The
SHARING SMILES
Tiger HI-LINE Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
Senior’s art brings out joys of God’s creations Page 3 Follow us on Twitter at tigerhiline and on our website at www.hiline.cfschools.org
Volume 59 Edition 11
Early grad looking forward to new experiences Senior Kacia Brown is currently living out her last few days of high school, getting ready to depart for the sunnier and warmer Starkville, Miss. Brown, leaving shortly after winter break, will conclude her classes and finish writing her high school narrative. Although it seems as though everything is coming to an end for the senior, it’s only the beginning of Brown’s college career and the next chapter of her life as a Mississippi State Bulldog. There were multiple factors that pulled Brown to MSU at first glance, committing to play volleyball there after her visit in November 2018. “Starkville is close in size to CF, and it is a college town, so the support for the sports there is amazing,” Brown said. “I also wanted to go somewhere warm. The coaches and the players played the biggest role, though. I knew I liked the coach right when I met her and the team was so inviting toward me.”
Even though the time has flown by, Brown has known that graduating early was her plan for many months now. “I decided late in the summer during August. I chose to graduate early so I can play during spring season and know what I’m doing so when season comes around I’m not confused,” Brown said. There are many things the graduating senior is worried about in taking this next big step. “I’m nervous about getting lost and also for class because it will be harder than high school classes. I have five classes, and most of them are twice a week,” Brown said. Brown also acknowledges the training she’ll endure won’t be the same as high school, as she simply stated, “I think it will be more intense.” Outweighing those initial fears though, Brown is looking forward to the relationships she wishes to strengthen with teammates. “I’m
Lance Albert Sam Appenzeller Luke Barrett Akacia Brown Max Burleson Samuel Church Olivia Combs Jacob Debord Quinn Flannery Samantha Fraze Aliah Gander Ariana Harper Jakeb Jensen-Ohrt
Pending the results of this year’s fall semester, here are the early graduates for the class of 2020. looking forward to seeing the team again, and I’m really close with another girl who is graduating early, and I’m excited to room with her,” Brown said. “Her name is Fran, and we met at a volleyball tryout two years ago. We’ve stayed in touch since then, and when she committed to MSU we got a lot closer.” Looking forward to new rela-
Students exploring PSEO classes
As classes are coming to an end for college students around the nation this week, a few CFHS students are finishing up their classes as well. Senior Megan Smith took calculus at the University of Northern Iowa thanks to the Iowa Postsecondary Education Options (PSEO) Program, which allows high school students who are advanced in a particular subject area to take classes at nearby higher education institutions. According to the Iowa Department of Education, the Postsecondary Education Options Act was first passed in 1987 to “promote rigorous academic pursuits by providing high school students access to enroll part-time … in eligible postsecondary institutions.” Senior Lexie Williams, who took Humans and the Supernatural in Literature at UNI, said she enjoyed her time in a college atmosphere. “My experience in my UNI class was great. Although it was hard to find parking and it was always a rush to get to UNI on time, the class was well worth it. I got to read books that were a lot more interesting to me than the ones that I read for English classes at the high school, so I was more motivated to read them. The professor I had was nice, funny and understanding. I really enjoyed how relaxed the
class structure was compared to the English classes I’ve taken at the high school. I also really enjoyed that I got to take a class with my friend because it made the transition to UNI a lot easier because I had someone to talk to.” While the thought of taking classes on a college campus may seem intimidating for some, both Smith and Williams agreed that the experience was worth it, both in terms of enjoyment and preparation. Smith said, “I think it helped me better prepare for college and understand how to manage my time in a college course as opposed to a high school course because they each require different methods. It also obviously gave me college credit for a class I would otherwise have to take later on in my college schedule, and it was much nicer to take it now.” Another crucial aspect of the PSEO program is the amount of classes available to students. With the more specialized curriculum of a university, Williams said, “It isn’t hard to find something that you may find interesting while also getting rid of credits you would need in college.” She added, “Try to find something that will advance your learning and that you will find interest in.” Both also wholeheartedly
Cody Johnson Maddison Johnson Alexis Kremer Ashlyn Larsen Tatum Nicholson Patricia Novak Alexa Richmond Andrea Shepard Noah Smith Madison Terhune Treyton Weimer Haley Williams
recommended that interested students take the opportunity to enroll in a PSEO class if eligible. Williams said, “I think it was really helpful to prepare me for college as well as provide me with college credit that will allow me to take more of the classes I enjoy in college as well as possibly graduating early.” Smith said, “It is a really neat opportunity that allows you to see how college works from the perspective of an actual student. Not to mention, PSEO classes give you an opportunity to challenge yourself that you may not necessarily find at the high school. I would say just go for it. Both the CF counselors and Mr. Schofield at UNI are super supportive and will help you take the class you need at the time you need to, and they will make sure that you have the materials and time you need to be successful. It’s a super great opportunity that we have here at CF, and I would highly recommend taking advantage of it.” If students wish to participate in the PSEO program next year, they should listen to announcements coming this spring for details of an informational meeting with counselor Carrie Dieken. By Staff Writer Ryan
WESTHOFF
tionships with the volleyball squad and other student-athletes at MSU, Brown said she’s definitely going to miss those that she’s gotten close with over her high school career. “I’m going to miss my friends a lot. I’m going to miss seeing them and my family every day,” Brown said. Going into the new year, Brown will spend nearly five months in
Festive Notes
Submitted Photo Mississippi before returning home. Meanwhile, there’s no doubt her close friends and family and also her former teammates will be counting down the days till she gets to come back. By Co-Editor-In-Chief Alayna
YATES
Kaitlyn Harris Photos
Senior Ethan Kober (top) and junior Abby Townsend (bottom) played at the winter band concert. Each band member wore a blue ribbon for colon cancer in support of band director Gerald Ramsey.
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OPINION
Tiger
HI-LINE
Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
Our View
Hallmark makes rushed decision by pulling same-sex ads
Everyone’s favorite channel during this time of the year, Hallmark, recently made some decisions regarding their airing same sex individuals kissing that we can learn from. On Dec. 2, a series of six ads by the wedding planning company Zola appeared on the channel. All of the ads had the same concept: “While standing at the altar, couples ponder whether guests would have arrived on time and bought them better gifts if only they had created a custom wedding website with Zola.” Some of the ads featured hetrosexual coupes and some featured homosexual couples. Early last week, a conservative group called One Million Moms with the mission to “fight against indecency’ released a petition pleading Hallmark to “please reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples. The organization is a division of the conservative American Family Association, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group. On the organization’s
website under the new campaign against Hallmark’s homepage, a unknown user wrote a statement on the message board that said, “Why would you show a lesbian wedding commercial on the Hallmark Channel? Hallmark movies are family friendly, and you ruined it with the commercial.” On Dec. 12 Zola was told that four of the six commercials, the ones that featured homosexual couples, would be pulled. A Hallmark employee said the channel did not accept ads “that are deemed commercial,” according to an email exchange with The New York Times. A spokesman for Hallmark said the women’s “public displays of affection” violated the channel’s policies, but he declined to comment on why a nearly identical ad featuring a bride and groom kissing was not rejected. This is upsetting in many ways. The first thing that is very disturbing about this event is that Hallmark made decisions based on one conservative group. This demonstrates that the Hallmark Channel is very weak and under the pressure of a lot of
public hate, they make decisions that are clearly not what they are trying to stand for and represent. The Hallmark Channel contacted Zola and wanted to partner with them and reinstate the ads. The company said, “it is, and always has been, committed to diversity and inclusion—both in our workplace as well as the products and experiences we create,” and noted that the company had L.G.B.T.Q. greeting cards and had featured L.G.B.T.Q. couples in commercials. If this is so, then why when hate started coming their way did they crack and feel as though they needed to please hate rather than stand up for what they believe in? One can also comment on what the One Million Moms said. They said that the Hallmark Channel is supposed to be family friendly, and the commercial didn’t fit this. Merriam-Webster states the definition of family as a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. If we apply this to the lesbian couple the group had a problem with, the two fit the definion perfectly. Once they are married,
With Christmas right around the corner, many get into the spirit by watching their favorite Christmas movies, including senior Karmen Hitchcock, whose favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” “My favorite Christmas movie is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ because my family watches it every year,
and it’s a really funny but sweet and sentimental movie about not taking things for granted and being thankful for the life we are given. I look forward to watching it each year.” Junior Holly Corbett said, “I like the scary grinch movie, which is the original grinch. I like how the producers were able
to use the script of the original book and add in a more natural feel while still reciting the book.” Many like to watch different movies for different reasons because of their past. Senior Julia Grey said, “‘Love the Coopers’ is a complex story about a family whose main providers are divorcing way past
Submitted Photo
On Dec. 2, six ads appeared on the Hallmark channel that have been causing a storm of controversy. The ads featured homosexual and hetrosexual couples kissing at the altar. Only the homosexual couples were deemed controversial. The meme above is one of the comments that appeared afterward. they will live together and most likely have kids they care for. This is no different than the hetrosexual couples the group did not argue against. We can all learn from this that it is very important to follow your morals and not what is easier. Another lesson we can learn from this is the need to be loving and accepting of differences to all in order to keep peace in our society.
Correction from Dec. 13 In last week’s from “Students earn slots in recent poetry slam,” the Holmes’ students who were selected to go to State and as state runner up were left out. These students are freshman Amya Thorton who was selected to go to State and freshman Skylar Zimmerman as a state runner-up.
their prime but trying to keep it together for one last Christmas. It follows their plight along with their children who all have their own struggles from financial difficulties to fallout from divorce and relationship trauma. It’s a movie on how a family so split from the hardships of life can still come together during hard
times. It came out when my parents were divorcing and just struck a chord with me.” Some just rewatch a holiday movie because they enjoy it. Sophomore Alivia Bronner said, “‘Elf’ because I like Will Ferrell, and it’s funny.” By Staff Writer Kaitlyn
Many holiday movies worth becoming traditional
Contact Us The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes at Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.cfschools.org. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Fridays to read during their third period classes. Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hi-Line staff or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial is presented weekly in the editorial labeled Our View, and it is the view of the majority of the editors listed below. Reader opinions on any topic are welcome and should be sent to The Tiger Hi-Line staff or delivered to room 208. All letters must be signed. Letters must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Monday for publication in the following Friday edition. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Writers should include their contact information for verification. Editors: Sophia Schillinger and Alayna Yates Staff: Alexia Downs, Kaitlyn Harris, Quandas Jackson, Ashlyn Keve, Kendall Masalak, Alyssa Nelson, Skylar Promer, Chloe Schuerman, Myra Stineman, Aaliyah Tournier, Justine Yang, Ryan Westhoff
HARRIS
Should we impeach and remove the president from his office? “Yes, because he is going to send my abuela back to Mexico.”
By Staff Writer Kendall
MASLAK
“Yes, because it would be in the best interest of the na—Stephanie Mora tion.” sophomore
—Matthew Nichols senior
“Yes, because he is not a nice person and he’s sending people back to Mexico.”
—Dez Brunning sophomore
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3 Senior’s art brings out FEATURES
SHARING SMILES joys of God’s creations Artist of
The Week
RACHEL BROKENSHIRE
Drawing Artist Senior Rachel Brokenshire always knew she had a love for art. “I always had an interest since I was a little girl,” Brokenshire said. “In elementary I loved art, and then I always wanted to do posters, and I was always drawing.” Brokenshire said this need to create was never a shock to her family, and it actually was a part of the way she was raised. “My great grandma was an artist. She’s up in Michigan, so we go up. We paint with her. She was a painter. It was always obvious I liked art ’cause it was just a joke in my family ’cause my mom and my dad are artistic and my grandma is artistic,” Brokenshire said. She had always loved art, but Brokenshire said art really became a staple of who she was once she got a little bit older. “I guess in junior high was really when I realized a lot how much I liked it because we started the decorating display at Peet and then doing posters and more posters,” Brokenshire said. Not really tied to one specific type of art, Brokenshire said her style goes through phases. From acrylic paint to watercolors to colored pencils, she loves any and all mediums. One specific area Brokenshire does take a particular liking to is calligraphy. Brokenshire said her love for fancy writing came from her need to pay attention in her Drivers Education course. “Whenever I took drivers ed, I took it in the summer, and I had two weeks, and it was three hours long,” Brokenshire said. “During lunch time, I was like, ‘I need to pay attention,’ and so I’d go on Pinterest, and I’d find things I wanted to work on, and then I just took notes of every single little thing, and so that’s where I’d work on calligraphy, and I worked on different handwriting styles,
Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
had a lot of flooding, so their sign got ruined.” Brokenshire then proceeded to use her poster making abilities to make a sign for the school that was much prettier than the stencils they had anticipated giving her. Now, Brokenshire continues to use her poster-making abilities to spread the word about events happening at the high school and also making the school just a little bit prettier. As a part of her engineering class this year, Brokenshire picked a year long project that’s outside of the ordinary. “Emma Klose and I, our project is school beautification. We’re trying to update all the really old bulletin boards and make the school look presentable and just updating and doing what we can,” Brokenshire said. “Even though we are getting a new school, it’s important that we still make the high school experience that people are going to have here good.” Inspired by more than just glamming-up the school, Brokenshire uses her art to try to reflect the beauty she sees in the world. “I’m really inspired by the beauty of God’s creation. Either the beauty of people, I just think people are so beautiful when they smile, making people smile, and then also I’m really inspired by nature and God’s creation,” Brokenshire said. “I think God is the ultimate artist. I love painting sunrises and sunsets because I just think of Submitted Photos how I think I every day He Senior Rachel Brokenshire remembers always loving art, but when she became in- makes a beautiful picture of volved in decorating displays, she really started to explore many different mediums that. That’s my inspiration of art; reflecting the beauty including painting, colored pencils and calligraphy. that He has in our life and trying to highlight that too and see the little things in life that He gives to us.” There are many reasons why Brokenshire has — Rachel Brokenshire fallen in love with art, but artist above all she loves having the freedom to create. “I helped her feel needed. “I and I worked on note takthing that I’ve been able to love how you’re able to put really love making posters ing.” use as service,” Brokenshire your mind on paper and be and calligraphy and stuff creative and you’re not reGoing beyond the walls said. “I went on a mission ’cause it’s a really great way of her drivers ed experitrip down to Texas, and we stricted to the reality of the to help out. I’ve been able ence, Brokenshire said her were helping with hurri- world,” Brokenshire said. to make posters for events, calligraphy provided her cane relief, and we were in By Co-Editor-in-Chief Alayna and that’s a really practical with opportunities that a school. At the school they YATES
“I’m really inspired by nature and God’s creation. I think God is the ultimate artist.”
4 Tiger teams sweep Slykhuis Showcase SPORTS
Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
The high school hosted the third annual Jerry Slykhuis showcase on Dec., 13 and 14 in memory of basketball coach Jerry Slykhuis, who had passed away in a car accident three years ago with his wife, Jane Slykhuis. Athletic Director Troy Becker said, “Coach Slykhuis loved basketball. He loved great basketball, and I think he would be extremely honored to see a tournament here at Cedar Falls High School that had so many great quality teams.” The tournament included Waterloo West, Bolingbrook High School from Illinois, Davenport North, Summit Christain Academy from Missouri and both the Tiger varsity teams. Bolingbrook came out with a win of 72 to 70 against West in the first game of the event, and Cedar Falls ended up with a win of 69 to 52 against Summit Christian Academy in game two. A big shooter for Cedar Falls first game was junior Landon Wolf, who dropped 30 points. ”I think these games went good, as long as we are seeing growth at the end of the year, as long as we are seeing incremental strides, which we are seeing right now and kids are talking the right language and we are working as one, then we are definitely going in the right direction for these games,” coach Ryan Schultz said. In the second day of the showcase, Waterloo West took a win of 71 to 45 from Summit.
In the second game of the day, Cedar Falls had a tough fight against Bolingbrook. Seniors Ben Sernett and Joshua Ollendieck had a combined contribution of 38 points to add to the Tigers victory over Bolingbrook with a final score of 78 to 66. Sernett said, “I think they went really well. We came together and played as a team, and we played
hard.” The last game of the Slykhuis showcase was a battle between the women of Davenport North and our Cedar Falls. With the dynamic duo of Anaya Barney and her sister Jasmine being some of our bigger shooters this battle, the game ended with a score of 49-40 over Davenport North. “Anaya Barney shot really well
Saturday night, as well as her sister Jasmine.” senior Lexie Godfrey said. Senior Emerson Green agreed with Godfrey. “Overall, I think the younger girls are doing a really good job of stepping up and knocking down shots.”
The men’s swimming team finished fourth with 255 points on Saturday, Dec. 14 at the 42nd Marcussen Invitational boys’ swim meet. Dowling Catholic took first with 529 points. Cedar Falls grabbed a lot of points with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay. Senior Benson Redfern, junior Devin Myhr, Graham Fry and Waverly junior Matt Durbin were the forces in this relay. Redfern said the team did well at the meet, but weren’t at their best because of sickness and teammates being at other obligations. “We actually did pretty good as a team. Were all really tired and some people are sick. It’s that time of the year, so people weren’t going best times, but it was really good for where we are in the season and how we have been feeling,” Redfern said. Assistant coach Scott Bohl-
mann also said the team is at a period of growth currently. “We have a much younger squad, a little bit more inexperienced,” he said. “We have more people coming to the sport with very little swim experience at all. I have taught kids how to swim during practice in addition to how to do various strokes. I teach them things like starts, flip turns, just kind of basic competitive swimming.” This season the team goals are to “keeping on growing that experience” and place in the top half of the conference. Junior Connor Woods said Bohlmann motivates the men by saying the team is “trying to get better every week.” On top of the words of encouragement, Bohlmann, who said he believes the hardest part of swimming is isolation, also uses music and practice races to keep the men motivated.
Junior Randy Zhang said, “Every so often we’ll have like a race day. He’ll give us a lot of rest, and we’ll compete against each other. That keeps it less repetitive, and it’s constantly changing our workouts, so there is no schedule. He just kind of constantly keeps the motivation up with music and then keeps the workouts different so we never get really bored.” Redfern has been swimming with Blast swim club ever since he was eight years old. This is his last season, and he said he is not holding back for his final season. “I haven’t missed a practice in over a month. It’s been grueling. It’s my last season. It’s like the all-or-nothing stage. It’s actually been a lot of fun. I like the people who are on the team. I also know if I don’t give my all and give it everything, I am going to look back and wish I had,” he said.
Redfern said he is hoping to get in the final heat for both of his events at State, which is in February. Last year at State, Redfern placed 10th in the 200m IM. Bohlmann, who has been an assistant coach for the men’s team for seven years and who has been helping out with the women’s team for one year said his favorite part about swimming is seeing “the confidence built up of people who typically think they wouldn’t have much swimming skill because you don’t always have to win an event to be an important part of the team,” he said. “Scoring second place, third place, fifth place at an invitational is just as important as winning it overall, and when they learn that they can exceed what they thought was capable of themselves.”
The
Tiger
HI-LINE Athlete of the
Week
JACK PLAGGE Wrestling
Marissa Johnson Photo
Senior Emerson Green slices through the Davenport North defenders in the 49-40 victory on Saturday, Dec. 14 in the final game of the Slykhuis Showcase.
By Staff Writer Aaliyah
TOURNIER
Swimmers place fourth at Marcussen Invite
By Co-Editor-In-Chief Alayna
YATES
Senior Jack Plagge placed third at the Keith Young Meet on Saturday, Dec. 7. He and the Tigers are headed into the Battle of Waterloo on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Young Arena. Action begins at 9 a.m. What was your most memorable game this year “Qualifying for Fargo Nationals, the biggest high school tournament in the country, in the summer for Greco-Roman Style wrestling and getting to go to Fargo, N.D., and wrestle with Team Iowa. “In regular high school wrestling, my most memorable moment was pinning my opponent the first match my junior year after he beat me to qualify for State the year before. It was a very close match until the end and hearing the crowd was ecstatic for me.” What makes your sport special? “It’s one of those sports that it’s only you and your opponent. You can’t rely on anyone else but yourself when you compete. When you win, you get all the glory to yourself, but if you lose, you have to carry the humiliation of that as well.“ Do you have any superstitions going into a match? “I always have to feel warmed up, so I will always get up and start moving around four-five matches prior to my match. I do a lot of high-knees and foot-fires to wake my legs up and make sure they’re moving.”