A high school newspaper modeling professional journalism standards

January 2012

BballTeamsare

Shufflin’

NVC Tourney Kicks off Saturday

In This Issue

Does a senior photo fall under freedom of expression? Igor Volk talks about a Colo-rado controversy on page 2.

SMH students and staff utilize new tech-nology. Marian editor Seth Miles shares sev-eral changes on page 3.

Would you brave the frigid temperatures and near-zero wind chill to show your school spirit? Check out pages 4 and 5.

Where did those fabu-lous movie posters depicting SMH stu-dents come from and what’s the purpose? Cody Colman ex-plains on page 6.

What’s going on at SMH? Find out on page 8.

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January 29 - February 5

2012

Catholic Schools Theme Drives SMH Students and Staff

by Claire WetzelAcademics. Ser-

vice. Faith.Not only are

these attributes exhib-ited throughout the ev-eryday life of a Catholic school attendant, but the words also describe this year’s theme for Catholic Schools Week.

This is the 39th an-nual celebration, spon-sored by the National Catholic Education As-sociation.

Catholic schools, in general, differ from other schools.

St. Mary’s is no ex-ception.

St. Mary’s takes great pride in its excellent academic program. Like most Catholic schools, St. Mary’s is widely known for its superior education. Faculty give each student one-on-one time while encouraging students to strive toward his or her highest poten-tial.

“The way the

teachers push each stu-dent academically has given me a great work ethic in high school. It makes me want to strive to be the best I can be academically. The way we perform in school is a reflection of their teach-ing abilities, and I want to show everyone how great our teachers are,” said senior Tyler Tim-merman.

Because of these noteworthy teachers, students who attend St. Mary’s are offered excep-tional education plans.

Other characteris-tics set private schools apart.

Service is anoth-er quality taught at St. Mary’s. Service projects become a part of the day-to-day life of a St. Mary’s student.

Food drives and coat collections are two specific examples the school assists with to help less fortunate indi-

viduals. After the devas-tating hurricane in Haiti, the students collected food, clothing, and other necessities. Collections from school masses are also sent to different charities and hurricane relief efforts.

School organiza-tions participate in ser-vice projects, too. The National Honor Society does two annual road-side cleanups as com-munity service.

“National Honor Society is a wonderful thing for our students be-cause it teaches how im-portant service is, even by doing small things like picking up trash along the roadside,” said Tait Sibbel, an NHS member. Being able to prac-tice faith is the most obvi-ous difference. Students who attend St. Mary’s are proud to show their faith in school and out-side. Not only do the St. Mary’s students attend

weekly mass, but they also have prayer at the start of every class peri-od, as well as before and after lunch.

School librarian Jennie Schneider said this is an important as-pect of our school.

“One of the best parts about teaching in a Catholic school is be-ing able to share my faith with students and teach in a Christ-centered en-vironment where prayer is an integral part of the school day.”

Catholic schools take pride in their atten-tion to academics, faith, and service, driving ev-eryone toward a com-mon goal.

January 26

It’s lunch: the best part of the day. A brief reprieve from the long schoolwork-filled day to take a break, eat some food and talk to your friends Maybe even prepare for a test coming up in the next three periods. Either way, it’s the only part of the day I always look forward too.

Like every oth-er period, it has its rules: the spoken...and the unspoken. We all know that there is a rota-tion in which classes go to eat and that the seniors are al-ways first. We do

not throw food. Do not make a mess, do not unscrew the tops of the salt and pepper shakers. No playing the piano. No going by the fire exit. You only get one scoop at the salad bar. That’s right.One scoop. Oh, and be po-lite.

The unspoken rules, you ask? If a chair falls over, the whole student body claps. Don’t listen in on other peo-ple’s conversations. There is a pecking order and it must be followed. Under-classmen should not and do not boss

u p p e r c l a s s m e n around and you do not cut upperclass-men, either. Ladies eat first at lunch, or at least they should. Do not take the last pudding cup if you already have one. Don’t be a pig. Let other people get some food from the salad bar. Now, if you don’t know these rules already, you should. The rules are simple, and hon-estly, you’ll have a better lunch experi-ence. Don’t be a pain. Learn the rules.

MARSHMALLOW CREAMED

Luke Loecker (left) and Ryan Podany prepare their catapult for competition. The Physics class project required students to build a catapult capable of launching a marshmallow a distance of 20 feet and a height of 10 feet. Photo by Sarah Pribil

The Marian is a monthly publication of the jour-nalism students at St. Mary’s High School. The goal of The Marian is to provide accurate and informative news and features about St. Mary’s school and students. Opinions on the opinion page do not necessarily represent those of the entire school community. To contact The Marian, email LuAnn Schindler at lschindler@smcards.org.

Editor - Seth Miles Advisor - Mrs. LuAnn Schindler Reporters - Claire Wetzel, Bradley Reynoldson, Cody Colman, Deanna Tomjack, Jared Tomjack, Tom Chvala, Ella Spencer, Kaylee Krotter, Igor VolkPhotographers - Kaylee Krotter, Justine Blumen-stock, Jessi Simons, Ella Spencer, Carissa Soukup, Sarah Pribil, Aaron Ohri, Ty Eiler, Ryan Schneider, Chism Sholes

“We the People” is one of the most popular sayings in the United States. Living in the twenty-first century, America’s most important aspects are free-dom of speech and freedom of expression. This nation has been fighting for over 150 years to achieve the title “The Country of Freedom”. Thousands stood up for their beliefs till the last heartbeat. However, is the right of freedom superior to the rights of others? Sydney Spies is an adult and legal resident of the United States of America, the only country in the world which is also referred to as the Country of Freedom. According to her rights, she deserves to be treated in the way she wants, unless her rights interfere with the rights of others. In this case, I think interfer-ence happens. Sydney tried to use a risque senior picture in her school’s yearbook. Her school’s yearbook spon-sor refused to publish the photo. Minors may see the pictures, thus the actions of Sydney Spies would interfere with the rights of the readers. Of course, it is just simply vulgar and unaccept-able for the school to publish the photos; however, all of her actions are legal; if there would be a court case, I think Spies would win. Some people say her dressing is inappropriate for public zones, like school in this

Commentary

Freedom at a Priceby Igor Volk

case, however, they do not think of cheerleaders, as an example; their dressing is almost identical to Spies’s senior photo.

As an exchange student, with my personal ideas, I think it is just ridiculous to even make such a big story out of it. As a resident of a country where people were ignored and were living for years in satisfaction with no freedom, it is incred-ible how much attention Sydney Spies receives. In my opinion, the goal was to actually adver-tising for herself; looks like she received enough of “advertis-ing”, thus the dispute shall end. In conclusion, in place of the yearbook director, I would not allow the pictures to be posted; however, if the Spies family would pursue their idea to press charges, saying the school is infringing on her freedom of expression, the picture could be simply censored. From another hand, if I would be a real American patriot, I would stand on Spies’ side, protecting her rights, as American grand-grand-grand parents did over 100 years ago, standing for their believes and ideas till the last drop of blood.

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Technology changes as quickly as you can turn around.It’s true.

Just think, around 2004 St. Mary’s slowly went from the “prehis-toric computer age” to the more modern technological age. That’s when the school went from chalk dust to pixels when the first smart board was introduced in the science lab and teachers started to move away from the use of chalkboard. From that point, the use of technology has progressed steadily.

A few years ago, the high school computer was updated with the addition of more Windows machines.

Two years ago, the Mac lab came into existence with the addi-tion of the Digital Media course taught by Father Lorig.

Since August, three changes within the technology department have been put in place.

Thanks to both a technology-savvy priest and forward-thinking administrator, the maintenance for the majority of our technical prob-lems is dealt with in-house. Both Father Lorig and Mr. Dupre keep all these nice, shiny machines running like they should be.

They even maintain our school’s network, which is nothing short of impressive. The network links all computers and printers together so students and staff can open documents on any computer on the network.

This year, both journalism classes as well as digital media, work on four new Mac laptops.

“Most major journalism markets – whether magazines or news-papers – have Mac-based offices. The MacBooks have helped our students as they learn and hone new journalism skills,” said LuAnn Schindler, advisor for both Marian publications.

The latest addition to our technical utility belt is the integration of Google email accounts that link all students and teachers together, making it easier for students to reach their classmates and teachers when classroom questions arise.

Many teachers incorporate the Gmail system, using it as a way for students to turn in homework assignments.

Father Lorig explained the necessity of email. “It (Google’s Gmail) is free, and not only that, but you get email

and apps. It gave us an opportunity to market our school name, and it was a way to link us with everyone at St. Mary’s.”

Technology Changes, New E-Mail System Keep SMH Students and Staff Connected

By Seth Miles

Before Christmas break, students cele-brated Cardinal Pride Day by wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. Justine Blumenstock, Carissa Soukup, Sarah Pribil, Aaron Ohri, and Ty Eiler dug deep in the closet to find these treasures.

Looks Like School Spirit

Erin Meyer (left), Caris-sa Soukup, and Ella Spen-cer get the SMH home crowd pumped up for basketball.

Photo by Kaylee Krotter

Students Live by Motto, Missionby Deanna Tomjack

For St. Mary’s Catho-lic School, excellence is not a just a possibility, it’s a real-ity. Students can achieve their dreams and learn from the school’s motto and mission. The school’s motto is “Let my soul magnify the Lord.” This motto will relate to students for the rest of their lives. Through Mary’s inter-cession, students can remem-ber that by listening to God, praying, and working fully for Him, their souls will radiate His love and be magnified. The mission statement of St. Mary’s allows students to grown in their faith, as well as their lives. The exact mission state-ment, taken from the school handbook, is to “form the stu-dents into proficient, respon-sible, community-minded adults, faithful to the Catholic Church and filled with love and zeal to serve God, Church, and Country. We emphasize the education of the whole student through excellent pro-grams in theology, academics, the arts and athletics.” Basically, the mission is to make the students work as a family to grow closer to God,

blossom in the faith, and learn to serve our country by using the classrooms, stage, and the gym to gain team skills. Sophomore Carissa Soukup said she loves the many different activities the school offers, plus the school gains more students every year. “The classes are hard,” said Soukup, “and that makes us smarter and more prepared for college.” Garret Gleason said he loves St. Mary’s because he likes our faith. “If I didn’t receive it as much during the day, then I would not be able to keep it,” Gleason said. For the St. Mary’s school students, they are the luckiest people alive. They love their classes and espe-cially the faith. When they live their lives by the school’s motto, they prosper greatly. It’s easy to see that when the St. Mary’s school students strive to meet their mission, they achieve great-ness.

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Thank You for Sponsoring The Marian During Catholic Schools WeekAdamson DistributingAg Services, Inc.AJ Feeder SupplyAnson Insurance ServicesBank First, Member FDICBartak GlassDennis and Jeanne BaumertBG & S TransmissionBiglin’s MortuaryThe Blarney StoneDana F. Cole Company, LLPCole Redi-Mix & Petroleum4

Dairy QueenEdward JonesElkhorn Valley Family Medi-cineEmme Sand & GravelFarm Bureau Financial Ser-vicesGaughenbaugh FlooringGokie’s Fast MartGolden HotelGotschall & Blumenstock Eye Care Great Western Bank, Member FDIC

Great Western GasGrosch IrrigationHair JunctionHolt County IndependentHolt County TireHolz LumberHusker Used Trucks & PartsK & K WeldingBrooke Kaczor Photogra-phyKate’s Hair StudioMike & Deb KellyKershenbrock Dental Care

Knights of ColumbusKrotter’s Home and Auto CenterMcCarthy AbstractMcDonald’sNorth Central Automa-tionNorth Central District Health DepartmentOgden Hardware

O’Neill Chamber of CommerceO’Neill Electric Motor

ServiceO’Neill Lumber Ltd.O’Neill Pharmacy/Mindy’s GazeboO’Neill Tire and SupplyPeetz LawPinnacle BankPlains Equipment GroupRanchland Auto/Car QuestReiser InsuranceRon’s Barber ShopSt. Mary’s Home and School

Thank You for Sponsoring The Marian During Catholic Schools WeekServiceO’Neill Lumber Ltd.O’Neill Pharmacy/Mindy’s GazeboO’Neill Tire and SupplyPeetz LawPinnacle BankPlains Equipment GroupRanchland Auto/Car QuestReiser InsuranceRon’s Barber ShopSt. Mary’s Home and School

St. Mary’s Booster ClubSchindler DairySchindler ElectricScott and LuAnn SchindlerSoukup Brother’s Truck-ingWendell and Sharon SpencerStadium SportsStrope & Gotschall PC,LLOSunrise Floral and GiftSuper Foods

Tia ZiaTorpin’sWestside Restaurant

St. Mary’s School

Celebrating 111 years of Catholic

education in O’Neill

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Digital Media Creates Celeb Reader Posters

by Cody Colmanposters, collecting ideas. Then, they devise a quote and design the poster to fit the quote. Once the idea is set, students look through the school’s photo archive and select several. “My favorite tool is the magic extractor,” said Claire Wetzel. She uses it to choose which part of the photo she needs for poster. “We also can use different pictures to make a photo look like it’s painted or colored. It’s cool.” While the posters are a hit with elementary students, Lorig sees the skills his students are learning transferring to real-life application, even in rural Nebraska. He said he uses these skills daily. “In a small business environment, you are often called on to wear many hats. The more hats you can wear, the more desir-able you are to that busi-ness.”

Kaylee Krotter walks down a beautiful island beach, white sand surrounding her footsteps.Brad Reynoldson gives his greatest “Rocky” imper-sonation. Movie poster? Vacation photos?No. These promotional posters, featuring SMH athletes, serve a dual pur-pose: encourage elementa-ry students to read and earn Accelerated Reader points and establish positive role models. Students in Father Lorig’s Digital Media class designed the posters using Adobe Photoshop. In its third year, the digital media class teaches valuable skills students can incorporate in other class-es. Lorig said, “I’m hoping to give students some basic skills in pho-tography, photo editing, Photoshop, and video and audio production through project-based learning. Students get ideas by searching for movie

Claire Wetzel designed this poster of Justine Blumenstock for the celebrity reader program. Digital media students are creating the posters using Adobe Photoshop.

CelebrateCatholic Schools Week

All-School Mass

Friday, February 3, 2012

8:10 A.M.

geography

bee

Photo by Claire Wetzel6

The story of the campus of Saint Mary’s has both sur-prises and inspiration.

Last year, Saint Mary’s High School celebrated 110 years of Catholic education in O’Neill. In other words, the campus has been here for quite awhile.

During its history, the school has gone through a lot. Shortly after putting up the very first school build-ing, it fell to the ground in flames. Redemption was in order.

After rebuilding the ruins of a school, the school prospered. Saint Mary’s gained a reputation for academ-ics and Christian prac-tices.

For many more years, Saint Mary’s students thrived and succeeded in their goals and studies. Many decades went by with great blessings. By1961,the school had grown into a beautiful academy with grand features.

Then, a terrible tragedy took place. Saint Mary’s Academy burned to the ground once again, but by the grace of God, it was rebuilt by the hands of good people.

When the walls went back up, the school was picked up off of the ground in more ways then one. Hope was established with the new building.

Teacher and Athletic Director Tony Allen said the cam-pus’ changes over the years have made a positive impact.

“The changes are great, it looks nice and a lot of people outside of Saint Mary’s have commented on it. It has helped with improving our physical image of Saint Mary’s.”

Recent new additions have been made to make the school an even greater place. These addi-tions include: our new commons area, new lecture hall, new rest-rooms, mac lab, and a workshop room.

Senior Tom Ch-vala agrees that the changes have been positive.

“I think that it is bigger, there is a better family environment, it’s cleaner, and there is just a warming feeling about it.”

Author Note:The inspiration that I find in this campus is the acknowledgement that no matter when I fall down, there is always a chance to be brought back to your feet, and by the blessings given to us by God, we can be great.

Campus a Source of Inspiration Through the Years

by Bradley Reynoldson

ChangesThrough the

Years

The SMH campus has changed drastically through the years, but the faith of the school and community has never wavered. The above photo is part of the St. Mary’s digital archive. Below, the commons area is one of the addi-tions during the past five years. Photo by Kaylee Krotter

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Living on a Prayer:Celebrating our Faith

Photo by Claire Wetzel

What’s Going On at St. Mary’s High

WE ARECardinals

Student body total

K - 12:243

School colorsRed and White

Favorite classScience

Favorite teacher

Ms. Ginter

Favorite lunchChili or

chicken noodle soup

Favorite musicCountry

What we’re watching

ESPN

What every-one is talking

aboutSports

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Speech Season Begins Next Week The SMH Speech-sters begin their season on Wednesday, February 1, when they travel to Cedar Rapids for competition. Coach LuAnn Schindler said 30 students comprise this year’s team, and she’s looking forward to a strong season.

Other tournaments scheduled include:

Saturday, February 4 at At-kinson West HoltFriday, February 10 at LHNE in NorfolkFriday, February 17 at either Plainview or Battle CreekSaturday, February 25 at

Elgin Pope JohnMonday, February 27 NVC at StuartMonday, March 5, SMH T-shirt Tourney

District competition will be held in Wausa on Tuesday, March 13. Competitions are

open to the public, and Schindler encourages SMH parents and patrons to attend.