The Black and Gold Volume II: Issue 4 October 20, 2022

"Have a pawfect day!"

Newspaper Staff

PARANORMAL POWDER PUFF?

BY: ABIGAIL MILLER

On Friday, October 7th, De Kalb High had a Powder Puff game to celebrate Homecoming. At one point in the game, the seniors' score suddenly jumped up to 25 and then to 99 with one score. A lot of people suspect foul play on the seniors' part, but is that the case? Or, is something far more terrifying going on?

Some students think that there was some fancy scorekeeping going on For instance, 8th grader Devlin Cline noticed something suspicious: “The seniors scored a touchdown and their score went up 21, when a touchdown was only 6 points.”

Not everyone can handle defeat and sometimes people take matters into their own hands. “The seniors are sore losers,” says Cline

On the other hand, some students have witnessed strange activity on the scoreboard on days when there is no game “My students witnessed scores flashing and team names appearing and disappearing on the Tuesday afternoon before Homecoming,” says Mrs. Miller. “Some of my students suggested the scoreboard might be haunted."

What do you think explains the strange scorekeeping during the Powder Puff games?? Is it paranormal activity, or is something more sinister going on?

Helaina Geoffroy | Marshall Jones | Abigail Miller | Tricia Simpson

Pictured:

Pictured:

King - Zander Matson

Zander Matson has been in football for 4 years, FFA for 4 years, and stucco for 1 year. His favorite memory from FFA is when “We had forestry meet freshman year and we got rained on. And had to sit in the rain for 4 hours.” Zander felt surprised when he was picked to be a homecoming king candidate. When he was waiting for the winner to be announced he “felt anxious.”

Queen - Lainie Vogan

Lainie Vogan has been involved in softball, basketball, track, NHS, and FBLA. “I ended up doing NHS and FBLA because I know that they look good on college applications.” “I honestly wasn’t nervous at all because I wasn’t really too concerned about what would happen.” Lainie said, “I would be happy for whoever won.”

Mason Punzo has been playing football for 3 years. “My favorite memory was when Coach Wildhaber got absolutely demolished by Wyatt and was laying on the ground for a while ” Mason recalls, “I found out that I was a prince candidate when I got back from being sick. I felt happy to be picked.” When waiting for the winner to be announced, Mason notes, “I felt nervous, and then surprised that my name was announced.”

Allison Bramble has been involved in softball for 3 years while in highschool and at Hillyard's for 1 year. Her favorite memory from softball is “going to batting practice, spending time with friends, learning more, and overcoming my injuries.” Allison felt nervous going in front of everyone. When waiting for the winner to be announced she felt “Pretty nervous but I knew whoever won deserved it.”

Prince - Mason Punzo

Princess - Allison Bramble

MEET YOUR

SENIOR SOFTBALL PLAYERS

Gracie Hanshaw

Gracie Hanshaw is a senior softball player that plays shortstop. She has played softball for three years. Gracie’s season has been pretty exciting. She says “It was fun trying out new positions.” Being a senior is bittersweet because you’re proud of doing it, but you’re going to miss a lot of stuff. The hardest part of being a senior for Gracie is “Knowing it’s my last year playing.” Gracie’s favorite part of softball is “How hype the games get and how high the intensity is with everyone cheering.” Gracie’s advice for the younger girls is “Work hard because your spot is not going to be given to you. You have to earn it.”

Lainie Vogan

Lainie Vogan is a senior softball player that plays third base and has been playing softball since she was in elementary school. Lainie’s softball season has been going pretty well for her. “About two weeks ago I hit a home run.” Being a senior isn’t always easy because you are basically the leader of the team besides the coaches. The hardest part for her as a senior is “trying to get the freshman prepared so they are ready to play next year ” If there was one thing Lainie could change from all her years of playing, she would go back and tell herself to not get so upset over little mistakes Despite the hard parts, for Lainie, the games make up for it. Lainie’s advice for the younger players is “If you make a mistake, try to get over it as fast as you can.”

McKayla Chatman

McKayla Chatman is a senior softball player that plays first base, and she has been playing since she was in first grade. McKayla’s senior season has not been the most ideal situation for her. She had an injury that has taken her out from playing, but despite that, she still has good moments. She is grateful for the friendships she has made over the years of playing softball. McKayla’s advice for the younger girls is “If you don’t start, don’t get upset.”

DEKALB STUDENTS TAKE ACT AND PSAT TESTS

BY: MARSHALL JONES

Pictured: Mr. Chisam

On Friday, October 14, the students of De Kalb High school took an unofficial ACT and PSAT test. Since it was the last day of the quarter and it was a half day, it made sense to do testing that day

The purpose of the tests is to determine how ready students are for college Mr Chisam notes that this experience is “to prepare students for the future ” Since the tests are only practice, it is also used to prepare students for the real test

Students were offered incentives to encourage them to do their best on the test. Mr. Chisam says “depending on how our students score on the test, they could get incentive days off school.” Other Incentives include drinks and snacks from the Muddy Paw.

When the school gets the test scores back, everyone will be able to know what skills they are good at and what skills they need to improve on.

What to Watch

BY: HELAINA GEOFFROY

If you love this time of year and love scary movies, a good show to watch is Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The series’ first season aired on Netflix on September 21, 2022. The show is now the second most watched English language title, second only to Stranger Things

According to Richard Bonnett’s Google review, it was “uneasy to watch at times.” But, it shows a whole different perspective to what happened in the span of 13 years. It really helps show you what actually happened and not what the media wants us to know. Everyone was told he killed to kill. But, in the series it tells us that he killed because his victims never wanted to stay with him. He killed them because he did not want to be alone.

As an extra bonus, viewers can watch the newly released Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes It is a 3 episode documentary which shares clips of Dahmer's confession and his part of the story.

Photo Credit: Marshall Jones

HIGH HOPES FOR MS BASKETBALL

BY: TRICIA SIMPSON

Mr. Hoffman is the new middle school girls basketball coach for the 2022 2023 season. This is his 36th year coaching basketball. He has even coached four teams at once.

With already having experience, he knows exactly what he wants for this season. Mr Hoffman’s hopes for this season are to prepare the 8th grade girls to go into high school and be ready for the demands of it. He wants them to be able to get a spot on varsity.

8th graders Kyleigh Black and Camry Hanshaw have similar hopes for this season. They both want to do well and win games.

Mr. Hoffman is getting the girls prepared by doing drills the high school basketball team does and getting on common ground so they are more prepared.

In practice, the girls are practicing high school drills, going over fundamentals, and doing new things.

In practice, instead of taking time from drill to drill, they go quickly with no break because in a real game, you don’t get a break. You just go down and back, so this also helps prepare the girls for the season.

The girls are hoping to look organized while on the court and play good defense

Photo Credit: Tricia Simpson

and offense. Every day in practice, they get closer to this goal.

Mr. Hoffman wants his players to know that the girls also have to lead themselves. He wants them to be independent and “athletelead.”

Mr. Hoffman adds, “I love working at this school Great kids, great faculty, and a great school.”

Pictured: Mr. Hoffman

Pictured: (Left) Kelsey Chatman, (Middle) Camry Hanshaw, and (Right) Kyleigh Black

Photo Credit: Tricia Simpson

FFA NEWBIES GET PINNED AT GREENHAND CEREMONY

BY: ABIGAIL MILLER

This year FFA has gained a lot of new students and FFA had an introduction for these "Greenhands" on October 5th at 6pm. “A ‘greenhand’ is the term FFA uses for first year FFA members. If you are new at something, you have a ‘green’ hand at it, so you have a lot to learn. That’s why the newest FFA members are called “Greenhands,’” says Mr. Medsker.

During the ceremony to introduce the new Greenhands, FFA has a lot of participants to help make the new members feel welcomed. “FFA officers lead the ceremony. They each memorized parts.

The FFA Greenhands were inducted into the FFA and were given the Greenhand degree pin. All other FFA members attended the event as well as parents,” says Medsker.

The ceremony is important and helpful in introducing the newest members of FFA and giving them a push in the right direction. “First, it lets everyone know who the newest members are and awards them the first FFA degree, which is called the Greenhand degree. Secondly, it motivates them to hopefully be involved and take advantage of all the FFA opportunities over the course of the next four years,” says Medsker.

COLE'S MASTERPIECE BY: MARSHALL JONES

Artwork can be a very good way to express yourself. 8th grader Cole Kovac made an art piece that really stood out to Mrs. K.

Cole made a drawing that really represents himself. He said that “I took how my happy thoughts are and how my sad thoughts are and kind of tried to mash them up into one art piece.” Even though Cole thinks it's not his best art, he still likes it.

Great job, Cole, on making a fine piece of art!

Pictured: Cole Kovac Photo Credit: Marshall Jones

THE DMS AND DHS BAND'S VERY BUSY WEEKEND BY: HELAINA GEOFFROY

Homecoming week was from October 2nd to the 7th. During the official day of Homecoming, the 7th, the band participated in going down to the elementary for the assembly, playing their halftime show during the high school's assembly, playing their halftime show at the football game, and participating in the Missouri Western State University Homecoming parade in St. Joseph on Saturday the 8th.

“Friday night’s performance went really well I was very proud of the improvement in marching the forms The band has come a long way since August, improving and expanding our show for every performance," Mrs King recalled “The halftime show went great Everyone marched correctly as well as played their parts perfectly A few times we were off by just one stop, which isn't too bad," said Drum Major Jayden Schneider.

“We haven't marched in the MWSU parade in a few years and it was great to be back. It was the first time marching in a big parade for many students. There were seven other bands there to watch as well. We were able to see the MWSU band play, and the band marched and played well even though we had some obstacles present themselves”, recalled Mrs. King.

When asked overall what could the band work on, Mrs. King responded with, “The band has really improved on their marching skills. Playing instruments without looking at the music and marching at the same time is not easy for new students The band has a large number of seventh graders and they have done a great job learning how to be a marching band We will continue to improve on our playing abilities and work together as a unit ”

“Overall we have improved dramatically since day 1 I had some serious doubts and I was impressed with how everyone did their parts I think we could work on the little things like pitches and stepping in time," said Drum Major Jayden Schneider. Shelby Pinaire notes, “There are always things we can do better on, but overall, we have gotten so much better on sets and moving.”

WHAT TO PLAY

BY: MARSHALL JONES

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open world first person shooter set in a megalopolis called Night City. You play as V, a fully customizable character who is trying to make their way to the top and become one of many legends in Night City. Your goal is to become number one, along with your friend Jackie Welles.

In this game, your choices can change the game for better or worse In the beginning of the game, you can choose one of three life styles You can choose the criminal life of the street kid, the caravan life of the nomads, or the office life of the corpo Each life path has a different story behind it that can change what ending you get in the game

No matter what choices you make, the most important one is if you should play the game And I think we know that answer

WHAT TO READ

BY: MRS. MILLER

Caraval, the first novel in the Caraval trilogy by Stephanie Garber, has been on my TBR (to be read) list for some time, since Mrs. Faulkenberry recommended it to me last spring.

Finally, this past weekend, I was able to dive into the magical world of Caraval, and I must say, it was a delight.

In the book, we follow Scar, short for Scarlett, who is kidnapped and forced to join Caraval, a magical game put on by the mysterious Legend. The game takes her on a whirlwind technicolor adventure of Intrigue, drama, romance, and danger.

Garber's writing is whimsical, colorful, and generally delightful, and I am looking forward to continuing the adventures in Legendary and Finale, as well as the spin off duology, possibly trilogy, Once Upon a Broken Heart. Thank you, Mrs. Faulkenberry, for another wonderful reommendation!

TERRIFIC TIGERS

7th Grade: Joslynne Bailey

Favorite Subject:

Fun Fact:

play two sports.”

Superpower:

hobby:

9th Grade:

Subject:

Fact:

have won lots of dance

Brown

8th Grade: Jesse Ashpaugh

Favorite Subject: Science Fun Fact:

honest.”

Superpower:

hobby:

Grade:

TERRIFIC TIGERS

10th Grade:

Bowen