Inside this issue:

New Teachers 2

Soccer and Cheer 5

Exchange Students 8

The Bird’s Eye View

Cut-Loose for a Footloose Homecoming By: Hunter Kahl This year’s homecoming week will be held September 28-October 3, with a few changes in the schedule of events. The biggest change is that the parade will be held on Wednesday night instead of Friday. Medora will be hosting the parade. The football game, which used to be scheduled for Saturday afternoon, will now be played on Friday night. The Birds will take on conference rival, the Staunton Bulldogs. The powder puff games will be held on Monday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. with the freshmen vs. juniors followed by sopho-mores vs. seniors. The championship game will be played on Friday after the pep assembly. The annual bonfire will take place after the parade at the old Medora Elevator. Southwestern’s Student Government will be hosting the homecoming dance on Saturday, October 3, from 8-11 p.m. in the SHS Multipurpose room. The theme this year is “Everybody Cut Loose, Footloose.” Tickets will be sold dur-ing lunches for $10 each which includes drinks and snacks. Students will be required to take a breathalyzer before enter-ing the dance. Coronation of the Homecoming queen and king will be held at 9:30. When asked what excites him most about homecoming this year, Student Government Co-President, Evan Lowis, replied, “The dance of course! Footloose is everything I’ve always wanted. It’s a good theme that fits the personality of most at Southwestern.”

New Teachers: Mrs. Burns

2015 Homecoming Court. Front (l to r): Malea Bailey,

Madison Greeling, Karlie Green, Samara Parker, Me-ghan McNear, Taylor Nixon, Samantha French. Back (l to r): Cody Catlett, Brad Spurling, Pat Wieneke, Jesse Arnold, Ryan Paslay, Kaeden Kessinger, and

Evan Lowis.

By: Christine Fisher Mrs. Saxton retired last year as the Special Education English teacher and Southwestern now welcomes Mrs. Janice Burns who took over the open position. Mrs. Burns taught 4th-6th grade spe-cial education at Brighton North for the past 26 years . She said that a big difference between the elementary and high school is that the students are a lot older and taller. She also stated that she is learning about new subjects and brushing up on her Algebra and Geometry to help in Learning Resource Classes. Mrs. Burns commented, “It’s exciting! It’s making me feel like a new teacher even though it is my 33rd year teaching.” She added, “I’m enjoying meeting new teachers and students, but the best part is reconnecting with former students. Many of them I haven’t seen since elementary school.” Principal Mark Bearley, stated, “I am very excited about the new teachers. They bring new ideas and ways of doing things. While we miss the teachers who have left, we are excited for the new ones.”

News

By: Carmyn Gust Southwestern High School welcomes Ms. Chris-ty Spencer who has moved from the middle school after teaching Algebra and Geom-etry. She ran the LRC pro-gram for 22 years. She will continue to teach the same subjects in the high school. Ms. Spencer commented that she enjoys working in the high school because she is able to see how her stu-dents have grown over the past few years since she taught them in the middle school. Ms. Spencer earned her college degrees from SIUE and Rockford. She said that she considers Southwestern to be her second family because she has worked here throughout her entire teaching career. She noted, “It was hard to leave the 7th grade teachers, who I absolutely loved and were awesome friends, but now I’m making new long-lasting friendships with the high school teachers.” Mrs. Louise Oleson, LRC teacher, commented that she is “very excited (Ms. Spencer) is here” because Mrs. Ole-son and Ms. Spencer were friends and worked together for years in the middle school. Outside of school, Ms. Spencer spends a lot of time with her two girls Breanne, who is a freshman, and Ka-rissa, who is in the 6th grade.

Ms. Spencer Joins the High

School Special Education Dept.

By: Brandon Wyatt As a new school year begins Southwestern welcomes the new industrial arts teacher, Mr. Stephen French. He is replacing Mr. Joe Buttitta who retired last May. Mr. French said that he always considered teaching and when he saw the open position he applied. Mr. French worked multiple years in construction. When asked what is his favorite class to teach Mr. French said “The freshmen, because I’m new and they’re new.” “There’s a connection,” Mr. French added, “We’re both figuring things out.” Mr. French attended college at St. Louis Christian College and is a minister at First Christian Church in Granite City. Many students already recognized Mr. French because he has been the boys and girls soccer coach for the past three years. Mr. French has two kids in high school, senior Sam French and sophomore Jonathan French. The French family enjoys the extra time together. “[My kids] are good help,” commented Mr. French. Sam said that it’s awesome having her dad in the building, “I get to see him every day; before I only saw him for a couple of hours before bed.”

Mr. French Is the Newest

Member of the CTE Dept.

Three Familiar Faces to the District Now Teaching at SHS

By: Alyssa Payne and Shauna Faulkner Mrs. Amanda Behl is the newest addition to Southwestern High’s English Department. She has been teaching in the Southwestern District for 10 years, six of the years she taught at the middle school as the seventh grade English teacher, the next three years she taught at Bright-on North as an RTI teacher. Mr. Brian Borkowski resigned last May and when the high school English position became available, Mrs. Behl was assigned the courses that Mr. Borkowski previously taught (English 1, English 1 Honors, and English 3).

Mrs. Behl graduated from Jer-seyville Community High School exceeding in English, which was always her favorite subject. She attended Western Illinois Univer-sity and intended to become an orthodontist. After a couple years, she decided to become a teacher. Her mother, who taught junior high math for many years, was her inspiration. Mrs. Behl earned her B.A. in English and received a secondary certificate. “I would strongly encourage my stu-dents to try their best and learn as much as possible while in school. What you learn here really does transfer over into ‘real life’,” stated Mrs. Behl.

Outside of school, Mrs. Behl has four daughters, ages 7, 5, 3, and 10 months old, who keep her very busy. Mrs. Behl concluded, “I have had a pleasant experience so far at the high school. Mr. Bearley and the staff have made it an easier transition. I truly enjoy teaching and com-

ing to school every day to see my stu-dents. I am here to guide them and help them be successful. I aspire to continu-ously improve in my role as a teacher.”

Mrs. Behl Added to the High School English Dept.

Southwestern’s FFA is always making the community “Proud to be Piasa,” and they didn’t let anyone down this summer. The FFA team won the state competition for display, and will be going to national competi-tion in October. Ashley Egelhoff, sen-ior, is a state chair holder. Junior Adlai Schetter and sophomore Julie Bennett competed in the Ag. Science competition. Mr. Tim Reed, FFA Advisor, said he is most looking forward to, “A great officer team, and lots of new, exciting plans that are top secret at this time.” Mr. Reed stated that this year will be more student led, due to the new, larger officer team. Recently, FFA members volun-teered at the Olden Days Festival where they parked cars for community service hours. The next community service event will be parking cars at the Carlinville Heritage Days Festival.

Egelhoff said that she was looking forward to working with new members and getting the younger members excit-ed about joining FFA. Both Mr. Reed and Egelhoff want students to know that FFA is not just for farm kids, and there is something for everyone. They added, “FFA works perfect with other sports or activities, because it is year round.”

Changes Made to Student Government

FFA Has New Ideas & New Officers

Clubs

By: Paige Stahling

FFA president Jamie Moore (left) and vice president Ashley Egelhoff.

2015-2016

FFA Officers

By: Hunter Kahl Student Gov-ernment is a committee of students who plan homecom-ing activities

and other school functions. Students from every grade participate but this year the officers are all seniors. Co-presidents are Evan Lowis and Sa-mantha French, while treasurer is Na-than Beilsmith, and secretary is Kaeden Kessinger. This year, Student Government has new sponsors Mrs. Kelly Goetten, English teacher, and Mrs. Kari Burns, school nurse. Mrs. Jennifer Borkow-ski, science teacher, led student gov-ernment for the past two years but resigned last May. “Mrs. Borkowski is very busy working on her masters in science at Washington University. Mrs. Burns and I want to help her and help the students,” explained Mrs. Goetten. Mrs. Goetten said she has time to apply to student government since

President: Jamie Moore

Vice President:

Ashley Egelhoff

Farm Plot Manager:

Tommy Wilson

Asst. Farm Plot Manager:

Adam Smiley

Reporter: Brett Schiller

Asst. Reporter: Emily Wolff

Secretary: Emme Hays

Treasurer: Baylee Scott

Asst. Treasurer: Andrew Ballard

Sentinel: Ethan Wilson

Asst. Sentinel: Michael Denham

Historian: Kassidy Cottingham

Asst. Historian: Sarah Richey

Chaplain: Mackenzie Wolff

Community Development Chair-

person: Adlai Schetter

Chapter Development Chairper-

son: Payton Werner

Student Development Chairper-

son: Raechel Brandon

Learning Garden Chairperson:

Cody Catlett

Asst. Learning Garden Chairper-

son: Isabelle Wolff

Discovery Membership Chairper-

son: Taylor Graham

Asst. Discovery Membership

Chairpeople: Andrew Miller,

Julie Bennett

she’s not coaching anymore. She add-ed that she feels comfortable with the position because she and Mr. DeLong worked together years ago as the stu-dent government sponsors. Both Mrs. Goetten and Mrs. Burns look to bring about more student in-volvement and Piasa Pride to our school. “I like to see the students in leader-ship roles,” Mrs. Goetten stated is her favorite part of sponsoring so far.

Student Government co-presidents: Evan Lowis and Samantha French.

By: Drew Fredrick Southwestern’s annual blood drive was held on Thursday, Septem-ber 24, in the M.P.R. from at 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students who were 16 years of age and older could do-nate. Those who were 16 had to have a parent’s permission. Southwest-ern’s Future Medical Leaders of America club sponsoring the event. Students must weigh at least 110 pounds and are required to make an appointment before donating blood. An American Red Cross repre-sentative spoke to students in an as-sembly on Tuesday, September 15, during SAS, and informed students of the process and the need for blood. Mrs. Kari Burns, school nurse and FMLA sponsor, said that it takes about 8-10 minutes to draw blood, and after donating blood a donor will get a snack and drink. “I recommend that anyone donating drink lots of water and eat breakfast,”

advised Mrs. Burns. Mrs. Burns said that FMLA’s goal is to reach 144 units. She added, “This blood drive will help cancer patients, accident victims, and many more. Everyone is encour-aged to be a part of this blood drive.”

New Clubs In the Works

SHS’s FMLA Hosts Blood Drive

Clubs

By: Paige Stahling & Hunter Kahl Mrs. Michelle Ernst, Special Education teacher, has been working with Ms. Debbie Gaffney, science teacher, to revamp the Recycling Club. Mrs. Ernst’s students and those interested in Recycling Club will form a new club, “Piasa Pride,” that will focus on community service. Please sign up to join the Piasa Pride Club (on Mrs. Ruyle’s door). Mrs. Ernst said that she hopes to get a group of students who want to help with projects around the area. She explained that this will not only benefit the community but students can also get community service hours for graduation. Another club that has taken flight is Military History Club. Last spring, senior Kaleb Kruse wanted to bring back the club and asked Mr. Eldred to be the spon-sor. Mr. Jeff Eldred, social studies teacher, went to the board of education and requested that Military History Club be available to high school students and the board gave its approval. The club has been meeting and had a float in the Home-coming parade.

Art Club-

Advisor: Mrs. Ruyle

Astronomy Club-

Advisor: Mr. Allen

Chemistry Club-

Advisor: Ms. Gaffney

FFA– Future Farmers of America-

Advisor: Mr. Reed

FCA– Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Advisor: Mr. Lansaw

FMLA– Future Medical Leaders of

America-

Advisor: Mrs. Burns

Future Teacher’s-

Advisor: Mr. Mosley

International Club-

Advisors: Mr. Mosley, Mr. Hasquin

Military History Club-

Advisor: Mr. Eldred

Newspaper-

Advisor: Mrs. Goetten

NHS– National Honor Society-

Advisor: Mr. Reed

Pep Club-

Advisor: Mr. Henry

Scholar Bowl-

Advisor: Mr. Hasquin

Spanish Club-

Advisors: Mrs. Hasse, Mrs. Brown

Strategy Club-

Advisor: Ms. Gaffney

Student Government-

Advisors: Mrs. Goetten, Mrs. Burns

Yearbook-

Advisor: Mrs. Ruyle

By: Karlie Green and Kelsey Rhoades

Coach Stephen French returns for his 3rd year as Boys Soccer Varsity Coach. “I have a feeling it will be a great season, I’m hoping to end the season with at least 4-5 wins,” stated Coach French.

Coach French explained, “With having no seniors this year, the juniors are going to have to step up and be the leaders.”

Although 80% of the team is juniors, incoming freshmen Car-los Macias and Jaypeth Trevino have helped at the Varsity level.

Junior Joseph Watson said, “The freshmen are mixing very well with our team.”

Opening up the season with a home game against Carlinville, the boys fell short 5-3; however, the next game the boys overcame Litchfield with a score of 7-5. Junior Trevor Keil had his first Var-sity ‘hat trick’ (3 goals in one game), but didn't stop there and scored a 4th one.

By: Kelsey Rhoades and Karlie Green

Coach Amanda Madson is return-ing for her 3rd year as head coach; however, early this season she will be on maternity leave, and registrar Tam-my Seymour will be filling in. Junior Taylor Bozarth said that there are no seniors on the squad but the freshmen are mixing very well with the returning girls. “It was a little weird for them at first and they felt a little out of place, but after a week it was like we’ve been cheering together for years,” comment-ed Bozarth. “Our favorite part of the season is competition season when we’re able to compete against other squads and see what they bring to the floor. And it’s great feeling your adrenaline when you hit the mat,” said Bozarth.

Sports

Boys Soccer Team Scores an Early First Win

Cheerleaders Bring Spirit to Knapp

By: McKenna Harper

The Cross Country team started the season with a meet in Edwards-ville on August 29. They competed against 50 high schools, and 20 middle schools. In total there were over 1200 athletes participating. When asked how he thought the team did, Coach Gary Bowker re-sponded with “I thought we did super. We exceeded our expectations.” Coach Bowker wants the team to continue to improve throughout the season, and wants everyone to have fun. When asked who he considers as this season’s top runners, he said, “Freshman Caden Bohn will move into our number one spot and I expect sophomore Grant Seniker to follow close. Senior Evan Lowis will be fol-lowing in third.” As for the top girl runners, Bowker stated, “Senior, Erin Laubsher will be leading the way, with junior Ashley Moore and freshman Mackenzie Lane not too far behind her.” Bowker was asked what his number one goal is, and he responded, “I hope everyone at the age of 30 will still enjoy the values of running.”

Cross Country

Season Off to a

Running Start

The Varsity team has been work-ing on a new formation similar to the World Cup style played this summer, and Coach French believes this for-mation is working great.

Coach French commented on jun-iors progress, “For their 3rd year, they gel together on and off the field. They’re really starting to look like a team.”

Junior Troy Evans dribbles past a forward for North Mac.

In the second week of the season, the boys beat back to back SCC champions, Greenville in a close 2-1 score.

“It felt great; we came out and had nothing to lose. I couldn't ask for more of my team,” said Keil.

As for post season, Coach French hopes to receive the 3rd seed in regionals. He added, “In previous years, we’ve always received last, but I believe that we can get a lot higher seed this season.”

Competition season will start on October 1, but the girls won’t compete until November 3. The cheerleaders will host a Pom and Cheer clinic and participants will be perform on Sept. 23, at the home

football game. “We love working with the younger kids, and showing them what it’s like to be in our shoes,” stated Carrigan Barnhart.

the summer the company, who was hired to redo the floor, had to sand, paint, and focus on little details to make the floor look like it does today. With the new floor comes new rules for school days and also for extracurricular activities. PE classes have been asked to bring in tennis shoes and no boots are al-lowed on the floor. All freshmen and sophomores must stand on the upper level of bleachers in the morning.

Volleyball Team Sets High Goals for 2015 Season

Refinished Gym Floor Brightens SHS

Sports

By: Karlie Green and Kelsey Rhoades Last spring, Superintendant Brad Skertich proposed the idea of refin-ishing the gym floor to Principal Mark Bearley, Varsity Girls Basket-ball Coach Steve Wooley, Varsity Boys Basketball Coach Jason Darr, and Varsity Volleyball Coach Julie Kinser. The group agreed on the design and Mr. Bearley said, “It was a real team effort; we bounced ideas off one another.” The volleyball, and girls and boys basketball teams organized a golf fundraiser and had 14 teams, and 23 hole sponsors. Mr.Bearley said he thought the turn out for the golf tour-nament was very good and it helped raise a lot of money to go towards the floor. Mr. Bearley explained that over

By: Karlie Green Coach Julie Kinser returns for her 11th year as head volleyball coach. Assistant coach Sue Long returns for her 2nd year. Both coaches have set high expectations for the team. “I want others to remember us as the true definition of a team in all capacities. I want the girls to inspire future players and establish that being a part of our program is an honor and privilege,” com-mented Coach Kinser. With ten freshman, and four sophomores, Coach Kinser ex-plained that the JV team struggled early on but they all have a posi-tive out look on the season ahead “As for Varsity, we have four sen-iors who will bring leadership both on and off the court and are great play-makers,” commented Coach Kinser. The seniors are Maddy Greeling, Taylor Nixon, Erika Daube, and Karlie Green. “We have the skills to go far, and that’s what we are working towards,” stated libero, Daube.

Junior Jenna Moore explained, “Last year, we faced a lot of adversity, and almost everyone on our team suffered with injuries. Our biggest goal is to keep everyone healthy.” The team started the season at Brus-sels and won in two 25-17, and 25-22. The home opener was on September 1, against Pana. The Birds lost in three games by 2 points. “It was a rough game, but anything

can happen, and we have to look forward to our next games,” commented outside hitter, Greeling. The team placed third in the Alton Tournament. They defeated Granite City in two games, fol-lowing with a win against Orchard Farms. The girls lost to Triad and Alton in three games. Ending the tournament out, they beat Gillespie in two games. Setter Stephanie Korte, and Greeling received all tournament team honors.

The girls continued the season with an away game at Greenville, and won in three games. “After the tournament, we needed this win to boost our confidence,” stated Moore. Coach Kinser commented ,“We had 40 kills at Greenville, which is possibly the most kills in a match for Southwest-ern history. Moore and Greeling had 11 a piece, Hannah Blumstein and Green had 8, and Nixon ended with 4. I was ex-tremely proud of the girls.”

After basket-ball and volley-ball games, Mr. Bearley has asked people to socialize in the bleachers or in the hallways. “We’re en-forcing the rules to keep the floor nice, since it has

taken a lot of time and money, and we hope to keep it in great condition,” com-mented Mr. Bearley. Coach Darr commented on the floor, “The new floor brings life to the gym; its something our school should be really proud of.” Senior volleyball player, Taylor Nix-on was excited to start playing on the new floor. “It looks great, I’m glad we get to enjoy it for our senior year.”

Before: the old gym floor After: the updated gym floor

Seniors L to R: Maddy Greeling, Karlie Green, Erika Daube, and Taylor Nixon

school record in touchdowns thrown per game, putting up 5 touchdowns. They beat the Comets 52-44. On Sept. 11, the Birds traveled to Litchfield to take on the (0-2) Purple Panthers. It was a close game from start to finish, but Litchfield came out on top 15-14. Southwestern got back on track when they played in Gillespie the week after, beating them in blowout fashion 40-13. Josh Manns scored twice in the game. After the first four games Southwestern is (2-2).

Golf Tees Off Another Season

Football Tackles a New Season

Sports

By: Grant Francis Before the first game of the year, 2nd year head coach Aaron Fricke said that he had been looking forward to the new sea-son since week 9 of last year, and that missing the playoffs this year would be “unsatisfactory.” In the beginning of the game, Southwestern surrendered a 14-0 lead early, and at halftime were down 21-6. But the Birds would not go down so easily. Junior Michael Nolte would run a kickoff back for a touchdown and Sophomore QB Caleb Robinson would put up a couple of touchdowns; one of them was a pass to Scott Kasting and the other Robin-son took himself to the end zone. Suddenly Southwestern had a 22-21 lead in the 3rd quarter. In the end, Southwestern could not hold on to the lead and for the third year in a row Southwestern would start the year with a record of (0-1). In their next game the Piasa Birds pulled a major upset against a team that had dominated the conference for two straight years. Robinson tied Andrew Fry for the

By: Dalson Cummings The golf team has started off strong with a record of 11-2. Junior Collin Baumgartner and senior Reid Nixon earned Southwestern 1st place medals. The home course for the Birds is Rolling Hills in Godfrey, Illinois. Volunteer Coach Gary Ballard is returning for his fourth year. In addition to Nixon and Baumgartner, juniors Alex Watts, sophomores Andrew Ballard and Jacob Fryman, and freshmen Chase Stahl and Tanner Werts complete the team. Baumgartner medaled at the Staunton match on August 19, making it the second time he has medaled in his high school ca-reer. He stated, “It felt great to medal.” He said that he is “looking forward Conference and Regionals and hopes to medal there.” Sophomore Andrew Ballard stated, “Collin is a very smart golfer.”

Current Record: 2-2

Seniors (l to r): Josh Manns, Jesse Arnold, Braden Whipps, and Brad Spurling prepare for

Litchfield.

8/28 Hillsboro A L 29-22

9/4 Greenville H W 52-44

9/11 Litchfield A L 15-14

9/18 Gillespie A W 40-13

The student section rushed the field after the 52-44 upset over Greenville.

Andrew Ballard has been play-

ing golf since he was 4 years old.

Available for $10 at any home Southwestern

football game.

The SHS Sports Booster Club has hoodies,t-shirts, and other items for sale.

Buy your Southwestern Piasa Birds sun glasses!

On Sunday morning, June 6, former band teacher Mr. Elwyn Mielke along with 46 students, and several parents a boarded a charter bus and started their long ride to Orlando, Florida. Once the band arrived in Orlando they had the first day to part into groups and explore the “land of magic.” The parks they could enjoy were Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. After day one was done the band took day two, June 3rd, to perform and partici-pate in a workshop. The students per-formed four songs that had been practiced over and over again. The songs played was “The Thunderer”, “Pacifica”, “Glory of The Yankee Navy”, and “Denbridgeway”. These were played in Downtrip was the workshop and being able to

Entertainment

By: Kaylee Fisher

Southwestern welcomes foreign exchange student Lauren Waller. Waller is a senior from Switzerland who came to the U.S with a love of traveling and interest in the country. She is also a member of the Cross Country team. When asked about the differences between our school and her school in Switzerland, she replied that the peo-ple and teachers are nice, but she was surprised by how strict the school rules are. Waller is staying with the Naugle family in Carlinville. Mrs. Laura Naugle, Southwestern librarian and hostess of Waller, com-mented about Waller’s personality, “She is very giggly, outgoing, loves running, and the outdoors.” Mrs. Naugle said hosting an ex-

Meghan McNear: 2 vaca-

tions, Alabama and Florida

Karlie Green: Trip to Florida

Kelsey Rhoades: Playing

basketball

Taylor Nixon: Europe Trip

Brittany Hand: Went to Ohio

for my Dad’s wedding

Hunter Kahl: Car shows

Nathaniel Vandygriff: White

water rafting

Diana Watson: Going to

Meramec Caverns

Alyssa Payne: Midnight

Madness and Kansas Trip

Austin Hastings: Getting a

new truck

Brandon Becoat: Riding dirt

bikes

Deyton Smith: Going to Six

Flags

Kayla Holman: Hanging out

with friends

Phumin Lertpredanan is an exchange student from Thailand.

Lauren Waller is an exchange student from Switzerland.

In the Halls -With Alyssa & Shauna

What was your favor-

ite thing you did over

the summer?

By: Christine Fisher

This school year, Southwestern students will see and hopefully get to know sophomore Phumin Lertpredanan from Thailand. He is staying with the Dankenbring family in Shipman. He said that he was sur-prised when he found out last Febru-ary that he was selected to be an ex-change student. He explained why he wanted to be in the exchange program, “I never got to go out of my country and I want to see new things.” that he is very excited that he got to come to America and experience a new cul-ture. He prefers to be called “Kong.” Lertpredanan pointed out that a big difference between Thailand and the U.S. is in physical appearances of students. He added, “In Thailand, students must have their natural hair color, girl must have shoulder length hair, and wear uniforms.” He commented he was very sur-prised when he saw a girl with blue hair because in Thailand they were-n’t allowed that privilege at school.

He also explained that his school day was different in Thailand because he stayed in one classroom all day and the teachers switched rooms. Lertpredanan plans to return home at the end the school year but keeps in touch with his parents and sister by call-ing them once a week or every two weeks. Mr. Bearley said that it is always a

positive to have foreign exchange stu-dents in the school because they intro-

duce the students to new cultures that they wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise.

Phumin Brings a Bit of Thailand to SHS

change student is very rewarding. She added, “You learn so much about oth-er countries and their cultures and the students becomes part of your family.” Waller keeps in touch with her family and friends with Skype and texting and is head back to Switzer-land in one year.

Mrs. Naugle Hosts Senior Lauren Waller

On Sunday morning, June 6, former band teacher Mr. Elwyn Mielke along with 46 students, and several parents a boarded a charter bus and started their long ride to Orlando, Florida. Once the band arrived in Orlando they had the first day to part into groups and explore the “land of magic.” The parks they could enjoy were Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. After day one was done the band took day two, June 3rd, to perform and partici-pate in a workshop. The students per-formed four songs that had been practiced over and over again. The songs played was “The Thunderer”, “Pacifica”, “Glory of The Yankee Navy”, and “Denbridgeway”. These were played in Downtrip was the workshop and being able to

By: Brittany Hand and Brandon Wyatt From June 8 to June 18, the International Club took 44 travelers (28 students, 12 parent chaperones, and four teachers) to these far off places. The teachers accompanying the group were: Mr. Matt Hasquin, Mr. Darren Mosley, Mr. Corey Pace, Mr. Jeff Eldred, and Mrs. Shannon Bowman. This was the largest group that Southwestern has taken on a trip, where the average group size is around 25. While this is the third trip Mr. Mosley, has taken himself, Mr. Hasquin, history teacher, estimates that this is Southwestern’s seventh or eighth trip to Europe. Mr. Hasquin and Mr. Mosley took over the International Club after the previous teachers left Southwestern. When asked if Europe has started to bore him after going so many times, Mr. Hasquin responded, “There’s always something new. I’m not even close to being bored yet.” “The trip was blissfully void of any transportation issues, unless you consider lots walking to be one,” Mr. Hasquin jokingly commented. Many of the travelers purchased souvenirs to commemorate their trip to these marvelous places. Clothes, perfume, hats and more were brought home. An item nearly every person bought was chocolate from Switzerland. Mr. Hasquin stated that he still has some left over, while Mosely said that his niece ate all of his foreign chocolate. When asked if they would visit again, each person said they would. Senior Kaeden Kessinger simply said, “Oui.”

Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, and

Switzerland, OH MY!

Entertainment

Carson Ford -Graduating

Erika Daube - Prom and

Homecoming

Samantha French - Going all

out for Spirt Week

Hunter Kahl - Graduation

Reid Nixon - Friday night

football games

Aleah Cohrs - Prom

Jesse Arnold - Graduation

Jacob Brefeed - Winning foot-

ball games

Brianna Large - Homecoming

Week

Malaki Nicolini - Graduation

Cheyenne Slack - Food

Tim Watts - Nothing

Lily Matthis - Getting out of

Illinois

Braleigh Sigite - Trips

Scott Kasting - Graduation

Brittany Hand - Finishing the

year

Elizabeth Adcock - Getting out

Words of Inspiration for Class of ‘16 Found on Instagram

In the Halls -With Shauna and Alyssa

Seniors: What do you look forward to this year?

By: Brittany Hand

At the end of July, an Instagram account was made in honor of the Southwestern Class of 2016. The account has a photo of every senior, excluding the seniors who have become a part of Southwestern this year. In the description of each photo is a short paragraph recognizing the person for who they are; this celebrates everyone’s individuality and how we all come together to make an extraordinary senior class. The accounts purpose for this is to “combat negativity that approaches in our school” and to “flip the script and make everyone feel recognized and appreciated here at Southwestern.” The account currently has 71 followers. To follow this account, a personal Insta-gram account is needed to then request to follow “wordsofinpiration16”. Abby Mueller, senior, was asked her thoughts on the account. She commented, “It’s really cool that someone is trying to bring more positivity into our class.” Other seniors, such as Josh Nagel and Evan Lowis, said that their description was fairly accurate, and full of positivity. As for the person or persons who created this inspirational page, there have been several guesses between those who have seen the account and read most of the de-scriptions. Senior Brandon Wyatt guessed that senior Karlie Green or senior Juliet Wooldridge created the account. Both Green and Wooldridge said that they are not the creators. Green commented, “I thought Brandon made it.” It has also been debated that multiple people collaborated to create this account. Mueller added, “It has to be someone who knows everyone, at least sort of, and is nice and dedicated enough to put this account together.” The final post in the page is a picture of a yin yang, with a description that reads: “It is so easy for people to become cruel over social media or even in person. This account will remain anonymous until the user speaks up and wants to reveal their selves. Hopefully this will counteract other negativity going on in people's lives and give them some inspiration to push forward and help them. They will look back on this and see what people actually think of them. Spread positivity, my friends. Be well!”

The Bird’s Eye View Staff: Editor: Brittany Hand

Entertainment Editors: Shauna Faulkner and Alyssa Payne

Sports Editor: Karlie Green

Copy Editor: Brandon Wyatt

Clubs Editor: Paige Stahling,

Staff Writers: Dalson Cummings, Chr istine Fisher , Kaylee Fisher ,

Grant Francis, Drew Fredrick, Karlie Green, Carmyn Gust, Brittany

Hand, McKenna Harper, Hunter Kahl, Andrew Nixon, Kelsey Rhoades

Advisor: Mrs. Goetten

Printing Supervisor: Freida Ricoh

The Bird’s Eye View is published by Mrs. Goetten’s Publications 1 class. The newspaper is available on www.piasabirds.net/highschool.

Extra Artist of the Month:

Elizabeth Addock

By: Andrew M. Nixon September’s Artist of the Month is senior Elizabeth Addock. When asked about her artwork, she said that she has been making art “pretty much all her life.” She sees art as her escape from the world whenever she is upset. She mostly sketches her works and doesn’t tend to use other mediums unless she is asked to. Her favorite artist is Picasso, alt-hough she does not tend to find inspi-ration in his work she still appreciates his very unique style of art. She does, however, find inspiration for her art by looking online for images. She usually looks to tattoo shops and sites. During last year’s art show she won second place in watercolor. She also won in the Art Club’s pumpkin carving contest last year. Mrs. Susan Ruyle, art teacher, commented about Addock, “She is a very talented and reliable student.”

STEM Students are “Picking

Up” the Keys to Success

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By: Brandon Wyatt Two years ago, Southwestern High School’s science department added Science, Technology, Engi-neering, and Math class which has become a popular elective. Ms. Deb-bie Gaffney, STEM instructor, re-cently challenged students to “think outside of the box” and create proto-types of “prosthetic” arms that could perform a simple task. The students worked in groups and were allowed to use wire, Popsi-cle sticks, binder clips, duct tape, cardboard, and rubber bands. The arms had to be able to pick up a plas-tic cup with a set of keys inside. Ms. Gaffney said the purpose of the project was to get students to de-sign, build, and work together. The project took a week. Seniors Christopher Breitweiser and Thomas Casalino made a two pronged fork design that gripped the cup well. Casalino said that he wished their design moved more. “Other designs had moving parts and ours didn’t,” added Casalino. “Building it was fun,” commented Breitweiser.

David Stalhman, Ms. Gaffney, Lily Mathis, Malaki Nicolini, and Grady Da-

vis test their mechanical arm.

Brenden Bollini and Trevor Kiel work on their invention.