Plain TalkGarden Plain High School

December 16, 2016 Volume 17, Issue 4

Inside This Issue

2-Sports 3-12 Days of Christmas4-Survey

6-GPHS Crossword 7-Around the World 8-Giving to others 9-Senior Spotlights5- Wrestling

10-Sr.Spotlights Cont.

gracious! I don’t understand how people deal with them. At least during the summer, even if the temperatures are well into the hundreds, it will cool off enough to be comfortable later in the day. But in winter, even the high tem-peratures are well below warm enough to even be tolerable. Basically, you either wait until 6:00 for the temperatures to be comfortable, or until March. You decide which is worse. And let us not forget that, unlike summer, winter does not have as long a break from school. As opposed to summer’s three months of warm, no-school bliss,

You know what’s Vexing Vincent? Winter, that’s what! You want to know why? Well, I’m about to tell you. Winter. ‘Tis the season to be dreaded. I’m serious, winter is easily the worst season of the year, despite Christmas. You might ask: “What’s so bad about winter?” Let’s see, there are snowy roads and cars that are frosted over in the mornings, for starters. Actual-ly, snow in general is a big part of the problem if you think about it. What blocks the roads in winter? Snow. What needs to be shoveled from sidewalks and driveways to make them useable? Snow. What constantly melts during winter, then refreezes and makes everything slippery and danger-ous? Snow. Don’t let this sparkly, white earth blanket fool you; snow is completely madden-ing… and cold, don’t forget cold. Speaking of cold, the tempera-tures… oh my goodness

winter only has two weeks of freezing freedom. Honestly, who needs more proof? Winter obvi-ously sucks, especially compared to other times of year. But there are so many other things wrong with winter: power outages, finals, chapped lips and skin, illness, and fruit cake, all things that make winter just that much worse. As if what I men-tioned wasn’t enough already, now I have to deal with these things too. Fantastic. Granted, winter does have some redeeming qualities, like Christmas, New Year’s, and frost-ed sugar cookies, but even these

upsides just don’t make up for the suckiness that is winter. At least winter will eventually fade and turn into spring and, finally, the sweet freedom and joy that is summer. Until then, if you’re one of my fellow winter haters, I feel your pain, and if you actually prefer winter… are you okay?

SPORTS 2 By: Jacqueline Strunk The varsity girls basketball team consists of two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen, The Lady Owls started off the season with an intense game against long time rival, the Cheney Cardinals. The lead changed quite a few times, with Garden Plain ahead in the first half by seven points. The Lady Owls pulled off a 57-38 win against the Cardinals. Paige Hoheisel, Lady Owl senior, scored a total of thirteen points. Taylor Joplin, junior, scored a total of twenty-four points. It was a rough game, but they managed an excep-tional win for their first game. Their second game against Hesston wasn’t as successful. Going into halftime, the girls were down by just five points. They came back with a 27-23 lead against the Swathers at the end of the third quarter. The Owls ended up with their first loss of the season with a score of 41-32. This loss hit hard for the girls because of their hard work during practice. They never gave up and continued to fight until the end. Even with the loss they played a great game.The Owls are currently ranked third in the Central Plains League. Though the season has just begun, the Lady Owls are showing potential for a great year! Coach Kasselman is excited for what the girls are capable of and their hard work and dedication.

By: Emerson Tice We are in the first stretch of basketball season, and the team has several games under their belt. The boys are currently 2-3 for the season but have played some very tough competition. Coach Lantz feels that the first part of the season is going extremely well. “We kinda had a turning point moment near the end of the Cheney game and when things all of a sudden came together, since then things have been clicking.” The team has four returning seniors: Dylan Gordon, Cody Hendryx, Geoffrey Weninger, and Nate Pauly. These boys have excellent leadership and are willing to do anything to help the team out on the court. There are several underclassmen out for basketball; many could play big roles as well. This year the boys are coached by Coach Lantz, his first year at Garden Plain High School. Coach Lantz’s system is very similar to the system they ran last year so there is very little that is new to the team. The boys just came out of the pre-season tournament 2-1, which is the best a Garden Plain team has done in the tournament for a long time. Coach Lantz feels very encouraged about the outcome. “It is a good sign of what we are capable of if we just keep practicing hard.” The boys opened up with a tough loss to Hesston, the highest ranked team in class 3A. The team bounced back and picked up wins against Chanute and Rose Hill. The team has one more game before Christmas break against Bennington. When Coach Lantz was asked where he wants the team when they return from Christmas break, he responded with, “We want the team to be motivated and excited about what we might be able to accomplish; we just want them in a positive state of mind.” The boys will be facing Douglass at home when they return from the break. So far the team has been very exciting to watch, shows a lot of potential, and should have a successful half of the season, so come watch and cheer them on!

3By: Brooke Foster and Heather Richards

12 Days of Christmas

HOHOHO! Merry Christmas! It’s everyone’s favorite time of year: the presents, the tree, the sugar cookies, spending time with family, and, of course, all the Christmas songs. Here Heather and Brooke, with special guests, Jacqueline Strunk and CC Panek, did a lip sync video to the one and only, 1”The2 Days of Christmas”. Who doesn’t love “The 12 Days of Christmas”? We hope you all have a happy and Merry Christ-mas this holiday season! And remember to be a good kid this year. You don’t want to end up on the naughty list! Twelve Drummers Drumming Eleven Pipers Piping Ten Lords a Leaping Nine Ladies Dancing Eight Maids a Milking Seven Swans a Swimming Six Geese a Laying Five Golden Rings Four Calling Birds Three French Hens Two Turtle Doves A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Below is a QR Code for “The 12 Days of Christmas” lip sync video! You can join in by downloading the app “CR Code Reader.” It’s free! Just scan the code, and enjoy!

4 By: Celia Panek

Christmas is a season of celebration and being with family. The newspaper staff wanted to see how different families celbrate Christmas with their own traditions, so I sent out a survey to hear how you and your family spend the holiday season.

90% of the students surveyed started that they own a real Christmas tree. 55% of students reported that that they eat ham for their Christmas dinner, while 20% eat turkey, leaving a 25% indicating that they eat something other than ham or turkey. When asked where students go for Christmas, 74% stay at home, and 26% travel more than 30 miles. 85% of the student surveyed

indicated that they open presents on Christmas Day, rather than the 15% who open presents on Christmas Eve. Given the options of putting a star or an angel on the top of their tree, 57% chose a star, and 43% chose an angel. 74% of those surveyed prefer to have a white Christmas. The survey showed that 23% of students’

favorite movie is “The Elf,” runner up was tied with 16% choosing “The Polar Express” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (starring Jim Carrey). The third most chosen movie was the Home Alone movies. Lastly, the majority of students (38%) chose “All I Want for Christmas is You” as their favorite Christmas song. Second place was again tied, with 13% of stu-

dents picking “Silent Night” and “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree.” The third favorite song was “Mary, Did You Know?” As you can see, this is how our student body celebrates the holiday season. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Survey

By: Alyssa King 5 Wrestling

The wrestling team this year already has had two tournaments, and they did great in both of them. I interviewed Garrett Richardson and this is this what he has to say… This is his first year of being a wrestler. For being his first year and a freshman, he thinks that he could get better by talk to the upperclassmen for all of the advice he can get before the season is over. His first match didn’t go as planned, he had gone against an All-State junior. He said the if he had just gotten low enough and get to his opponent’s legs before he got to his the outcome would have been better. Other than that he likes wrestling because of the coaches and because Marty always has helpful and encouraging things to say. He also plans on wrestling next year. Next I interviewed the only senior on the team Marty Landwher. Marty has been wrestling for four years. How he feels about being the one and only senior on the team is that the maturity level is low. His best memory of wrestling is the time he dropped Jonah in practice one day. He doesn’t plan to wrestle in college. The one thing he wishes that would change about being a wrestler is dropping weight because it takes to much time. What he is going to miss the most about being a wrestler is going to state. The last person I interviewed was Mercedes Gassmann. Sadie has been wrestling practically her whole life. Since she is the only girl on the wrestling team, she’s kind of used to being unique. Her kicking Marty’s butt everyday in practice is her favorite memory of wrestling. What she said about being a wrestler is the same thing Marty had said; cutting weight is the pits. She said that she wouldn’t change anything even if she had the chance to change everything. The next wrestling tournament is December 17th at Rose Hill. Go and cheer on your wrestlers.

6Crossword ` By: Haley Hays

Down

1. You want to make it on this list

3. This tops your Christmas tree

4. These are under your Christmas

tree

5. He is on a movie and is green

7. You decorate these at Christmas

t ime

9. They are Santa's helpers

11. Its a popular drink at Christmas

t ime

12. People like to go look at these

14. This candy is red and white

15. Its a tradit ion that if you walk

under it you have to kiss someone.

Across

2. You get this in your stocking if you

are bad

6. When you go door to door to sing,

it is called what?

8. A popular Christmas song

10. You can get a fake or real one of

these to put up in your house

13. Fly Santa's sleigh

16. You don't want to be on this list.

17. What does Santa say

18. He was born on Christmas

19. What does Feliz Navidad mean?

20. People like to build these in the

snow

Christmas CrosswordComplete the crossword below

1 2 3 4

5

6 7

8 9

10

11

12

13 14

15

16

17 18

19

20

Created with TheTeachersCorner.net Crossword Puzzle Generator

7Christmas Around the WorldBy: Brooke Foster

Christmas is a widely celebrated holiday around the world! Almost every country in the world celebrates some form of Christmas. Christmas is a time for giving, family, and lots of fun! So wherever you are, around the world, you’re sure to find some form or another to celebrate December 25.

In the United States traditonal Christmas is very similar to the United Kingdom's. One big thing that people do here is hang up Christmas lights on their houses and businesses. A lot of them have a radio station that coordinate with the light display. Presents are set out under the tree the night before. Kids

open presents the day of Christmas. Another popular tradition in the United States is caroling. People go door to door, entertaining their neighbors, friends, and even strangers, with Christmas music. In China, not many people celebrate Christmas. Only about 1% of peo-ple know what Christmas is about. So usually big cities, like Beijing, celebrate by putting lights in departments stores. Santa Claus is called “Shen Dan Lao Ren” in China. Trees there are plastic and are decorated with loads of paper decorations! Jingle Bells is the most popular christmas carol in China. Instead of having a traditional Christmas tree, India likes to use a ba-nana or mango tree. In a town called Goa people love to celebrate Christmas!

Goa has adopted a lot of “western” cultures to their Christmas traditions. On Christmas Eve the people of Goa hang paper lanterns between houses so they look like stars. Travelers love to visit Goa during Christmas time for all of their unique and creative traditions! In Sri Lanka Christmas is celebrated all month! On December 1, firecrackers are lit at dawn to kick off the celebration! Santa is called Naththal Seeya in Sri Lanka. Their way of saying “Merry Christmas!” is “Suba Naththalak Wewa.”

What an interesting greeting! On Christmas Eve (Grand Market) in Jamaica, kids go to a type of festival, and here, they can shop for all sorts of the newest toys. It starts at 6:00 p.m. and lasts until Christmas morning at dawn! People from all around Jamaica come together to sing Christmas carols and spread the Christmas cheer. Their Christmas dinner usually consists of meals like chicken, curry goat, stewed oxtail, and rice or peas. Jamai-cans usually go to church at Midnight. Here, they will celebrate Christmas day all together. So whatever time zone, country, or city you are in, there is Christmas all around you! And while it may not look like the Christmas that we have here, it can be celebrated in so many different ways . Christmas is truly a wonderful holiday, that is celebrated around the world by people who want to spread love and happiness!

8 Giving to others by: Kylie Thomas

It is that time of the year to start giving to others, whether it is giving presents or just being generous. There are many ways to give to others during the holidays especially during Christmas.The biggest program is the Angel Tree. This program allows children to receive gifts from different people all around the world. People are able to adopt a child at different

locations and buy any presents the child would need. When you adopt the child, the angel will tell you if you chose a boy or girl and the age. For example, say the child is a five year old girl, some great present ideas would be to get a Barbie, a pink coat, or even

some nail polish. In Wichita, there are two location to adopt a child: JCPenney at Town East Mall and outside Candyop-olis in Town West Mall. All of the gifts are due by Decem-ber 13th! This is the perfect time to go give gift to others so head on down to one of the malls and adopt a child from Angel Tree! Another way to help people out during the holidays is by donating. People are able to give their money to the Sal-vation Army by putting it in the red containers at different stores (Walmart) or even donating money online. One Warm Coat is a national organization that allows people to donate their coat to people in need. This organization started in 1992 in San Francisco. During the Thanksgiving weekend, they started a coat drive and from there they have grown to 3000 coat drives. One Warm Coat’s mission is to provide anyone in need with a coat, with no charge. Newton High School National Honors Society is providing a coat drive for people to donate this holiday. Bring your extra coats you do not use for others tohave! These programs are amazing ways to help give to other people this holiday!

9Sr. SpotlightsBy: Carrie Doherty

Name: Nate PaulyNickname: Wall-PaulBirthday: 6/10/98Fav. Saying: Just take a straightFav. Food: Steak and anything breakfastFav. T.V. Show: The OfficeFav. Movie: The PatriotFav. Actor/Actress: Leo Dicap-rioFav. Quote: “I immediately regret this decision.” - Ron Bur-gundyFav. Song: Goodbye Strang-er-SupertrampFav. Music Group: The Beastie BoysFav. Teacher: KasselmanFav. Class: Teacher’s AidFav. Pastime: The GraineryPerson Most Admired: Don-ald TrumpPet Peeves: When people over-use the word “like”Most Memorable Moment: Every Saturday NightMost Embarrassing Moment: Sometime freshman yearFuture Plans: Watch a movieAdvice to Underclassmen: Have a good time while it lasts.

Name: Caleb EllisNickname: EllisBirthday: December 30Fav. Saying: High School isn’t about learning anymore; it’s about passing.Fav. Food: EverythingFav. T.V. Show: Impractical JokersFav. Movie: Longest YardFav. Actor/Actress: Jennifer AnistonFav. Quote: Temporary fur with permanent consequencesFav. Song: Trow it up - Chilli PeppersFav. Music Group: Red Hot Chilli PeppersFav. Teachers: Mrs. HarveyFav. Class: WeightsFav. Pastime: My shedPerson Most Admired: Mom and DadPet Peeves: When people rev their engine really loud to draw attention.Most Memorable Moment: Spring Break 2K16Most Embarrassing Moment: Playing Andale BaseballFuture Plans: Live life in col-lege, raise a family and own chihuahuasAdvice to Underclassmen: Don’t stick pencils and scissors in the ceiling; it will change your life.

Name: Kylie ThomasNickname: Kyle, KthomBirthday: 10/23/98Fav. Saying: Block themFav. Food: ChipotleFav. T.V. Show: Impractical JokersFav. Movie: Conjuring 2Fav. Actor/Actress: Ryan Gos-lingFav. Quote: “There are a mil-lion fish in the sea, but I’m a mermaid”.Fav. Song: Any JB songFav. Music Group: Justin BieberFav. Teacher: Mrs. DooleyFav. Class: Any art classFav. Pastime: Going to Chipo-tlePerson Most Admired: My mentors from Senior Internship ClassPet Peeves: Being told what to doMost Memorable Moment: JB concertMost Embarrassing Moment: State Volleyball 2K15Future Plans: Fort Hays State - Graphic DesignAdvice to Underclassmen: Have ttrust in someone who puts in the milk, then the cereal.

10Sr. SpotlightsBy: Carrie Doherty

Name: Emerson TiceNickname: EmBirthday: 11/15/98Fav. Saying: “Do it I care”Fav. Food: French friesFav. T.V. Show: Grey’s Anat-omyFav. Movie: N/AFav. Actor/Actress: Scott EastwoodFav. Quote: N/AFav. Song: Every SongFav. Music Group: Thomas RhettFav. Teacher: Mr. RenyerFav. Class: Mr. RockersFav. Pastime: Table Rock Lake 2016Person Most Admired: Mon-ica DownsPet Peeves: Judgemental PeopleMost Memorable Moment: Getting pushed off a jet ski and almost breaking my foot and toe, and also State Track!!Most Embarrassing Mo-ment: Dumping lunch tray all over myselfFuture Plans: Pitt StateAdvice to Underclassmen: Be nice to everyone :)

Name: Alex CoxNickname: AlexBirthday: Sept 21stFav. Saying: Don’t be an idiotFav. Food: Chicken and RiceFav. T.V. Show: Game of ThronesFav. Movie: The KingsmenFav. Actor/Actress: Jennifer LawrenceFav. Quote: Be an idiot.Fav. Song: Gangsta songFav. Music Group: Breaking BenjaminFav. Teacher: Mr. KasselmanFav. Class: HistoryFav. Pastime: Staring directly into the sunPerson Most Admired: Hanni-bal Lecter Pet Peeves: When people are moronsMost Memorable Moment: When Mrs. Veenstra’s Chair BrokeMost Embarrassing Moment: No such things as embarrassmentFuture Plans: CollegeAdvice to Underclassmen: Don’t be stupid.

Name: Jagger GorgesNickname: Jag, Shag, ShaguarBirthday: 3/21/1999Fav. Saying: You will never have this day again, so make it countFav. Food: HamburgerFav. T.V. Show: Family GuyFav. Movie: The Wolf of Wall StreetFav. Actor/Actress: Jennifer AnistonFav. Quote: Some people are like clouds. When they go away it’s a brighter dayFav. Song: Colt 45Fav. Music Group: N.W.A.Fav. Teacher: Mr. Kasselman and Mrs. DaerrFav. Class: ShopFav. Pastime: Going to the YMCA with Brady and Leo Person Most Admired: Ethan BeckerPet Peeves: Don’t have anyMost Memorable Moment: On the way to the Halstead wres-tling tournament freshman yearMost Embarrassing Moment: Getting caught sticking scissors at the middle schoolFuture Plans: GO to College at K-StateAdvice to Underclassmen: Don’t be dumb.