THE BLACK AND GOLD Volume 6 Issue 8 Oct. 23, 2026
Band Takes 1st Place at Competition W e
m is s
yo u
M C
By: Layla Griffin
MC hates Christmas
Newspaper Staff Editors-in-Chief Laci Burnett Bella Beems Photo Credit: (Left) Angie King; (Right) S.A.D. Content Creations and Sam Harp Pictured: (Left) Tiger Pride Band with 1st place trophy; (Right) Tiger Pride Band marching in Cameron.
Assistant Editor Katlyn Boydston
On Saturday, Oct. 17th, the Tiger Pride Band won 1st place at the Cameron Marchfest competition in Cameron, MO. They played their season show, which included Jaws, Superman, Raiders March, and the theme from Star Wars. The Band Director, Angie King, said, “The performance went really well. I would say it was the best performance of the year.¨
Reporters
When Mrs. King found out they got first, she said, “I was very shocked. I was not expecting it, so I was very stunned.” Overall, she was glad her kids got first place. After Senior Josie Long found out they got first, she said ¨We were all cheering because we got first, because we actually got second to Rock Port in 2024, so it was like our comeback year.¨ Sophomore Laisey Willming also thought ¨it was surprising because we went against Rock Port.¨
Photographers
The band's next event will be marching in the Atchison Halloween parade on Saturday, Oct. 31st, after the Band’s Haunted Hustle 5K Fundraiser.
Guest Staff
Ivan Bowen Layla Griffin Lauraly Lane Kiera Kuse Alyssa Rogers
Designer Gunner Delp Analeesa Busby
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! All-Conference
Read about the three lucky softball girls that were elected to the AllConference team and one honorable mention! -pg. 5
Cross Country As XC’s season comes to an end, Coach Taylor gives special thanks to her players. Also, a special member will have the honor of running at Districts! -pg. 5
Greenhand Induction
Learn who the new members of your DeKalb FFA Chapter are! -pg. 6
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Oct. 23, 2026
Seniors Honored at Last Home Game of Season By: Bella Beems + Laci Burnett
Photo Credit: Kiera Kuse Pictured: Left- Easton Matthews beats defender, Middle- Team gets ready to run, Right- Team battles for ball.
Last Friday, Oct. 16, DeKalb had their last home Football game of the 2026 season, with the theme being pink out. The game was against Mound City, with DeKalb losing 18-52. “I think the biggest thing was we were just physically undermanned; they were just big. We were in the right spots a lot of times, but then we just didn’t make the tackle or didn’t make the block or whatever because they were just so much more physical than us,” says Coach Kaleb Wardlow. The game wasn’t all bad. In the second half, there were a few touchdowns scored. In addition, underclassmen got to play in the first half, which is a rare occurrence for DeKalb. Freshman Wyatt Davis comments, “It was kind of rewarding, knowing that all that hard work that I’ve been putting in finally paid off.” But more than just a Football game happened last Friday. Since it was the last home game, it was also Senior Night. Football, Cheer, and Band Seniors all got recognized and made their final performance on home soil, being honored for all the years of hard work and dedication to their sport. Speaking of a final performance, the DeKalb Tiger Pride Band had their last halftime show of the season, going out with bright lights. Quite literally, for the first time in almost 10 years, our band performed a light show, which is where the band strings themselves with Christmas lights, tapes flashlights to their feet, and performs their halftime show with the stadium lights off. “It is always a joy and I’m glad the new field lights made it possible. I can’t wait to do it again next year,” says Band Director Angie King. The next Football game will be on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., at Fairfax against East Atchison.
Oct. 23, 2026
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Oct. 23, 2026
What to Watch
By: Katlyn Boydston
What to Read
By: Alyssa Rogers
Photo Credit: Pinterest Pictured: Holly Jackson’s book, The Reappearance of Rachel Price Photo Credit: Pinterest Pictured: Scream 7 movie cover
If you’re looking for a movie to watch, then I recommend Scream 7, written and directed by Kevin Williamson. Scream was released on Feb. 27, 2026. The movie takes place in Pine Grove, Indiana, the primary fictional community where Sidney Prescott lives and where much of the story unfolds. The movie follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) as a new Ghostface killer shatters her quiet life in Pine Grove, Indiana. This is one of the movies I like because it’s interesting to watch, and it gives a lot of details about what happens and who they think the two killers are. My favorite part is finding out who the two killers were towards the end of the movie and Sidney Prescott trying to kill the killers.
I have always loved the author Holly Jackson, and one of my favorite books by her is The Reappearance of Rachel Price. This story follows an 18-year-old girl named Bel Price who lives in the shadow of her missing mother. 16 years prior, Rachel Price went missing. Young Bel was the only witness. The Price family agrees to be in the filming of a true-crime documentary thats when Rachel Price reappears and claims she was kidnapped and held captive for 16 years. Bel is very suspicious of Rachel’s reappearance and thinks Rachel is lying or dangerous, so she decides to investigate her mother’s case. This book is an amazing mystery novel by Holly Jackson. The plot is very unpredictable and insane. If you like suspenseful novels, I highly recommend any book by Holly Jackson.
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Oct. 23, 2026
Lady Tigers Earn Confernce Recognition By: Alyssa Rogers
Helton Perseveres Through Pain at 275 Conference By: Gunner Delp
Photo Credit: Coach Taylor Pictured: Zylar Helton finishes his race strong.
As the DeKalb Cross Country team’s season is about to end, with one meet left, we’d like to thank our team for all the hard, tireless work every one of them has put into this year.
Photo Credit: Alyssa Rogers Pictured: All Conference Softball Team
This year, three Lady Tigers made All-Conference for Softball: Freshman Zoie Nowak, Sophomore Kaylee Chatman, and Junior Shaylee Phillips. Aliva Hall received Honorable Mention.
The 275 Conference meet was held Monday at Northwest Missouri State University. However, the middle school team members attended their final meet last Saturday at West Platte. When asked about his performance throughout the season, 8thGrader Andrew Giddins claims, “I did pretty well this season because I never came dead last.”
Coach Horr says, “I’m very proud of the growth that each of these girls made this season and over the summer. These girls came into practice every day looking to get better and weren’t afraid to ask questions about how to get better. It is always great when we can get these girls recognized outside of just our team.”
Coach Dana Taylor would like to give a huge shoutout to Freshman Zylar Helton for all of his hard work throughout the season. “Zylar has done particularly well because he has overcome the odds of the pain and runner’s knee.” Cross country is a sport that requires lots of physical demand. We are very proud of every one of our team members for this year’s season.
Coach Horr also said that making All-Conference is,“not an easy thing to do. They choose the 12 best kids no matter the grade or position. The fact that we had three named to the team and one honorable mention was pretty cool.”
The last meet for Cross Country is the District meet, which only Zylar will be participating in. This big meet will be held on Halloween Day. Show up to show your support for our amazing team and for Freshman Zylar Helton.
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Oct. 23, 2026
New Year, New Members By: Lauraly Lane
Photo Credit: Lauraly Lane Pictured: Greenhand Inductees
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the DeKalb FFA chapter had an induction for the newest members of the chapter. With the induction came a fall party where all the members had pizza, carved pumpkins, and voted on the best carving. Mr. Medsker has hosted the Greenhand Induction ceremony with the annual fall party for over 20 years. He set up the entire induction ceremony with the help of other members and officers. There were 32 members in the audience with everyone participating in pumpkin carving. Medsker states, “I thought that the Greenhand Induction went well, the officers challenged themselves to learn their parts and while they made some mistakes overall for their first time they did well.” Voting on pumpkins resulted in a tie, so the officers broke the tie. The winners of the pumpkin carvings were Freshmen Hunter Hughes, Wyatt Davis, and Tucker Lane. “I was shocked that we won, but it was great to see my friends get excited about it,” states Hunter Hughes. Overall, the event was another success. Freshman Ashtyn Nowak says, “I had fun at the fall party; being inducted as a new member was very exciting, and the pizza was really good.” The next FFA event will be volunteering at Second Harvest in November.
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Oct. 23, 2026
What to Play By: Ivan Bowen
What to Listen To By: Kiera Kuse
Photo Credit: The Comenian Pictured: Top- Marvel Rivals Logo
I've been playing Marvel Rivals ever since it was released on Dec. 6, 2024. I've recently been playing it more than usual because of the Infinity War game mode that is supposed to set up for the Avengers Doomsday game mode in December. Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play, third-person, teambased multiplayer hero shooter developed by NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Games. Two teams of six players battle across maps inspired by iconic Marvel locations (such as Asgard, Tokyo 2099, and Wakanda) to complete objectives. Players can choose from a large lineup of Marvel heroes and villains. There are three core roles you can play in every game mode: Vanguards: Tanks who control space and absorb damage Duelists: Damage dealers who focus on taking down enemies Strategists: Support characters and healers who keep teammates alive Marvel Rivals is free to play on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC.
Photo Credit: Pinterest Pictured: Heyzuko! INTRINSIC album cover.
Lately, I’ve found myself listening to hip hop, pop, R&B and multiple other genres. An artist I've been listening to a lot is Heyzuko!. Heyzuko! is an 18-year-old artist from Australia, and his real name is Antonio Villamor. He started producing music in 2022. One of Heyzuko!’s songs “PICK UP THE PHONE, Pt. 2,” has 2.17 million streams on Spotify. His latest album, INTRINSIC is out and was released June 26, 2026, with two of my favorite songs by him: “You Don't Know Me Anymore” and “Wisteria Flower,” with Gun Boi Kaz. Right now Heyzuko! has 37 songs released. I feel like he will grow more popular the more songs he creates. I recommend listening to his music because it reminds me of listening to Kid Laroi and other artists. His music feels ethereal and makes me feel multiple emotions at the same time. He is a really good singer and I feel like if you give him a chance you will like his music.
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Oct. 23, 2026
Don’t Miss This! 26
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Parent-Teacher Conferences 2nd and 3rd Grade Music Program @ Rushville Elementary th
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6 Grade to EmpowerU MS Basketball vs OSHS @ Home FB Districts Game XC Districts Band Haunted Hustle 5k Happy Halloween!!
WEEK IN THE LIFE