CHRISTMAS

With Michael Buble’s Christmas album blaring far before Thanksgiving and elaborately decorated department stores with “Countdown to Christmas” signs obnoxiously obstructing the paths of shoppers, it has become difficult for many people to fathom what the jolly season was before it became commercialized.

However, one woman in particular could say she knows a little bit about Christmas. In fact, she has woken up for Christmas morning 95 times. Joyce Kuyper, 96, of Pella has experienced a dramatic change in the overall culture of Christmas. Although she, along with the rest of today’s society, celebrates Christmas differently now in her current residence at Vriendschap Village, Kuyper still is able to recall the times when the Christmas season was much simpler.

“Christmas meant more to everybody in those days then it does now. It is so commercial now. It’s the financial side of Christmas that has just splurted forth,” said Kuyper.

Indeed, the financial side of the season has dramatically changed. Kuyper’s father preached for a living, so the family income lagged some, but the one present, along with a few candies if they were lucky, was enough for Kuyper and her three siblings.

“We knew it was an effort for my folks to give that much money for presents; we cherished them,” said Kuyper.

Unlike many children in the generation today who can’t name one present they received the year before, Kuyper can recall a few of her favorite gifts from almost 90 years ago which include a cedar chest and a sapphire ring which still has a special place on her hand to this day.

The elaborate decorations held no value either. Kuyper has no memories of Christmas decor around the house besides a poinsettia each year.

“Sometimes we had a Christmas tree if a family in the church brought us one,” said Kuyper.

Another materialistic icon has developed over the years. Santa Claus today seems to have thousands of clones that can be seen in every corner as the season arrives. When Kuyper was young, Santa Claus was barely in the picture.

“We [Kuyper and her siblings] knew about Santa, but I don’t ever remember seeing him or getting presents from him. I don’t remember ever even seeing a Santa Claus. We had just heard about him and read about him,” said Kuyper.

If these materialistic icons of Christmas today were not significant then, there had to be some tradition that made the holiday season so special. For Kuyper, it was the annual Christmas program at the church her father preached at. This held so much significance in fact, Kuyper still remembers playing “Star of the East” on the piano. She can still hum the melody. The program meant so much to the Kuyper family, an outbreak of the scarlet fever couldn’t even prohibit it.

“One year some of my siblings and I were quarantined for scarlet fever. In those days they quarantined you and you couldn’t come out, but we still practiced for the Christmas Program at home,” This goes to show that Christmas was still Christmas even without the materialistic things that are tied to the holiday season today. A tree, the presents, Santa Claus, and all the other material things that make up Christmas as this young generation knows it as, in fact, barely signified Christmas at all.

“Those were the days, let me tell you. We didn’t get a whole lot of presents like they do nowadays, but it didn’t matter,” said Kuyper.

•Megan Kooker (mkooker@pelladium.com)

Questions

The Kids•

How has Christmas changed?

“I think Christmas has changed because of how much focus we put on presents and deals. Like Black Friday shopping. People go buy more after the day we say we’re thankful for what we have!” -Senior Kylie Roslien

What is your favorite Christmas food?

When do you/did you put up your Christmas tree?

How many presents do you/ did you recieve?

Sophomore Aanna Roslien, senior Kylie Roslien freshman Halle Van Vark

Naughty OR

The Parents•

Nice

Type of Lights on Christmas trees

The Grandparents•

Lights brighten community, memoralize loved one

11,000 lights, 100 wood figurines, a memory of the one he loves, and a passion for Christmas lights. Jack Pinegar owns the house at 110 Peace Street that lights up the entire street, as well as the faces of those in the neighborhood and those who view his exhibit.

Pinegar started his project in 1989 when he made a gingerbread train for his son; from then on, he just kept adding to his collection.

“It is a passion; I love doing it. I do it for the community and the neighbors. I had a boy come and take pictures recently. He put them on Facebook and said ‘Good job, Jack’,” said Pinegar.

His true inspiration comes from the one he loves, Ruth Pinegar.

“Two years ago I lost my wife, Ruth, I have a special figurine for her on the corner. It is a heart with her name in it,” said Pinegar.

This is not easy work to put on this type of showing. It takes time and persistence as well as dedication.

“It takes about a month-and-a-half to get it all set up and put onto the house. I usually pull them out after Halloween. My grandkids come down; the six boys help out a lot,” said Pinegar.

Lights are also frustrating to deal with when there are 11,000 of them.

“The animals seem to get into the lights, which makes it difficult. It is time-consuming when you have to go back and fix those things. I fight and fight with lights, and sometimes, I am like Griswald I blow a fuse,” said Pinegar.

Although it may be tough, Pinegar can be considered a celebrity. He was featured on television for about a dayand-a-half.

“WHO 13 came down to do a feature story. It was on the all of one days showings as well as part of the following day. The neighbors teased me and said they wanted my autograph,” said Pinegar.

•Garret Jansen (gjansen@pelladium.com)

•A glimpse at the decorations adorning the home of Jack Pinegar, 110 Peace Street. •Photo by Garret Jansen

•Polls, graphs by Laurel Stelter, Ben Konfrst

Academic Coach Sheri Roslien Math teacher Wade Van Vark

7

12. 20. 2013

Maurine Timmer Sue Van Vark

“I am the only child in my family who settled in Pella. I have one brother who has lived in Japan for 27 years, and my other brother and his family live in Indiana. Christmas is so different because my family doesn’t often get together. Because I see my parents often, we tend to Christmas in Decorah with my husband’s family.” - Sheri Roslien

“I think that how Christmas has changed is that it has become so expensive. We spend so much more on gifts for so many more people.

When I was growing up, church was the focus. I remember going to church more often during the Advent season.” - Maurine Timmer

“My favorite Christmas food is definitely just all of the desserts, especially chocolate anything!” -Freshman Halle VanVark

“Every Christmas morning growing up my mom would make Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Now, I do that for my own children. So, that’s my favorite Christmas food.” - Wade VanVark

“[My favorite Christmas food was] decorated cookies. My mom made great cookies. And, if I need to mention ‘real’ food, well that would be ham.” - Sue VanVark

“We have a real tree this year, and we put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving.” -Sophomore Aanna Roslien

“When we lived in Sioux Falls, we had a real tree and it was dusted white. I think we always had a fake tree in Pella. My mom and brother, Kyl, were in charge of decorating the tree. I really have no recollection of when we put up the tree, but I know it was always beautiful and symmetrical. Our house was on the Tour of Homes in the mid 70’s, so we had lots of neat decorations that year.” - Sheri Roslien

“We would get our tree really close to Christmas. My mother would say that ‘the pickin’s were slim, but the price is right.’ We decorated the tree with fake bubble lights, ornaments, strings of cranberries, and at the end, they all got to throw silver tinsel on it. It was an ugly tree with gorgeous decorations.” - Maurine Timmer

“The total [gifts I receive are] about 30 maybe. My birthday is two days before Christmas, so the gifts kind of get jumbled up!”

-Freshman Halle VanVark

“Since I got gifts from both my grandparents and parents growing up, I think I was spoiled. My brother and I usually ended up with about six gifts each and then usually a family gift from Santa. We were extremely blessed to have so much growing up.” - Wade VanVark

“[I usually received] two to three gifts.” - Sue VanVark

Third Church spreads Christmas spirit in many ways, areas

When Christmas comes around the main focus is what each person can gain for themselves. People are zoned in on gifts they want, what food they will eat, everything that they can benefit. The media gives the idea that the main focus of the holiday season is all about ourselves. Over the past two decades, Third Church has tried to break away from this culture around Christmas.

“For the past 21 years, Third Church has sought to share love, hope, encouragement and resources as the Holy Spirit leads,” said Third Church pastor Kevin Korver.

The Spirit has led Korver and his church in many different directions, creating much diversity where support efforts have been focused.

“It seems each year is unique. Some years a major drive of some kind was initiated. Other years, significant amounts of money were donated to specific schools for gifts, snow boots, coats and mittens. Other years we partnered with a national movement of some kind,” said Korver.

As the Christmas season approaches, the church has felt a special calling to one certain area, focusing on smaller families and groups of people. They are focused on bringing these people the Light of Christ. The call is being answered in many different ways, involving many different organizations.

“People are partnering with Many Hands for Haiti, Sak Saum, Seer Outfitters, Hope Ministries, Bethany Christian services, a church camp in Alaska, PAATH (Honduras), an orphanage in Brazil, local families in need and more,” said Korver.

With all of the diversity and range of activities and organizations, it takes many people to pull it off. Korver has been impressed with the actions that have taken place, watching people submit themselves for the good of the cause, whether the project was in Pella, or all the way in Brazil.

“It has been really interesting to see people band together and joyfully seek to helpfully share the Christmas spirit with others. There really have been no identifiable leaders, just people sensing a call and asking others to join them in response thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of volunteerism, lots of encouragement and blessing, from Pella to Brazil,” said Korver.

•Derrick Akers (dakers@pelladium.com)

8

PAGE EDITOR: Claire Anderson

Opinion

12. 20. 2013

The Bottom Line •A column by Christina Gualtieri

‘Tis the season for semester tests! Those few words cause a groaning in unison from about 700 students. Semester tests are stressful, straight up. Recalling things learned in the first few weeks of school is hard enough. Being tested on them is even more difficult.

However, more and more teachers are deciding to tests students’ knowledge of the subject itself, rather than quizzing on facts that they memorized the night before.

This is done by assigning projects. I used to not be a fan of semester projects. They take a lot of time out of class and are difficult to procrastinate until the night before. However, now I would much rather have eight semester projects rather than eight tests for several reasons.

My first reason for preferring projects is that Scantron tests put each student into the same mold. Many of the questions are just recalling facts learned previously in the year.

This does not promote higher thinking, just memorization. While one student may not remember the date the stock market crashed, he/she may be able to write an entire paper on the effect the stock market crash had on families across the United States. Another student may be able to create a model of what the average household looked like after the crash. Scantron tests do not promote individualized education; instead, they promote making each student the same as the next. But aren’t we all supposed to be individuals?

Writing this makes me remember the quote from Albert Einstein, “Everybody is a genius.

Immigration Reform Submitted by Hannah Van Weelden

But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

My second reason for being a fan of semester projects is students have the chance to get answers correctly without knowing the answer. With Scantron tests, a student has a 25% chance of guessing the right letter, regardless of whether or not they actually know the answer. I do this as well, taking guesses when I don’t know the answer, and sometimes I even get them right. While I love getting a good grade on a test as much as the next person, it doesn’t mean I know the test material well, it means I’m a lucky guesser. Of course, this doesn’t happen often. I usually will get the answer wrong if I just guess C, but I don’t think it’s fair for me to get a correct answer when I truly do not know the subject.

Projects don’t do either of these. With a project, students have more room to express creativity and apply their knowledge to real-life principles, minimizing the “when will I ever use this knowledge?” question that is so often asked. It also makes sure the student truly understands the subject, as it is hard to not know the material if you are writing a two paged paper or creating a scale model. It also eliminates last minute cramming, just to refresh your memory. (Although if you aren’t careful, you may procrastinate the projects until the night before, having to pull an all-nighter just to finish.). Either way, I believe projects are a better option.

Staff Editorial Christmas cheer abounds. Candy canes, Santa Claus and the exodus of pumpkin spice lattés all combine to create the most wonderful time of the year.

People love Christmas. Everyone is just happier than they are at any other time of the year. No matter what they’re happy about, whether it be celebrating a religious holiday, getting together with family or just getting a ton of presents everyone just has a jolly good time. It’s nice to see everyone getting along for a change. Every night the news reports show people being robbed and murdered and frankly, that doesn’t get people positive about life.

But when Christmas comes around, stories of armed robberies turn into stories about how an old man donated thousands of dollars to a hospital, and homicide stories change to heartwarming stories about little children receiving gifts from their wish lists. The whole feeling of Christmas is a pleasant six-week change from the rest of the year.

However, problems come with Christmas. While we enjoy that people are happy in general, it does bother us when people only care about presents.Trust us, we love presents, but when people only talk about how excited they are for their presents this year, it is annoying. There’s just so much more to be grateful and happy about than the new iPhone.

So, people, while it’s fine to be excited about presents, just take some time to appreciate family and the other wonderful things that St. Nick has prepared for the season.

All things aside, we hope people find joy in this holiday season, whether it be through the pleasant company of family or the pleasant company of Siri.

Staff voted 18-0 in favor of this editorial

Commentary: Drug situation

Happy Holidays from the Pelladium Staff

For the past several years here, the administration has been aware of a “drug problem.” In that time, a handful of students have been suspended, expelled or even arrested due to possession of prohibited materials. Some students at this school may be unaware of this problem, despite the administration’s concerns of drugs being rampant, though it seems hard to be completely ignorant on this issue after drug dogs have been paraded through the halls each of the past two years. These searches allow the school to combat the selling or possession of various drugs (specifically marijuana) by scanning student cars and lockers for the drugs. But. perhaps it ignores a more serious issue: prescription pills.

Marijuana is, obviously, somewhat detrimental to your health. There is an argument to be made that it is no worse than other controlled substances like cigarettes or alcohol, but regardless it can hurt you. This danger, while present, is dwarfed in comparison to the danger of prescription medication.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has studied overdoses over the past two decades.

In the past 20 years, over 71,000 people under the age of 18 have overdosed on drugs of some kind. Sixty percent of these deaths were directly caused by ingesting lethal doses of prescription medication (while a shocking zero have overdosed on marijuana). While the school can’t advocate the use of marijuana, it is important to focus on the priorities of a situation. The true problem for students at this school and all over the world is the abuse of medication. It is easier to obtain than any other controlled substance, because these drugs can be found in almost every medicine cabinet in every household.

The dog search in November yielded zero suspensions, zero expulsions and zero arrests. In the weeks following (which were full of congratulatory pats on the back and framing of drug-free zone signs), we were ecstatic about the lack of drugs on the school grounds. To everyone’s dismay, the very next week, four students were found to be in possession of prescription pills. Two of these students could be expelled, including one who has had charges pressed against him.

It should be noted that drug dogs are incapable of smelling pills. The dogs can be viewed as a necessary deterrent against bringing weed or cocaine to school, but if the root of the issue is pills, then is there even a need for these searches? It seems to me that the school is more looking to appear strong against drugs, not to actually combat them. It is like we are pouring a single bucket of water on a wildfire and then saying, “Hey look, I’m helping!”. But, while we high five about putting out the fire, it only continues to grow.

Appearing proactive and actually making a difference are two completely different things.

Drugs will never be completely removed from this school. That sounds cynical, but it is just realistic.

The more we focus on pot, the less we can focus on other, more dangerous drugs. We get so worked up about the kid who comes to school with red eyes and a lethargic attitude, that we ignore the one who is overdosing in his parent’s bathroom.

•Jake Dorman (jdorman@pelladium.com)

12. 20. 2013

OPINION

Page Editor: Christina Gualtlieri

The Other Side

The Lit t le

Guy

•A column by Greg Frommelt

•A column by Derrick Akers It’s almost Christmas, but is it actually?

I ask this is because I have seen Christmas ads since the beginning of October, hearing Christmas music since Halloween and seeing Christmas trees outside of Hy-Vee long before Thanksgiving. With these early implications of Christmas, I thought it was December when it was the end of October.

This is the problem with America. We can’t enjoy the moment we have but instead look in the future.

Take Halloween for example. The country feels the need to look forward to not only Thanksgiving, but Christmas.

At this point, the holiday was a full 55 days away. This is ridiculous! Somewhere along the line, someone decided that Thanksgiving was not important enough to take a minute to prepare for, but instead led us all to Christmas. The worst part is, when this joyful day finally comes, people are already looking forward to the next holiday. It is truly a relentless cycle that will never end.

This is true in more than just holiday ads. It leaks into life in general. People in middle school are being asked to plan out

Was Christmas more significant to you as a child or now?

•Corey Elliott (Elliott@pelladium.com)

their entire high school career. This makes no sense. Believe it or not, the person we were yesterday and the person we are today are different; the people we were in middle school compared to senior year are not the same.

The same is true for college. We are asked to shape our future beginning sophomore year, and at that time, I had no idea what I was wanted to do on the weekend. College was a long way off for me. It was still insisted that we begin college planning. I think we are looking way too far into the future when we are changing every day, making us different.

This all comes down to the fact that we cannot just stop and smell the roses. We only have this one chance to live this life on earth, so if we keep looking forward, the next thing we know there will be nothing to look forward to. I encourage you to stop and look around, to smell the roses per se, and realize what all you have and how you have been blessed with all of the the people around you. It is the only life we have to live, so the only thing we can do is make the most of what we have.

Freshman Elisabeth Jansen “Christmas means more to me now because I get the picture of what it is about.”

9

We recently observed the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a man who inspired our country.

Broadcasters on the news have showed a video containing Kennedy’s famous quotes.

I decided to write a column on these quotes, not because I think that Kennedy is some extremely wise individual, but because he provides a unique look at how our country is today.

He is said by many to be a hopeful American. The hopes he had for this country are preserved through history books everywhere; the question is, are we living up to them?

“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

This is perhaps the easiest to see whether we are living up to what Kennedy envisioned. The short answer is no.

The lack of agreement throughout the government is almost laughable. As our government attempts to make changes,

Sophomore Will Warner “[As a child] because I enjoyed getting presents and getting up early to open them.”

some congressmen will stand up and talk gibberish in an attempt to stall progress the other party is attempting to make.

Texas senator Ted Cruz recently read the book “Green Eggs and Ham” during one meeting.

I can not believe that Kennedy would be very happy with this.

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

This quote is a more difficult to judge whether we have lived up to it. We have been quick to rush our military aid to countries who are struggling for liberty, which has been met with extreme restraint by some of the civilian population.

The extreme nature of Kennedy’s words make it difficult to live up to. Certainly we have not had to bear every single burden that assaults liberty. Have we kept the sense of liberty alive in the United States? I would say yes. Have we lived up to the hopes of Kennedy? Perhaps not.

Junior Quinton Murphy “Christmas means more now because I understand the true meaning of it.”

Senior Kasey Grundey “[As a child] because it was special as a child. I looked forward to presents.”

Mandela’s legacy ...

“His death is a really signifiant event because he had such a big impact on so many people.” - Senior Tristan Miedema “He was a very inspiring man who reminds me every day to be a better person.” - Freshman Paloma Mate-Kodjo

“It’s such a shame that he died. - Sophomore Joe Start “He is very inspiring, I really like what he did. He stood up for what he believed in. He... [was one of ] my role models.” - Junior Dayana Pringle

“... The fact that he forgave the people who put him in jail is a big deal. That takes a lot of courage.” - Freshman Sarah Killoren “It’s not too often in our history that one man can have such an impact on such a large population. For that, I have respect.” - iStudy Advisor Mike Buchheit

Pelladium Staff

Executive Editors: Sarah Muller, Greg Frommelt, Ben Konfrst, Derrick Akers, Jake Dorman Page Editors/Reporters: Colin Jones, Christina Gualtieri, Claire Anderson, Garret Jansen, Frommelt, Muller, Konfrst, Akers, Dorman Reporters: Corey Elliott, Alexandria Goodyk, Aletta Verhey, Megan Kooker, Andrew Pavlat, Jack Systma, Laurel Stelter, Aaron VanMaanen, Joshua Da Business Manager/Social Media Manager: Marissa Borgerding, Jason Mingboupha Cover Page: Ben Konfrst Adviser: Ann Visser The Pelladium is a monthly tabloid produced by the high school journalism department to serve as an informative, educational and entertaining communications media and to provide an open forum to students and readers. •Letters to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. These letters must be signed and should, in no way, be libelous, irresponsible or obscene. Letters must have verified facts and should deal with issues. The Pelladium reserves the right to edit grammatical editors, libelous content or length due to space limitations. Letters may be brought to Room 201 or sent to Pella Community High School, Box 468, Pella, IA 50219. •The Pelladium will strive to deliver information in a fair and truthful manner. The Pelladium will function in accord with all applicable laws, both in regard to the rights and restrictions of journalism. •The views expressed in this publication are those of the individual writer and are not those necessarily of the Pella Community Schools administration or the Board of Education. •The Pelladium will make retractions in the event of errors made in the content of printed stories. Retractions will be printed in the issue immediately following the issue containing the error. •The Pelladium is a member of the Iowa High School Press Association

10

PAGE EDITOR:Colin Jones

Entertainment

Thorson reigns victorious Another eventful round of “The Teacher Games” has gone by, and one lone gym teacher stands victorious. Physical education teacher Corey Thorson displayed his brute strength, taking the games by force, proving he was going to be champion material.

Many champions have memorable reactions to winning an activity, such as saying they will be going to Disneyland. Thorson was very concise in describing his first reaction of finding out he was the champion of “The Teacher Games.”

“Pure joy,” said Thorson.

He believes there were two factors to him winning the games.

“My red neck ninja skills, and possibly threatening the freshman students to run a mile if I lost,” said Thorson.

Thorson also shared his advice to future teachers who will participate in “The Teacher Games.”

“Step it up; get better,” said Thorson.

Two teachers made it to the top three but fell short. An underrated competitor who took the games with innocent stealth was administrative assistant Charma VanderWert.

“I was shocked that I lost to Thorson,” said VanderWert.

Wade Van Vark was the third teacher whose height, athleticism and math skills brought him to the final round.

Van Vark gave Thorson competition, and was a fierce competitor as well.

“I was excited that I was still surviving among many worthy competitors,” said VanderWert.

All good things come to an end, neither VanderWert or Van Vark ended up being “The Teacher Games” champion.

“I think it’s fitting that Mr. Thorson won the Teacher Games,” said Van Vark. “With all the living creatures he’s killed in his lifetime, knocking off a few teachers probably isn’t that big a deal to him.”

12.20.2013

Ways to bring in New Year’s cheer ab

Ki ss Som eon e a t Mi dn i gh t. While this is certainly an overused cliché, it can still be an enjoyable life experience. When the clock strikes midnight, grab the nearest girl or guy and give them a kiss.

ab

Thro w a Part y. New Year’s is a time to be around your friends. There is no better way to ensure all goes well than to get the party going yourself. Grab some chips, a bouncy house and hire a magician, because this party is going to be kickin’.

ab

Burn Your Chri s t mas Spi rit. Apparently, in the Netherlands, it is common to drag your Christmas tree out into the street and burn it. Let’s honor this town’s Dutch heritage this year. Why stop at the tree? Throw everything you can on the fire. Ornaments, leftover candy canes and mistletoe all serve as great fuel for the blaze. Before long, Pella will be a wildfire of good cheer, emitting a peppermint-scented pillar of smoke.

ab

Wa t ch t he Ball Drop i n Ti m es Square. Whenever I picture New Year’s Eve, I always have the image of the huge ball descending on the streets of New York as drunken onlookers chant mindlessly. It may be difficult arranging travel plans to see the ball drop in person, but it is always aired on T.V. and is a New Year’s must. Plus who knows?

Maybe the ball falls loose and creates some sort of Indiana Jones’ style chaos. I, for one, don’t want to miss that.

ab

•Aaron Van Maanen (avanmaanen@pelladium.com)

Don’t Comm it a Seri ous Cri m e. Don’t do it. It’s a bad Idea.

•J.R. Dorman (jdorman@pelladium.com)

Students put a twist on Christmas Decorating a tree, hanging up mistletoe, eating candy canes and waiting for Santa to arrive are all traditions that students hold dearly. Customs including having “themed” Christmases, baking potato cakes and searching for a plastic pickle in a Christmas tree are not common, though a few students bring about this with their families.

“This year, we are having an Italian Christmas. Last year we had a Dutch Christmas, which included Dutch food and we gave each other Dutch names,” said freshman Hannah Emmert.

Each year, Emmert has a “themed Christmas.” Emmert and her family will have Italianbased items at this year’s Christmas party. Emmert will also be taking part in making care packages and donating objects to others.

“There are about 30 people involved in a ‘family project.’ We get together the day before Christmas, and we make care packages or donate things,” said Emmert.

Emmert may have a unique tradition, but she is not the only student. Sophomore Diana Romero celebrates Las Posadas with her family. Las Posadas is a nine-day celebration where families cook and give thanks.

“We cook food, feast and put things in containers and give those to neighbors. The whole tradition originally comes from Mary and Joseph trying to find a place for the night. Now, we celebrate and give to others because they found one [a place to stay],” said Romero.

Getting white elephant gifts is becoming a tradition for numerous people in the United States.

“People bring all sorts of stuff [to my family’s house] as a gift. Then, you pick one out of the middle and see what you get. You don’t know what you’re going to get until you open it,” said freshman Ben Thomas.

Thomas has more than one unique tradition that he and his family celebrates.

4Themed “My parents hide a pickle in the [Christmas] tree on Christmas Eve. The kid who finds it first, celebratio opens the first present,” said Thomas.

4Pickle in ns the tree Another notable Christmas custom is senior 4Potato Chelsea Cingle’s family tradition during the cakes 4White e holidays. lephants “We make ninja-throwing stars out of 4Ninja-th rowing Christmas cookies; the hard ones work the cookies best,” said Cingle. “The idea came when my dad and my brother were taunting my dog with an old Christmas cookie shaped like a star.

They threw it to each other, and it started the whole tradition.”

Not only baking cookies, but baking cakes is a customary tradition for any holiday, though the process that freshman Kara Schaudt uses is a little less-than-ordinary.

“We go to my uncle’s house and make potato cakes together as one big family. We just bring a lot of food, watch a game on T.V. and go through massive amounts of potatoes.

Some people bring some other Norwegian foods too,” said Schaudt.

Potato cakes are simply hashed potatoes, made into a patty closely related to a hash brown. They are much like a pancake except for they are made of potatoes and thinner than a pancake.

“Making potato cakes is just a tradition. We enjoy eating them, and it gives us an excuse to spend time together as a family,” said Schaudt.

•Jack Sytsma (jsytsma@pelladium.com)

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Van Sant Collision Repair, 80 Truman Road Wiskus Group, 821 Franklin Street Van Gorp Corporation, 1410 West Washington Street

12.20. 2013

Entertainment

PAGE EDITOR: JR Dorman

11

221 Polled

Every family has classic Christmas movies that they know and remember.

Every family has a different set, but for my family these are five classics that stand out.

• Laurel Stelter (Lstelter@pelladium.com

Josh Draws

1. “It’s a Wonderful Life” There is no movie more classically Christmas than this. Jimmy Stewart stars as George Bailey, a man down on his luck at work who is about to kill himself. An angel comes and shows George how his life has influenced the entire town where he lives showing him the importance of his life. It’s a film that warms the heart and puts you into the Christmas spirit.

with Josh Da

2. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Who doesn’t love the Grinch? In our house, it’s the live action version, but I know people love both. A mean old man sets out to destroy Christmas for the villagers of Whoville, and ends up learning the true meaning of Christmas.

I no longer keep a naughty or nice list.

All I care about is who friends me.

3. “Elf ” This one is pretty new, but for many families, it was an instant classic. Buddy the Elf, a worker in Santa’s workshop, finds that he isn’t actually an elf, and sets off to New York to find his father. There he finds a new world he’s never experienced and finds a new life, love and his family.

4. “A Christmas Story” This one’s a little weird, but I think that’s what makes it such a classic. A young boy just wants a BB gun for Christmas, but instead he gets a bunny suit. You see into his strange family, his life being bullied, and in the end *spoiler alert*, he gets his gun.

5. “A Christmas Carol” There have been many versions of this movie, but my favorite is the 1984 version, a classic tale of an angry man who is shown the true meaning of Christmas and has a change of heart. Having flashbacks to #2? Yeah, me too.

Although we all have different Christmas favorites, these are a few mustwatch in the way of classics and instant classics. Grab some cocoa, your snuggy, and get watching.

•Claire Anderson (claire.anderson@student.pella.k12.ia.us)

TWItTEN BY 1.

Top Tweets for December

Tanner Phelps- @tannerphelps Help I’ve fallen and I can’t turn up

2.

Katie Canfield- @KatieCanfield12 Just saw Regina picking up Denis from Walmart. I heard her say, “Get in loser we’re going shopping.”

6.

Molly Kellar- @kellar_molly *at Goldie’s* *brother picks up a pickle* “what is this?” ha ha ha ha…...he doesn’t get out much

7.

Mackenzie Gustafson- @KenzieGus15 I’m at home on a Saturday night doing sudoku puzzles. Somebody help me.

3.

8.

4. Jackson Scholten- @Sonofjack24

9.

5. Ethan Butler- @SpeedyButler

10. Faith Van Wyngarden- @faith_van

Allee Kowzan- @AlleeKowzan_34 Dumb middle schooler waiting in line for catching fire: this movie is gunna be so turn up @ClaybieBabie hey man sorry you had to overhear coach telling me that I’m starting the rest of the season. Hope we can still be friends.

You’re as useless as a traffic light in Grand theft auto…

Jay Belding- @JayBelding I decided hot chocolate was too weak so I melted 4 cups of chocolate chips and drank it like a man.

Brad Bortscheller- @SpottedTortoise My mom said I can’t hang out with Kelcey until I read The Book Thief. This is getting pretty serious.

Taco John’s is a mexican restaurant, so why on earth is it not Taco Juan’s or Los Tacos de Juan??! #seriouslytho #getitright •Aletta Verhey (Averhey@pelladium.com)

12

PAGE EDITOR: Sarah Muller

Picture This

12.20.2013

Hashtags, followers and likes oh my!

Instagram is the picture version of Twitter and it’s taking over smartphones everywhere. Dedicated to channel everyone’s inner photographer, Instagram has given Pelladium the opportunity to shine a light on PHS Instagrammers.

>>Junior Taika Dennill (daslittlemonster) sarcastically observes her surroundings while waiting for speech team.

>> Senior Olivia Gaiser (oliveya2) photographs senior Alex Moore for a signature “Man Candy Monday.”

>>Sophomore Noah Clayberg (noahclay_45) preps his puppy for the holiday season.

>>Freshman Tyson Wassenaar (tyson_wassenaar) preps friends to make a music video to One Direction’s “Best Song Ever,” to entertain freshman Ben Tysseling during his recovery.

>>Senior Faith VanWyngarden (faith_vanw) confesses her favorite holiday ice cream when available in stores.

>>Senior Tom Palmer (tompalmer21) finds a deal on apples during Black Friday.