Steiner Runs at State By: R.M Mydland
Volume 3 Issue 6 | November 17, 2023
Editorial Staff Abigail Miller Managing Editor Helaina Geoffroy Editor-In-Chief Marshall Jones Digital Media Editor Rawley Mydland Assistant Editor-In-Chief
Reporters Boston Burdette Maggie Hall Emma Pitts Shaylynn Coffelt Gavin Moore Ashlee Derry
Digital Media Team Sidnie Nance Nat Griffin Shelby Pinaire Brayden Bowen
Assistant Nathan Lance
Photo Credit: Jayden Schneider
After a great season of running, Kasey Steiner, Mrs. Taylor, and Kaiden Myers all drove down to Columbia, Missouri, for State Cross Country. While the ride was mostly fine, Mrs. T said one thing stood out, and that was “The car being filled with lots of farts.” After a somewhat fine car ride, it was time to get Kasey to the starting line. Although it’s just like any other meet, Mrs. T said “We were nervous. I was nervous, especially getting Kasey to the starting line on time. We were not relaxed or comfortable, especially seeing the size of the other competitors.” Nonetheless, Kasey ran strong, coming in 127th out of 170. For a first-year runner, Kasey formed a great foundation for next year. With State Cross Country under his belt, maybe Casey can even grab more members for the team next year!
STUCO Hosts First Ever De Kalb Movie Night By: Shay Coffelt On Friday, November 10th, the Student Council had its first-ever movie night. The movie they watched was Ratatouille. Tickets were $5 and included popcorn, candy, soda, and water in addition to the movie. The evening was hosted by Mrs. Taylor, and only two students went. Junior Helaina Geoffroy was one of them. “Since there were only two of us the movie started on time and there were no distractions.” She hopes next time more people will go and enjoy the movie.
Pictured: Boston Burdette Photo Credit: Helaina Geoffroy
What to Watch By: Maggie Hall
Photo Credit: Shat Podcasts
Have you ever just scrolled through Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, etc., and realized that you can’t find anything good to watch? Well, here is a recommendation for you. It is free and easy to access. It is a Romance movie and keeps you entertained and wondering the whole time. The movie is called 10 Things I Hate About You. It was released in 1999 by Director Gil Junger, and the 2 main characters are played by Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. 10 Things is about a girl who isn’t considered very “cool,” but is also like a goodie 2 shoes. The guy is “bad” and is like someone you “shouldn’t mess with,” but in reality, he’s not that bad. The girl has a sister who is dating a popular boy, but her sister can’t go out and party unless she goes. So they paid the “bad” boy to take out the “good” girl so that they could hang out together. I would recommend it if you like the “ enemies to lovers” trope.
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De Kalb Choir Attends Choir Conference
Middle School Boys Take the Court By: Maggie Hall
By: Emma Pitts The De Kalb Choir class attended a Choir Conference on Monday, November 6th, at Northwest Missouri State University. It started at 9:30am and they started singing at 6:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. It was a long day they sang for 6 hours before the performance started. They do this event every year and it's part of the 275 conference between band and choir. Mrs. King said “It went very well but they could have learned some parts better or been more confident about them.” They rehearsed music with the other schools in their conference. Senior Shelby Pinaire said “We spent the whole day singing and standing but it went alright”. Freshman Camry Hanshaw said “It was fun and one thing I could have done was sing louder.”
Pictured: Nolan Huffman, Mr. Roberts, and Aiden Bramble Photo Credit: Shelby Pinaire
The middle school basketball boys have officially begun their season. They have played 8 games and have won 3 of them. November 9th they played Mid Buchanan, they lost against them but played a decent game. The score was 12 to 30. They played a really tough game but they tried their hardest. The boys also participated in the Winston Tournament this week. They played East Harrison and won 43-11. The boys have been working hard everyday at getting better and it's been showing. Their coach Mr. Roberts says that they have 15 boys going out this year. He also says that something that he sees from his boys is their hard work. Something that he would like to continue to work on is their shooting and fundamentals. Roberts also added “They are doing a good job working hard and getting better.” 7th grader Gage Hartman says the season so far has been “Mid for real.” He also added “Let's go stomp on Mid Buch.” The boys all agreed that the season so far hasn’t been too bad. Something that 8th grader Nolan Huffman feels that he needs to work on is just his shooting.
Photo Credit: Mrs. King
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
Middle School boys will play for third place in the Winston tournament tonight at 5:00pm. Go Tigers!
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FEATURE: Innovative Instruction Abounds at De Kalb By: Gavin Moore
In the past few weeks, we’ve seen multiple student-led projects in several different classes like Spanish, Music Appreciation, Creative Writing, and Careers. These innovative projects helped to change up the class for the students and let them focus on a fun project to help them learn. Many students said they enjoyed getting the time off from regular class and spending time on these activities. These activities gave them a fun way to learn more about these subjects. Take a look at what students have been up to recently here at De Kalb.
Music Classes Makey-Makey Posters In Mrs. King's 3rd hour Music Appreciation class, the students had to research different eras of musicals and make a presentation on a posterboard. These posters had a very fun twist - they were made into interactive posters using a Makey Makey, which is a small circuit board with wires that can be used to wire a small button placed on the poster. The Makey Makey can be programmed to play a sound when that button is pressed. They added audio clips of the musicals that they researched so that when the Makey Makey’s button on the poster is pressed, the sound will play. This is different from a regular day in their class because they’re implementing multiple different skills into the production of these posters. They had to research these musicals, learn how to use the Makey Makey, and they had to find the audio files and edit them using audio editing software. There was a lot of creativity and technology involved in making these interactive posters and they turned out very well.
Photo Credits: Helaina Geoffroy
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
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Photo Credits: Ms. Scharff
Spanish Students Honor the Dead Ms. Scharff’s Spanish Class also worked on a very hands-on project. In the Spanish culture, honoring and showing respect to passed loved ones during El Dia de los Muertos is extremely important to them. Large altars are created and decorated with pictures, flowers (especially marigolds), candles, food, skulls, etc. The students in the Spanish classes used shoeboxes and other supplies to create these small ofrendas for a celebrity or loved one that has passed. Ms. Scharff found the idea from a Spanish teacher she’s observed do these in the past during the Day of the Dead holiday. She chose to make these ofrendas to teach more about Spanish culture instead of only learning the language. Hispanic countries have a very rich culture so she wanted to teach just one of their many meaningful traditions. Ms. Scharff says she’s very impressed with how they came out. Spanish 1 student Kamilyah Reardon said her favorite part was getting to decorate the ofrendas. The students had lots of fun getting to work on these projects while still learning about the Spanish culture and language.
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Creative Writing Takes Novel Challenge Mrs. Miller’s Creative writing class is participating in National Novel Writing Month, NaNo for short. NaNo is a program where writers dedicate the month of November to make a strong effort to write a novel. The goal is to write 50,000 during the month. That’s about the size of a small novel. The class spent the last half of October in preparation for this by planning their stories and what they need to do to get that goal of 50,000. Mrs. Miller says “We’re hoping to hit the 50,000, but if we don’t, the spirit of NaNo is you write everyday, get as much as you can, and hopefully that inspires you to keep writing. Mrs. Miller said she wanted to start doing this in class because she’s always loved writing, and she’s put a concerted effort into this event in the last few years, so she wanted her Creative Writing class to participate as well. So far she says it's going really good. They do “writing sprints in class to get as much done as they can in the time they have. They write for 15 minutes and take a 5 minute break and repeat until the end of class, and then take a few minutes to reflect on what they did for the day. This is a very large change to the regular class. A usual day consists of Mrs. Miller teaching something, giving them writing prompts, holding conferences with her students, and giving them work time, but NaNo has given them the opportunity and motivation to experience the life of a focused, full-time writer and work on their own books. Senior Natalie Griffin is one of the students participating in writing during NaNo. Her story is about an archangel named Orcus that was cast out and meets up with 2 of her friends. The people that cast Orcus out were very mad that she met up with her friends, and it caused a huge war. She says she’s making good progress and its going well. After November, the students will focus on revising, editing, and maybe even publishing their NaNo books.
Photo Credits: Helaina Geoffroy
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
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Middle School Students Hit the Assembly Line The 8th grade Careers class is studying different types of careers and job opportunities. One of these career clusters is manufacturing. They studied multiple jobs in this cluster, one of them being an assembly line worker. Mrs. Horr wanted to give her students a fun activity relating to their Manufacturing unit. She wanted to mimic the jobs in this field and adapt them into a interesting way for her students to understand, to a degree, what it would be like to work in this space and the responsibilities and team work it takes in this career. She came up with the idea to get LEGO car kits from Wal-Mart. She found 3 similarlysized sets with nearly the same amount of pieces and size. She split the class into 3 groups with 5 members. Each member of the group was given a specific task and part to assemble on each car. Some parts were more difficult than others, so the groups were numbered 1 to 5. The 1st person is the most experienced with LEGO, so they were given the more difficult parts and they were the leader of their group, but they each had an important part in the process of the assembly. Each team was racing to see which group could finish the build first. The 2 teams that finished first completed their cars within 2 seconds of each other. They understood how important it is to follow instructions and work together and it showed how efficient it is to do so. Mrs. Horr says “Overall, I would say this was a very successful activity and I definitely plan on doing it again with next semester’s group of 8th graders!”
Photo Credits: Helaina Geoffroy
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Photo Credit : Sidnie Nance
In Memoriam By : R.M. Mydland Friday, November 3, the Seniors said goodbye for the last time to the game that they’ve loved to play over the past four years. Many tears were shed, and many laughs were had. The score or season record didn’t matter, as the boys played with their hearts on their sleeves and put it all out on the field. The season was filled with ups and downs, great plays and some blunders that are best left forgotten.
Photo Credit : R.M. Mydland
Senior Mason Punzo had this to say about his last year under those friday night lights “I enjoyed every minute of it, especially when it felt like a million degrees outside,” and wanted to leave a message to those playing next year: “Even though it sounds cliché, try your best, and when others need a leader to look up to, be one!” With this game concluding, the seniors are saying goodbye after all the hard work and effort they’ve been putting in through the years. Brayden said “It was kinda sad, but I'm gonna miss it a whole lot. The guys I played with are people I’m never going to forget. I’m very thankful for the time I had playing football.”
Photo Credit : R.M. Mydland
It’ll definitely be sad seeing the boys leave for the last time, especially after going to the games and being by their side. This group was a fun bunch to follow, as throughout the season, there was no other place to be then on the sidelines with this group. Although the season may be over, and we’re sad now, it's never goodbye, it’s only till next time, when a new Tiger Football team takes the field next fall. Photo Credit: R.M. Mydland
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FFA Attends State Conference By: Shay Coffelt
The officers of FFA went to a convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, last week. Seven students from the De Kalb FFA chapter went. There were about 70,000 other students there. “It was fun because there were a lot of people and because they were from different states,” said Sophomore Presli Punzo. On the trip, they went to an open ceremony, and they toured the area, including agriculture-related businesses. “I think everyone had a good learning experience and experienced good things and met people from other chapters”, said Mr. Medsker.
Photo Credit: TheSeattleTimes.com
Who to Listen To By: Helaina Geoffroy Have you ever thought about expanding your music taste? I recommend Taylor Swift. She is a famous worldwide pop singer-songwriter, so there is a good chance you already know some of her songs. She has released different genres like Country, Country Pop, Pop Rock, and Indie-Folk, along with releasing over 200 songs, so the variety is huge. Not only does Taylor Swift have good music, but she has won 12 Grammys and 23 VMA awards and is nominated for 6 Grammys for her album Midnights in the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Photo Credits: Mr. Medsker
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
If you want to explore music, I recommend starting with Taylor Swift’s most recent album, Midnights or her recent re-release of 1989.
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What Did De Kalb Do this Halloween? By: Boston Burdette Did De Kalb Trick or Treat on Halloween? FBLA Trick or Eat 5.4% No 45.9% Yes 54.1%
Yes 51.4%
No 43.2%
Did DeKalb dress up for Halloween?
What to Read By: Ashlee Derry
If you have ever wanted a great romanctic, suspenseful revenge book to just sit down and dive into, then you are looking in the right place. A new book that I have stumbled upon that really grabbed my attention is Shadows Of The Night by Charlize K. Kelly. Kelly is a new author and has only released a total of 2 books. Shadows Of The Night starts with four vengeful vampires out in the malignant city of Celacali where the death rate is sky high. With so many disappearances in the past years, a very skilled detective Azeil Monroe is brought back to the city to solve these crimes along with his daughter Nyx. Little does Nyx know that her father is the reason these four vengeful vampires have been causing a ruckus. While Azeil tries to solve these mysteries, disappearances, and other cases, Nyx just so happens to stumble upon these four vampires who welcome her with open arms. What has caused these vampires to want revenge? Will Nyx and her father make it out alive? I guess you'll just have to read and find out. Photo Credit: Goodreads
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New Faces at Dekalb By: Ashlee Derry
What to Play
By : Boston Burdette
So many new students have made their way to Dekalb this year. Anaela White is one of our many new faces we see in the hallways. Anaela is actually originally from De Kalb and hasactually been to school here before. Anaela says that one of her favorite classes she has taken would definitely have to be any of Mrs. Taylor's classes. She really enjoys having Mrs. T as a teacher because she really understands her students. There's always some downfalls to coming to a new school, Anaela has said that her hardest adjustment so far this year has been some of her grades. Despite this, she is still working very hard to improve them. We have learned some fun facts about Anaela, like her favorite color is green. She also really enjoys listening to music and just couldn't decide which song or genre was her favorite. When asked what her favorite thing to do in her free time was she said she really enjoys taking naps here and there. Anaela said that she has really enjoyed being here so far this year. She really doesn’t have anything that she is looking forward to, but wants to just roll with the flow. We are really happy to have Anaela back this year and hope that this year will go great for her. Welcome back to the family Anaela!
Pictured: Anaela White Photo Credit: Sidnie Nance
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
Photo Credit: DeviantArt.com
Pokemon Scarlet is one of my favorite Nintendo games. I love the 3D design and how it’s a free-roam world with missions you can do and some of them have puzzles to figure out. The Titan Pokemon always gives you a hard battle, along with the gym leaders and Team Star, and it has great dialog. Every Team Star base gets harder than the last one, but at the end of the day it’s still a pretty great game. A lot of people including me give it 5 1⁄2 stars, though it can be frustrating losing and getting stuck in Pokemon battles with wild Pokemon when you're just trying to explore the map.
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Photo Credit : Sidnie Nance
Meet Your
October Tiger Gold Card Winners
Nate Bowen
Myles Funk
10th Grade
8th Grade
Why Citizenship Matters
Why Citizenship Matters
“So we know everyone and our jobs cant be taken away.”
“To be a good student.”
Meet Your
October Students of the Month Davyn Humes 12th Grade Favorite Subject: Math On being a good student: “Go the extra mile.” Miley Phillips 10th Grade Favorite Subject: Music or Science On being a good student: “Be respectful towards everyone and do your work.” Jacob Pyles 7th Grade Favorite subject: Reading On being a good student: “Do your work.”
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Photo Credit : Sidnie Nance
De Kalb Welcomes Two New Baby Tigers! Cash James Chisam
in
Parent: Mr. Chisam Birth Date: November 14 Birth Time: 1:19 AM Weight: 8 lbs 7 oz Length: 20 1/2 in
Clayton George Garvey
Parent: Mrs. Garvey Birth Date: October 9 Birth Time: 1:58 PM Weight: 7 lbs 4 oz Length: 20 1/4 in NOVEMBER 17, 2023
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A Day In The Life November 8th