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November 2019
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TJHS Socksgiving Heather Giovannoni Copy Editor This year at TJ, Student Council is sponsoring a first-ever “Socksgiving” as a way to give back to the community. “We do an event like this every year, as student council, to give back to our community,” said member Chrisha Doss. “We wanted to change it up and give as much as possible.” Every START class has the chance to participate, and the START class with the most points will win a pizza party. Each new item that is brought in counts as a point. For example, if you were to bring 10
pairs of socks, that will equal 10 points. “We decided to get the whole school involved so we have more to give,” explained Doss. “With these cold winter nights, this stuff comes in handy for people at the homeless shelters.” They are not just accepting socks, they will also take scarfs, hats, gloves, earmuffs, or any other type of winter gear. All of the items collected throughout the whole month of November will be donated to a local homeless shelter. Socksgiving will end on November 25th, the student council will collect all of the winter gear from each start class.
Preparing early for graduation and life after high school Kelsie Anderson Reporter
Sometimes, it’s better to start early. When it comes to graduation, you shouldn’t wait for senior year to begin the process. “The best advice that I can give to our underclassmen is to start early, “ said Carla Hartenhoff, TJ’s counselor that works with seniors. “The timelines for college planning are starting earlier, so the more groundwork that you have done before your senior year, the better off that you are going to be.” Hartenhoff provided some information towards the benefits of starting your preparations for your senior year early, and what
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seniors have to carry out during their last year of high school. She has a website and social media channel dedicated to the senior’s final high school year. “Another tip for our underclassmen is to make sure that you are selecting your classes with your end goal in mind, so that you are not closing any opportunities,” said Hartenhoff. Hartenhoff concluded that if you get to your senior year, and you realize that you needed two years of a foreign language [for your desired college or job] and you don’t have those two years of that foreign language, you would miss that opportunity in high school and have to get it at the college level. “I don’t want anyone to have
Kelsie Anderson Copy Editor
What is BeeKind?
BeeKind is a student-led organization and it is sponsored by Mrs. Ryan, one of TJ’s counselors. Originally BeeKind was a tag project but now it is club. BeeKind is also a district wide movement that promotes a more positive act around schools. BeeKind does small random acts of kindness around the school with the hopes of it being able to make someone’s day and try to spread kindness to others. Charlie Clapp, Desrei Arbolente, and Hailey Collins are apart of BeeKind and they provided some information about what BeeKind does for TJ. “We do acts of kindness
around the school such as last year when we handed out hot chocolate in the morning and we would put sticky notes with kind messages on car windows and other things,” said Arbolente. For October BeeKind cut out miniature ghosts and put them in the teachers and janitors mailboxes with small kind messages such as Halloween puns. For Thanksgiving Beekind is planning on putting up posters around the school. “Last year when BeeKind was first a thing a few girls came back and they started the club back up and they sent out emails to students asking if they wanted to join and both me, Desrei and a few others were
some of them,” said Clapp. “All of the senior class officers help each other, we don’t really do everything individually,” said Collins,”some of what I do is reminding our secretary to send out emails, I also monitor our finances and record for the fundraisers.” Arbolente said that they are still trying to get funds for this year in order to do things such as still hand out hot chocolate in the winter, and handing out candy. If students are wanting to join, then BeeKind will send out emails to teachers and the student will have to be recommended by a teacher and once they’re recommended then the student will be added to the email list of meetings.
The graduating class of 2019 celebrating at the end of commencement. Photo by: Neyla Walton
any regrets after their senior year, but I also want to make sure that they are making the most informed decisions as possible,” she said. “That’s where I hope to support students in making a really informed decision about their college and career plan.” Hartenhoff also added that when she was a kid in high school she had no guidance, and because of this she made poor decisions, she didn’t do a lot of research, and she didn’t know where to find money,and ended up paying a lot more for her college experience. “If seniors are looking towards going to a post-secondary education such as a college,” or any post-secondary institution,
she said, “they need to apply, they need to complete FAFSA, and they need to try to find as many scholarships as possible. The goal is to find as much free money as possible to make it a viable option.” Most colleges require your ACT score for the enrollment process. College applications, FAFSA, scholarships, trade schools, and job applications are all a part of the post-graduation process. You can pay for college by securing student loans, scholarships, grants, and work-study jobs. According to a CNN Money article, student loans will have to be paid back, scholarships and grants you do not. Having
a better chance at scholarships requires preparation, good grades, and time management. The article also says that if you’re trying to apply for a scholarship you should contact your counselor or find a free online service. Also, workstudy jobs give you the ability to work on your college campus to help earn money to pay off for college. It’s very similar to a regular job because you still receive a paycheck which helps students prepare for a real job well they are at college. Lastly, the CNN Money article stated that a grant is money given to you for something specific by a college, state, or federal government that you will not have to repay.
News Mrs. Punteney earns the Dan Chavez Beyond the Horizon Teacher Award The Dan Chavez Beyond the Horizon Teacher award was awarded to ELL teacher Wendy Punteney. Photo provide by: Wendy Punteney
Kelsie Anderson Reporter This year, Mrs. Wendy Punteney earned the Dan Chavez Beyond the Horizon Teacher Award at the Iowa Culture and Language Conference in Coralville, IA. This annual award is given to a person who has demonstrated extraordinary effort on behalf of the immigrant, refugee, and non-English speaking populations of Iowa. “I didn’t try out for the award,” said Punteney. “My teaching
partner (Jim DeMott) had nominated me without telling me, so it was kind of a surprise.” The description of the teacher award states that teachers are eligible on any educational level who have demonstrated exemplary performance in the following areas: teaching of content material or English as a second language to English language learners, advocacy for the needs and rights of English language learners and their families. The Dan Chavez Beyond the Horizon Teacher Award is in
remembrance of Dan Chavez. He worked as a Bilingual Consultant for the Iowa department of education. The Dan Chavez Beyond the Horizon Awards have three separate awards. These three awards are Individual Advocate, Organization, and the Teacher Award. “I was surprised and shocked at winning the award and after I thought about it for a while, it was a nice award,” said Punteney. Punteney also said that if her students were to try for some-
thing that she doesn’t want them to give up, put in a lot of hard work, ask for help for when you need it, and look for those people who can support you instead of dragging you down. Punteney explained that she doesn’t believe that she will try out for an award again because she doesn’t really like the attention, and that she would rather just do her job and fly under the radar. But it is nice to get recognized for different things like this but it’s not something that she actively seeks out.
The Signal Co Editors-in-Chief Emily Eikenberry Katelyn Gwennap
Copy Editor
Heather Giovannoni
Paginator
Emily Eikenberry
Staff
Kelsie Anderson Kayleigh Cooper Austin Hinrichs
Adviser
Rob Lindquist Phone: 712-328-6493 Facebook: CBJacketJournalism Twitter: @TJHSJournalism Web: cbjacketjournlism.com Snapchat: tjhsjouralism The Signal is a school-sponsored publication of Thomas Jefferson High School 2501 W. Broadway Council Bluffs Iowa 5150. The Signals office is located in the upper library. The signal is printed by OH-K FASTPRINT in Omaha, NE. The Signal is a school-sponsered-publication and therefore recognizes its responsibility to stay within the boundaries that the school administrators set. The Signal will therefore inform its readers using a high standard of . 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. NSPA Members Publication IHSPA Members Publication
Thomas Jefferson’s Volleyball Coach Steps down Tweet @bonbonthewonton Volleyball head coach Bonnie Clinch announces publicly that she will be moving to Kenya, thus stepping down as coach of the squad Photo By: Jacket Journalsim
Austin Hinrichs Reporter The Jackets head volleyball coach is leaving Thomas Jefferson High School. Bonnie Clinch is moving to Kenya and she will start fresh there. Clinch has been the Head coach since 2015. “Thank you for the years, TJHS. I learned so much and loved so much as head coach,” said coach Clinch in the Daily Nonpareil article published November 22. For the past 10 years the Clinches have been helping the homeless in some capacity. She enjoys helping people and she feels like Kenya is the next step in pursuing that. “TJ taught me a lot about overcoming and pushing the limits. It often seemed like there was a lot working against us, and finding success wasn’t always easy, but so
often my girls would prove everyone wrong,” said Clinch. Clinch also said, “I have been so honored to coach at TJ. I’ve made really great relationships and gotten to love on so many athletes. I am leaving with a heavy heart, and so appreciate everything I’ve received from being a Yellow Jacket.” In a tweet on November 20, Clinch made the announcement public. The job position has been posted on the CBCSD.org website, and the search for the next Thomas Jefferson volleyball coach is on.