The Black and Gold Volume II: Issue 9 January 13, 2023

THE BLACK AND GOLD

CHISAM

BRINGS POSITIVITY TO THE NEW YEAR

BY: ANNA SAMPSON

Mr. Chisam's expectations for De Kalb's second semester is to work hard and push through hard times. Chisam’s New Year’s goals are for students to grow, to improve, and to prepare for after high school.

Chisam will encourage DeKalb students to take these goals to themselves by encouraging them to stay positive and continue to work hard, even on bad days. Chisam says “that “positivity”” keeps students motivated and makes it harder to give up knowing someone is being positive with what you do.”

If you want a little reminder to stay positive, pick one of the new bookmarks in the library. There are numerous options, each with a positive message, and you can color it to make it your own.

"Have a pawfect day!"

Helaina Geoffroy | Marshall Jones | Abigail Miller | Anna Sampson | Tricia Simpson

Photo Credit: Anna Sampson

Pictured: Mr. Chisam

Photo Credit: Abigail Miller

Pictured: Kayla Chatman

BOYS BASKETBALL TAKE ON NORTH NODAWAY

BY: TRICIA SIMPSON

On Friday, January 6th, the high school boys basketball team took on North Nodaway. They ended the game with a score of 64-36. Despite the loss, the boys still had things that went well during the game.

Sophomore Gavin Moore says, “We were aggressive.” Being aggressive during basketball is good because you can force turnovers and be able to get more shots up. Junior Jayden Schneider thinks they played good defense. Being aggressive and playing good defense go hand-in-hand. Coach Dubs says the boys' efforts were up during the first half of the game, which helped them. Gavin Moore thinks the team had good teamwork which is always good going into a game.

As the season goes on, they are working hard every day in practice, but there are still some things the boys need to work on. Coach Dubs is having them work more on interior defense in order for them to get more shots up.

The boys try to go into the game with a reset mindset. If they didn’t do well at the last game, they want to go into the game forgetting about the bad and have a new game. They want to improve from what they did last game.

The boys will take on the Rock Port Blue Jays at Rock Port on Tuesday, January 17th. Be sure to show up and support your high school boys basketball team. Coach Dubs and The Black and Gold news staff would like to add “Go Tigers!”

Pictured: Jayden Schneider, Coach Dubs, Gavin Moore

Photo Credits: Tricia Simpson

LADY TIGERS PLAY IN FIRST ANNUAL WILDCARD INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

BY: MARSHALL JONES

On Monday, January 9th, the girls basketball team went against Savannah at the First annual wildcards invitational tournament.

The girls won 43 - 24. Lainie Vogan said that “ It went really well and our defense did good.” Rachel Reagan said that “I think our game went really well. We all hustled and worked together. We had really good ball movement and our defense was pretty good.”

Coach Reagan said, “We came out with the win so that was good. We played hard and we did a lot of good things offensively and defensively.”

If you can, come out to support our Lady Tigers in Osborn tonight.

What to Listen To

BY: ABBY MILLER

This last year a lot of amazing new songs were released and a bunch of artists got the chance to show off their amazing talents, one of these people being country artist Matt Schuster.

Matt Schuster has a list of amazing songs since 2021, but in 2022 he released some amazing songs as well. The one most popular right now is Vienna.

Shuster's version of Vienna is a cover of Billy Joel’s. Its a pretty slow song but it has an amazing message and the chorus is amazing.

If you're ever on a road trip or even on the way home from school or work give it a listen and let us know how you liked it.

Pictured: Girls Basketball Team

Photo Credit: Coach Reagan

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

BY: MARSHALL JONES

At the end of every year, some people make New Year's resolutions to try to improve something about themselves.

Junior Carl-J’s resolution is to be more patient with others. Deputy Jo’s resolution is to learn the thriller dance.

On the other hand, there are people who don't make resolutions Counselor Penny Powell says that “I don't think making a resolution on New Year's Eve is much different from making a goal any other time of the year.”

WHAT TIME DID YOU GO TO BED?

BY: HELAINA GEOFFROY

A survey was sent to all staff and students, asking if they went to bed before or after midnight on New Years.

Sophomore Brooklyn Frakes, who stays up after midnight, said, “I was hanging out with friends who kept me up, and to see the ball drop."

Nurse Chelsey, who does not stay up past midnight, said, “I have two kids that wake up between 5 and 6, Every Stupid Day And it’s exhausting. If I go to bed after midnight, I’ll still have to get up at 6am. Ain’t worth it I’m going to bed at 9pm, I don’t care what year it is."

Pictured: Officer Jo

Photo Credit: Marshall Jones

Pictured: Nurse Chelsey

Photo Credit: Helaina Geoffroy

DEKALB ENJOYS CHRISTMAS BREAK

BY: ANNA SAMPSON

De Kalb staff and students enjoyed Christmas break by relaxing and enjoying time with family and friends.

For some, the time off was used to sit back and relax. “I became one with the recliner,” said staff member Mrs. Taylor.

Some more time was spent with family and friends: “I hung out with my sister,” said Freshman Kyleigh Black.

Sophomore Lexi Gore also spent time with friends by hanging out with her friend Anna “in the passenger seat of her mom's car.”

Regardless of how Christmas went, De Kalb students and staff came back ready to go for the new semester.

Pictured: Mrs. T

Photo Credit: Anna Sampson

~ Cane Delp (courtesy of his dad)

Quote of the Week

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCHOLAR BOWL'S NEW YEAR

BY: HELAINA GEOFFROY

On January 5th and 12th, the Middle School Scholar Bowl Team had their first two meets at Stewartsville and Osborn respectively. The team is made up of four 7th graders (Logan Weller, Brayden Massengale, Gunner Delp, and Cane Delp) and one 8th grader, Lynzie Crockett.

This year's Middle School Scholar Bowl coach is Mrs. Miller. “I think the first match went really well. It was a learning experience for our student, and I was very proud of their sportsmanship.”

This is also Mrs. Miller's first year of coaching Scholar Bowl. “I am enjoying it so far because I enjoy watching students get to show off their talents and knowledge. I’m hoping that in the next meet we buzz in on more questions and keep building our confidence."

Logan Weller has done Scholar Bowl for two years. “I like it because I get to learn new things."

The team's final two meets will be at North Nodaway on January 12th and at De Kalb on January 26th.

Pictured: The Middle School Scholar Bowl Team

Photo Credit: Helaina Geoffroy

Pictured: Middle School Scholar Bowl Team

Photo Credit: Helaina Geoffroy

BY: TRICIA SIMPSON

THE BLACK AND GOLD GETS NEW STAFF

This school year, the De Kalb news staff gained two new members, Sophomore Anna Sampson and Junior Marshall Jones.

The news staff is always excited to gain new members, and it's always fun to see how everyone is affected in positive ways. “The main reason I joined the newspaper is because I thought it would be a good experience and it would give me things to benefit from. It has also helped me grow in my social skills and as a person,” says Junior Marshall Jones.

Along with gaining new experiences they also get to help out in the community and help share information. “I've gotten to experience the team work that this class brings,” says Sophomore Anna Sampson.

Not only do we get to teach new things and share new info, we also get to have fun on publication day. “My favorite part of publication day is all the food we get to eat,” says Marshall Jones.

In all, we are so excited to have these new students, and we cant wait to see how much they will learn and what they are going to accomplish by the end of the year.

Pictured: Anna Sampson

Photo Credit: Abigail Miller

Pictured: Nurse Chelsey and Marshall Jones

Photo Credit: Abigail Miller

BY: ABIGAIL MILLER

FFA GETS MOTIVATED

On Tuesday, January 10th, Mr. Medsker took the Green Hands to a Green Hand motivational conference put on by the FFA state officers.

As always, Events like this always present an amazing opportunity to learn new things and help our students grow. “I learned that FFA can be used as a stepping stone,” says Freshman Rylie Burdette.

Another good thing to come from this conference is motivating the Green hands to stick with it and help do more good in the community through FFA. “Hopefully they will be more likely to see what opportunities they have and be excited to try new things. The goal is to at least find one thing that an FFA member can enjoy and be engaged in throughout their FFA career,” says Mr. Medsker.

This year's group of Green Hands has come a long way from the beginning of the year, and they have so much to contribute in these next few years.

Pictured: FFA Green Hands

Photo Credit: Mr. Medsker

Pictured: FFA Green Hands

Photo Credit: Mr.Medsker

WHAT TO PLAY

BY: MARSHALL JONES

Doom (2016) is a game that came out on May 13, 2016 You can play it on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC

In this game, you play as the doom slayer, an exsoldier driven by the rage for demons. His goal is to eradicate the entirety of Hell and its spawn. You start off at a base on Mars. A portal to Hell has opened and demons have taken over. You have to rip and tear your way through them to get to the portal and stop them.

Can you fight your way through the hordes of evil spawn, or will you prevail and stop the invasion?

WHAT (NOT) TO READ

BY: MRS. MILLER

Many of us have read, or will read, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's much-loved tale of Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch, and of course Boo Radley. Fewer of us have read Go Set a Watchman, the novel Harper Lee wrote before Mockingbird and never intended to publish. I think there's a good reason for that.

Watchman, which follows Scout at a much older age of 26 and Atticus at 72, reads more like an unskilled first draft, and Harper Lee herself said that after writing it, she decided to tell a different story, which led to Mockingbird. I'm still reading Watchman, and in addition to poor storytelling, there are also passages that appear word-for-word in Mockingbird, indicating that Lee never truly meant to publish this novel.

So why did she? Well, let's let Lee speak for herself: "After much thought and hesitation I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication," said Lee not long before her death. Long story short, she was encouraged, some believe pressured is a better word, to release it. Perhaps her family wanted another cash cow from this author who had only ever published one, albeit famous, novel.

In my opinion, let this book stay unread, the way Lee originally intended.

MEET YOUR HS CHEER TEAM

Junior Harlie Hall

Harlie Hall has been cheering for five years. Harlie’s favorite part of cheerleading is cheering during football season. She has two favorite memories from cheerleading and one of them is when the girls were stunting and they dropped Harlie on her head. Her other favorite memory is when graduate Ashtyn Griffin slipped on a pompom.

Kalyn Hartman has been cheerleading since she was in 7th grade. Kalyn’s favorite part of cheerleading is homecoming and Courtwarming. Kalyn’s favorite memory from cheerleading is her junior year homecoming dance. Her advice to younger cheerleaders is “You should definitely try it. Don’t be nervous and don’t be scared during tryouts.”

Tori Hawk has been cheerleading since she was in 7th grade. Tori’s favorite part of cheerleading is early morning practices because “we talk about the most random stuff.” Her favorite memory from cheerleading is her freshman year homecoming dance. Tori’s advice to younger girls who would want to cheer is “If you don’t make the team, try out again next year.”

Freshman Ava Donaldson

Ava Donaldson has been cheering since she was in 7th grade. Her favorite time of the year to cheer is during football games. Her favorite memory from cheerleading is when Harlie fell on her head. Ava’s advice to younger cheerleaders is “Be loud!”

Sophomore Tori Hawk

Junior Kalyn Hartman

MEET YOUR HS CHEER TEAM

Freshman Presli Punzo

Freshman Presli Punzo

Presli Punzo has been cheering for three years. Her favorite part of cheer is the fun her and the girls have on the sidelines. Her favorite memory from cheer is when they made up the homecoming dance. Presli’s advice to younger girls who want to try out for cheer is “If you don’t make it, try again.”

Faith Williams has been cheering for one year. Her favorite part of cheerleading so far is going to the pep assemblies and the games. Her favorite memory from cheer is all the random conversations her and Miley have. Faith’s advice for younger girls who want to cheer is “Make sure you're rested on game days.”

Ceci Sherlock has cheered for two years. Her favorite thing about cheer is the bond all the cheerleaders have. Ceci’s favorite memory from cheerleading is all the hallway decorations from the 2022 homecoming. Her advice to younger girls who want to go out for cheer is “Even if you don’t make the team, try again.”

Braylee Brown has been cheerleading for three years. Braylee’s favorite part of cheerleading is going to the football and basketball games. Braylee’s favorite memory from cheerleading is her 8th grade year homecoming dance. Her advice for younger girls who are interested in cheer is “Just do it. It’s awesome!”

Freshman Miley Phillips

Miley Phillips has been cheering since 7th grade. Her favorite part of cheerleading is going to the games and supporting the team. Her favorite memory from cheerleading is talking to Faith on the sidelines.

Freshman Ceci Sherlock

Freshman Faith Williams

Freshman Braylee Brown