The Chief Online October 2015

October 2015

By Matthew Birkett Another year, another season of Marching Band. We’re getting close to our final performance of the season, the fabled U of I Competition, with renewed hope. This is the first year in a while that all of our drill has been put on the field by the first football game, leaving us more time than usual to refine our marching and add in moves and poses we would otherwise be unable to do in our show. The show, as you may have seen, is America-themed complete with references to several important parts of our country’s history, including Martin Luther King Jr. and the events of 9/11. The music includes segments from “Shenandoah,” “Amazing Grace,” and the “Star Spangled Banner.” Our performances, other than football games, have included the Illinois State University Marching Band Festival competition where we placed 3

rd place-Class 1A and the Washington Panther Invitational where we placed

4th place-Class 3A. Make sure to congratulate Marching Band members on their hard

work and wish them well as the march towards the U of I Completion.

Click HERE for the Music Department’s website

Inside this Issue:

Inside this issue:

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Sports 2

New Teacher 3 Report

Literary Society 3

Upperclass Acts 4

Fall Concert 5

Movie Review 6

Pop Culture 7

All Hallo’s Eve 8

P O N T I A C T O W N S H I P H I G H S C H O O L

PTHS Marching Indians

FFA Update

By Victor Johns

Pontiac FFA had a busy September. To start off the month, the FFA Chapter helped out at the Thresherman’s Reunion and served food at the Rusty’s Drive-In food stand. On Sunday, September 6, 28 members volunteered to carry sponsor signs in the parade. On Wednesday, September 9, we had our first Chapter meeting. After the business portion of the meeting, the members played bags as an activity. Around 25 freshmen attended the University of Illinois Greenhand Conference on September 23 to learn about leadership and ways to become a leader in their chapter.

On September 26, Dallas Hones, Emma Jacobs, Jenna Leonard, and Victor Johns helped with the St. Jude Walk to End Childhood Cancer which was held at Hancock Stadium on the Illinois State University Campus. Adam Ledford, Ryan Lauritsen, Lucas Roe, Micah Clauss, and Lucas Giovengo competed at the Section 9 Land-Use CDE Contest. At this contest students were able to evaluate soil profiles, formation factors and characteristics, and calculate slop. Lucas Giovengo place 3rd and Adam Ledford placed 9th as individuals with the team placing 3rd overall!!! The October Chapter meeting will be held on October 22 with a costume contest as the activity.

At the end of the month the FFA Chapter will be attending National Convention which is held in Louisville, Kentucky. The Chapter is a Model of Excellence finalist as the top chapter in the United States and Amy Wyant is a top 4 finalist in the area of Veterinary Science.

FFA information can be found HERE.

Cheerleading Update

By Sarah Albrecht

If you have ever attended a PTHS varsity football game, you have probably noticed fifteen girls on the sidelines yelling and cheering with Indian pride. These fifteen girls make up the 2015 varsity football cheerleading squad. There are five new additions to the team this year, all of whom are freshman. These five girls, in alphabetical order, are: Jasmine Bischler, Nicolle Leon-Araujo, Grace Meiner, Makinzi Simmons, and Rebecca True. This team has been practicing together since mid-summer and have been working hard on cheers, stunts, and tumbling.

Make sure you cheer along with them next time you are out supporting your varsity Indians!

Golf Congratulations

Congratulations to the Boy’s Golf Team and Coach Ritter on winning the IHSA Regional at Pontiac Elk’s Golf Course and advancing to the IHSA LaGrange Park Sectional at the Broken Arrow Golf Course in Lockport on October 12. Jacob Curry was the medalist and led the way for the Indians with an 80, followed by Matthew Schrock 81, Jordan Tribley 84, Alex Olson 87, Griffin Nyi 88, and Tyler Monahan 99. Ali Schrock and Molly Ruddy represented PTHS at the Girls Golf State Finals during October 15-17 in Decatur. Ali took 2nd in the sectional with an 80 and Molly shot an 85 which for 8

th place.

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New Teacher Report: Ms. Janz

By Jeanette Wooldridge

The Freshmen Learning Center this year has caused the old math wing to look very different. Within this little community is a new teacher called Ms. Janz. Ms. Janz is a math teacher who previously taught at Reed Custer High School for four years. In her free time she coaches volleyball, cruises around in her Jeep, and spends time with friends and family. The biggest thing that she did this summer was that she went to a concert at Lambeau Field. She says that the best thing about PTHS so far is that everyone is super nice and helpful, even the kids! Whenever she gets the time she loves doing adventurous/ outdoor activities and to ride her motorcycle. When Mrs. Janz was younger she had an amazing math teacher that inspired her to become a teacher and she hopes that one day she will impact students’ lives like hers was. I think that everyone will join me when I say that PTHS welcomes you and hopes that you have an amazing first year here!

Helmet displayed in LACC. Learn more about Fire Science HERE.

Literary Society: PTHS’s Reading and Writing Club

By Allyson Shoff

Have you ever finished reading a book and just needed someone to talk to about it? Have you ever written a story and wanted constructive feedback from someone? Literary Society may be the club for you. Meeting in Mr. Christie’s room every Wednesday during the activity period, Literary Society is one of the only completely student run groups in the school. Facilitated by Reading Director Allyson Shoff and Writing Director Danika Mayback, Literary Society aims to improve writing skills and have a good time reading together.

We have just finished up reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and will be starting The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss shortly. Our goals are to read at a moderate pace and have different writing prompts for people to complete every week. On Wednesdays, other members will read the writing each person has done, giving helpful suggestions and commenting on what they enjoyed.

We understand that some people can’t make it to every meeting, so we keep a well organized Google Drive folder that is shared with all of the members and have an organized Skype group that is used to catch people up or to just chat.

Does this sound like fun to you? We’d love to expand our group, so please drop by on the next Wednesday in Mr. Christie’s room to sign up!

Student Survey:

Favorite Halloween Activities

Kamryn Moore- ABC Family movies

Breair Thweatt- Trick-or-treating

Nate Stock- Seeing my sisters’ faces after going trick-or-treating

Camryn Tickle- Carving pumpkins

Dylan Hillyer- Haunted houses

Allie Alsdorf- Fun costumes

Tylar Melvin- Watching movies

Andrew Kelly- Fright Fest at Six Flags

Abby Wargo- Decorations

Loryn Beal- Candy

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Molly Ruddy NICKNAMES: Moll ROLE MODEL(S): My Grandma and Grandpa Lee, my Parents

Upperclass Acts

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Vice President of Key Club, Treasurer of Fellowship of Christian Students, Vice President of Senior Class, C.A.P.T.A.I.N.S, Peer Partners, Peers in Action, Science Club, Student Council, Library Worker, National Honor Society, and Golf FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Prom 3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Golfing, Business, and Computer Science PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend ISU with a double major in Business Administration and Computer Science. FAVORITE MOVIE: Happy Gilmore MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mashing(Computer Networking) / Sweetwood(Psychology)

FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK: American Sniper by Chris Kyle MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Making all conference in golf all 4 years. PET PEEVES: When people stop right in the middle of the hallway. WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: My sense of humor. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? Pay for college, give to a charity, and put the rest in a savings account. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? My phone, water, and a boat LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Can’t go wrong doing right!”

Alexis Flynn

ROLE MODEL(S): My surgeon and my mom ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Football manager and C.A.P.T.A.I.N.S. FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Watching my best friend graduate and go to college. 3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Math, Health classes, and Culinary Arts PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Go to college to become a surgeon. FAVORITE MOVIE: The Blind Side MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Changes” by Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne

FAVORITE TEACHER: Mr. Sweetwood FAVORITE AUTHOR: Nicholas Sparks MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Getting the call for the transplant. PET PEEVES: When people walk really slow in the hallways. WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: Takes charge, caring, beautiful HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? I would give it back to Lurie’s Children’s Hospital for other patients. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? Food, water and medication

LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Don’t slack off and have fun in your senior year.”

Fall Coral Concert

The Pontiac Township High School Music Department proudly presented its Fall Choral Concert “Fall Landscapes” on Sunday October, 18 at 3:00pm in the PTHS Auditorium. Attendees enjoyed selections from the Concert Choir, our two women’s ensembles Bel Canto and Cantabile, our Men’s Choir and male barbershop quartet, We’ll Take it From Here! Also heard from was the PTHS Madrigal Singers. The choirs presented music in Latin, Hebrew, Macedonian, French, Filipino and English. Listeners experienced music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods as well traditional Spirituals, American Folk Songs and English Madrigals. Madrigal Dinner also went on sale

Music Review:

By Mary Kate Cupples One song that is really hitting up the charts this week is “The Hills” by The Weeknd. I know what you are asking me, is that supposed to be “weekend?” No. It is actually Weeknd. I always thought that The Weeknd was an actual band but it turns out it is just one person, his name is Abel Tesfaye, but he likes to go by his stage name The Weeknd. He is from Toronto, Canada. How did he become famous you ask? He randomly uploaded his songs onto YouTube and got so many likes, comments, and subscribers he made more music. The Hills is his most famous song currently. The song is about how he is always calling the girl that means the most to him and being honest with her. Take a look on The Weeknd page on YouTube and check out some of his songs.

Girls Tennis Update

By Carlie Weaver Our PTHS Girls Tennis Team is very proud to have recruited some great new athletes this fall. The new freshman girls include some strong beginners. These girls are Carly Bohm, Caiti Corrigan, Katie Sparks, Sydney Baier, Ishika Patel, Bethany Jewell, Chloe Bachman, Megan Eck, and Morgan Edens. We also welcomed a powerful singles sophomore, Cam Tickle. Finally, we added juniors Shelby Jennings and Aubrey Gill as a fabulous doubles duo. These girls have been a delight to work with this year and we plan on ending the year strong. Don’t worry, however, we’ll be back for more in the 2016 season with who knows how many wonderful new additions.

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Book Review: The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Review by Allyson Shoff

In a dystopian world or illness and poverty ruled by those with silver blood and supernatural powers, those who live in the Stilts only await their time to go to war and die. Seventeen year-old thief Mare Barrow is no different. When she is suddenly offered a job, the only way out of being sent to war, she takes it without a second thought. She is sent to the Silver Palace to work as a servant. When she falls to her near-death from the balcony, she expects it to be the end, but she is saved by a latent power inside her. The Silvers take her in and hide her from the world. The only way she can stay alive and protect her family is pretending to be a Silver, but what if she just wants to bring them down?

The story is fast paced and full of secrets, adventure, and betrayal. As Mare gets a hold on her powers, a dangerous confrontation between The Red Army and the Silvers is approaching. The story rushes through the events of her journey, leading to the exciting climax and a twist at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. There were a few points that did seem to drag on, but it always picked up. I would recommend this book to any fans of dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games, Matched, or The Grisha. The Red Queen is the first book in an expected trilogy. The second book comes out next year. There is already one novella published with another in the way in 2016.

Visit the author’s website: victoriaaveyard.com

Movie Review

By Kamryn Moore Camp Takota is a dramatic comedy directed by Chris and Nick Riedell. The main character is Elisa (Grace Helbig) who thought that her life was falling into place. She had just finished writing her book and was getting married in two weeks her dream man, or so she thought. After Elisa gets fired from her job and find’s out her fiancé is cheating on her she needs to find a summer get away. Soon she finds herself back at her old summer camp where she is reunited with her former best friends (Hannah Hart and Marmie Hart) who never left camp. When the camp becomes jeopardized, the three counselors must come together to save the camp. Throughout the summer Elisa learns that you’re never too old to go back to your roots.

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Ask Lex and Sar

Dear Lex and Sar,

The first quarter of the school year is almost over and it seems like the classes get harder every week! The teachers seem to be piling on more and more assignments and it is hard to keep everything on track! How can I make this next quarter easier for me to balance my school work, sports, and social life while maintaining good grades and participation?

Sincerely, A Stressed Out Student

Dear Stressed Out Student,

We totally understand where you are coming from! School can be very challenging, especially if you participate in sports and extra- curricular activities. One way to stay organized is to use your planner and make sure you know when things are due; that way, you don’t have missing assignments piling up. Also, use any time given in class and your study hall to get work done. Wasting this time gives you more work to do at home! And always remember to just breathe and do the best you can. Staying calm and not worrying will keep your stress to a minimum. Good luck with the next quarter!

XOXO, Lex and Sar

Pop Culture

By Shelby Jennings

You’ve probably heard the hits “Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging” or “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy sometime in your life. Whether it was on the radio or at a concert, Fall Out Boy continues to amaze with their music. As the band’s main songwriter (and pizza lover), Pete Wentz said in an interview that the band has a “new perspective” on things. Every album, especially after their hiatus from 2009 to 2013, seems to come out with a brand new image. Fall Out Boy’s newest album, American Beauty American Psycho debuted earlier this year. They recently performed at the iHeart Radio Music Festival all the way in Las Vegas on September 19th. When the band played their newest anthem, they pulled out a surprise guest. Fetty Wap came out on the stage and met his “Trap Queen” with Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries.” As an unlikely duo, these two surprisingly made a great match.

You can watch their performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9firHkPTy4

PTHS on Social Media Check out PTHS on Facebook and Twitter using the icons at the top of our page

or click HERE.

The Chief Staff

Kamryn Moore, Editor-in-Chief Alexis Hall, Editor-in-Chief

Sarah Albrecht Matthew Birkett

Mary-Kate Cupples Shelby Jennings

Victor Johns Taylor Parsons Allyson Shoff Carlie Weaver

Jeanette Wooldridge Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor

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All Hallow’s Eve

By Allyson Shoff

The night is approaching where we will all don our costumes and head into the night to scavenge for candy for spook the neighborhood children. Many people are excited about Halloween, but just as many don’t know the origins of this spooky holiday.

Halloween is an old holiday that dates back to the 1500’s. The holiday is of Celtic origin and was originally celebrated as the separation of autumn and winter. This was a time when it was believed horrifying creatures could enter our world. People began to dress up in order to hide from these creatures. Parts of their harvest were left on their doorsteps as offerings.

It’s easy to see where some of our modern day practices of Halloween come from. Jack-o-lanterns are similar to the carved turnips used in Ireland and Scotland during the earlier celebrations of this holiday. Our costumes derive directly from what people wore to hide from the creatures; modern day costumes are a little sillier, however. Instead of dressing up like goblins and demons, many children today dress up as butterflies or pirates. Trick-or-Treating is similar to the offerings of the harvest left on the doorstep, though I doubt the “demons” they were offering to would have wanted Butterfingers or M&Ms. I bet they would have hated that peanut butter taffy as much as I do!

Just remember when you go out this year, to be safe and respectful of others. Remember the normal stuff you hear every year. Check your candy. Don’t stay out past curfew. But there are other things to remember as well. Halloween is a time of trickery and some people will bother animals such as black cats, so keep your pets indoors to prevent anything from happening to them.

I hope everyone has a good time this year! Let’s hope it’s not too chilly!

Happy Hallowen from

The Chief Online

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