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Leadership event joins three schools Ryan Adams......................... staff reporter Students involved in C.L.A.S.S. Leadership met with students from St. John and Fairfield to discuss how to lead and interact with others on September 27 in the little gym. Consultant Joe Coles ran the program. He has been working with groups of students and teachers all over the Midwest for many years. While this is the first year participating in the program for some students, others have already been involved in it for over a year. “When you give kids an opportunity, tools and time, it is amazing what they could accomplish,” Coles said. The students were put into different groups or pairs throughout the day with students from other schools. They learned how to make a good first impression, how to hold people accountable, and how to build strong relationships. “It was a lot more fun to meet people that I didn’t know than I expected it to be, ” sophomore Caleb Reece said. “I got used to talking in front of a lot of people, which is something I didn’t think I could do.” The students will meet two more times this year at St. John and Fairfield on November 1 and January 11.
Consultant Joe Coles leads a discussion with students from the three schools about grit. Some of his main points on the topic were for students to be more proactive, replace bad habits with positive ones, and to have good self-discipline. He had the students commit to five acts to make their school a better place between the first meeting and the last. photo by Jesus Marquez
High school students receive mentoring opportunity Ryan Adams staff reporter
The entire high school attended a mentoring assembly which was held by Youth Core Ministries September 26 during seminar. The goal of YCM is to connect mentors with young people to help influence them and to build strong relationships.
All of the high school students were given the opportunity to apply to mentor an elementary student. If the application is accepted, then they will be paired with a younger student that has similar interests and they will meet weekly for 30-45 minutes. For the application to be accepted, the students had to share what activities they were involved in, date of birth,
reasoning for wanting to be a part of the program, and have a clean record. “You don’t have to have great leadership skills to do this,” Student Success Coordinator Diane House said. “Anyone can do it.” During the weekly sessions the pairs could play games, go outside, do a weekly craft, or just work on school work.
“I think it is a good way to get high school kids involved with the elementary school kids,” senior Carson Lee said. Some surrounding schools like Cunningham, Pratt and Kiowa County are doing similar programs already. YCM challenged the Skyline students to have more kids involved than the other schools.
see mentor pg. 2
Skyline High School Volume 42 Issue 1 October 12, 2017 www.tbirdtimes.com
CAP steals seminar time Corbin Keeling editorial
The administration has introduced a new program for the student body called Career and Academic Planning, better known as CAP. An upside to the program is that it gets students ready for real life situations. This program is a new learning experience for the students as well as the teachers. “The basic idea is very useful for students,” senior Sydney Koirth said. “It will be very helpful for future students.” CAP groups allow students to have a set time for learning about resumes, scholarships, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and doing community service.
“The community service is fun and it helps our community,” Koirth said. A factor that adds to the negative side is that it takes important seminar time away from students. In seminar, students use their time to work on homework from other classes and work on projects. With CAP groups taking up two full seminars a week it limits the time for students who have extracurricular activities and participate in sports to do their homework. “It’s a thing seniors shouldn’t have to do,” senior Daylen Chadd said. “We don’t see a lot of benefit from it.” The idea is good for the students but it should have been introduced differently. The program should have been
integrated with the freshmen and had them continue to do it, along with the incoming freshmen classes. Eventually the whole high school would be working with the CAP program. A lot of the juniors and seniors won’t receive as much benefit as the younger classes do. “I think if CAP group is done right and really tailored to what the students need it could be very beneficial,” teacher Kim Lee said. “Each group needs to personalize for their age group.” With the new program, students plan on staying open-minded to change, as they want to learn as much as they can before they continue with life post high school.
New agriculture teacher plans to expand program Bryson Fletcher staff reporter
“I try to apply things that I learned in college to the classes, but I don’t try to overdo it.” Ryan Kinsler, Ag Teacher
mentor from pg. 1
Over 35 high schoolers applied to mentor, but will have to be interviewed to see if they are qualified. “I think it is very interesting, but I don’t really have time for it with football and classes,” senior Will Wiltshire said. Lack of spare time has been the main cause for concern among students, but many are still interested in the program. The interviews start next week.
After farming for one year, Ryan Kinsler, a native of Kingman, decided to try teaching. Kinsler graduated from Kingman High School in 2011 and went to Hutchinson Community College for three years. He took classes in diesel mechanics and farm and ranch management. Later he went to Fort Hays State University to get an agronomy degree. “Teaching is a big change to what I did before in my life,” Kinsler said. “I try to apply things that I learned in college to the classes, but I don’t try to overdo it.” While in high school he did participate in FFA and he got used to fundraising. “I feel like FFA is a great tool in the classroom,” he said.
Students are excited because they get to do more hands on projects like the Popsicle corals. “I think he’s doing a great job with us,” senior Sydney Koirth said. She is the new president for FFA and said they plan to do more activities outside of school because it is not FFA’s first year. Her goal is to get more people involved in FFA and to promote ag and have fun. “I think that Mr. Kinsler will take FFA very far this year,” Koirth said. Some of the FFA members are going to Indianapolis for the national FFA convention. They will interact with the head members of FFA and tour everything that is there. The convention takes place at the end of October.
Page 2 Editorial/News October 12, 2017 www.tbirdtimes.com
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, 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.
Editors Copy.......... Corbin Keeling Design...... Hallee Burgardt Staff Members Reporter........ Ryan Adams Reporter... Bryson Fletcher Adviser..........Judy Hampel
Cross country travels to Burrton for the Heart of the Plains League Meet
Volleyball keeps working
Ryan Adams
The Lady T-Birds haven’t been very successful this season but have stuck together through the losses. “We have been working really hard and have a lot of potential to do good in games,” junior Sydney Graber said. “I think we can end up doing pretty good if we have the right mindset.” A new addition to the team was head coach Lori Anschutz. She was the math teacher at Liberty, then transferred to Skyline as a high school math teacher. “It’s been a good change for us,” Graber said. “She pushes us hard every practice to be better.” Anschutz enjoyed getting to know the girls this year in season and also over the summer. During the week of their two-a-days the girls spent the mornings lifting and condi-
staff reporter
The Cross Country team is traveling to Burrton today to run in the Heart of the Plains League meet. The girls are looking for their third straight league championship. The boys are looking for their fifth straight. There will be many rival teams there that they have faced this season already. They include teams like Central Christian, Burrton, Norwich, Stafford and Fairfield. “I feel pretty good about League,” senior Madison Tyler said. “We have been working really well as a team and have improved a lot over the course of the season.” At the Sterling meet last week the majority of the team got new personal records. Juniors Erik Ghumm and Colby Shriver, and freshman Jackson Wallace all medaled for the boys with 16th, 25th and 19th place finishes, respectively. For the girls, Tyler and sophomore Katelynn McGraw also medaled with 20th and 25th place finishes, respectively. Neither team placed, but there were over a dozen teams there including 4A and 5A schools. “I feel like we’re working hard and we’re glad that St. John is now 1A,” Wallace said. “I believe that if we keep working hard then we will have a good chance at going to State.” The team will travel to Meade on October 21 for the regional meet and hopes to travel to Wamego on October 28 for State.
Corbin Keeling copy editor
tioning. This included running a mile every day, except for those whose lives were spared by attending 16 weight sessions over the summer break. The afternoons consisted of two hours of volleyball drills and hard practices. Some sessions included more conditioning. “The two-a-days were good for us as a team and got us more prepared,” senior Sydney Koirth said. Freshmen Mackenzie Wright, and T’Lane Tobin and sophomores Kayla Urban and Kailey Hamm suit up for varsity and gain a lot of experience by playing alongside three senior leaders, Koirth, Hallee Burgardt and Brittany Smith. “We haven’t won very many games, but we keep our heads up and keep trying,” Urban said. “I think we will do okay in the end.” The Lady T-Birds are currently 2-24. Although they have many losses, they are hoping to
Hitting the ball, senior Hallee Burgardt knocks one down. photo by Dalton Kenwworthy
win some more games in the league tournament in Norwich on Saturday. “We have our moments where they share greatness.” Anschutz said. “We just need to get the consistency there.” The girls plan on progressing far into the sub-state tournament held at Kinsley on October 21.
Football team adjusts to young crew Bryson Fletcher staff reporter
The football team started off the football season with new coaches. Assistant Kenny Eddy was the assistant coach for middle school football last year and the responsibilities from middle school to high school are way different and more strategic. Judging by the wins and losses, the team wouldn’t look very good. Eddy said on days that the boys practice, if they bring it, they can have a very good and productive practice. The team has definitely changed from camp to now on attendance and having good team work. They have
changed a lot from the weight room and on the field. “I think that the team has more attendance and great teamwork,” Eddy said. He said for a young team, they can have a great defense if they put it together. “I really like the games that are upcoming,” Eddy said. “We just can’t come out flat like we did against South Central.” Future seasons are looking good, as a lot of young players have been getting varsity playing time. One of those young players, sophomore Eli Temanson, still has hopes for this season. He said the team should have a good chance against Macksville because everybody has been watching film and
learning their formations so that they know what kind of defense they might need to run. Temanson thinks that they have played a lot better now than in week one. The record isn’t showing it, but he thinks they have improved from last year. “I am happy that everyone is trying and not just showing up because they have to,” Temanson said. “They want to get better.“ He feels like that they have a good chance against Fairfield and they have watched what Kiowa County did against the JV and he thinks if they play the same or do kind of the same things, then they will know how to play them.
www.tbirdtimes.com October 12, 2017 Sports Page 3
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1. Senior King Corbin Keeling crowns Queen Madison Tyler. The theme for homecoming was Neverland. 2. Freshman Mackenzie Wright cheers for the crowd at the assembly.
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3. Junior Zack Urban plays his role in the football skit. The boys did a transformer machine skit. 4. Getting the boat ready is freshmen Kyle Hampton and Jackson Wallace. Junior Kami McComb helped out. 5. Senior candidates Corbin Keeling and Hallee Burgardt.
6. Senior candidates Cooper Gates and Madison Tyler.
7. Senior candidates Daylen Chadd and Courtney Gamble.
8. Freshmen attendants Braden Tyler and Kyrian Keeling. 9. Sophomore attendants Thomas Sturgeon and Kaylee Harbour. 10. Junior attendants Dalton Kenworthy and Josie Jenson.
11. Returning king and queen, Mason Brack and Matthew Giles. First graders Sam Urban and Lakyn McAllister.
Page 4 Feature October 12, 2017 www.tbirdtimes.com
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12. Seniors Carson Lee and Sydney Koirth share a laugh with sophomore Sam Fisher. The boat was used for the emcees. Fisher dressed up in a crocodile costume to follow the theme.