April 9, 2009 - Vol. 37. Issue 12

Students participate in X-Treme Sports
By Randi Barnett, sr.
News Editor

In Humboldt, the common sports for boys to be involved in are football, basketball, baseball, and track. However, some high school boys are involved in an X-treme sport, racing.

Billy Schomaker, sr., and Gavin Betzen, so., are both racing dirt bikes competitively this year. Schomaker has been riding dirt bikes for almost 11 years, but he just got into the racing aspect of the sport last year at Lyndon.

Photo Courtesy Gavin Betzen
Gavin Betzen, so., rounds a corner on his dirt bike during a race. Betzen has been
riding dirt bikes for approximately seven years and has been racing for two seasons.

“I got started riding dirt bikes when I was little, and my dad got a Harley; I instantly fell in love with riding,” Schomaker said. “After begging and pleading with my parents, I got my first dirt bike on my seventh birthday.”

Schomaker likes to ride dirt bikes because of the adrenaline rush that comes with riding. Schomaker also has fun riding because he gets to ride with his friends.

Photo Courtesy Gavin Betzen

Betzen has been riding for approximately seven years and is also racing competitively this year.

“I am currently working on my second season,” Betzen said. “My dad took me to a professional race so I thought I would try it, and I liked it. I like to ride and to compete.”

Photo Courtesy Gavin Betzen
I got started riding Dirt Bikes when I was little, my
Dad got a Harley; I instantly ffell in love with riding.
Billy Schomaker, sr.

Junior Nick Miller also races, only his vehicle has four wheels. He races his race car from March to August every year. This will be his sixth season of racing. Miller has grown up around racing and has always been interested in anything related to cars.

“[My favorite parts of racing] are the adrenaline rush, the competition, and the way the car sounds and feels,” Miller said. “[The hardest part] is setting up the car.”

Students attend Nurse's Day
By Crystal Crays, sr.
Advertising Editor

Pittsburg State University held a high school Nurse’s Day last Thursday. Seven Humboldt students attended and were chaperoned by counselor Jason Feeback.

All the students were split into groups, and student nurses attending PSU were the group leaders and speakers. Each group rotated to different stations and learned a variety of nursing techniques and procedures.

“It was a fun experience that was hands on,” Lauren Habiger said. “They explained the qualifications and what being a nurse is like.”

Photo Courtesy Jason Feeback
Senior Malachi Melton practices checking vital signs using a
stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff at Pittsburg State's Nurse's Day.

“Give It Your Best Shot” was the title of one of the stations. The group leaders let the students practice giving shots on hotdogs and oranges.

Another station was “If You Choke, Don’t Croak”. Here, the group leaders showed the students the Heimlich maneuver and how to perform CPR.

Placing IV’s was another station that the students attended. They learned how to place an IV into a patient and how to monitor and adjust it.

“The Latest In Fashion” was the title of the station that demonstrated sanitary procedures. The students were shown how to put on the right garments for the different tasks that nurses perform without making them unsanitary.

Senior Lenzie Boring has lived in Humboldt her entire life. She has always been a very active student and has been involved in several activities throughout high school.

“[What I enjoy most about high school] is hanging out with my friends and being able to participate in athletics,” Boring said. “Also, the teachers are fun to be around.”

Her activities include FCCLA, FCA, NHS, LEO’s club, basketball, volleyball and softball. Boring has especially excelled in sports. Even as a freshman she started varsity for all three of her sports and is a four-year letterman in each one.

“I like being a part of a team,” Boring said. “I like to reach my goals and get better.”

In her free time, Boring likes to go bowling with friends, check out her Facebook page, and watch television.

“I love watching American Idol,” Boring said. “It is the greatest thing ever!”

Next year Boring will be attending Allen Community College on a softball scholarship. Later on she plans to transfer to a four-year school and major in Pre-med to become a pediatrician.

“I have always wanted to be a doctor so that I can help people,” Boring said. “I like to learn about different sicknesses and how they affect the body. It’s really fascinating.”

Rusty Olson, sr.
By Valerie Weilert, fr.
Opinion Editor

Rusty Olson is an eighteen-year-old senior at Humboldt High School. Olson is involved in a couple extracurricular activities such as track and FFA.

“FFA lets me practice welding which is what I intend to do as a career,” Olson said. “Track is just a good way for me to get exercise and have fun with my friends who are also in track.”

In his spare time, Olson enjoys working on various vehicles, hanging out with his friends and listening to different types of music.

Olson works at Moon’s Hometown Market in Humboldt and Wonderbread on Sunday mornings.

Several people have influenced Olson through out the course of his life, but if he had to choose one person who influenced him the most, Olson would say his mother.

“My mother is a very strong woman who has been through a lot in her life,” Olson said. “I really look up to her because of that, and she has influenced my life an extraordinary amount.”

Olson intends on becoming a welder when he graduates from high school. His plans involve going to a welding school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Olson has a favorite quote, which is, “One day life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.”

Students enroll in courses for next year
By Bailey Myers, sr.
Editor-in-Chief

Once again it is time to prepare for a new school year. Students have already started enrolling in both required and elective classes for next year.

A few new classes are being offered for the 2009-2010 school year, including some dual credit classes.

Incoming freshmen have already turned in their enrollment sheets, while sophomores finished theirs Tuesday. Juniors should be finishing up today, while seniors will start on Monday. They hope to be completely finished by Apr. 17.

Some of the new classes being offered include a broadcast class taught by Kim Isbell and a speech class taught by Hailey Schoendaller.

“Teaching Speech will be something new for me,” Schoendaller said. “I plan on contacting the college soon and spending time this summer working out class expectations and requirements. I want it to be a challenging class where students can have fun while learning to write and present eloquent speeches.”

Humboldt has also made some changes in other dual credit courses through Allen Community College. A new Intro to Graphics/Multimedia Graphics class is being offered as well as a Psychology night class that will not go against the 24 hour maximum for college credit. It will be held on Wednesday nights from 6-9.

Economics will no longer be offered for college credit, and U.S. History will be replacing the first semester of American History.

Basketball teams receive donation
By Bret Hauser, jr.
Reporter

The basketball teams will have a new piece of equipment to work with next year called “The Gun.” “The Gun” is an automatic rebounding machine, which shoots the ball back at the shooter after a shot. “The Gun” also keeps track of each person’s shooting percentage so they can tell if they are improving.

The teams had to raise their own money to get the machine, and they raised it through a freethrow-a-thon. All basketball players, ranging from sixth graders to seniors, had to raise money for the freethrow-a-thon. The players could get a pledge, in which a person pledges to give a set amount of money for each made free throw, or they could just get a flat donation.

Photo by Megan Dewey
Jeff Wilkerson, girls head coach, and David Taylor, boys head coach, receive a
$1000 check from Modern Woodmen representative, Josh Oberley, for “The Gun.”

“I was pleased with how the kids did to raise the money,” Jeff Wilkerson, girls head basketball coach, said. “They raised over half of the money to pay for it this year.”

The basketball teams raised 2,663.70 dollars, and the Modern Woodmen of America, a club that helps out other organizations, matched $1,000, for a grand total of $3,663.70.

David Taylor, boys head basketball coach, was the one who approached the Modern Woodmen. This was the first time that Humboldt approached them regarding the grants that the organization does every year for athletes.

Snow, ice hinders Forensics team
By Alexis Hosack, jr.
Feature Editor

Because of snow and ice, the Uniontown forensics meet scheduled for Mar. 28 was postponed until Apr. 6. However, none of the Humboldt participants originally signed up for the meet were able to attend because of schedule conflicts.

Two team members traveled to LeRoy last Saturday. Juniors Bret Hauser and Mary Hauser competed, but unfortunately neither was able to break into the final round.

“I did not do as well as I am capable of doing,” B. Hauser said. “I hope that I do better at the Regional Festival so that way I can go to State in May.”

Photo Courtesy Gracie Newman
Junior Mary Hauser reviews before presenting her piece.

B. Hauser participated in prose, while M. Hauser competed in prose and poetry.

“I was mad because I did the best I had ever done in poetry, and my scores were really good,” M. Hauser said.

The team’s next meet will be on Apr. 13 at Garnett.

Students get involved in Civil War Days
By Bret Hauser, jr.
Reporter

Several students and faculty members have been and will be helping in preparation for Civil War Days which will take place June 12-14 at Camp Hunter. Civil War Days is a celebration of the Civil War action in Humboldt.

Currently Tim Osborn’s Graphic Arts class is working on making rack cards and posters, while the publications department is working on making the newsletter for the festival. Both are intended to help publicize the event.

The cards list the events, where they will be held, and the day they occur.

The newsletter has the historical content of the Civil War in Humboldt and a list of events. The rack cards and posters will be able to be picked up at Johnson’s General Store and Dodie’s.

“The Civil War Days committee is absolutely thankful for the work done, and the work has received comments from tourism people all over the state of Kansas,” Eileen Robertson, Civil War Days spokesperson, said.

FFA
Competition at Coffeyville Aggie Days sees good results

FFA members traveled to Coffeyville on Apr. 3 to compete in the Coffeyville Aggie Days competition. Members competed in poultry, dairy foods, and speech competitions.

In dairy foods competition, Jacob Manbeck, jr., placed fifth individually, and as a team, they took fifth place.

Photo Courtesy Matt Kerr
Sophomore Connor Stirewalt looks at his paper while participating in the Dairy Foods
competition on Apr. 3 at the Coffeyville Aggie Days. All together the team placed fifth in dairy
foods. The next competition the team is attending will be from May 3-5 at Manhattan for State.

“It was an interesting competition because the setup was different than the rest,” Manbeck said. “It was a good warm-up for state dairy foods. The team looks to do well in the competition. ”

The poultry team participated, but results were not available at press time.
“I felt as a team, we did well for how many schools were there competing,” Kevin Barker, jr., said.

Junior Glendolyn Neely was the only member to compete in the speech contest. Individually, Neely received seventh place.

FCCLA
Neely, Hauser elected 09-10 district FCCLA officers
By Randi Barnett, sr.
News Editor

On Mar. 31 and Apr. 1, 26 FCCLA members traveled to Wichita to participate in activities and watch two of their members be installed as district officers.

Juniors Mary Hauser and Glendolyn Neely were elected as district officers earlier this year, and at the state meeting they were recognized.

“I am excited about being a district officer,” Neely said. “I think it will be a good experience.”

Dorothy Neely, FCCLA sponsor, is enthusiastic about Hauser and G. Neely being elected.

“I think it is a great learning opportunity, and it gives them a chance to use their leadership skills,” D. Neely said.

Local
Progress on public pool renovation

This summer the public pool will look completely different due to the renovations being completed.

A zero-entry section is being added on the east side of the pool where the baby pool used to be. Next to this will be an ADA accessible bathhouse and an ADA accessible gate.

The pump house is also being upgraded, allowing for more water to flow through the pool.

State/National
Eight-year-old Californian girl disappears

On Mar. 27 an eight year old girl, Sandra Cantu, from California returned home from school and asked permission to go two houses down in the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy, California and play with her friend. Cantu has not been seen since.

Numerous neighbors, family members, friends, and search-and-rescue members searched frantically for Cantu over the weekend, but with no results.

World
Obama, Medvedev attempt to reduce nuclear arms arsenals

On Apr. 1 President Barack Obama met with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in London to discuss their arsenals of nuclear weapons and tried to find a legally binding way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.

Activity Calendar

Click on image to download calendar as a PDF file.

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