Volume39issue1

THE

T-BIRD TIMES

Volume 39, Issue 1

Skyline High School October 10, 2014

tbirdtimes.com

Posing for her picture with her newly painted spot is senior Alyssa Swonger.

Swonger said it took her two hours to paint.

Courtesy Photo

Exclusively Online

Watch for feature videos on new teachers

by Colin Little, Justin Holtz, Dustin Weber and Joaquin Corona and on new students by Austin Gilpin, Alyssa Allphin, Alex Lutz and Jenessa Corbet. Look for videos

by Oct. 17 at the T-Bird Times video link.

Senior Madison Golden wrote a piece about student volunteerism that appeared in The Pratt Tribune on Oct. 4.

What’s Inside?

Opinion--------------pg 2 News------------------pg 3 Features------- pg 4-5, 8 Sports-------------- pg 6-7

Parking spaces spark creativity

by Madison Golden Reporter

Painted parking spots at other schools inspired the Pep Club sponsor to sell parking spots to help raise money for scholarships.

“A couple schools I have gone to for MAYB had painted parking spots and I thought it was neat, so I stole the idea,” Pep Club sponsor Summer Younie said.

The prices of the spots ranged anywhere from $15 to $40. The spots closest to the locker rooms were the most expensive spots. Younie raised $1,100 and plans to use the money for Pep Club scholarships. Younie was happy with the amount of money she raised, for the

number of spots that were sold.

“I am hoping to do it next year since this year went so well,” Younie said.

The Pep Club painted spots Sept. 7 and Sept. 14.

Students were inspired by their favorite things and anything random that they could call their own.

“I painted a giraffe because someone from a different school had it and I thought it was cool and unique,” senior Alyssa Swonger said.

Several students decorated their spots to reflect their personality.

Junior Betsy Giles put a basketball on her spot with her last name and number, since her and her brother have the same number and

it’s her favorite sport. Giles also helped paint some of the teachers spots and junior Kasey Gilpin’s spot.

Some students weren’t as happy paying for spots.

“All the spots I wanted were taken and I didn’t want to spend $20 on a spot that I was not going to keep forever,” junior Brandon Niblett said.

For the students that did choose to make a purchase, it is only their spot when school is in session. If there is a home game they might not get to park in their spot that they bought. During the school day if another student parks in someone else’s spot they get fined five dollars. The proceeds and all the fines will go to the Pep Club scholarships.

Page 2 The T-Bird Times is an open forum for student expression. The mission of the T-Bird Times editorial page is to engage all students and patrons in a search for democratic solutions.

The T-Bird Times’ editorial voice, expressed in the form of editorials, columns and articles, is a part of that search, but only one part.

The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of other students, the adviser, faculty, administrators or the Board of Education of this district.

The T-Bird Times, a member of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and the American Society of Newspaper Editors, is published by the 21st Century Journalism class at Skyline High School, 20269 W. Hwy. 54, Pratt, Kan., 67124. The T-Bird Times is printed in-house and distributed to high school students and staff. The pages can also be found online at www.tbirdtimes.com.

The T-Bird Times will strive to live up to the highest standards of professional journalism. The T-Bird Times endorses the First Amendment of the Constitution and will not publish material that could cause disorderly conduct or invade the rights of others. Any material that is not original will be given full credit, and The T-Bird Times will acknowledge any mistakes by correcting any errors that are brought to the attention of the staff.

The staff welcomes letters to the editor from patrons and students.

Letters to the editor must be signed and the staff reserves the right to edit letters for libel and grammar.

Opinion

October 10, 2014

Help yourself, help others Volunteerism is a critical part of our society.

Robert “Beau” Bassett stopped at Skyline on Sept. 30 to encourage students to get involved in their community and to volunteer.

Bassett stressed how important giving your time and talents to people less fortunate than you is to living a full life.

“We’re all on the same side, trying to improve things and make things better,” Bassett said.

Bassett has spent much of his life volunteering. He is on his third leg of a bike trip to promote youth leadership and volunteerism.

Volunteerism is an element that is missing in many peoples’ lives today. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just over one-fourth of Americans volunteer. Between September 2012 and September 2013, 62.6 million people volunteered at least once, but the trend of volunteerism is going

the wrong way. Volunteers decreased by 1.1 percent.

It is really easy to get involved. Just find an organization that fits your skills and schedule. A great resource for us here in Kansas is www.volunteerkansas.org. Whether it be helping animals, kids or the elderly, you can find an activity that fits in your interests and schedule.

By volunteering, not only does your community benefit, but you are doing yourself good. People who volunteer live fuller lives and make connections that will help them later in life. Volunteers meet people that can give them jobs, references and guidance.

We should all try to be a little more like Bassett. Donating our time to a great cause does everyone involved good. The community, the recipient and the volunteer are all better because someone donated a few minutes of their day.

National Volunteer Organizations

Staff Reporters ......Mason Brack Jenessa Corbet Madison Golden Justin Hampel Justin Holtz Layton Kenworthy Landon Lee Colin Little Caden Patterson Kamryn Stark

Editor ................. Austin Gilpin Photographers........Lucas Cason Lexie Maloney Sheldon Miller Logan Reece Rance Tucker Adviser................ Judy Hampel

News

October 10, 2014

Page 3

Teachers’ classrooms get swapped

by Layton Kenworthy Reporter

At the start of the year, many teachers were moved to different rooms throughout the school. The teachers moved classrooms because of the new teachers Skyline gained.

Over the summer, head of maintenance Walt Stockwell and industrial technology teacher Sebastian Huelskamp worked to build teacher Megan Pohlmann’s classroom and technology director Kim Ghumm’s office. Each teacher has different opinions on their newly assigned rooms.

Journalism teacher Judy Hampel previously taught in a classroom with Ghumm. On occasions there were complications having an office and a classroom together, such as phone call interruptions. Problems were solved after Ghumm moved to her new office upstairs and Hampel moved to a classroom in the Technology building.

“I don’t worry about bothering Mrs. Hampel with

photo by Lexie Maloney

High school English teacher Morgan Ballard instructs in his new classroom.

This is Ballard’s first year teaching at Skyline. He occupies math teacher Karen Riffey’s old room and replaces former English teacher Marla Stark. calls anymore, or kids coming into the room,” Ghumm said.

She said the downside to the move is the isolation and the small size of her new office.

History teacher Summer Younie moved her classroom to the room that previously Ghumm and Hampel shared. Compared to her old room, there is more space and storage. Younie’s old

room was taken by math teacher Karen Riffey.

“My students miss my windows,” Younie said.

“The constant hum of the network (hardware) gets annoying.”

English teacher Morgan Ballard moved into Riffey’s previous classroom.

Compared to his previous classroom, his new room is bigger and is equipped with more technology.

Some students see the negatives of the new rooms.

They complain because of the distance to walk to Hampel’s room and the annoying sounds from the network hardware of Younie’s room.

“I don’t like walking out there and being buzzed back in,” junior Lexie Maloney said. “(During the winter) I’m not looking forward to walking out there. I do like the quiet.”

Skyline loses students, changes from 2A to 1A

by Justin Hampel Reporter

Recently the Kansas State High School Activities Association announced the school classifications for 2015 school year and one of the schools changing classifications was Skyline.

Twenty-one other schools changed classification including, Leavenworth-Immaculata and Pleasanton, who also went from 2A to 1A. Skyline came in with 96

students, which is the maximum number of students a 1A school can have this year.

Blue Rapids-Valley Heights also has 96 students.

“It will change who we will play in the post-season,” high school principal Herb McPherson said.

Volleyball and cross country will be affected by the change, while football will have no change at all due to already being in Eight-Man Division I. “It changes our Sub-State

and State prospects,” volleyball coach Summer Younie said. “Dropping to 1A helps us because we’ve played all the teams in our Sub-State and are familiar with them, except for Minneola, so we should have a better chance to go to State.”

The lady T-Birds are hosting Sub-State in the Thunderdome for the second year in a row on Oct. 25. The 1A State tournament is at Hays on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Gross Memorial Coliseum

on the campus of Fort Hays State University.

The volleyball team isn’t the only team excited about the changes. Cross country runners feel very good about their chances to make it to State as well.

“It makes our chance to go to State better,” cross country coach Lynette Freeman said. “Being a larger school gives an advantage because it gives us a full team, where smaller schools might not have a full team.”

October 10, 2014

Page 4

Attendants

Freshmen Jade Downs Brittaney Smith

Sophomores Jared Shriver Drew Thornburg

Juniors Colin Kumberg Payje Orler

Senior Candidates

Justin Holtz and Tiffany Timm

photo by Lucas Cason

Sophomores Rance Tucker and Matthew Giles get directions during class competitions. The sophomores won the day’s competition.

Colin Little and Madison Golden

photo by Lexie Maloney

Juniors Betsy Giles, Payje Orler and Hanna Baird decorate for homecoming. They called their float “Don’t Mess with the Bird.”

photo by Lexie Maloney

Juniors Alyssa Allphin and Rion Westhoff paint props for their float. The junior class got second place in the competitions.

Feature

Page 5

October 10, 2014

Spooktacular Homecoming

by Caden Patterson Reporter

The Fall Homecoming Spooktacular was held on Oct. 3.

“My favorite part of the whole homecoming day was being able to build the float,” freshman attendant Brittaney Smith said.

Each class competed against each other for a total of four hours on Friday morning to complete a class float.

Class competitions took place throughout the week.

Anyone that came to the game got a chance to vote for the float that they liked the best. The points from the competition and floats where added together and the class that received the most points earned a party from Pep Club. The freshmen won, followed by the

juniors, then the seniors.

The sophomores came in last.

The day consisted of working on floats in the morning, then working on skits and the assembly for the afternoon.

“I thought that the day went really well,” Pep Club sponsor Summer Younie said. “I like watching kids that don’t normally get to showcase their creative talent be able to show it.”

As tradition holds, a king and queen were crowned at the homecoming assembly.

Jenessa Corbet and Landon Lee were the king and queen. In September Corbet discovered she has a tumor in her leg, and is scheduled to have injections to heal it.

“I assumed I would get sympathy votes,” Corbet said. “I didn’t want to be in homecoming.”

King Landon Lee and Queen Jenessa Corbet

photo by Lexie Maloney

Seniors Austin Gilpin, Khaleb Cason and Katherine Ghumm work on their float. It had a graveyard theme.

photo by Lexie Maloney

Freshmen Madison Tyler and Brock Bailey draw on paper for their float. The freshmen’s float received the most first place votes.

photo by Logan Reece

Juniors Lucas Cason, Bryce McKennon and senior Khaleb Cason perform in the junior class skit. They picked two volunteers from the crowd for their skit.

Page 6

October 10, 2014

Sports

Little experience for volleyball team

Young T-Birds get ready to host Sub-State

by Colin Little Reporter

The Lady T-Birds have some big shoes to fill this season with six varsity girls graduating from last years’ squad.

The team has 13 girls out this season. There are two returning varsity players, sophomore Kamryn Stark and senior Alyssa Swonger.

Only one other senior, Katherine Ghumm, is on the squad.

“It kind of stinks to only have two senior girls out.

We usually have more to look up to,” junior Hanna

Baird said. “It is scary that we have only 13 kids out too because this is the smallest team that I have been a part of.”

With little experience and depth, the T-Birds have still had a good year. They finished second in the 39th annual T-Bird Classic Tournament, losing to Pratt in three matches. They participated in the Kiowa County Tournament and got third, beating Kiowa County in two matches.

“I liked the T-Bird Classic the most, because we made it to the championship game and got second. That is something that we haven’t done in a while,” freshman Sydney Koirth said.

“Playing in the Kiowa County Tournament was

kind of nerve racking, because I hadn’t gotten to play much varsity time,” freshman Hallee Burgardt said.

The T-Birds had their last home game of the season on Tuesday for senior night.

They beat South Barber in three matches for the first game and then beat Stafford in two matches.

The T-Birds moved down to 1A for the first time in five years. That means the road to State is different.

The T-Birds get to host

Sub-State for the second year in a row. They will get to play some familiar faces including Burrton, Fairfield, Macksville, Minneola and Pretty Prairie. State will be held at Fort Hays State.

The Lady T-Birds go to Garden Plain for a seven team tournament that will be held this Saturday.

The remainder of their schedule has the T-Birds playing at Macksville on Tuesday, then they go to Norwich for the league tournament, which they have won the last two years in a row.

Runners kicked off team due to policy violations

by Jenessa Corbet Reporter

There are rules and policies that have to be met when a student is a part of a team. Five runners of cross country did not meet those expectations earlier this season and were dismissed from the team.

While at a party at a member’s house, a video of a fight between two of the runners was uploaded on Facebook. The head coach saw it and suspected alcohol was involved.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” coach Lynette Freeman said. “We have very strict rules about alcohol and tobacco products.”

The rest of the team agrees with their coach and believes that the right course of action was taken.

“It was right for them to get kicked off,” sophomore Madalyn Owens said.

After losing four varsity runners, the remaining athletes question whether or not cross country will still move on to State.

“I still believe the team can do pretty good,” junior Colin Kumberg said. “The worst part of the incident was losing friends from the team.”

With Skyline dropping to 1A, the team believes that their chances of going to State have greatly increased.

“Our team has handled this very well and they have all stepped up tremendously,” Freeman said.

Five varsity boys, along with two varsity girls, still remain and are pushing strong. Kumberg has a record of 20:07. Owens, the

photo by Lucas Cason Bowing their heads, cross country team prays before the race. This is the first meet after losing teammates.

oldest varsity member for the girls, has a time of 18:13.

“I hope that there was an important lesson learned in all of this and that we don’t have to do this ever again,” Freeman said.

The team is still in the running for State and have

improved their times. Freeman can see improvement at each meet and looks forward to rewarding the kids who have been pushing hard.

The team is preparing for the HOPL meet next Thursday at Kinsley.

Sports

Page 7

October 10, 2014

T-Birds look forward to post-season

by Kamryn Stark Reporter

With nine seniors on the football team, the season seems very promising. After being the first team ever in Skyline history to go undefeated their eighth grade year in football, they have high expectations.

The team hopes to capitalize on the experience they have received their last three years. They won their first game of the season against top five ranked South Barber.

“I feel like we have a lot of pressure on us because as eighth graders we had a great team and most of us seniors have been getting a

lot of varsity playing time since we were sophomores and juniors,” senior Blake Lee said.

Along with having responsibilities on the field, the seniors also have the added pressure of being an example to the underclassmen. One of the team’s main goals is to make it to playoffs, but the seniors also have many other personal goals they want to achieve before the end of the season.

“I want to have at least 100 rushing yards and double digits in solo tackles,” senior Levi Johnston said.

Leadership is a key to success in the game of football.

Having nine seniors on the team gives the underclass-

photo by Caden Patterson

Breaking loose from Titan tackles, senior Dustin Weber runs down the field for a gain. Skyline lost the game 5490. Weber has a total of 801 rushing yards this season.

men a lot to look up to.

Senior Daniel Hacker is a good example to the team.

“Daniel shows the most leadership on the team because he works hard at everything he does and nev-

er gives up,” senior Tristen Hogan said.

The boys hope they can reach their goals as the playoffs approach. They hope all the hard work they’ve put into it will pay off.

Junior Payje Orler Outside Hitter

Are you excited to be 1A? Why? Yes, we have a good chance to make it to State.

Who influences you the most on the team?

I would say Madison, because we both push each other to run faster and harder.

Is this season different from last season?

Yes, it’s a new challenge because we have had the same starters for the past two years, but now we are finally coming together as a team.

What is your personal goal?

My personal goal is to medal at all the meets and push myself at Regionals and hopefully make it to State.

What games were you most excited for?

South Barber, because we lost to them earlier in preseason and we shouldn’t have.

Have you thought about running cross country in college?

Yeah, I have thought about it but I’m not sure if that is what I really want to do.

What’s your favorite part about game day?

Just the anticipation of playing the game.

What do you think about when you’re about to run?

I have a quote I like to think about. It is “Be better than average.” It helps me get mentally motivated.

What do you think about before you step on the court?

I think about how I need to keep my attitude up and to shake off my mistakes.

What’s your favorite part of meet days?

My favorite part is after the meet we always go out to eat like one big happy family. It’s my favorite.

Who influences you the most on the team?

Betsy, because no matter how we are playing she keeps a good attitude and tries to cheer everyone up.

What meet were you most excited for?

I was really excited for the home meet because I knew all my friends and family were going to be there to support me.

October 10, 2014

Page 8

Feature

Best friend compares knowledge to girlfriend 

Jessica DeWeese, 11 Celebrity Crush Dream Vacation

Favorite Sport Favorite Drink Favorite TV Show Favorite Team Favorite Movie Favorite Color

 Germany  Football 

Emma Stone

A&W

 K-State  Batman  Purple 

Spongebob



Hobbies

Hunting, fishing, sports

Favorite Singer

Alan Jackson





by Justin Holtz

Daniel Hacker, 12

Dustin Weber, 12

Emma Stone

Kate Upton

Germany

Brazil

Football

Football

Mug Root Beer

Mug Root Beer

Spongebob

Always sunny in Philadelphia

K-State

K-State

Dark Knight

Remember the Titans

Purple

Orange

Hunting, fishing, sports

Sports, being with friends

Alan Jackson

George Strait

 



John Wayne enthusiast takes on high school

by Landon Lee Reporter

The Class of 2018 shows a lot of character. One of the standout characters in this class is Jade Downs.

Downs arrived at Skyline when he was in second grade. He participates in choir and band. Downs is also the high school football manager.

“Well the food is my least favorite, but my favorite thing would be going to band in the morning,” Downs said about going to school at Skyline.

He plays the saxophone in the band. He says he likes high school band much more than he enjoyed middle school band. He enjoyed

his first band trip to the state fair and looks forward to future trips.

Many people find humor out of Downs’s obsession with western legend John Wayne. Downs says Wayne was his favorite actor because he was a real man, and he starred in some of his favorite movies. He says if he could meet one person it would be Wayne.

Downs said if he could change anything about Skyline “the food would be homemade every morning.”

Downs says some of his closer friends are sophomores Matthew Giles and Andrew Withers. Giles involves Downs in his activities and is very friendly.

Withers can comfort Downs

photo by Lucas Cason

While at the state fair for a band trip, freshman Jade Downs enjoys time at the carnival. The band competed in the marching competition that day.

with his humor and John Wayne jokes.

“I enjoy Jade being in my welding class,” Withers said.

“He makes it fun and enter-

taining.”

Downs is a familiar face around Skyline and he is very inviting with friendliness and humor.