OrioleVolume 82, Issue 5

Augusta High School 2020 Ohio Augusta KS 67010 (316) 775-5461 www.orioleonline.com

January 2015The

Friends of Freshmen (FOF) is a program started last school year to help the incom-ing and now current freshmen feel less intimidated, and to help them succeed in high school. This year they are participating in a week long project Jan. 26-30 called The Great Kindness Challenge.

This challenge’s purpose is to encourage kindness around the school. In 2014, 1,099 schools and 554,486 students participated in 27 million acts of kindness. The coun-selors decided to try this challenge after a senior from last year used it as the topic for her senior project.

“We’re trying to create something that smooths out the transition. Upperclassmen connect and help the freshmen do better

Freshmen promote kindness school-wideElizabeth Davis

Designertheir freshman year,” counselor Elizabeth Hamblin said.

When upperclassmen connect with the freshman class they feel less intimidated.

“They need help getting used to high school cause its different from middle school” junior Austin Willis said.

Throughout the week the leaders of FOF will meet up with their groups and participate in activities promoting kind-ness not only among the freshman but the entire school. Some of the activities include a compliments wall, kindness essay contest, poem contest, decorating doors and lockers and much more.

The FOF leaders think that it’s important to spread kindness amongst the school and having a week devoted to that will help.

“It’s important to put people into mind,”

junior Katie Linder said.Upperclassmen notice when the fresh-

men and other students in the school don’t get along, it not only affects that class but the entire school.

“The freshman class doesn’t get along very well, so the kindness challenge will bring them together,” junior McKenzie Scott said.

As leaders the upperclassmen think it’s important to help the freshman feel less intimidated or nervous like they were when they were freshmen. This program gives them a chance to have upperclassmen friends whom they can go to for guidance.

“They try hard to fit in, and it’s good to have an upperclassmen help with that. It’s scary being a freshman,” senior Kodi Brock said.

PLANNING Freshmen students begin to plan for the Great Kindness Challenge that starts Jan. 26 and lasts throughout the whole week. Each Friends of Freshmen group will be creating their own individual activites for students to participate in over the timespan of that week. (Photo by Katie Cox)

BONDING Junior Austin Willis cracks a joke to ease the tension during the discussing ways to promote kindress throughout the building. Each group has around 10-15 freshman (Photo by Katie Cox)

CREATING Freshman Jacob Seay-Harris, Haley Walker, Madelyn Ratcliff, and Alaina Rumery create a kindness poster to hang up in the halls. Students used ACE time to complete it. (Photo by Katie Cox)

2 News January 2015

The Oriole2014-2015

Editor-in-Chief ........................Victoria GoetzingerOnline Editor ....................................... Lexi WirthsDesigners .................................... Matthew Canedy..........................................................Isabel Chesick.............................................................Ashlie Clark................................................. Mikayla Coppinger........................................................Elizabeth Davis......................................................Rylee Drouillard.........................................................Emma RobertsOnline Reporters ................................. Shelby Clay.................................................................Katie Cox..........................................................Clara Kellogg...........................................................Gracie TolleyWriters ........................................... Jayda Garrison........................................................... Sady Hasting...........................................................Cody Hromek............................................................ Izaiah Ligon.............................................................Faith Nance..............................................................Emma Pray ........................................................Jessica Runyan............................................................Cassie WoodIllustrator ........................................ Kylie BurnhamAdvisor ...............................................Julie Barker

Mission and PolicyOur mission as the staff of the 2014-2015 Augusta Oriole is to provide the student body with newsworthy information and entertainment in a professional and timely manner. The Oriole serves as an open forum for student expression in Augusta High School, encouraging all sides to voice their opinions in order to better serve the entire school community. Signed letters to the editor of no more than 250 words are accepted and may be edited for style, grammar, length and taste. The Oriole is published every progress term, with exception of the online edition and in accordance with the Kansas Student Publications Act is written, edited and produced by the Digital Media Design and Production students with the guidance of a faculty adviser. Contact ahsnewspaper@usd402.com questions or concerns.

School welcomes new janitorial management

Chromebooks come to library

Recently the school has undergone a change in janitors.

Steve Holiday took the role of head custodian in the place of Kevin Dressler who left after first semester. Holiday works in the afternoon and evening. Randy Hughes is the new day custodian.

While the custodians play a large role in cleaning and handling maintenance, they also serve another purpose.

Many people have memories of Dressler before his retirement.

Several students recall seeing the custodians at their athletic events and practices.

According to several students, Dressler played a huge part in en-couraging athlet-ics and was an all around friendly man.

“I think the custo-dians are very nice and a great help to our school,” junior Jordyn Spainhower said.

A set of Google Chromebooks will soon be in the library that is going to be available for students to use. A set consists of 30 Chromebooks. Drivers’ education will also be allowed to use these Chrome-books in the summer.

“The laptops and computers in the library need to be replaced, but we can’t get one for every student yet because purchasing all of them would be hard on the budget. Plus we were also hoping to explore a few more options before making any final deci-sions,” librarian Megan Kohlman said.

By getting these devices the school hopes for the students to have access to better de-vices without having to pay for insurance. Kohlman said that there is no definite decision about what is going to happen to

the current computers, for now they will remain in the library.

“We will mainly use the laptops for computer testing so we don’t have to go to the computer lab. Plus with these new laptops we might be able to do driving simulations,” drivers education instructor Jeff Regier said.

These new devices will arrive as soon as the tech team gets the order in place. For all of the Chromebooks the cost is about $ 7,711. A grant was given by the South

Central Kansas Library System, some money came from the

library budget and some money came from the

drivers’ education budget according to Kohlman.

Kohlman hopes that the library

will receive the Chrome books

around the first of February. The library will be

open from 7:40 in the in the morning to 3:20 after school so students can use the Chromebooks once they arrive.

Emma PrayWriter

Faith NanceWriter

It is typical for students to become close to their teachers, but the connection that the student body has to the custodi-ans is different.

Students take the time to interact with the staff and even spend time

conversing with them during the lunch hours.

Hughes enjoys the interac-tion with the students

“The custodi-ans are awe-some,” sopho-more Joseph Lowery said.

While Holi-day and Hughes are welcomed, Dressler will be missed around

the halls of AHS.

Steve Holiday Randy Hughes

The Oriole News 3

Missing plane conspiracies catch interest

The topic of missing planes has been widespread in the news world in the past year. Recently, the missing AirAsia plane was found in the Java Sea. According to online sources, the plane reached a high altitude before crashing, but investigators are still unsure about what exactly caused the crash.

Two black boxes have been recovered, and investigators will review them to find out very important information that will determine what was going on before and during the crash. The boxes hold infor-mation such as altitude, flying speed, air pressure changes, fuel consumption and inputs to the aircraft controls. The cockpit voice recorder has also been retrieved and

will be looked over to find out the last two hours of conversations between the flight deck, pilots and air traffic controllers.

“I think we’re about to enter World War III. There are the same signs as before WWI and WWII and history tends to re-

peat itself,” junior Elaine

Rye said. By similar signs Rye means hostil-ity and serious conflicts between

countries.Last year a Malaysian plane was shot

down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government still hasn’t released much information about the crash, but many citizens from countries around the world believe that it was attempted terror-ist attack.

“Planes go missing, and it doesn’t mean it’s due to terrorists. Bad weather condi-tions could be a cause along with pilots

making mistakes,” senior Alex McCann said.

People have many conspiracies about what happen to the missing and disappear-ing planes. They range from aliens, terror-ists, hijacks and others just think that there were technological difficulties and nothing that could have been prevented.

“I think to prevent accidents they should have better radar, train pilots more, and fly around the Bermuda Triangle.”

There is a possibility that authori-ties could make sure that different flying companies would be required to do safety checks more often and that pilots would have to go through more training and tests.

Often times there isn’t much known information and search crews will spend from days up until months to locate pas-sengers. Families of the passengers aboard the planes offer money to find the planes their loved ones were aboard and keep their hopes high until they find out a defi-nite answer.

Education funding changes to come in 2015

Sady HastingWriter

Following a Shawnee County District Court decision, Kansas schools are said to be receiving additional funding in the 2015-2016 school year. Yet, according to the Wichita Eagle, Governor Sam Brown-back’s new policy cuts $127.4 million from the education budget.

In the case, it was ruled that in recent years, public schools in Kansas had been illegally underfunded according to the state constitution, which has brought up questions about state spending and taxes. It was recommended that the state would be required to spend around $800 more per student, resulting in around $548 mil-lion more a year. Recent budget reports education budgets took hits in the past few years. In 2014, school funds across the state lost $200,000 from their general fund, going from $1.9 million to right around $1.7 million.

“In my tenure here, in the last six to seven years, there has been a large cut,”

Assistant Principal Ryan Muhlig said. “We are running around $800 to $1000 short per student, $650,000 a year, just for high school students.”

Those short-ages are similar in all schools in the district, according to Muhlig.

The states educational building fund-ing in 2014 was $20.48 million while 2015 funding is set for $400,903 per the total of 293 districts. School funding for other areas varies depending on where the district decides it is the most needed according to recent reports.

“We should fund the areas we are weak in such as science and areas that are high in job demand,” freshman Jacob Lewellen said. “I think that money needs to be spent very wisely, if it is spent it should be used to our benefit.”

Other students believe school funding should be focused on keeping students interested.

“School funding is needed to keep band and drama in school because that’s the first thing that will go, due to the school being so sport-oriented,” junior Kailee Thornburg said.

Thornburg has been an active participant in the high school’s theater and music programs.

Thornburg said that if the school was to lose funding, many classes she takes would most likely be discontin-ued first, which would probably prompt her to move schools.

Some believe that cutting education funding is cutting the funding of one of the most important facets of society.

“We’re teaching the future and prepar-ing students for jobs and college and if we don’t make education a priority everyone is going to be an idiot,” science teacher Joanna Ellsworth said.

Matthew Canedy, Isabel Chesick

Designers

Kansas governor Sam Brownback’s budget proposal cuts $127.4

million from education. -According to the

Wichita Eagle

4 Opinions January 2015

Illustrated by Lexi Wirths

Staff Editorial

Victoria GoetzingerEditor-In-Chief

College isn’t meant for ev-eryone, but these visits are crucial during high school.

For some, their futures have been planned out since they were children, but most, like me don’t decide until at least high school.

The visits benefit both parties; col-leges advertise their school through talking and handing out shirts and other items with the schools logo or mascot.

Meanwhile, the students have an insight of what the college has to offer such as sports, extra curricular, academics and campus life.

By having the opportunity to communicate with a variety of col-leges before graduation, we can set up campus visits and learn about financial aid because there are dead-lines for fall admissions.

When we get closer to gradua-tion, we should explore all options, especially if all we have to do is take five minutes out of our lunch.

A common problem that stu-dents must face is the overwhelming amount of pressure that comes when choosing the right college.

With these visits, we explore mispivital decision without the pres-sure of family since it’s on our own time.

Normally, students pick colleges based on a major, and by talking to rep. they can limit their choices faster.

In-school visits are a great time to gather background information before attending a campus visit.

The Oriole newspaper staff believes that the shortage in school funding highly affects

students educationally, so the state of Kansas should do more to adequately fund schools.

New textbooks are in high demand for classes such as health and wood shop because they are outdated. A shortage of books in classes makes it difficult for students to read them for information and to complete assignments on time. Online textbooks are available for many classes, but for some students, it is not an option because they do not have access to a com-puter or Internet at home.

The different schools would have ac-cess to better computers and Internet to help students further their knowledge of subjects studied in class and to complete assignments.

Transportation is another issue. Due to low budget, it is difficult to pay drivers and for the gas used to transport students to activities.

Classes like art, drama, music and

journalism have a very small budget, if any, and it limits what can be done in the classes and how it is done, especially if the students have to pay.

If our school district had more money, the schools would be able to offer a wider variety of electives and extracurricular activities. If more classes were offered then more teachers would need to be hired and books and equipment would also be need-ed. Some teachers would like to take their classes on field trips that have significant educational purposes such as attending museums as way to learn outside of the classroom.

Repairs are needed, but can’t be done due to lack of money. Classroom tempera-tures should be more balanced; restroom doors that lock correctly and clocks that don’t work are improvements that need to be made.

Ways that the state of Kansas can in-crease school funding is to cut pork barrel programs. Also, the state and government spend millions of dollars on advertise-ments that could be used for education.

Budget limits education

Planfor

success

The Oriole Opinions 5

Months designated for raising awarenessEmma Pray

Writer

Human trafficking is a serious crime that is a great violation of human rights. Every year

thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and elsewhere. In definition human trafficking is where humans are traded or sold for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or forced prostitution.

The idea of human beings being sold for slavery and forced prostitution is very sickening. I can’t wrap my head around how some people feel like this offense is okay. I don’t think that I am the only one who feels that something should be done about this problem.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day started in 2011 through President Barack Obama’s declaration of January as the National Slavery and Human Traffick-

ing Prevention Month. The official Human Trafficking Awareness Day was Jan. 11.

Honestly I had no idea that there was a whole month dedicated to human traffick-ing prevention. I believe that this is a great movement to have in place, but I’m not the only one who doesn’t know about it.

“I did not know that this month was Human Trafficking Awareness Prevention month. I feel that the act of human trafficking would be a horrible situation to be in and to go through,” said sophomore Jaylean Watkins.

The whole idea of girls getting all dolled up so they can sleep with 50 men makes me want to weep. I feel so bad for those girls, I want to help but I feel so helpless.

Thinking about how those

girls get beaten if they don’t make enough money completely enrages me.

Trafficking has worked its way up to be the third largest illegal industry in the world, (after drugs and firearms traffick-ing) generating a profit of $32 billion every year. The U.S. generates a profit of about 9.5 billion dollars per year.

Wichita police say that trafficking victims have almost tripled between

2012 and 2013 going from 11 to 29. Approximately 20 to 30

million slaves are in the world today. According to the U.S. State De-

partment, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international

borders every year. Around 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year, 58 percent being wom-

en, 14 percent being men, 17 percent being girls and 10 percent boys.

Izaiah LigonWriter

Royal tradition requirements need expansion

Homecoming is Feb. 13 and king and queen nominations

will arrive soon. A question I always seem to ask myself around this time of year is, Why are athletes the only stu-dents that can be nominated?

“I don’t understand why those are requirements for homecoming,” senior Davyd Ledgerwood said. “I play sports, but I still don’t think it’s fair that people in other groups can’t be nominated.”

In order to become a candidate, a certain set of qualifications must be met. According to Athletic Direc-tor Doug law to be eligible for nomination a senior must participate in a sport the same season as the given homecoming, and be in good standing.

“As far as I know those

have been the requirements for homecoming since Augusta started it,” Law said.

I think that these require-ments need to be expanded. Other students are just as involved in the school and have just as much school spirit as the student who par-

ticipate in sports. I understand wanting to

reward athletes for their sports, but think about how important that the band, yearbook and many other groups are to the school.

“During basketball games the band is extremely impor-

tant in creating the atmo-sphere,” head coach David

Stephenson said. “During time outs and especially in fourth quarter, lis-

tening to band pep gets

them

pumped up and ready to play.” One other problem I have

with homecoming is the fact that there are only two.

This leaves out the students who participate in a spring sport only.

I understand that prom is toward the end of the school year, but I don’t believe it is fair to the spring athletes to only have a fall and winter home-coming.

The last issue I have with the qualifications for becom-ing a nominee is the fact that certain students cannot par-ticipate in sports because of an illness or other medical issues.

I believe these students deserve a chance at becoming a homecoming royalty just as much as someone who is involved in sports, as long as

they are actively involved and meet the other quali-fications to becoming a candidate.

6 Features January 2015

Cody Hromek

Writer

Victoria GoetzingerEditor-In-Chief

Schwinn takes non-traditional approaches

Senior picture styles continue to evolve

High school senior photos date back to the 1920s. Senior photos have changed significantly.

When most people think of senior photos, they think of seniors being able to express themselves. The importance of senior photos increased when the Augustan yearbook switched to full color in 2011.

Senior photos have come a long way from what they are now.

The senior photos that are taken now are usually taken by the students themselves, their friends or by a photographer of their choice. If a student does not turn in a photo for the yearbook, then their Jostens photo will be used.

In the 1970s students did not take their own photos or get to pick their own

photographer.“The school brought in a profes-

sional photographer. It was taken at the school or if we wanted to take

them somewhere else, we were allowed to,” business teacher Karen Hasting said.

Some seniors choose to take their pictures at railroad tracks, fields, parks or a place that holds meaning to them.

Some seniors choose their location because it is a family tradition.

“My aunt chose the loca-tions based off of the outfits

picked out. It was also a family tradition to get pictures taken at these locations,” senior Cori Hall

said.Today’s packages cost $200 or more

compared to 50 years ago when the cost was around $25.

“The senior photos were taken at a photographer’s stu-dio. After the photos were taken the seniors would pick from dif-ferent packages. All photos were black and white,” Marjo-rie Hromek, a 1958 Andover High School graduate said.

The formality of senior pictures has

decreased.“We went to a photographer in a studio,

we all took studio shots. They were more formal than now,” industrial technology teacher Steve Pazzie said.

Senior photos have come a long way from what they started out to be. They went from being a formal headshot to a way for seniors to be allowed to express themselves. The price of them have gone up quite a bit from their original cost, but some seniors say they are worth it.

“As a department we de-cided that it made more sense for me to teach the upper-level math,” math teacher Jayson Schwinn said.

Schwinn’s day consists solely of teaching Algebra II, pre-calculus and statistics.

Statistics is a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpreta-tion and presentation of masses of numerical data.

“The concepts students learn in stats will follow them after they graduate,” Schwinn said.

Stats play a role in grades, political polls, surveys and meteorology.

“I hope what I learn in stats will be useful in life,” junior Zac Rodriguez said.

Students learn about popu-lations, samples and how to design a statistical study.

Schwinn is trying differ-ent methods with his stats class.

One change is utilizing lap-tops. Typically in a math class, lap-tops are hardly used, but Schwinn is using Google Drive so the class can discuss and manipulate data together in sheets or docs.

This can be time effective and easier for

students. Students use

Google Forms to send surveys and record responses.

Most of the students have never

used Google Drive so they

will be able to use it

for any other classes in the future. If the school

switches to

Chrome-books next

year students will use Google

Drive for almost every class.

Another change made was to his homework grading scale. Now, students can earn up to five points instead of three. Quizzes are only on Fridays, and there are no tests only projects.

The first project consisted of counting M& M’s; students sorted the M&M’s by size, color and type.

Students will use this data throughout the semester.

Schwinn is excited for stats because this is his first time teaching it and he wants to incorporate lessons that will be fun and useful.

“I told myself I would not complain about anything we did in statistics, because I real-ize some students are still stu-dents in pre-calc. for the rest of the semester,” junior Elizabeth Doell said.

Reggie Palacioz ‘70

Jessica Akalis ‘15

The Oriole Features 7

Mikayla CoppingerDesigner

Schedule changes leave students content

Artists win awards for creativeness

Changing schedules and moving students to different classrooms can help make students happier and assist in classes not being over capacity.

During second semester students can choose different teachers than they had before, like in a math class, and switch back to the teacher they had first semester.

“Most schedule changes are about the students wanting to stay with the teacher they learn best with,” counselor Elizabeth Hamblin said.

The time for changing schedules was the first week of the school year, three

weeks prior to Christmas break and the first week back from break.

“We should have it be the first two weeks of school, so they can know if they want to switch or not,” senior Hannah Blackwell said. “They need to have more classes available for different blocks.”

This year the anatomy and physiology class was added to the schedule to give stu-dents the opportunity to learn something new. The counselors know next year more classes will be added to the schedule, so students will have more selections.

“I would like to see some engineering classes and more science classes,” freshman Jacob Lewellen said, “Also, AP classes.”

According to apstudent.collegeboard.org AP or advance placement is a program in the United States created by the College Board. AP offers college-level curriculum and examinations to high school students.

Seniors only have to be enrolled in five classes for second semester.

“Not having a full schedule is beneficial because you have more time for homework and working so you can save up for col-lege,” senior Haley Davidson said.

Some students are unhappy with their schedule.

“I’m in business essentials again and I already passed with an A,” senior Kenadaey Bratton said.

Emma PrayWriter

The Scholastic Art and Writing Art Competition was created to help cel-ebrate and recognize the rich future for artistic America.

“Entries for the competition were due Dec. 17, but I didn’t receive the results until Jan. 9,” art teacher Audra Shelite said.

The students that entered totaled to 19 but six students won ranking gold key, silver key or honorable mention.

Senior Treven Holderman received the gold key award for his blurred motion photograph of what is known as light painting with flashlights.

“I was shocked to

know I received gold. When Mrs. Shelite first called me to

her room I thought I was in trouble. I didn’t think I was going to do this good. I think my photo

will be okay at nation-als,” Holderman said.

On the Scho-lastic entry web-site, there were

15 different art categories and ten writing

categories such as painting there are no limits as to

how many students can enter each cat-

egory.All of the artwork

will be open for the public to see Feb. 6.

Public viewing of the artworks will close Mar. 8, which is the day of the awards ceremony. All

gold medalists will go to nationals.

Teaching classes at the high school level is ideal for some teachers, but others like to broaden their career and teach college classes.

One difference between teaching college classes and teaching high school classes is that some col-lege students are interested in the subject that they are learning. Occasionally a college student has to endure a class that they don’t particu-larly enjoy such as college al-gebra, but sometimes students are able to choose courses that interest them.

Science teacher Nathan Stevens teaches online classes for Butler Community Col-lege along with the classes he teaches at the high school.

“I teach college classes be-cause I am hoping that it may help to get a duel credit science class here at the high school,” said Stevens. “Also, I do it for the extra money.”

Stevens teaches high school biology and anatomy and phys-

iology. At Butler he teaches a medical terminology class and a general physical science class.

“I teach medical terminol-ogy so I know more of what is expected of my anatomy and

physiology students,” Stevens said.

During the 2015-2016 school year Ste-vens will be teaching a duel credit biology class. The class will be a full year class and

will be especially for juniors and seniors who have passed high school biology.

Students notice many dif-ferences in the style of teach-ing and in the classroom. The classes for Butler are online and Stevens teaches one unit per week.

Tests are due on Monday night at 10 p.m., which differs from the paper or Edmodo as-signments that are assigned to high school students and usu-ally due the class period after they are given.

“I prefer teaching online college classes over teaching them on campus, but I still like teaching high school classes the most,” Stevens said.

Faith NanceWriter

Stevens teaches advance classes

Kenzie Unrein

8 Sports January 2015

The Super Bowl is the NFL champion-ship game played between the champions of the National and American Football Conferences. The 2015 Super Bowl game will be played Sunday, Feb. 1.

The competing teams of the Super Bowl were determined Sunday, Jan. 18. The Green Bay Packers played against the Seattle Seahawks while the Indianapolis Colts competed against the New England Patriots. The winning teams, the Patriots and the Seahawks, moved on to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLIX is being hosted at University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona also hosted The NFL determines the Super

Bowl location about four years in advance. Cities may place bids to host a Super Bowl and the NFL looks at different aspects in-cluding: quality of the stadium, restaurants, parking accommodations and city security.

Along with watching the game, many people enjoy different traditions such as attending Super Bowl parties or making tasty snacks.

“I’m going to a party with my youth group,” junior Sydney Williams said. “It’s at the Lakepoint activity center. There are Wii games like

‘Just Dance’ and ‘Rock Band.’ Also, there is bowling, and they play the

football game in the theater on the huge projector screen. We also play

‘Minute to Win It’ games at half time.” Some people prefer playing games and

eating rather than watching football, but ei-ther way the Super Bowl is a time for fami-

lies and friends to get together. “I just hang out with my fam-

ily,” sophomore Kalee Guil-liams said.

Common foods served on Super Bowl Sunday include

buffalo wings, pizza and potato chips. Typi-cally dinner is served buffet style.

“We’re having a party with some friends,” junior Nick Heater said.

Along with the football game, the Puppy Bowl is hosted; this tradition started in 2005. During the Puppy Bowl several dogs play inside a small model stadium and a commentary of their actions is provided for viewers, much like the football game.

Patriots, Seahawks compete in Superbowl XLIXFaith Nance

Writer

Powerlifting was a weight lifting compe-tition that had been at the high school for several past years.

The squat, the bench press and the power clean are the three lifts that compro-mise powerlifting. A lift has rules and regu-lations that constitute it valid or not.

Most states typically have dead lift as a third lift, but Kansas is one of the only states that uses power clean instead. Au-gusta has hosted three home invitational meets since 2011. We also hosted the 2013 6A State Powerlifting Meet.

For the 2015 winter sports season the school will no longer have a powerlifting

team. One main reason for this is because former coach Aaron Craig took a position open at Wichita South High School.

Powerlifting was not a school-spon-sored sport and Craig was the only coach for the team. Football coach Jason Filbeck made the decision not to take over Craig’s position.

“Yes, the school definitely should have sponsored powerlifting,” senior Trae Go-ken said.  

Guys and girls compete in different weight divisions and records are kept for each individual division.

Powerlifting is not the same as Olympic lifting, and it is not an Olympic sport.

For some of the lifters powerlifting was

the only winter sport they did. Not having it this year leaves some of the power lifters with nothing to do. Others tried out for different sports teams.

“I’m upset they didn’t have powerlifting this year because I would have been the first fourth year senior, but now I’m going to do some hard core bowling,” senior Austin Rieschick said.

However, for some students Powerlift-ing was the only sport they competed in.

Goken and Rieschick described power-lifting as more of a relaxed environment, so that you can bond with the people you are lifting with.

“It was more of a family thing,” Ri-eschick said.

Rylee DrouillardDesigner

Powerlifting program discontinued

The Oriole Sports 9

Wrestling may look easy, but it requires dedication, team work, and most of all, the love of the sport.

“To be a good wrestler, you have to be very talented or a hard worker,” head coach Brandon Terry said.

Many of the athletes have been wres-tling since they were little. As they grew with the sport, they continued to learn new techniques, better moves and different ways to be successful.

Every wrestling practice is different. Mondays consist of learning new tech-niques and moves; Tuesdays wrestlers practice drills. Wednesdays include an

intense workout to help wrestlers make weight. The schedule consists of stretches, six minute matches, technique and chal-lenge wrestling, another six minute match of two minutes on their feet, two min-utes on top and two minutes on bottom, overtime and intensive drilling. Thursdays are for duals, and finally, Fridays are make weight practices.

“I like the technique days because it’s slower pace and we still get a good work out in; it just seems to go faster,” junior Nigel Callison said.

For some wrestlers, the wrestling mats are their favorite place in the world.

“Once I step on the mat, everything goes away,” freshman James Ducharme said.

It can devastate a wrestler if they can-not take on an opponent. Most wrestlers feel disappointed in themselves if they do not make weight and are ineligible to wrestle that dual or tournament.

“Making weight is a mental thing. You have to be mentally determined to chal-lenge yourself not to eat,” Ducharme said.

For every sport, it’s impossible to be a successful team if no one supports one another.

“They’re always on the sidelines yelling to do each move differently or to make them more successful,” manager, junior Payton Nusz said.

Before every meet, the wrestlers huddle up and shout, “Super fly. Do or die. Kill, kill, kill!”

Weekly practices make or break wrestlers Jadya Garrison

Writer

The arrival of winter sports brings the annual Blackout Night. Blackout focuses on the basketball, bowling and wrestling teams. It became a tradition in 1999 un-der the jurisdiction of former head boys basketball coach Terry Taylor.

“Taylor brought the idea back from Manhattan to use to intimidate the other team,” former booster club president Donna Nickel said. “It is not a fundraiser; it is for school spirit and to promote involvement within the community.”

Sponsors from local businesses pay a fee to have the name of their business put on the back of shirts, which are then given to all the participating athletes.

Shirts are also given to the band,

dance team, cheer squad and sold by the booster club.

During the basketball game, the bas-ketball players wear the shirts they are given and the crowd wears black. On the bowling team’s Blackout Night, the pro-cess of competition doesn’t change. They wear their uniform and bowl as usual.

“I think cosmic bowling would be fun for Blackout, but the KSHAA rules say we can’t do that,” senior bowler Quentin Araiza said.

The wrestlers also do not vary much from their normal routine.

“The only thing we do is wear the shirt,” junior Andrew Duncan said.

Blackout Night for the wrestling and bowling teams occurred Thursday, Jan. 22 and for basketball Jan. 16.

16-year Blackout tradition continues Jessica Runyan

Writer

PEP TALK Senior Chase Hull huddles in the middle of the varsity boys team before the game. Augusta lost to Andale 37-55. The var-sity boys will travel to Baldwin tonight; game time is at 5:30 p.m. Saturday they will play at 11:45 a.m. or 12:15 p.m., depending on if they win or lose. (photo by Emma Roberts)

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10 Entertainment January 2014

It’s 7 a.m. on a Monday. Melanie sits on the edge of her bed pondering what she’s going to wear to school that day.

She wants to wear her favorite outfit of all black clothing, but knows that as soon as she steps through those doubles doors, all eyes will shift and whispers will fill the air.

“Do I want to be my true self today, or do I want to be what society wants me to be?” she asks herself quietly.

She decides to put on the purple dress that she so often is forced to wear because of her fear of being judged for being dif-ferent.

This question is one many teens ask themselves on a daily basis.

The decision of whether to be the per-son they want to be or what society thinks they should be is a constant thought in the heads of teens and young adults every-where.

Approximately 40 percent of teens are afraid of peer pressure or not fitting in with people at school according to a study done in 2014 on Stageoflife.com.

“Who cares what other people think. You are your own person, and they can’t control that. Everybody is made for a reason; only God can judge me,” freshman Cierra Jackson said.

Many teens who find themselves fight-ing their identity also find themselves having problems with depression or anxiety.

“We all as a society need to come together as one and help each other out to not listen to what other people think. We should start pro-grams or groups to help with this uprising problem,” Jackson said.

Some organizations have been cre-ated in order to help with this rise in teen depression.

One organization is called Erika’s Light-house; its main goal is to provide a beacon of hope for adolescent depression.

Even with these organizations out there the problem still exists.

Leelah Alcorn was one of the many teens who struggled with identity problems and couldn’t take being judged anymore.

Alcorn was born a male but always

felt like a female trapped in a male body. When Alcorn was 14, she told her mother, and was met with negativity and criticism.

Her mother began making her go to therapists that she felt were very biased and didn’t help with her depression.

Alcorn took her own life rather than having to face criticism from others any longer as was stated on her

Tumblr blog. Her last remarks were, “Fix society.

Please.” Some teens find conforming easier than

being themselves in most situations. How-ever, some have the courage to truly accept themselves.

For some teenagers, talking to friends is easier than talking to their parents. Others find talking to a teacher or a trusted adult beneficial.

“Talk to a teacher or a friend because your parents may not fully understand at the time,” junior Natalie Christner said.

Cassie Wood

Reporter

Emma Roberts

Designer

The color guard is a part of the march-ing Orioles. These groups have been in existence for more than 20 years.

In the fall, the guard members perform at the home football games and at compe-titions.

During the winter, they take a turn on the basketball court.

“Nothing annoys me more than when people show no appreciation toward the hard work we put into our performances, especially when they call us flag twirlers,” junior Jessi Ankrom said.

Guard members practice during the same class period as the band. However, they often times rehearse on the football field with the band or in one of the gyms if

the band does not go outside. More often than not they get booted

out of the gym and are limited to the small spaces of the auditorium or the commons. This is because there is not a designated practice area for the guard.

“I think we deserve our own practice area and some more recognition in this school,” sophomore Destanee Burrus said.

The guard has 7 a.m. rehearsals in the morning and after school practice every Monday.

Every member is required to try out for the guard season, even returning members.

Auditions are held during the spring semester in mid-to-late April.

The largest guard group Augusta has had was 16 people.

“I don’t have a minimum or maximum

amount of people I accept, it’s mostly determined by the talent available and my spending budget,” guard coach Renee Berggren said.

Hard work, dedication, and talent de-termine a spot on the team.

The guard will host its first completion, the South Central Winter Guard Festival Saturday, Jan. 31.

The competition is sponsored by the Performance Arts Foundation Inc. The guard, who will also compete in the fes-tival, would like to bring attention to this upcoming event with high hopes to attract local supporters.

“I’m really excited to be hosting the competition this year; I hope we have a big crowd to come support us,” senior Mariah Baker said.

Teens struggle with identity issues

“Fix society. Please.” -Leelah Alcorn

AHS hosts first color guard festival

The Oriole Entertainment 11

Sady HastingWriter

Izaiah LigonWriter

Band works to keep spirits highOccasionally, the pep band

attends Butler Community College basketball games to play when the college band has other commitments. Then the band is given a new experience and feels what it is like to be a part of a college band.

“I think it gives us, those who are attending college, a good idea of college pep band and is very beneficial,” senior Nathaniel Wheatley said.

The band plays at every home basketball game for the high school and often receives compliments from the visitors.

They have the opportunity

to compete in competitions against over high schools in the state throughout the school year including marching band contests and performances.

The drum line works to keep the crowd in high spirits and excited at games by per-forming at half time. Drum line receive many compliments from the audience and have a lot of support.

They are invited to Wichita Wild games every year to play and other competitions and ac-tivities. This year the drum line is hosting a competition that used to be in Rose Hill because they are no longer hosting the event.

“We have been practicing before and after school, during ACE, band class and some Saturdays. We are learning new music and movements similar to marching band for the competition,” junior Chris Glidewell said.

Not much information is known about the event, but it will be held in February or March.

Groups from other schools will be attending to compete. Many members of the drum line are looking forward to it.

“I think it will be success-ful, and it will be fun,” senior

Showchoir competes in Nebraska The show choir Take 2 left

after second block today to head to Omaha. This is an an-nual occurrence for the choir and often times, the activity that most members look for-ward to most during the school year.

The 29 member group along with accompanist Carey Natvig, vocal music director Rachel Simmons, and Band director Todd Hollis

The 29-member group

along with Accompanist Carrie Natvig, Vocal Music Director Rachel Simmons, and Band Di-rector Todd Hollis will board a bus to Omaha for their only competition of the year.

At this contest Take 2 will be competing against show choirs of various sizes and types rang-ing as few as 12 members to as many of 50.

“I am extremely excited for the trip but I’m sad that it’s go-ing to be my first, last, and only one,” senior Tyler Hammond said.

The group will arrive in

Omaha late tonight where they will meet up with Mil-lard North High School’s show choirs.

There they will have dinner with the other students and un-veil their shows to each other. After that Take 2 will head back to their hotel rooms and prepare for their competition the next day.

This competition takes place all day on Saturday, Jan. 24. Af-ter competing in the morning the choir will stay throughout the day and watch other show

Phoebe Leshley said.

BREAK TIME Seniors Nathaniel Wheatley and Michael Sullivan wait with the rest of the pep band to eat the pizza supplied by BCC. Around 60 Band students showed up to play for the Butler basketball games. (Photo by Ashlie Clark)

Josh Hartnett, Agent107 W 6th AveAugusta, KS 67010Office (316) 775-5522Fax (855) 228-9853

Josh Hartnett, Agent107 W 6th AveAugusta, KS 67010Office (316) 775-5522Fax (855) 228-9853

choirs perform their shows until evening when the finalists are announced.

After the awards are an-nounced Take 2 will either stay to compete in finals are start on the five-hour trip back home.

“I am really excited to see the other show choirs,” Junior Journey Bodyk said. ”This trip is one of the things I look for-ward to most throughout the school year.”