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Music, forensics showcase talent
Corbin Keeling................... copy editor Don’t miss the show of a lifetime tomorrow at 6:30 in the multi-purpose area where you can watch and listen to the state bound band and choir solos and ensembles along with the forensic student performances. The showcase will be open for the public to come watch. They will be able to watch all of the performances or they may come to watch certain students. This will be the second time this event was hosted. Forensics sponsor Anita DeWeese hosts this showcase because it gives students an opportunity to show their friends, parents and grandparents what they have been working on all season and performing at their meets. The showcase also gives students another opportunity to practice their pieces before the state competition on May 5 and show off their talent. “I will be singing a solo of the traditional version of Danny Boy,” junior Abby Ailstock said.
Freshmen Rosamond Eves and Hunter Egging enjoy their downtime between events. Eves read poetry and Egging performed a humorous solo for the league forensic meet. photo by Falicity Riggs
The band side of the showcase includes two trombone solos played by junior Kayla Flora and freshman Josiah Giles, a baritone solo by Kailey Hamm, a snare solo by senior Carson Lee, a trombone ensemble playing “Elena Polka,” and a trumpet ensemble playing “Fanfare and Air.” “I like ‘Fanfare and Air’ because when you put all the trumpets together it sounds
very musical,” senior Joshua Nelson said. Along with Ailstock, two other singers will be singing solos. Senior Jade Downs will be singing “Vergin, Tutto Amor” and sophomore Brenna Dolezal will sing “Danza, Danza, Fancivlle Gentile.” The showcase gives several opportunities to watch students show off their talents and perfect their performance.
Band, choir perform at state large group competition Hallee Burgardt design editor
The SHS music department had a busy week competing at the State Music Festival for Large Groups. Choir performed their numbers, “Rise Up, My Love” and “Ye Followers of the Lamb.” “I expected the judges to be hard on us,” sophomore Brenna Dolezal said. “I just hoped for ones,” The choir sang at the First Southern Baptist Church and
the band played later that day at Liberty Middle School. The band and choir had been working since Christmas break on two selections each to get them ready for this contest. Both groups received I ratings. The band played “Alamo” and “Chant and Jubilo.” One piece was a march and the other a classic piece. “‘Alamo’ is my favorite because marches are fun to play,” sophomore Corey Crouch said. “I was excited to get to
play in front of the judges and show off how awesome our band is.” These songs were also sang and played at the League Music Festival in Cunningham. Yesterday at large groups, the band received three straight I’s and choir got two II’s and a I. “Though we work to perform our best at each concert, going to an event like this really allows the groups to dig deep into these selections and push themselves to become the
Skyline High School Volume 42 Issue 6 April 29, 2017
player or singer that they can be,” band and choir director Bob Lee said. “It also gives the students the opportunity to participate in a teamwork setting and understand how they rely on others and others rely on them.” Both departments will get another opportunity to showcase their talents at the State Solo and Ensemble competition held at Kansas Wesleyan in Salina on April 28 and at the Spring Concert, May 14.
Board selects new teacher Bryson Fletcher staff reporter
Anita DeWeese and Jackie Mundt had to take over the ag program because the previous ag teacher resigned. DeWeese and Mundt split up the days of the week because they still have other jobs other than teaching. DeWeese has been approved by the school board to be the ag teacher next year. DeWeese’s passion for teaching agriculture is the commitment from the students and their excitement about agriculture. She likes the support from the school and the families and community. DeWeese has been a substitute for eight years. She wants to teach to see students grow and go through their school career. “My plan is to visit with other ag teachers and FFA advisors for their suggestions on what to change or do better,” DeWeese said.
Officers went to the district banquet for new district advisors and Supervised Agricultural Experience awards. Next year ag classes will be able to submit their own SAE’s. courtesy photo
She is also seeking input from students and their families for what they believe is important. “I like Mrs. DeWeese because she takes us to more of the competitions and judging contests than earlier this year,” sophomore Jay Crowdis said. FFA has a banquet at the school on May 8. During the banquet awards will be
handed out and officers will be announced. “It’s fun for the students at the banquet to get awards,” DeWeese said. The event planning class is helping schedule the banquet and they are preparing a pulled pork menu along with dessert. The event planning class will also make the decorations for the banquet.
Flex schedule introduced for high school Bryson Fletcher staff reporter
For the upcoming school year, a Flex-Mod schedule is being developed in hopes of letting each individual student have more of an important role in planning his or her educational path. The schedule has many different benefits, but one of the main ones is that it allows for teachers and administrators to let go of a little structure and give the control to the students. The schedule will allow for more flexibility to meet the individual needs of a student, instead of the one-size-fits-all model that a traditional schedule offers.
Teacher Morgan Ballard said students will be exposed to self-reliance, time management and ownership on a daily basis because of the flexibility of the schedule. All of those qualities are of high importance to be successful beyond high school. “It’s my hope that as the new schedule begins to be implemented that we, as a whole, can see beyond the difficult process of change to the rewards of better preparing our students for the next chapter in their lives,” Ballard said. The new schedule should be a better one because it fits just an individual student, not the whole school. The
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flex schedule is focused more on individual work so that students can follow their career path and take classes that help them get on the right track to graduate and go to college. “I think the individual part of the schedule is better because each student can develop more about their classes,” sophomore Charlie Shafer said. Shafer is concerned for the people who don’t put a lot of effort into school. He thinks they may have trouble adapting to the Flex-Mod schedule. “I would rather have the Flex-Mod schedule instead of any other schedule because it’s more individual,” Shafer said.
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
Track team takes off for new season Ryan Adams staff reporter
Along with the football team and the boys’ basketball team, the track team has a new coaching staff. Athletic director Andrew Nation has taken over head coaching responsibilities, and teachers Bob Lee and Morgan Ballard have been assisting by helping the throwers and jumpers. Nation has been head coach of the middle school track team for three years as well. “The biggest difference between coaching high school track and middle school track is that high school athletes already have a general idea of what events they have the best chance of success at,” Nation said. “With middle school we have to test things out to see
what each athlete is skilled at.” A few changes have came along with the new coaching staff. Practices have been coordinated differently including a more effective warm up, team conditioning, more available weight room time and more time for athletes to focus on their specific events. Another change that has been implemented is the opportunity for athletes to participate in junior varsity meets. “I like that the coaches added JV meets this year because I get to try out different events that I’ve wanted to compete in,” sophomore Heidi Roberts said. At the most recent varsity track meet at South Barber High School, the boys’ team placed third out of 15 teams with 70 points and the girls’
team placed ninth with 26 points. The boys finished with seven top three placings, and the girls had seven top six placings. The hurdles, distance and throwing events were all strengths for the boys. Sophomore Sam Fisher won the only gold medal of the day, winning the 300 high hurdles, and sophomore Brock Montgomery got the silver for the 110m hurdles. The 4x800 relay, consisting of sophomores Ryan Adams and Mark Schmidt, and juniors Erik Ghumm and Colby Shriver, worked together to place second. Adams and Ghumm also finished second in the 800 and the 3200 while freshman Jackson Wallace also snagged silver in the 1600. Rounding up top three placings for the boys was senior Carson Lee with a
bronze in javelin. Upperclassmen led the way for the girls with senior Madison Tyler securing gold in triple jump and senior Sydney Koirth placing fourth in shot put and sixth in the 100. Relays also placed well for the girls with a third place finish in the 4x100 consisting of Koirth, Tyler, junior Kayley Cook and sophomore Kailey Hamm, and the 4x800 nabbing sixth consisting of Tyler, junior Kayla Flora, sophomore Katelynn McGraw, and freshman Mackenzie Wright. Hamm and junior Adison Hampton also captured fifth place medals in the long jump and the 3200. The team is looking to keep improving throughout the season with eight meets left including one today at Norwich. The meet starts at 3 p.m.
Cheerleading squad adds four new members after competitive tryouts Corbin Keeling copy editor
Cheer tryouts took place on the April 11, where 12 students in middle school and high school competed for a spot on the Thunderbird cheerleading squad. This squad has 10 girls including juniors Abby Ailstock, Madison Adams, Kayley Cook, Kami McComb, freshmen Kyrian Keeling and Mackenzie Wright, and eighth graders Sophie Bricker, Avery Haskett, Alea Nelson and Kylie Scherer. “I’m super excited to have 10 cheerleaders on our squad,” cheer coach Kim Lee said. The tryouts consisted of performing one cheer, one
sideline cheer, an original cheer, along with jumps and dances. The cheerleaders were judged by Pratt Community College cheerleaders. In the past years they were judged by Barton County Community College cheerleaders. “The hardest part of the tryout was having to make up my own motions for my original cheer,” Keeling said. The grading scale consisted of 40 percent tryout performance, 20 percent grades and attendance, 30 percent teacher evaluation, and 10 percent pre-tryout activities. The first cheer, sideline cheer and dance were taught to them at the clinic two weeks before the tryout. “We have a wide range of experience so we will have a lot
of room to improve our skills and learn new ones along with the incoming cheerleaders,” Ailstock said. The teacher evaluations, grades and attendance were important because Lee wanted to know that the members will be dependable. “With 10 cheerleaders we can do more interesting stunts,” Lee said. The cheer squad is looking forward to getting the banana award at the state cheer competition next year. This award is presented to the team with the most spirit in their performance. Lee is also looking forward to bettering their fourth place finish last year at the state competition.
Congratulations Wil Ailstock for placing first in World Geography at the most recent Academic Olympics competition. The T-Bird Times apologizes for the omission in the last issue.
April 20, 2017 Sports Page 3
An Old Hollywood Prom
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1. A group of girls put their hands up to “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. Kenny Eddy was the DJ that night. The junior class decided to hold Prom at the Country Club. 2. Sophomore Eli Temanson and senior Joshua Nelson dance together. This was Temanson’s first year at Prom and Nelson’s second. 3. Sophomore Katelynn McGraw fixes up her date’s suspenders. She attended with junior Jon Wiltshire. 4. Junior Zackery Urban takes a punch to the face from freshman Aden Temanson at After Prom. After Prom was hosted by the junior and senior parents. 5. Sophomore Jazmine Askew dances to “Cotton-Eyed Joe” with Kayla Blasi. Blasi attended with junior Cade Swonger. Askew was a server for Prom. 6. Carefully watching the dice, sophomore Colton Gatton, freshman Kenleigh Nation, senior Cooper Gates, freshman Aden Temanson and senior Courtney Gamble participate in the horse race game. The game was was added this year. 7. Rolling a tennis ball at the Skee-Ball game, senior Tyler Tobin tries to earn tokens. Tokens were given out for doing well in each game. They were checked under a black light and redeemed for prizes.
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