February 2017
Volume 91
Leytham branches out with STEM Senior Teayanna Leytham posing for photo in the library. Photo by: Abigail Edie.
Abigail Edie Reporter Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is a very male dominated program. Many girls are trying to change the fact that it is a primarily male group. TJ has a student who is one of these girls. Teayanna Leytham is a senior here at TJ, and is a part of our STEM program. Leytham plans to do big things after she
graduates high school. She plans to pursue a career either in air and water quality or renewable energy. She is currently the only female on the TJ Robotics team, which was ranked a world class team last year. “I plan to double major in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering, which will help me have the skills to bring clean water to rural areas,” explained Leytham. Leytham’s inspiration came from her mother, who helped push her to complete her homework and encouraged her to reach for her goals. “I wouldn’t say that she caused me to go into STEM,” said Leytham, “but she encouraged me to reach for my goals no matter what. That support definitely shaped my mindset, which pushes me through the problems solved by STEM and Robotics.” Leytham encourages young girls who are thinking about joining STEM to go for it. “Don’t be afraid to speak your mind when working in a group
Midkiff takes State title
of guys because if you come with confidence, most guys that are decent will respect your input,” Leytham said. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is a program dedicated to women being equal to men. The program talks about political, educational, social, and economic issues in today’s society. AAUW strongly supports girls and women to join STEM. They have programs to show girls that intellectual skills grow over time. They organized more than 150 STEM programs in 35 states and 93 congressional districts in just one year and was able to reach 10,000 girls. They have a program called Tech Trek where eighth grade girls can go for a week long science and math summer camp, another program called Tech Savvy is a day long STEM conference for middle school girls and their families. If you are thinking about joining STEM classes, email Mrs. Hoag for more information at dhoag@cbcsd.org.
Issue 6
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Jacket bowlers make State
Boys and Girls Varsity Bowling team posing for photo after finding out they made it to state. Photo by: Yearbook staff.
Maxine Mass Reporter Both the boy’s and girl’s bowling teams from Thomas Jefferson qualified for state in class 2-A on Tuesday, February 21st. The boys team included sophomores Andrew Chavarria, Jacob Schuster, and Brett Hiers, juniors Tyler Failla and Jacob Collins, and senior James Snelling. The girls team included freshmen Madison Baxter, Emily Eikenberry, Natalie Arnold, and juniors Halie Hastie, Mackinzey Arnold and Katie Eikenberry. Schuster and Arnold were the only two that qualified for State individually from TJ. The Jackets made their trip to
The Thomas Jefferson wrestling team will be walking the halls with pride, as one of our very own has won the State title in wrestling. Dedication and determination is all McGwire Midkiff had going into State for the second year in a row. Falling short and placing second last year, he was more
than determined to finish off his high school wrestling career with a title under his belt. The meet was held at the Wells Fargo arena, in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, February 15th at 9AM and ended Saturday, February 18th. Midkiff wrestled in the 126-pound final. “My whole wrestling career has been nothing but falling short,” Midkiff told an IA wrestling reporter. “And that was a tough match, I had a real grind
Also in this paper... Page 2 Women’s march in Omaha Traffic cameras being banned Fire department gets historic bell
Page 3 34th Scrap Metal Rainbow Seats in remembrance PACE builds Arts to CB Scholarships
Plaza Lanes in Des Moines, IA on Tuesday, February 21st. Schuster, Chavarria, and Failla all got strikes for the very first frames of the first two games. Chavarria held the lead for the Jackets with a 456 series coming in 6th place. Failla tied with Hiers for 9th place individually with 430 and the team took 2nd overall, falling to Urbandale with a score of 3,073 The girls came in 8th in a strong field. Natalie Arnold lead the girls team with a total of 326 points. The girls team had a total of 2,238 points. Overall, both bowling teams did an awesome job and we could not be any more proud of our Jackets for how well they did.
Jackets go to Seattle Pictured to the left are the students planning on going to Seattle. Photo by: Rob Lindquist
Midkiff positions his opponent face down to the mat. Photo by: TJ wrestling student section
Dylan Harold Reporter
Buzzing For More News? Follow #TJPride
Courtney Jones Reporter
gan Barth. The students that are planning on going on this trip are required to raise $500 by March 3rd, so Journalism Advisor Rob Lindquist can book the flight and hotel rooms. At least four students need to raise the money or the students won’t be able to go. If only four can go, then the money that was raised by the other students will be put towards the other students
for that match, that’s what I want it to be, tough.” Midkiff will now turn his focus on to training for his collegeiate career. Earlier this year, he committed to North Dakota State, a Division 1 Big12 school, that is ranked 18th in the nation for wrestling. He will be attending NDSU with another TJ alum and state wrestling winner, Colton Clingenpeel, who currently has a winning record in college this year.
April 6th through the 9th, senior journalists from Thomas Jefferson will be taking a trip to Seattle, Washington for a journalism convention. Students that are attending include broadcasting students, Hannah Santay, Alandre Starks, and Nyamouch Pal, along side of yearbook students Cinthia Aguirre, Tessa Hammond, and Jessica Macossay, and newspaper students Tiana Larsen and Mor-
Story Continued Bit.ly/ SignalNews
Page 4 Women’s march (continued) Art club recognition Speech team goes to All State Crescent Elementary
Page 5 TJ Grad to climb Mountains Toilets for fundraising Chance the Rapper Gaga performs at Superbowl 51
Page 6 Bain goes to state Cobra offers youth sports Dancing with the Stars of TJ Play with Hart
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NEWS
THE SIGNAL Editor-in-Chief Morgan Barth
Feminists march for equal rights
Copy Editor Cami Wagaman Pagination Morgan Barth Adriana Ibarra Cami Wagaman Staff Madasyn Davis Abigail Edie Dylan Harold Courtney Jones Tiana Larsen Maxine Mass Jordan McAlpine Chancey Travis Shae Wilson Adviser Rob Lindquist Phone: 712-328-6493 Facebook: CBJacketJournalism Twitter:@TJHSJournalism Web: cbjacketjournalism.com Snapchat: tjhsjournalism
Protesters gather in downtown Omaha after Trump takes his position in office as the President. Photo by: Maxine Mass.
Maxine Mass Reporter On the day after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, there was a march for feminism in downtown Omaha. Omaha held one of the 600 events and marches nationwide, with about 15,000 people taking part in the march. People at the march in Omaha gathered at five in the afternoon , at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska on 455 N 10th St. Marchers were open to free water and snacks as they met up inside the convention center for a pre rally at CenturyLink. Markers and cardboard boxes
were found on top of tables for supporters to make signs for the march. The marchers began walking around 6 PM starting from CenturyLink, around the Old Market in downtown, and back to CenturyLink. During the march, participants help up signs, and a wave of cheering echoed through downtown, Omaha. One man strung lights from his balcony and waved his hands as the marchers walked by, sending even more cheers. Some decided not to march but stood on the corners of the roads holding signs to still show support for the movement. “I felt like people participating were really strong and they had a good sense of purpose,”
said 13 year old Abby Meyer. “I felt proud because I really haven’t seen so many crowds of people like this stand up in an active and peaceful protest.” Omaha Police told KETV that despite the large crowds, the march remained peaceful, and that there were no incidents or arrests. “Whatever it is, you go and ask that question, and do not take their silence for an answer,” said Nebraska Democratic Party leader Jane Kleeb during the after rally of the march. Saturday, January 21, at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska on 455 N 10th St. Marchers were open to free water and snacks as they met up inside the convention center for a
Banning of Traffic Cameras?
pre rally at CenturyLink. Markers and cardboard boxes were found on top of tables for supporters to make signs for the march. The marchers began walking around 6 PM starting from CenturyLink, around the Old Market in downtown, and back to CenturyLink. During the march, participants help up signs, and a wave of cheering echoed through Omaha. One man strung lights from his balcony and waved his hands as the marchers walked by, sending even more cheers. Some decided not to march but stood on the corners of the roads holding signs to still show support for the movement.
The Signal is a school-sponsored publication of Thomas Jefferson High School 2501 W. Broadway Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501. The Signal’s office is located in room C128. The Signal is printed by OH-K FASTPRINT in Omaha, NE. The Signal is a schoolsponsored-publication and therefore recognizes its responsibility to stay within the boundaries that the school administrator sets. The Signal will therefore inform its readers using a high standard of morals and ethics. The Signal encourages readers to respond in the form of letters to the editor, which can be sent to room C128. The Signal’s editorial staff reserves the right to edit the letters for grammatical errors and to remove any profanity. The editors also reserve the right to exclude letters that are false in their statements or accusations. The Signal will not accept advertisements that promote activities illegal to minors. Advertising rates are available upon request.
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Story Continued on Page 4
Centennial Bell returns
Red Light cameras posted on West Broadway Photo by: Tiana Larsen
Madasyn Davis Reporter Iowa Senators are passing a bill to ban traffic cameras used to automatically ticket motorists who are speeding or running red lights. In 2015, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City’s speeding cameras snapped more than 200,000 speeding infractions to drivers on the interstate. Iowa police chiefs, law enforcement officers and medical professionals were against the bill. They testified saying that the technology helped reduce traffic crashes, serious injuries, and deaths. Other authorities complained
traffic cameras have become an easy way to generate more revenue for the local government, usually from out-of-town drivers. Urbandale Republican Senator, Brad Zaun filed the bill saying the traffic cameras violate motorists’ right to due process. “I think that traffic cameras are there for one purpose, and that is to create revenue, and I am not in favor of it,” Mount Pleasant Senator, Rich Taylor, told the Des Moines Register. Taylor also told the Des Moines Register that he was frustrated with being ticketed twice in one day by electronic speed cameras on Interstate Highway 380, while traveling to and from the Cedar Rapids area.
In Council Bluffs, there are many red light cameras. This includes the ones on 16th & Broadway, 25th & Broadway, 35th & Broadway, South 7th & Willow avenue, and many more. Freshman Camaryn Belt ran a red light at 16th & Broadway. “It was a nice day, and I didn’t see the light turn yellow or the countdown. So I went, then realizing when I hit the line it was already red,” said Belt. “I see why I got the ticket because they sent me the video and when I watched it, you can see me roll through the red light.” Belt believes that traffic cameras should stay up. All traffic camera citations are still in effect until July 1, 2017.
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The bell is in it’s new tower next to the Public library in Council Bluffs. Photo By: Morgan Barth. Construction and restoration Tiana Larsen for the bell, as well as the tower Reporter was accomplished by donations The Council Bluffs Fire from the fire department, which Department dedicated a bell ended up at a total of $200,000. Monday, January 30th, 2017, after “We have a long standing being stored for many years. tradition with our fire departThe fire station bell was first ment here,” Walsh said. “The bell dedicated to the department in goes back 140 years and is a great the 1870’s. Even though the bell source of pride for our firefightis older than that, it will be hung ers. I think it’s important to the from a newly built Centennial citizenry to learn that history and Bell Tower at the fire station at to celebrate it.” 200 South 4th St. Stated on The Daily NonpaThe bell is a big part of the reil, Mayor Matt Walsh described history in Council Bluffs, as the bell as an artifact unique to it made fire calls and rang for the city’s history. firefighters funerals at various With the bell now being station spots. It was located at placed safely in its new home, the Station No. 6 on North Broadway next thing on the list is to fix the in the mid-2000s. Eventually the roof and plaza below. A ceremobell was taken down due to struc- ny will be held for the event in tural problems with the roof. the Spring.
34th Scrap Metal
NEWS
Rainbow seats in remembrance
The 34th Scrap Metal Army band performs at Thomas Jefferson on February 1, 2017. The band promotes the Army National Guard through rock and pop music. Photo by: Tiana Larsen
Tiana Larsen Reporter The 34th Scrap Metal Band, one of The National Guards famous bands, made their way to Thomas Jefferson for the second time. The band had added a few new instruments to their ensemble since last year. Some of those instruments included a tambourine, a cowbell, and a saxophone. With the newest script, and vocal section group, their music focuses on the new army concept which is ‘the music must meet the demand of the audience.’ Composed of citizen-soldier musicians, the band assembles one weekend a month, plus 15
annual training days per year, to perform and support various civilians and military ceremonies. 34th Scrap Metal Band played many known tunes such as Counting Stars, Take on Me, Thriftshop, and Stacy’s Mom. One student from TJ got the chance to play the tambourine to the song Counting Stars by OneRepublic, covered by the band. Francesca Luigia Marogna, a senior here at TJ, seemed to have an amazing time rocking out with the band. The band tours all around Iowa for two weeks visiting many different high schools, and TJ was just one on the list. Tyler VanCley and Sergeant Jason Glass, both apart of the band, were surprised at the response they got from the school. “I enjoyed it,” Sergeant Glass
PACE Arts and Entertainment: Council Bluffs
Design for new PACE building. Graphic provided by: TheDailyNonpareil.com “The arts need a home in our Madasyn Davis city that we can be proud of,” Reporter Emma Chance said according Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & to the Iowa West Foundation Entertainment (PACE) recently website. “Such an arts and culture received annual funding for the center would need to be flexible new Arts and Entertainment enough to accommodate live building coming to Council music, drama performances, and Bluffs. exhibition space, in addition to PACE is a non-profit orgaother opportunities while serving nization used to develop art, as a hub for fund development, culture and activities in Council marketing, ticket sales and more. Bluffs, as well as other places in We’re very excited about the posPottawattamie County. sibilities.” The new arts and entertainAlthough PACE has the fundment center will be located in ing from Pottawattamie County, downtown Council Bluffs. They they are still going to seek fundhope to transform the second ing from other sources. Harvester building on the south For more information about side of downtown into the center. PACE, visit PACEartsIOWA.org.
stated. “The school had a very nice response. The crowd going wild and cheering us on makes us play even better.” Both Glass and VanCley have been in the band for a long time. This will be VanCley’s last year in the band, and he hopes to pursue his drum passion in California. “The school was very fun and interesting,” said VanCley. “I love inspiring people by music.” With the amazing energy from the crowd and their passion for music, 34th Scrap Metal Band is a great crowd pleaser. TJ hopes to see many more performances done by this group. If you would like to find out more information on where the band will be visiting next, visit their Twitter page @34thScrapMetal or their Facebook page, 34th Scrap Metal Army band.
Memorial site for the shooting at the Pulse night club in June of 2016. Photo provided by: commons.wikimedia.org
Courtney Jones Reporter In June of 2016, a mass shooting took place in Orlando, Florida at Pulse nightclub. A MLS (Major League Soccer) team in Orlando held a ceremony to reveal 49 rainbow seats on January 4th. The seats represent the lives of those that were lost during the shooting. The placement of the seats are in section 12 which correlate with the date of the shooting. The seats are to symbolize the “in-
clusive, diverse, and welcoming community” according to their statement. “We made a commitment on that day,” said Life-President Phil Rawling, “that we would commemorate, forever, in the new stadium a memory of the 49 victims that lost their lives that day.” Rawlins gave many thanks to the construction team and those who helped fund the tribute and make it all possible. The stadium is set to open for its first regular season game on March 5th, 2017, where they will host against New York City FC.
Southwest Iowa Scholarships
Southwest Iowa Education Foundation Application form. Photo by: Tiana Larsen scholarships. Tiana Larsen When applying, students are matched up with scholarships Reporter in which they meet the criteria. Some of the scholarships are based on financial needs. Some The Southwest Iowa Educaare based on merit, and it is rectional Foundation is a scholarommended that people with all ship opportunity that could help incomes should still apply. out 80 students from at least 40 “While we recognize the indifferent high schools in Iowa. creased need for students to purSince high school students all sue a post-secondary education,” around the Southwest are getPresident Tori Christie stated ting ready to apply for colleges, on Southwest Iowa Education many of them are looking for Foundation’s website, “we also open scholarships. The program recognize the financial difficulis offering more than $85,000 ties and barriers students face as to those who are eligible for the
they embark on this endeavor. We hope to mitigate that burden, at least a bit, by offering some financial assistance.” With a total of more than $85,000 and numerous scholarship awards in the amount of $1,000 or more, taking the time to submit an application can pay off for students. The scholarship is available until March 15th and the supplemental materials are due March 22nd. To find out more about the scholarships, talk to Mrs. Hartenhoff in the counseling center.
Even more stories online! Visit bit.ly/SignalNews Page 3
Feminists march: continued Maxine Mass Reporter
“I felt like people participating were really strong and they had a good sense of purpose,” said 13 year old Abby Meyer. “I felt proud because I really haven’t seen so many crowds of people like this stand up in an active and peaceful protest.” Omaha Police told KETV that despite the large crowds, the march remained peaceful, and that there were no incidents or arrests. “Whatever it is, you go and ask that question, and do not take their silence for an answer,” said Nebraska Democratic Party leader Jane Kleeb during the after rally of the march. The Women’s March Protest had three times as many people in attendance than Trump’s Inauguration, according to New York Times. Also, the Women’s March was said to be the largest protest in U.S history with crowd numbers reaching 4.2 million, according to Vox.com. “It is a peace march and its non-partisan and that’s really
important for everybody to understand that this is really about protecting women’s rights,” Kerrie Urosevich told Hawaii News Now. “Human rights and the rights of the environment, which all of us should care about.” Urosevich has a Ph.D. in Political Science with a specialization in conflict resolution and public policy. Marchers in Washington wore pink knitted hats that resembled the female anatomy, which were hand made. These hats were a part of a post-election art project, designed by Kay Coyle who is a self titled ‘master-knitter’ and the owner of Little Knittery in Los Angeles, California. The hat was described as a pink rectangle, with corners that perked up into cat like ears. Some of the workers that helped make these hats and sent them to Washington and other marches and participants with notes of solidarity, as they couldn’t be at the march in Washington. For more information on any upcoming events for further women’s march events, visit womensmarch.com.
Speech makes All-State
NEWS
Salon shows off Thomas Jefferson Art Morgan Barth Editor-in-Chief Tricia Delgado, owner of Beauty Operators in downtown Council Bluffs, gave Thomas Jefferson’s Art classes the opportunity to display their work in her salon, February 16th. Courtney Mimick, Art Club director and Arts teacher at TJ believes it’s a great opportunity for students to display their work for the community to see. “I did not have as many opportunities to display my work when I was a student,” said Mimick. “It allows students more real-world experience for careers in the arts or other creative jobs.” Mimick wants her students to know that in class it’s not only about the art, but it’s about the message and how to get it across to the public when it is displayed. “People forget that art isn’t just about making it,” says Mimick. “Art involves selecting work for display, getting it ready for display, and understand how the public views images.” Not only did Art Club participants have the opportunity to display their work, students from Drawing and Art Foundations
From Left to right: Hunter Gibson, Kiera Doyle, Raylynn Nelson, Tatiana Sandoval, and Brad Krug celebrate their rating for their perfromance at a speech competition Photo by: anonymous
Cami Wagaman Reporter The Thomas Jefferson speech team will be sending a group to All-State. The ensemble is a musical theatre group, and they performed “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The group will be the first in almost a decade to represent TJ at the IHSSA Large group AllState Festival. The group consists of three seniors, Tatiana Sandoval, Keira Doyle, and Hunter Gibson, as well as two juniors, Raylynn Nelson and Bradley Krug. “Making All-State has helped me be a better person because it increases my self-confidence,” said junior Bradley Krug. “I can
walk around my school knowing that I was chosen to go to All-State, not just State, in one of the most competitive categories of Drama.” The group of students were invited to All-State but will not be performing, due to the popularity of the musical-comedy. All-State will be held at ISU in Ames, Iowa. “We put a lot of hours into making sure our performance was perfect,” said Nelson. “At some points the rehearsals would be tense but we would always work through it. Sharing this accomplishment is also very special due to the fact that I’m sharing it with some of my closest friends.” Being in speech has made a big impact on many of these
students’ lives, and it’s something that they will hold with them long after high school is over. “It has helped me become more confident in my acting and singing,” stated Nelson. “It has also introduced me to many different people and has exposed me to so many different acting types.” Although after the team goes to All-State, Large Group speech will be over, but the team is currently transitioning into Individual competition mode. Be sure to congratulate these students on their success, and if you are interested in joining speech, be sure to contact Mrs. Ettinger or Mrs. Harris for more information.
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Artwork displayed by Thomas Jefferson High School, Kanesville High School, & Kirn Middle School Location: Beauty Operators 156 W Broadway, Council Bluffs Opening Recepti6n: Thursday February 17th, from 6-7pm Artwork is on display through April
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!
Artwork by Vanessa Richards
Top photo by: Carly Guinan. Bottom Photo By: Vanessa Richards Photos provided by: Courtney Mimick
did also. “I had about 30% of the students get involved,” Mimick said. “I could not include everyone from my Foundations class because there was not enough display space.” On February 23rd, a ceremony will be held at Thomas Jefferson to showcase banners that were created by Council
Bluffs students. Thomas Jefferson’s Art Club students will be among those who are honored for their creativity. The banners will be hung during the 100block in March, to honor Youth Art Month. Creative Concoctions will be showcasing the club’s art the whole month of March as well.
OPEN: School board keeps Cresent Elementary alive
Crescent Elementary has been voted on to stay open. Photo by: Cami Wagaman.
Chancey Travis Reporter The Board of Education recently voted on whether or not to close Crescent Elementary, due low enrollment numbers. “It’s a lovely school,” CBCSD Superintendent Martha Bruckner told the Omaha World Herald. “It’s just a tiny school, and it’s only half full.” Parents and staff held a meeting on February 28, right before the open deadline to enroll students in the school. An incident back in 2007 where a Council Bluffs citizen broke into the elementary and lit the gym on fire, caused much damage. This was one of the reasons why the school lost enrolled students. Since Crescent has experi-
enced decreasing enrollment numbers, the Superintendent suggested closting the school. If the school was voted to be closed, then the district would save $185,000 anually. However, parents and teachers have promised enrollment numbers to increase if the elementary was kept open. At the most recent school board meeting, Cresent elementary was voted to stay open. If the school makes budget, they will continue to stay up and running. Parents and families have rejoiced in the fact that this school will stay. The next steps will include deciding what can be done to increase enrollment numbers.
NEWS
TJ Grad to climb Mount Kilimanjaro
Toilet humor for a cause
Abigail Edie Reporter Anna Houvenagle, a 2006 graduate from Thomas Jefferson High School, is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania during August to raise money for the WaSH campaign. Houvenagle is currently trying to raise money so she can provide clean drinking water, properly dug latrines, and teach people about hygiene education. To donate to WaSH, Houvenagle set up a page at goo.gl/zfWzO3. The money that is raised will go to Compassion WaSH, an organization that helps children and their families who are in poverty have access to clean water. “Compassion does other fundraisers throughout the year and one type they do is something called a ‘Cause Trek,’” said Houvenagle. “For a Cause Trek you sign up for a trip, the two upcoming ones they have are hiking Mount Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail. Each trek raises money for a specific cause.” The fundraising will support close to 7,000 churches that will help implement water wells, rainwater harvesting systems. It will also help the building of 1,800 bathrooms and more than 50,000
Kenyans working to build an outhouse, during 2014. Photo Provided by: Anna Houvenagle in home water filters. “In many developing countries, it isn’t safe to drink the tap water. I experienced this when I lived in Kenya. If I didn’t have bottled water I had to boil the water for 20 minutes then let it cool, usually overnight, before I could drink it,” Houvenagle explained. “I often saw children and women carrying large plastic drums several miles to fill them. Once I saw children on the side of the road collecting water from a pipe that was jutting out from the side of a hill.” In 2010, Houvenagle spent a winter term in Tanzania while pursuing her degree at the University of Iowa. In 2014, Houvenagle spent six months in Kenya with Silver Cord Ministries of
Minnesota, working with area seniors on a variety of health education issues. “When I was in Kenya I met an elderly man that didn’t have an outhouse. His son had sold the farmland, took the money, and left his father with nothing. The man suffered from dementia and was being looked after by a neighbor. Since he didn’t have access to an outhouse, the man had been going to the bathroom inside of the small hut he lived in,” said Houvenagle. Houvenagle hopes to raise $1,500, however she is currently at $150. She has a GoFundMe page that you can donate at goo. gl/WQB9uV and the money will be used for trip frees, her visa, and medical needs while in other countries.
Mitchell Flowers explaining how the toilet works to reporters. Photo Provided by: Joe Shearer/ The Daily Nonpareil
Adriana Ibarra Reporter With Thomas Jefferson’s prom approaching, the Post Prom committee has been fundraising money for Post Prom, which is to be held at TJ in the commons. Attempting to avoid selling the usual candy bars to fundraise, TJ students are placing toilets on people’s yards in Council Bluffs and in Carter Lake. For $10, recipients can have the the toilets removed. For $20, they can chose a friend or neigh-
bor to have the toilets moved to, the last option is to pay for insurance for $30 to make sure the bright orange toilet does not make it back to your lawn. Some people have been generous enough to donate $50-$100. The humor has even gone as far as including the CBCSD Superintendent Martha Bruckner, who then had the toilet moved to Deb Goodman, a curriculum coach at TJ. There was not a certain goal set in mind but since it was the first time that TJ has done anything like this.
ENTERTAINMENT Chance the Rapper to Gaga took the stage at Superbowl 51 bring his tour to the Big O!
Newspaper staff member’s Chance the Rapper longsleeve. Photo by: Tiana Larsen.
Cami Wagaman Reporter
Chance the Rapper is coming to Omaha this spring. On May 10th, the Chicago native will perform at the Centurylink Center. Tickets for the tour went on sale on February 15th, at 6 P.M. The singer recently won three Grammy Awards, after being nominated for seven of them. His most recent album “Coloring Book” has been featured on many lists, ranking in the top
hits. Rolling Stone ranked the album as the third best album of 2016, and the album even made it onto the Omaha World Herald’s list. The Album includes many other artists, such as Kanye West, Justin Bieber, T-pain, and more. The album has only been released on certain streaming apps, such as Spotify and YouTube. To book tickets for the show visit ticketmaster.com
Lady Gaga sings to the crowd as her backup dancers sing behind her on stage. Photo Provided by: Marieclaire.co.id began body shaming Gaga, saywho remembers how hard it was Shae Wilson ing that she looked ‘fat’ or ‘not in to find acceptance. This is for shape,’ instead of acknowledging you.” Reporter During the Super Bowl on how good the performance was. Before Gaga started a mashFebruary 5th, 2017, Lady Gaga Shortly after, many famous up of many of her top hits, she performed at the halftime show. showed her patriotism with “This celebrities such as Adele, Katy The performance left many land is your land,” and the Pledge Perry, and Demi Lovato were on people in awe, and caused a lot of of Allegiance. The mash up insocial media and showing their controversy. love and support to her. cluded songs like Edge of Glory, Before the show, Gaga told Gaga spoke out to those who Bad Romance, Love Game, Poker news reporters that she wasn’t had made those comments on Face, Born this Way, Telephone, going to be sharing the stage with Just Dance, and many more. Instagram, saying, “I heard my anyone, and she was going to do body is a topic of conversation so Gaga started off the perforthe performance all on her own. I wanted to say, I’m proud of my mance by flying over the crowd, “I’m doing these 13 minutes body and you should be proud of attached to cables. She ended the solo,” Gaga explained. “I dedicate performance by jumping off of yours too.” every second to the love, diverGaga’s Super Bowl perfora high rise platform to catch a sity, compassion, and wild spirit mance was one for the books, football. of our fan base. To that kid who and if you missed out on it, be Unfortunately, after the show felt unwanted, or the grown up sure to watch it online! many went to social media and
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Bain swims to State
SPORTS
The SwarmTV Sports department has made a new podcast starring senior Alandre Starks and junior Connor Walker. The podcast reviews sports from our local teams, they also review teams playing at the collegiate and professional levels. You can find the stream on Soundcloud at FunkDaddyDre. The two seemed very qualified to be talking about sports and obviously knew what they were talking about. Their podcast was very informational with a bit of comedy added in.
COBRA offers youth sports for TJ Joey Bain after being recognized for going to state for swim. Photo by: Rob Lindquist.
Dylan Harold Reporter Thomas Jefferson’s swim team sent junior Joey Bain to State. He competed in the District meet on Saturday, February 4th. Bain swam in the 400Y FreeStyle Relay which the team has a time of 3:29:30 for, and was the alternate for the 200Y FreeStyle relay, in which there is a time of 1:46:12. Bain individually finished
20th out of 24 at State with a time of 52.9 in his 100 split relay. The team as a whole finished in 17th place in point value out of the 34 teams that went. “I will be looking to improve on my skills for next season and hopefully win State as a senior,” said Bain. Another swimmer that did very well is Jackson Allmon, from Abraham Lincoln. Allmon finished in second in the event he swam in and earned the team most of their points.
The new Thomas Jefferson head Baseball Coach Josh Bullock, is holding offseason baseball workouts on Mondays from 7-9p, and Thursdays from 7:45-9:15p. Mondays will be hitting and lifting at Triple Play Sports, located at 147 15th Avenue Council Bluffs, IA. Thursdays practices will be fielding and conditioning in the TJAC. To get ahold of Coach Bullock you can email him at jbullock@cbcsd.org or you can go to his classroom (Room C318) before or after school and sign up for his ‘Remind Me’ to receive text messages from him about baseball. MLB World Series winners, the Chicago Cubs, are taking the World Series Trophy on a tour around the United States. On February 10th, the trophy was showcased at Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska 3:30-5pm CST. At all locations the first 500 fans will be given a wristband to secure their spot to see the trophy, and if time allows it additional fans will be let in to see it. If you plan on going to see the trophy make sure you take plenty of pictures and tweet out to #CubsTrophyTour so you can have a chance at being featured on the Cubs website and twitter page.
Victor Atupra waits for his teammate to pass the ball during the Cobra tournaments on February 18. Photo by: Courtney Jones. learn to work with others at earand play in matches and games lier ages,” said Kyle Bartholomew. for their season. Although there Courtney Jones “Cobra allows for young kids to is a fee you have to pay in order Reporter start getting out of the house, out to participate, it is a great way to Cobra programs are offered from in front of the T.V. and start keep kids active. through a partnership with to learn how to stay active by These programs benefit chilTJHS, which gives young kids dren in many ways. It trains them playing sports.” the opportunity to participate If any students are interfor future sports that they might in a fun learning experience for ested in helping out, the club want to play during their high future curricular activities. needs refs, scorekeepers or school career. It also shows them Some of the programs Cobra even coaches. You can also get how to bond and work together offers are youth basketball, involved by helping out with Cowith teammates. wrestling, football, baseball, bra’s community service projects, “I believe that programs like softball and many others. In such as cleaning up trash on the Cobra can benefit the future by these sports, children can learn highways. allowing kids to be active and
Dancing with the Stars of TJ
Playing with Hart
Riley Bera takes a shot while warming up in her ‘Play with Hart’ shirt for the game on 1/21/17 Photo by: Courtney Jones
Tiana Larsen Holds two tickets to Dancing with the Stars. Photo by: Morgan Barth.
Tiana Larsen Reporter
and their partner to perform. After everyone has performed, the top 10 duos will re-perform, or could even perform a new The Thomas Jefferson Dance number if they wished to. The Team will be hosting their first audience then gets an additional ever Dancing With the Stars final vote and can purchase adfundraiser to help raise money ditional votes once again. for the team. The winners of the showcase This event will be held on will get a trophy and possibly get March 10th from 6-8 pm. to perform at a pep rally or with Dancer’s will be required the dance team at the end of the to recruit a faculty member or year showcase. volunteer as a dance partner. The You can purchase tickets from dancer will be required to choany dance team member or in the reograph a short routine for them main office.
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Morgan Barth Editor-in-Chief Former Abraham Lincoln High School student, 19 year old Merzedes Hart was honored at the Varsity basketball game against Thomas Jefferson, on January 21. Hart studied at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. She passed away on January 13, 2017, after she was struck by a car while she was crossing Highway 6 near Waverly, Nebraska. Hart was with friends the night of the accident. Anytime Tees were selling red t-shirts with the quote ‘Play
with Hart,’ across the front. The company was able to donate over $1000 to Hart’s family. The Jacket’s dance team honored their half-time performance to Hart, while the cheerleaders also dressed in red accessories. The Jackets were struggling to pass the ball and shoot for a basket, because the Lynx had the advantage of height. However, the Jackets continued to work hard throughout the game and played a tough defense. Although the Jackets had a devastating loss to the Lynx, with a ending score of 52-34, they held their heads high and left smiling.