The Black and Gold Volume 5 Issue 33 May 1st, 2026
Newspaper Staf
Editor-in-Chief
Michaela Copeland
Assistant Editor-in-Chie
Bella Beems
News Editor
Laci Burnett
Reporters
Katlyn Boydston
Grayson Moore
Photographers
Lauraly Lane
Josephine Long
Designers
Ashlynn Bowen
Gunner Delp
Guest Writer
Miley Phillips
High School Baseball
See who is Dekalb’s divas of the week! Could it be you?
- p. 5
On Thursday, April 30, DeKalb Senior Braylee Brown signed to be a part of the dance team this coming fall for Missouri Western State University. “I’m so excited to continue something that I am passionate about,” says Braylee. Not only is she going to Missouri Western for dance, Braylee wants to earn her Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice as well.
The signing happened at Darcee’s School of Dance, the studio she’s grown up dancing and practicing in since she was just two years old. “I’m super proud of her. I’ve got to be a part of not just her dance journey, but her life,” says her dance coach, Darcee
Dancing for sixteen years takes not just a lot of skill and dedication, but passion, too. “It took me getting it done, getting passionate about something I love, and just being who I am,” says Braylee.
Braylee thanks her family and friends for supporting her through all these years and their continuing support as she takes her passion for dance into her adult years.
High School Track has an Outstanding Week
By: Katlyn Boydston
In the past week, the DeKalb High School Track and Field Team competed at West Platte on Friday, April 24, and then Stanberry High School on Tuesday, April 28.
Coach Rumpf said, “The last two meets went really well We had some champs at Stanberry on Tuesday. Easton Matthews won the 200 and 400 meters, and Blake Norton won the 800 meters. On the girls’ side, we had a lot of people who medaled: Brinkley Frakes in Pole Vault, Alivia Hall in the 800 meter, and Kenzie Pflugradt in the 400 meter and the 4x2.”
Sophomore Alivia Hall said Tuesday’s “meet went pretty good” The events she did were the 4x2, the 800, and the 400 meters. She got 3rd in the 4x2, 7th in the 400 meter, and 2nd in the 800 meter. “The track meet went really well this last week,” agrees Sophomore Brinkley Frakes. Brinkley took 2nd in Pole Vault, and her team took 3rd in the 4x2.
The team’s next meet is at Mound City tonight, and then the 275 Conference on Tuesday, May 5.
Photo Credit: Josie Long
Pictured: Kenzie Pflugradt and Grace Downing running
Photo Credit: Josie Long
Pictured: Bottom Left- Cole Kovac running the mile Bottom Right- Kenzie Pflugradt running against another track member
What to Read
By: Michaela Copeland
This school year, I’ve been in a reading slump, and I’m barely trudging along through one book Typically, if I get into a reading slump, I reread a book I really enjoyed or read a psychological thriller.
I really like Natasha Preston, the author of The Cellar, and Holly Jackson, the author of the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy
While scrolling Pinterest for book recommendations like these, I stumbled upon Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh
I haven’t read this book yet, but it looks super interesting. The novel follows a serial killer as he is assigned jury duty for the case of someone whom he murdered.
I think this book seems interesting, and there are several mixed reviews about it Some say that it is super interesting, while others say it was underwhelming.
Regardless, I plan to give this book a try anyway, and you should too!
SURVIVE ON A DESERT ISLAND SURVIVE ON A DESERT ISLAND
Find a safe place to set up some sort of camp and build a little hut or teepee.
Set up a campfire with the rock circle and everything and find a way to make fire
Try to catch a fish or two to eat and then go to sleep so you can have energy for the next day.
Find a rock and a stick to make a weapon to defend yourself with
Use the weapon to kill animals and use their skins for more clothes, bones for better weapons, and meat for food, obviously.
Chop a bunch of trees down so you can use the wood to build a cabin
Use some of the would you gathered to build a rain collector so you can have drinkable water that doesn’t make you sick
Use the leaves from the trees and mud to weatherproof your newly built cabin.
Cut down more trees and build more buildings.
Build a boat and use some leaves for sails and sail in any direction until you reach land with people
Try to convince some of the people to come to your island to live in the other houses you built.
If anyone agrees to go back to the island with you make sure you bring tools and maps and things, if no one agrees to go back with you just don’t go back at all
When you get back to the island with the new people, continue to build and expand until you can become your own country.
Contact other governments for help with officially becoming a country
Use the funding and materials from other countries to build an airport and docks.
Build vacation resorts so you can make money for yourself
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Pictured: TH1RT3EN book cover
4
Don’t Miss This May May
By: Miley Phillips
5
275 Conference Track Meet
6
7 High School Baseball at West Platte
FFA Banquet at 6 pm High School Baesball at home against King City
8 9 Middle School Dance at 7 pm District Track
Ms. Cagle
Reason- She's an English teacher (ifykyk)
Natalie Steele
Reason- She's
a hard working student
Boys Baseball has Rollercoaster of a Week
By: Laci Burnett
On Friday, April 24th, the DeKalb Boys Baseball Team faced off against the Stanberry Bulldogs. They ended last week with an exceptional win
This game was an impressive one, with Coach Matthews claiming it was “a great game” and that they “played well.” During the boys' battle against Stanberry, Freshman Easton Matthews hit the first home run of the boys’ season, as well as the first home run for the boys’ team on the new field. Easton says it “felt good going around the bases and watching the guys surround home plate and start cheering whenever I hit it ” They finished out the game with a great win of 8-2
Although, this week was a challenging one for them, facing off against Stewartsville-Osborn and Rock Port High School. On Wednesday, April 29th, our boys just barely lost to the Wild Cards, with the final score being 8-9. Then, the following day, they fought against Rock Port, unfortunately ending the game with a score of 16-2.
Coach Matthews hopes to “continue to work on the fundamentals, so [they] can clean up [their] defense.” The boys' hard work, combined with Coach Matthew’s unrelenting effort towards helping them, means the boys’ baseball team is bound to finish this season off strong.
Come out and support our boys at West Platte on Monday, May 4th!
Photo Credit: Unknown
Pictured: Kyle Funk up to bat against Stanberry’s pitcher
MS Track Prepares For 275 Conference Meet
By: Josie Long
Throughout this last week, the DeKalb Middle School Track team has had two meets Their first track meet of this week was on Tuesday, April 28, at Tarkio. Though it was a bit of a drive for the team, all the athletes did well, with Ruby Ferrel placing 6th in the 800-meter dash and 4th in the High Jump.
“I feel like I’m going to do pretty well at the 275 conference meet as I’m pretty ready for it I think I might run the 400, 800, and do High Jump at the conference meet, so I’m working hard to place well,” says seventh grader Ruby
On Thursday, April 30, the team headed to Riverside for their second meet of this week. Even with the chilly weather, Keddie Rogers was able to PR in the 100-meter dash and Triple Jump.
“I think I did pretty well I stayed positive I’m excited to see how the team does at the 275 conference, but I’m more excited to see how our relay does,” says eighth grader Keddie
Tuesday, May 5, will be the 275 conference meet, and the middle school team’s last meet, at Rock Port, so make sure to show support to these Tigers for all the hard work they have put in this season!
Photo Credit: Lauraly Lane
Pictured: Elliot Tanner holding blocks for Khloee Weinmann
Photo Credit: Lauraly Lane
Pictured: Elliot Tanner and Khloee Weinmann waiting for events to be called
Over the past two years, I have found myself enjoying more indie rock and Midwest emo way more than I ever expected.
While there are many great bands/artists in these categories, such as Mom Jeans, Modern Baseball, Adjust the Sails, and The Front Bottoms, I have been listening to two particular artists as of late. Those artists go by the names of McCafferty and The Flat Stanleys
McCafferty is a relatively big artist with a rate of 1 45 million monthly listeners, while The Flat Stanleys is not as well-known, with an average of roughly 328,000 monthly listeners.
Many of McCafferty’s biggest hits include Trees III (2022), Alligator Skin Boots (2014), and Bottom (2014). The Flat Stanleys, while not being as popular, have big hits, including: All My Friends Have Changed and I Have Too (2017), Me vs. Your Friends (2017), and Too Much and Not in the Mood (2018)
I highly recommend listening to McCafferty and The Flat Stanleys if you also like bands like Mom Jeans or Modern Baseball, or if you simply take a liking to the Midwestern emo genre.
What to Play
By: Lauraly Lane
If you’re looking for a game that has many sports and minigames in it, then I recommend Wii Sports Resort. Wii Sports Resort is a family game that has many different sports like Tennis, Bowling, Golf, and Baseball.
There are also a lot of other games on it, like Wuhu Island Wuhu Island is like a board game with many mini-games in it This is my favorite game on Wii Sports Resort. In this game, you roll two dice to move. It’s a very fun family game that plays four players, and if you don’t have four players, then NPCs will play.
With the mini-games, including frisbee, there is a bunch to choose from. These mini-games help determine if the player who rolled gets to move a spot or not
I’ve been playing this game with my family since I was little. I rate this game 9.5 out of 10 because I get rage-baited in this game. This game is, of coursse, available for Wii consoles.
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Pictured: CD cover of Wii Sports Resort
Photo Credit: Spotify
Pictured: Beachboy - album cover, Dancing to Dad Rock - album cover
What to Watch
By: Michaela Copeland
This weekend, on Friday, April 25th, the movie Michael was released to theaters for the first time. I went to the theater on the 26th to watch it, and I have very mixed feelings about it
Michael is a biopic about Michael Jackson and his life, specifically regarding his rise to fame while involved in The Jackson Five, as well as his solo success. The biopic begins by showing Michael walking onto the stage to perform, just showing a glimpse into his prime, then going back to his childhood.
This movie was produced by Graham King, who also produced Bohemian Rhapsody, which I believe was significantly better
Visually, Michael was a beautiful movie with an amazing cast, including Jafaar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew (son of Jermaine Jackson), who looks uncannily similar to Michael, as well as Juliano Krue Valdi providing a great performance as a child Michael.
I would rate this movie a 6/10, only because it does a great job visually, and then doesn’t dive deep into Michael as a person, and strictly portrays him as an angel or saint. Michael Jackson faced accusations in 1993, struggled with vitiligo, got married, and had children, which all influenced his life and career heavily, and the movie doesn’t show these things at all.
Paris Jackson, Michael’s daughter, was not involved with the movie at all, saying that because of its “inaccuracy” and “full-blown lies,” she would not be involved in the making of the movie
I think it’s an amazing movie to watch if you’re looking for a movie that is wholesome and loosely based on a celebrity's life, and of course with a great soundtrack.
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Pictured: Jafaar Jackson, as pictured in the 2026 biopic, Michael
