Volume 42, issue 3, december 2017

T-Bird

THE

Times

Fine arts prepares for trip to Disney

Hallee Burgardt...............................editor

Coming up on the agenda for the high school band and choir is a trip to sunny Florida.

Bob Lee will be sponsoring the trip along with 14 other adults, including his wife, Kim Lee. This is his sixth trip to Disney World. The group will leave tomorrow and arrive at approximately 3 p.m. Sunday.

“My first band trip as a director was in 1989 to Chicago,” Bob said. “Since then, I have been the director for the 14th trip I have taken.”

It is his sixth trip with a group to Walt Disney World. A total of 88 people will be going along for the trip.

Monday the band will march in the Magic Kingdom. The choir will sing the following night in the candlelight processional in Epcot.

“For me, my favorite part is always the performances,” Bob said. “They are just such great opportunities. But, I also enjoying seeing the students enjoying Disney, especially those who are experiencing it for the first time.”

Wednesday will be filled with a day at Clearwater beach and then fun in the Animal Kingdom.

Some of the rides in the park include Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari.

Thursday the buses will depart home after a day at Hollywood and Universal Studios. The group is expected to be back Friday evening, December 22.

Four of the mixed ensemble ladies, juniors Kara Bower and Adison Hampton, freshman T’Lane Tobin, and junior Sara Carrington perform “White Winter Hymnal” at the concert Monday night. There were 18 singers in Mixed Ensemble, 12 girls and six boys. The choir had to memorize 13 songs for the trip. “I’m most excited about going on this trip because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Bower said. photo by Hallee Burgardt

Band marches in Magic Kingdom

Arrive in sunny Florida

Dec. 17, 3 p.m.

Clearwater Beach & Animal Kingdom

Choir sings in Epcot

Hollywood & Universal Studios

Dec. 18, 1:30 p.m.

Dec. 19, 6:45 & 8:15 p.m.

Arrive home

Dec. 20

Skyline High School  Volume 42  Issue 3  December 15, 2017

Dec. 21, 4 p.m.

Dec. 22, 6 p.m.

Ag students participate in cattle judging competition Bryson Fletcher staff reporter

The Skyline team attended their second livestock judging competition last Friday.

The judging team consisted of sophomores Brock Montgomery and Bryson Fletcher, and juniors Wyatt Slade and Dalton Kenworthy.

“I like the judging competitions somewhat,” ag teacher Ryan Kinsler said. “It’s good for the kids to get out there and try something different.”

The judging competition was held at the Hutchinson Fairgrounds at the Horse Expo Arena. There were eight cattle classes.

Classes one and six were the reason classes. There were

a combination of the classes for prospect steers, prospect market heifers, breeding heifer calves, bred heifers and bulls.

The high school students had to give reasons which are actually statements that back up the reason why they put the cattle in the grouping.

“My overall favorite part was giving reasons and you have reasons why you put them in the class and you have something to back it up with,” Montgomery said.

Facts and the physical features of the cattle were how they were grouped.

There were different grades for judging which ranged from kindergarten through twelfth grade and there were

25 awards given out.

Kinsler said he took the kids to the judging contest so they would have an opportunity for doing this.

There were over 300 people at the event. It was one of the largest groups in a while.

“I liked driving to the expo and going to Freddy’s,” Kenworthy said.

They were different breeds of cattle at the judging expo, Angus, Hereford, Charolais, Simmental.

“I like judging the different kinds of cattle,” Kenworthy said.

The Skyline team is hoping to get more judging competitions and not just cattle. Maybe more judging opportunities with sheep, goats and pigs.

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.

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Editors Copy.......... Corbin Keeling Design...... Hallee Burgardt Staff Members Reporter........ Ryan Adams Reporter... Bryson Fletcher Adviser..........Judy Hampel

Page 2  News/Editorial  December 15, 2017

Boys’ basketball wins home tourney Corbin Keeling copy editor

The boys’ basketball team started their season on December 1 against the St. John Tigers. Although they did come up short in score, it was the smallest spread of points against St. John in recent years.

“A key for success for our team will be understanding the value in creating good practice habits that can be applied to game situations,” assistant coach Chris Sanders said.

The boys’ basketball team went undefeated in the T-Bird Classic. The tournament included Skyline, Medicine Lodge, Cunningham and Pretty Prairie.

The teams also competed in a three point shooting competition and a free throw competition. Senior Tyler Tobin competed for the boys

in the three point competition and senior Cooper Gates competed in the free throw competition.

Tuesday night the boys played their first game of the tournament against the Medicine Lodge Indians. The T-Birds held a consistent five to 10 point lead throughout the game and won with a score of 49-45.

“We haven’t been a very good defensive team the past couple years,” head coach Kenny Eddy said. “We get up and down the floor really well but we get into foul trouble.”

Friday night the boys took on Pretty Prairie. The Bulldogs were able to hang with the boys up until halftime, with Skyline leading by four points.

During the second half of play the boys managed to sustain a gradual lead until the end of the game, winning with a score of 48-35.

Senior Tyler Tobin blows by two defenders and goes up for a left handed layup to score two points for the T-Birds. photo by Jesus Marquez

“I think our strongest element is our guard depth,” Sanders said. “Our posts are very willing to pick up on the adjustments of a different offensive philosophy so I think eventually that will be pretty evident in games.”

Saturday evening the boys dominated the Cunningham Wildcats, winning by over 30 points with a score of 58-12.

The boys held a consistent lead

of over 20 points through the majority of the game.

“We did alright,” Eddy said.

“We accomplished our goal which was to get the win, but in my opinion we let a couple teams hang with us that shouldn’t have.”

The boys played Kinsley Tuesday night in regular season play and won 52-33.

The boys will take on Fowler tonight.

Girls’ basketball team remains optimistic about future Ryan Adams staff reporter

The girls’ basketball team took fourth place in the annual T-Bird Classic tournament last week.

On the first day the girls took on the Medicine Lodge Indians and led for most of the game, but ended up losing the contest 34-31. Junior Gracie Bricker made 10 out of 15 three’s for the girls’ three point competition and freshman Kyrian Keeling made seven out of 10 free throws in the free throw competition.

“We have a lot of young talent,” head coach Morgan Ballard said. “We need to work on closing out games, knowing what to do in certain situations, being patient and

valuing the basketball.”

They played Pretty Prairie on day two and fought hard and led 21-17 at halftime. Sadly, the Bulldogs came back in the second half to win the game 49-46. Bricker made eight out of 15 three pointers that day and Keeling made 13 out of 20.

“The first two losses were especially tough because we had many chances to win,” junior Kayla Flora said. “I feel like they helped us come together as a team though, because it showed how hard we can fight.”

On the final day of the tournament they faced defending champions, the Cunningham Wildcats. The girls lost the game 51-27.

Bricker made four three’s for the competition that day

Senior Hallee Burgardt shoots a free throw after getting fouled. photo by Jacob Swisher.

and Keeling made 12 free throws.

“I’m very excited because we have a lot of young potential this year,” Bricker said. “I think we can be a very competitive team in our league.”

Bricker and senior Hallee Burgardt, made the All-Tournament team and Bricker won the three point competition.

Despite their record of 0-5 so far, the team is competing hard and is looking to continue to compete the rest of the season. They lost another hard fought game at home against the Kinsley Coyotes on Tuesday night with a final score of 53-43. The girls will play the struggling Fowler team tonight at 6:30.

December 15, 2017  Sports  Page 3

w o Sn l l a B 2017

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2 1. Swinging to Cotton Eyed Joe are junior Kayley Cook, senior Hallee Burgadt, out of district date Trey Fisher, and junior Kami McComb. It was one of the most popular dances of the night.

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2. Several girls get down to a line dance.

The line dances were much more popular among the girls than the guys.

3. Freshman Kenleigh Nation and junior Kayla Flora let loose on the dance floor. There were many fast paced songs as well as slow songs.

4. Spinning to a song is freshman Mackenzie Wright with her date, junior Colby Shriver.

5. Dancing slow are junior Kami McComb and sophomore Colton Gatton. “I had a good time at the dance this year,” Gatton said.

“The food was good and so was the song selection.”

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6. Caught in the moment during a slow song is senior Sydney Koirth and sophomore Samuel Fisher.

7. Freshman Braden Tyler leads junior Kayley Cook in a slow dance towards the end of the night. “I didn’t plan on going,” Tyler said. “I’m glad I decided to make an appearance because I ended up having a pretty good time.”

Page 4  Feature  December 15, 2017

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