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Students learn Microsoft apps
Corbin Keeling................. copy editor
In Computer Applications class, students are earning certifications in Microsoft applications. Business teacher Jane Melroy had five students complete all four of the certifications. The students who have received the title of Microsoft Office Master include sophomore Caleb Reece, juniors Michelle Ramirez, and Sara Carrington, and seniors Sydney Koirth and Justin Brown. “Work in the class was hard at times. You had to get a lot of work done by a deadline,” junior Sara Carrington said. “Sometimes I would have to stay after school to get the work completed.” There were also four juniors who completed three of the four programs. These students were Cade Swonger, Kamron Welsch, Nik Montgomery and Mily Guerrero. “The class is very beneficial because it can be used in a wide variety of occupations,” Carrington said. “My dad uses Microsoft Excel almost every day at his
Five students from Jane Melroy’s computer applications class became Microsoft Masters. Junior Sara Carrington, senior Sydney Koirth, junior Michelle Ramirez, and sophomore Caleb Reece all passed the tests along with senior Justin Brown, not pictured. photo by Seth Bower
job in the hospital with health and infection control.” The Microsoft applications that students are being certified in include Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access. The students go through an extremely detailed textbook to learn the ins and outs of the program they are studying. “I don’t know much about computers and I wanted to learn more about their programs,” Reece said. Other than wanting to learn more about computers, some other students had
different reasons for taking the class. “One of the reasons I took the class was so I could earn a credit towards college and high school,” Reece said. The Computer Applications class is offered as a dual credit class through Pratt Community College, meaning when a student completes the class they receive credit at the high school and college level. “I took the class because both Mrs. House and my father agreed that it would be beneficial later in life when applying for jobs,” Carrington said. see Microsoft pg. 3
Skyline students win stock market game for first time Hallee Burgardt design editor
Business teacher Jane Melroy’s Investing class from first semester got some attention for one of it’s class projects. The class recently had a team of two kids place first in the Stock Market Game. The game was a real-time investing game students played to help them develop positive money habits.
The class had a total of four kids for the first semester. They learned about savings, simple versus compound interest, stocks, mutual funds, and the stock market. “Playing the game gives them real time experience learning how to track stocks, look at historical data, and buy and sell in real time with fake money,” Melroy said. Junior Jace Riggs and
freshman Colton Gamble got first out of 593 teams across the state of Kansas during the 10-week period. “Our strategy at first was to pick our favorite stocks and keep them if they were doing well, but get rid of the ones that were doing bad,” Riggs said. “We took a risk on one stock we saw doing well and it took us all the way to the top.” Melroy thinks that every
Skyline High School Volume 42 Issue 4 February 9, 2018
student should have to take a class like this or at least a finance class because it gives them ways to get out of the living “paycheck to paycheck” cycle. “I think these skills will apply later in life when you want to plan for retirement,” Gamble said. This was the first time in Skyline history that a team won the game.
Government class sparks revolution Corbin Keeling copy editor
A government class project has helped bring about several changes to the high school. Social studies teacher Kenny Eddy started a class revolution project last year in the senior government class. The students were tasked with creating a group name and logo. They also decided what ideas they wanted to work on during the revolution. Last year’s government class decided to focus on the idea of adding baseball and softball, being able to wear hats in the building, carry book bags to their classes, and replacing iPad Minis with Chromebooks. Although there was no direct correlation that proves that the projects caused these changes, it is a coincidence that all of these ideas were completed the next school year.
“You can make an actual change with something when you go about it the right way,” Eddy said. The current government class decided to focus on several main ideas such as forming a Stuco, changing the way homecoming is done, and limiting the seminar destroyer known as CAP groups. While Stuco hasn’t been formed, we have already seen changes with homecoming and CAP groups. The homecoming sponsors, Kathryn McAllister and Darci Poland, were more open to ideas different students had. For example, instead of only a select few getting out on homecoming day, everyone who had paid their dues was allowed to decorate. Another change that occurred was that CAP groups now meet one day instead of taking up two days of valuable seminar time.
Eddy believes that this project has had many positive influences on the kids. “It shows them how to actually deal with problems instead of just complaining about them,” Eddy said. “It shows them how to go through a chain of command to fix issues they have.” Most of the seniors have really enjoyed being a part of the revolution project, thinking it was nice to get away from books and tests every once in a while. “I think that the revolution project has made a positive impact,” senior Madison Tyler said. “My favorite part was hearing all of the different ideas my classmates had.” Eddy hopes to continue building on the project by having students document everything they do, including the research and the interactions with administration.
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
Page 2 Editorial February 9, 2018
Basketball teams take on 54 classic
Senior Cooper Gates Q: What is a team goal for this year? A: To continue to improve and go out and compete every single game no matter who we are playing.
Hallee Burgardt design editor
Q: What is your favorite part of basketball? A: Competing and getting to play the game with the boys. Q: What is your favorite thing about coach? A: I’m not sure I can name just one thing, but one of my favorite things would be his love and dedication for the game of basketball and also his players.
Sponsor goes extra mile, receives coach of the year Bryson Fletcher staff reporter
High school cheer coach Kim Lee received the 2017 National Federation coach of the year award at the first ever Kansas Cheer Competition. She has been coaching for 25 years now. Lee’s first squad was in 1989. Between then and now she had taken time off to help her own kids when they were younger. In that time she also coached middle school cheer. “I felt like nobody wanted to coach high school cheerleading and they asked me to coach and I decided why not,” Lee said. “I had some knowledge from when I was a cheerleader in high school, and from coaching the middle school cheer team.” Lee and her team have lots of fun together. They want to be the best and so they strive for the best.
“I love having Mrs. Lee as my coach because she is willing to make me better, especially with knowing that I want to further my career in cheer after high school,” junior Kayley Cook said. Lee thought that the award was great, but she felt even better knowing that her team’s performance gave Skyline more recognition. “You don’t have to be a big school to get recognized,” Lee said. “You just have to have a team willing to put the work in. You have to be able to work with them as a coach.” Cook said Lee always believes in the team and never gives up on them. “She is a really good coach,” freshman Kyrian Keeling said. “I really like her. I’m glad that Mrs. Lee got the coach of the year award.”
The annual 54 classic kicked off at the Thunderdome with a week of boys’ action. The girls followed the next week at Cunningham. After a short come up on Saturday, the boys ended up in second place to the Attica Bulldogs. “We were coming off of nine straight wins going into the tournament and I feel like that gave us a lot of confidence,” head boys’ coach Kenny Eddy said. The Bulldogs were ranked third in 1A basketball. Before the boys could face Attica they had to play the 8th seeded Cunningham team on Tuesday and then the 5th seeded Medicine Lodge team Friday. The boys had an 18 point comeback against the Indians that night. “Our team was better as a whole going into the tournament because we were a lot more confident,” sophomore Steve Fisher said. “We wanted to win it all, but we lost to a good Attica team and it will mean a lot if we beat them on their court.” Saturday the boys ended up coming 15 points short against Attica for second place. Tyler Tobin got first in the three Microsoft from pg. 1
Completing these certifications provide many benefits to students in general when applying for jobs. “Certifications give you a professional edge by providing globally recognized industry endorsed evidence of skills mastery, demonstrating your
point shooting contest, Cooper Gates received the hustle award, and Fisher placed second in the free throw contest. Tobin and Sam Fisher received All-Tournament team honors. Following the week of basketball was the girls’ tournament. They came in as the 8th seed and played a tough Cunningham team. They lost that matchup and then played the Kinsley Coyotes on Friday. “Our defensive adjustments against Cunningham were a strong point for us,” head girls’ coach Morgan Ballard said. “We had our offense going for us in two out of the three games.” After a loss Friday night the team was matched up with Medicine Lodge and played the following day. The ladies came up three points short in that game and finished in 8th place. Junior Gracie Bricker was awarded third place in the three point competition. “I’ve really been focusing on being a better teammate and distributing the ball more,” Bricker said. The ladies bounced back the next week and got a win against the Burrton Chargers. The boys fell to the Chargers 45-51. The teams pick up action at Cunningham tonight. The girls at 6:30 p.m. and boys at 8 p.m.. abilities and willingness to embrace new technologies,” Melroy said. Microsoft certifications are a skill students can list when applying for jobs and scholarships. They show employers that you have what it takes to sit down and get work done.
February 9, 2018 Sports Page 3
JUKE BOX HERO ES
Senior candidates Mason Jones and Brittaney Smith
Senior candidates Jade Downs and Courtney Gamble
Junior attendants Gabe Flanders and Adison Hampton
Sophomore attendants Caleb Reece and Kayla Urban
Acting as DJs are senior emcees Hallee Burgardt and Madison Tyler. The theme for the assembly was Jukebox Heroes.
Senior candidates Carson Lee and Sydney Koirth
Freshmen attendants Homecoming King Carson Lee and Sydney Koirth. The First grade Wil Ailstock and attendants were Tate Harts and Piper Schmidt. Kenleigh Nation In preparation for their tough matchup against Burrton is the entire boys’ basketball team. The boys lost the game 51-45.
Pumping up the crowd are freshman Mackenzie Wright and juniors Kami McComb and Madison Adams.
Capturing the attention of everyone in the gym are sophomores Thomas Sturgeon and Colton Gatton. For the basketball skits the teams had a dance-off of the decades.
Page 4 Feature February 9, 2018
Seniors Carson Lee and Jade Downs lead the choir. The group sang “Livin’ On a Prayer” for the assembly.
Right in step are juniors Kayla Flora and Kayley Cook. The duo used “Tricky” for their ‘80s dance. They were one of the four groups of girls that danced.
In the midst of a back handspring is freshman Josh Hewatt. “I was a little nervous, but I was mostly excited about the rush of the moment,” Hewatt said.