Volume 40, issue 5

the

T - B ird Times Skyline High School | Volume 40, Issue 5 | May 6, 2016

courtesy photo

Seniors Betsy Giles and Kasey Gilpin receive the citizenship award. The teachers voted on the awards that the kids got at the achievement banquet.

See Seniors Page 4 & 5

Page 2

News/Opinion

May 6, 2016

Students join together for all school picnic

by Kamryn Stark

Reporter For the second time last Wednesday Skyline held the all school picnic that had activities for students and faculty of all ages.

The idea for the picnic came last year when all the field trips were canceled due to funding issues. After that, a group of parents got together and brainstormed an idea of a picnic to create a special day for all Skyline students.

“It was really fun to be able to hang out with all of the younger kids and to see how they interacted with the older kids, throughout the day,” sophomore Courtney Gamble said. “It was also really cute to see how excited the younger kids got to play in the bounce houses.”

Many different activities were available for the students to spend their time during the picnic. These activities were a petting zoo, bounce houses, hair spray coloring, kickball,

basketball, soccer and sidewalk chalk. To end the day the younger kids got back with their class to watch a movie and eat popcorn that was provided by the T-Bird Club.

“I had a lot of fun hanging out with the younger kids and watching them play all day, but I think we should have had some more things to do,” junior Raul Rios said.

“Although it was good for the kids to be able to hangout with other kids that aren’t

their age.”

The picnic started at 10:30 a.m. and ended at 1:30 p.m. after the entire school took a picture together outside in the bleachers. Students stayed with their T-Birds Teams throughout the day and participated in the different activities with their group. Lunch was served at different times for the different groups. The lunch included a hot dog, beans, carrots, chips and a cookie.

“I think what sets Skyline

a part is the leadership from our high schoolers, dedication of the staff and willingness of parent volunteers,” picnic coordinator Diane House said.

“We couldn’t do things like this without all of these people. So I think today was an amazing reflection of who the Skyline community is.”

The purpose of the picnic was for staff and students at Skyline to have a day to get together, relax and have a good time.

Older students bond with elementary kids

by MiKayla Hager

Reporter High school students are greatly encouraged to bond with the elementary and middle school children. Many of the little kids enjoy it because they get to spend quality time with the older kids. The high school kids enjoy taking responsibility and having fun with the elementary and middle school children.

Freshman Stephanie Holmes has fun bonding with different age groups throughout the school because it’s something different from the everyday school life.

“I like being with the younger children during T-Bird Teams because no one gets left out of the activities and we can all have fun,” Holmes said.

She always helped out with the children who were in her T-Bird Teams and made sure all the children were having fun with the best of her ability.

T-Bird Teams has definitely become a very good, once a month event by bringing the whole school together. It helps the entire student body to learn how to work together in different projects with multiple separate age groups.

Freshman Sarah Biettel has been a great influence on the younger children.

“I am able to bond with children who aren’t usually able to bond with others,” Biettel said. Many of the young ones that Beittel spends her T-Bird Teams with appear to enjoy having her with them.

Ever since the T-Bird Teams were started up a few years back the entire school has become more united with each other. Little kids have fun being able to affiliate with the older kids. Many of the students of the entire school are happier that they know other students of various ages.

Editor ..................Caden Patterson Staff Reporters............ Mason Brack Hallee Burgardt Miranda Ghumm MiKayla Hager Justin Hampel Kamryn Stark Andrew Withers Adviser.....................Judy Hampel Photographers..... Alyssa Allphin

Sarah Beittel

Jessica DeWeese

Matthew Giles

Mason Jones

Jared Shriver

May 6, 2016

Feature

Page 3

(front) Lexie Maloney, Miranda Ghumm, Betsy Giles, Ashley Mead, Briana Neifert, Payje Orler, Jessica DeWeese, Alyssa Allphin, Bailey DeClue, Hanna Baird. (back) Colin Kumberg, Rion Westhoff, Alex Lutz, Kasey Gilpin, Avery Jones, Bryce McKennon, Levi Ricker, Brady McComb, Joel Hendershot, Tracy Stimatze.

by Miranda Ghumm

Reporter

The school year is almost over and many of the faces people have gotten close to won’t be there anymore.

Skyline’s seniors are graduating and they won’t be returning. Many seniors are remaining close by and are planning to attend Pratt’s very own Pratt Community College.

“I plan to go to PCC and tentatively major in Graphic Design,” senior Briana Neifert said.

Senior Hanna Baird plans on moving to Dallas, Texas and take PCC’s online classes until she establishes residency.

Two of the seniors have signed on to college sports.

Senior Jessica DeWeese has committed to participate in track and field at Friends University.

Senior Payje Orler committed to playing basketball at Bethel College.

Many seniors are continuing their edu-

cation in their hometown Pratt, six of the 22 seniors are moving on to new things.

“I’m going to the University of Kansas and I’m thinking about majoring in something medical or business,” senior Colin Kumberg.

Close friend of Kumberg, senior Kasey Gilpin, also plans on majoring in business, but closer to home at Wichita State University.

Many of the seniors are planning on working while attending college.

Senior Bailey DeClue plans on attending PCC for two years while working.

Other seniors, or senior, have not yet decided on a final destination.

Senior Betsy Giles, one of the most qualified students of Skyline, has not yet decided which college has offered the best option for her to attend. Giles said that if all else fails, she will become a pirate.

Coincidentally, the University of Kansas offers a class in pirating history.

A lot of these students are ready to ex-

perience the new horizon ahead of them.

“I’m excited to not be in high school next year because it’s boring and I’m ready to leave,” Kumberg said.

Senior Lucas Cason is excited to be done with high school because he’s ready to sleep in more.

In spite of the excitement of leaving and getting a new experience, many of the students are going to miss many of the memories and friends they have made at Skyline.

“I’ll miss my friends and school sports,” DeClue said. “I’ll have to be an adult.”

Those that have been at Skyline since day one feel very connected to their home of 13 years.

“It’ll be a big a change from being here since kindergarten and I’ll miss knowing everyone and the family atmosphere,” DeWeese said.

Even though they’ll be miles apart, they will be close in Skyline’s heart.

April May 6,14,2016 2016

Senior Feature

AlyssaAllphin

HannaBaird

Lucas Cason

BaileyDeClue

Joel Hendershot

Avery Jones

Colin Kumberg

Alex Lutz

Briana Neifert

Payje Orler

Levi Ricker

Keigan Riggs

Page 5

JessicaDeWeese

Miranda Ghumm

Betsy Giles

Kasey Gilpin

Lexie Maloney

Brady McComb

Bryce McKennon

Ashley Mead

Class Motto: To achieve all that is possible, we must attempt the impossible. To be as much as we can, we must dream of being more.--Unknown Class Flower: White Rose

Tracy Stimatze

Rion Westhoff

Class Colors: Silver & Royal Blue

Page 6

Sports

May 6, 2016

Track athletes push themselves to success

by Hallee Burgardt

Reporter

courtesy photo

Freshman Dalton Kenworthy competes at Hoisington. Kenworthy was a distance runner and he was also a cross country runner. He was one of five freshmen boys out for track.

Despite the busy end of year schedule, the track team has continued to make great accomplishments.

The Kiowa County meet last Friday was canceled due to rainy weather and will not be rescheduled.

The girls’ team took home second place and the boys’ placed fifth at Hoisington on Tuesday.

Athletes have been trying new events and pushing themselves harder every meet to improve. The hard work is paying off.

The boys’ team placed tenth at the John E. Swinehart Norwich Invitational with 29 points and girls tied for sixth with Attica with an even 40 points. The meet had 14 teams that competed.

CARSON LEE, 10 Q: What is one goal you have for yourself this season?

A: I want to make it to State in javelin.

Q: What is your favorite event and why?

A: Javelin because it seems to come natural to me and it’s just a fun event to see how far you can get the Javelin.

Q: Who is someone you look up to and why?

A: My brother because from 7th grade he said he wanted to throw the discus at State and he worked at it until he achieved that.

Q: If you could pick one event to try for one meet what would it be?

A: Long or triple jump.

Q: What do you think has been the hardest challenge to overcome this season?

A: Starting out the season throwing quite a bit less than I did last year.

Q: What are some of your favorite things about the coaches?

A: They joke around with us and they try to just have normal conversations with us during practice.

Q: What is a team goal you would like to see everyone accomplish this year?

A: I wanna see everyone PR multiple times and I wanna see the guys team win a meet.

The boys’ 4x8 team, juniors Kendall Davidson and Garrett Bell and freshmen Dalton Kenworthy and Colby Shriver placed fifth with a time of 10:54. This group ran long distance together all season and they all participated in cross country.

“I think that we have a strong 4x8 team,” freshman Colby Shriver said.

“We’ve all ran cross country together so we’re used to each other.”

The team has five seniors out.

They help contribute to a lot of the points.

“I feel like overall we did good as a team,” senior Brady McComb said.

“We had multiple kids place in their respective events.”

The team competes at Bucklin today and should have a good turnout for the meet.

KAYLEY COOK, 9 Q: What is one goal you have for yourself this season?

A: To take at least two seconds off my 100m hurdles.

Q: What is your favorite event and why?

A: My favorite event is the 4x100 because it takes team work, so everyone has to do their part.

Q: Who is someone you look up to and why?

A: I look up to Sydney the most because she went to State as a freshman which shows me that it’s possible to go as a freshman and she is outstanding in every sport she does.

Q: If you could pick one event to try for one meet what would it be?

A: Javelin.

Q: What do you think has been the hardest challenge to overcome this season?

A: To get back into my hurdle routine because we don’t really have a hurdle coach this year.

Q: What are some of your favorite things about the coaches?

A: They like to have fun with us. They aren’t always serious.

They can joke around.

Q: What is your favorite part of each meet?

A: Getting to see different schools more than just once in the season.

Q: What is a team goal you would like to see everyone accomplish this year?

A: To get a new personal best.

May 6, 2016

Sports

Page 7

NBA playoffs continue to build anticipation

by Andrew Withers

Reporter Of the many hobbies that some high school students partake in, one is keeping up with the much anticipated NBA playoffs.

The games begin in the middle of April and end around the middle of June.

After an extensive 82 game regular season, the top eight teams from the Eastern and Western conferences go against each other and try to will themselves to the NBA Finals with a chance of taking home the NBA championship trophy. These games are played in a bracket style, best of seven series.

The two one seeded teams are the Golden State Warriors from the Western Conference and the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Eastern Conference. Coming out with the win in last year’s matchup against the Cavaliers in the Finals, and finishing the season with a record high number of 73 wins this regular season, the Warriors are the likely favorite to win it again. The other top seeds standing in their way are the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the defending Eastern Conference Champion Cavaliers.

“I like the Thunder because they are a team full of all-stars and they are a team that’s close to Kansas,” junior Jared Shriver said.

Though these top seeds are the favorites to win the title, there are 16 teams in the playoffs, and with the league being so talented across the board, there is a chance that the underdog teams can upset the bigger teams.

Injuries and fatigue from the 82 game regular season can also be a factor on how the teams perform in the playoffs.

Major injuries in the playoffs include the reigning league MVP Stephen Curry from the Warriors, and Chris Paul and Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers.

“I am excited for the playoffs because the intensity of the games is much higher, and the teams try harder compared to the regular season,” senior Alex Lutz said.

Students are excited to see the how their favorite teams perform and see who will win the championship.

Page 8

News

May 6, 2016

Summer brings busy schedules for students

by Justin Hampel

Reporter Skyline students have big plans this summer that vary from athletics to activities with family.

Summer may be called the off-season, but there is very little time off for athletes. Football players have weights four days a week in the morning throughout the summer along with camp. Volleyball also has weights and a camp in the summer while cross country has a certain amount of miles they have to run throughout the off-season.

Basketball players have lots of opportunities throughout

the summer to get in the gym.

The boys’ and the girls’ teams each play in the Skyline Summer League and the boys’ go to a team camp at K-State, while the girls’ go to a team camp at Wichita State. Assistant boys’ coach Kenny Eddy has one-on-one training available for anybody that wants to get into the gym over the summer.

He also has three camps that he will put on this summer for $30 each with all proceeds going to a Dr. Dish basketball shooting machine.

“This summer I plan on working and lifting weights for football,” sophomore Will Wiltshire said. “Also I plan on playing summer league

basketball and swimming in my pond.”

There is more going on in people’s lives than sports this summer. A lot of students are looking forward to just spending some time relaxing while many others have plans to go on family vacations or other family activities.

“I plan on traveling a lot this summer,” freshman Sarah Beittel said. “We are going to Florida, New York, Ohio and a few other places. It’s going to be a busy summer, but I can’t wait.”

Summer is a busy season for many people, but the time off of school is a joy to everyone.

I plan on going to Louisiana this summer to hang out with my grandparents and go fishing.

-Gabriel Flanders, 9

Summer Events May 20

May 27-28

May 31

May 31-June 26

Regional Track at Ellinwood

State Track at WSU

Football Lift-A-Thon

Skyline Summer Basketball League

June 1-3

June 6-9

June 13-17

June 28

HS Football Camp

HS Volleyball Camp

HS Cross Country Camp

Shooting Camp with Coach Eddy

July 5

July 6-9

July 12

August 13

Guard Camp with Coach Eddy

HS Cheer Camp

Post Camp with Coach Eddy

Cross Country Splash and Dash