Liberty Ledger - issue 2 - November 18, 2016

Liberty

For more on the election, look inside to page 7!

Ledger

Volume 4 ISSUE 2 NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Presidential Election

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Want more stories?

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Check out LHStoday.org for additional coverage about what’s going on at Liberty.

Liberty Ledger

Volume 4

issue 2

november 18, 2016

Liberty High School

2275 Sommers Rd. Lake St. Louis, Mo 63367 636.561.0075 www.wentzville.k12.mo.us

Serving Students,Community and Beyond

Intentions

The Liberty Ledger is a publication that releases six issues throughout the year, distributing 1,000 free copies to the student body, faculty and administration of Liberty High School as well as the surrounding Wentzville and Lake St. Louis communities.

The publication is part of the District’s curriculum and is designed to provide practical journalistic experience and for written expression on a variety of topics. The adviser and principal will review the content and may delay publication, stop publication or remove specific material from this paper.

The opinions expressed in this newspaper may not be those of Liberty, nor the Wentzville R-IV School District, faculty, staff or administration. The main editorial, when included, expresses the opinion of the Liberty editorial staff.

Reacting

Letters to the editor can be submitted in room 239, emailed or mailed to Liberty. All letters must be signed. Limit letters you wish to be published to 250 words. Letters may be edited for space requirements and libelous material at the discretion of the editors. If you have a news story idea or comment, please contact us in room 239.

Credentials

The Liberty Ledger is a member of the Sponsors of Student Publications of Greater St. Louis.

Advertising

Editors-In-Chief Olivia Holler* Chasteanne Salvosa*

Sports Editor Maddie Baker*

ONLINE EDITORS Max Fensterman* Alicia Orlando*

To further facilitate the space available for student writing, advertising will McKenzie REPORTERS Bartels, Danielle Corgan, Jessica not be offered in the Liberty Ledger.

Gibson, Sarah Martin, Maddi Pomerinke, Jenna Schwandner.

*Each editor also serves as a reporter.

Liberty Ledger Making it Happen

Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to two Liberty students Chasteanne salvosa and olivia holler There were many rumors going around school about what the surprise assembly was about from Greek Fire to Mr. Eldredge’s cousin, country singer Brett Eldredge, coming to perform. Little did we know our hearts would be touched.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted two wishes to two students, sophomore Gabe Scalise and junior Kristopher Smith-Wilson in front of the student body and faculty in the gym. Kristopher’s wish was to go see the Northern Lights in Iceland and Gabe’s wish was to go to Hawaii.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to kids every year who are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases. They have granted in Missouri more than 6,000 wishes since 1993 and this year they have granted 329 wishes.

A lot of planning and organizing went into getting the students’ wishes to be perfect.

Jeff Etter is the wish granter and has been coordinating this effort with Gabe and Kristopher’s parents and enjoyed getting to know the family and the students’ dreams and wishes.

“We have been working and planning a lot for this for quite some time,” Etter said. “They have been tremendous having to deal with the aspect of a wish and what they are going through, very understanding and

News

November 18, 2016

photo by O. Holler Gabe Scalise shares his wish with students and staff alongside his parents. He is excited to go to Hawaii next winter.

photo by C. Salvosa Students watch while Gabe Scalise and Kristopher Smith-Wilson have their wishes granted.

photo by E. Mason Kristopher Smith-Wilson shares an emotional exchange with his family as he is granted his wish to Iceland.

3

very supportive.”

He has known Kristopher’s family about four or five months and Gabe’s for about 10 months.

Not only were the boys’ parents and family supportive, but also the entire school.

“We have nothing but wonderful things to say about Liberty; this school is really incredible,” mother of Gabe Scalise, Jill Scalise, said.

The guest speaker was astonished by the amount of support students gave to the boys.

“I think it’s amazing and neat to see all the students here and just how moved and touched they were to be apart of this experience,” Mark Turnipseed said, who is the Director of Development at Make-A-Wish. “Liberty is still a fairly new school and to have their first wishes granted here it pretty awesome.”

The gym was filled with an indescribable feeling of excitement and shock for the boys and their families as gasps and tears were shared between students and between staff.

“Absolutely in shock how the students took it like they did. I’m happy that the students were so supportive and the parents were able to have people keep it a secret,” said Etter.

Now with this secret revealed, both Gabe and Kristopher are on their way to living out their wish of visiting two beautiful places on Earth.

Sweet Victory

Liberty wins The STL Safe Driver competition after it was lengthened competition. With his children beginning to drive, safe driving is very important to him.

“I’m a father,” Moon said. “And I’ve lost a lot of people to driving and accidents.”

He believes that it is important for his children to be safe drivers, but also everyone else out on the road. Moon feels so strongly about safe driving that he called this his most important campaign that he has been involved with.

Towards the end of the competition, it was lengthened so that more schools could get involved. The unexpected change had caused rumors to spread around Liberty, and everyone was wondering, ‘Why was the contest extended?’

It was stated on the site that they have the right to change the rules without any notice.

“The only reason we extended the program is to get the word out to more teens in the community,” Jim Butler photo by O. Holler representative, Cheryl Cooper said.

Liberty wins the Safe Driver cometition and accepts $10,000 check from Jim Butler Auto Group.

The adjustment SARAH MARTIN After many long months, the safe drivers’ contest has finally reached its end.

Liberty won with an incredible 40,000 pledges after leading the majority of the competition.

Greek Fire’s lead singer, Moon, along with the President of Jim Butler Auto Group, Brad Sowers, visited Liberty on Nov. 4th to announce Liberty’s win. Liberty received a check for $10,000 and will receive a concert at a later date.

Principal Mr. Nelson mentioned that the students will take part in deciding where the money is used.

Moon feels deeply about this

had many Liberty students distressed due to holding the leading position for so long. Students did not want to risk losing because of the extension.

“I think because I know that we’re winning, but it keeps going on so there’s a chance that we wouldn’t win,” sophomore Hannah Stricker said.

For Liberty to keep their lead, students had to push and continue to vote.

“The date change I think disappointed a lot of people because they were looking forward to us winning,” drivers ed teacher, Kleiber said. “We just have to show them Liberty won’t stop pledging and we have a strong community that supports our youth.”

More schools became involved, but that also meant more competition for Liberty.

“It is a good thing, because it does allow the organization to try to get more people aware of the program and help reinforce to the community the importance of safe driving,” Kleiber said. “It is annoying, because we’ve been working hard to keep our community involved and pumped up about winning.”

Even with the extension, Liberty won the competition and will receive a concert to be announced at a later date.

Who is Greek Fire?

Greek Fire is an alternative rock band that was formed in 2008 in St. Louis.

The band consists of several members from the bands Story of the Year and Maybe Today. The lead singer of Greek Fire, Philip Sneed “Moon” is a radio host on 105.7 The Point. Greek Fire’s most well-known song Top of the World has more than 2.5 million views on youtube.

NEWS 4 Hardwork and Dedication

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Liberty Ledger

Engineering class creates a custom wheelchair for teacher’s daughter

JENNA SCHWANDNER Mr. Redman sent out an email on Sept. 13 to the Liberty staff asking if there were any project ideas that they would like the engineering class to design. Mrs. Willis answered suggesting that the class take on the project of creating a wheelchair for her daughter.

Mrs. Willis’ daughter, Faith, suffers from a disease called spina bifida. As soon as Mr. Redman told the class about Faith, the class jumped right on it without a second thought.

Spina bifida is a congenital defect of the spine in which part of the spinal cord often causes paralysis of the lower limbs.

Wheelchairs are very expensive costing up to $900, so the engineering class decided they would collect money from students and teachers around the school and create this wheelchair themselves.

The class ended up raising more than $450 and it took approximately $450 to buy all the supplies needed to build the wheelchair.

“I loved how the wheelchair turned

out,” Mrs. Willis said. “The students and Mr. Redman had the idea to make it pink and I loved that they found customized pink wheels to put on it.”

The rest of the money will go towards a project that some of the students in engineering are taking on, which is taking this whole thing to the next level.

The engineering students are now working on making kits for wheelchairs for children suffering from spina bifida all around. The students were excited to have this opportunity to make the wheelchair.

“It’s a good experience to give back to the community,” senior Wyatt Lake said.

Lake and his classmates Nick Beseda, Bryan Eplett, Hamza Mansoor, Jimmy Moore, Josh Parmentier and Sam Schuettenberg designed and built the custom wheelchair.

Mr. Redman is excited that he was apart of this project and proud of his students for taking on this huge task and creating a custom wheelchair for Faith.

Having this wheelchair will make getting around much easier for Faith.

Right now Faith is able to crawl on all fours to get to short distances and is sometimes able to use her walker for longer distances, but having a wheelchair will help her be able to go even longer distances and play outside more.

“She’s caught on so fast on how to turn and maneuver the wheelchair,” Willis said.

“It’s a good experience to give back to the community.”

- Wyatt Lake

photo by J. Schwandner

The Engineering Design class took on the project of creating a custom wheelchair for Mrs. Willis’ child, Faith. The class raised more than $450 to build the wheelchair.

Small Changes Make a Big Difference

Liberty makes highest MAP scores in the district for math, science and English OLIVIA HOLLER

Liberty made big strides on EOC testing scores leading as No.1 in both English 2 and Algebra 2 in St. Charles County that includes Wentzville, Zumwalt and Francis Howell school districts.

The English and math departments are very pleased of the outcome of the results.

“I am proud and excited that we were No. 1 in English 2 in St. Charles County and we were No. 1 in Algebra 2,” principal Mr. Nelson said. “We are in good company there if we are number one in two areas and we did well in other subjects as well. I’m looking forward to next year to see if we can up those scores.”

There have been some small changes to the way the English teachers have prepared the students for the EOC. USAtestprep is online tool for students and teachers to practice and prepare for the EOC’s.

“For English 2, there is a software program that is called USAtestprep,” Nelson said. “I have a lot of experience using that both here in the

Wentzville School District and also when I was a EOC coordinator in Fort Zumwalt High school. I’ve found that whoever is using USAtestprep, it’s a really good tool to use to prepare the kids for the types of questions.

USAtestprep works with the company who makes the test. So they are directly inline of the types of questions on the test.”

Implementing USAtestprep has shown improvement in students English skills as well as the EOC scores.

English teachers have also not only been using USAtestprep but have been building relationships with students.

“The English department works hard to build relationships as well as making sure students understand the relevance of what we are teaching them,” Ms. Borders said. “I think that helps make improvement to the scores.”

The math department had also made new

accommodations to help the students prepare not only for the EOC’s but for regular unit test in general.

“Throughout the year, we use the vocabulary and formatting we see on the released items to help students feel more comfortable with the ‘look’ of the test,” Ms. Hallemeier said. “Then, when we get closer to the EOC test, we review topics unit by unit and as we get to the week before the test we mix up the topics, more like it’s presented on the test.”

Since the teachers have made these changes, they feel like the students are better understanding the information.

Liberty Ledger

College: Yay or Nay?

Liberty students have differing plans for secondary education MAX Fensterman In recent years, it has become increasingly necessary for high school students to continue their education past just a diploma. As recently as the 1980s, students could start a successful career right out of high school with little more than on-the-job training.

Although there are many possible alternatives to a traditional four year university, a common misconception about success is that you need at least a four year degree because statistically college graduates earn more than those who do not go to college. However, there are many options for higher education beyond a traditional university, like a trade or technical school.

Senior Brooks Widlowski’s plan has always been the college route. This past summer he was accepted to Missouri State University in Springfield.

“Missouri State was the only university I applied to.

I put in my application during an organized visit to the Springfield campus,” Widlowski said.

He was attracted to Missouri State because of their very advanced nursing program. He plans to become an RN (registered nurse), and get his bachelor of sciences degree in nursing. His goal is to eventually become involved in hospital management.

“Since it’s a state school, the tuition isn’t as bad and neither are the admission requirements,” Widlowski said.

The knack for higher education runs in his family. His mom went to Iowa State University and his dad graduated from Benedictine College in Kansas.

“My parents never really talked to me about college until my senior or junior year, but it’s always just been my plan.”

Like many students, Widlowski realizes that college isn’t for everybody and cost can be a definite deal breaker when it comes to your decision to continue your education.

“I think that if you come from a family that struggles financially, I can see how that would influence your decision because tuition costs keep rising,” Widlowski said.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are students who are not continuing their education at all.

News

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Some, like senior Jimmy Moore, have found that because of their current standing, college just doesn’t make sense for what they want to do.

“My dad owns a company that runs the lines in soda plants, we weld all the parts together,” Moore said.

After high school, he hopes to take over the family business and keep alive what his father and uncle started.

This summer he started working 40 hour weeks, the equivalent of a full time job.

His plan was not always to take over this business. In the past, he considered going to trade school to perhaps become a mechanic. One thing is for sure, the traditional four year path was never of interest for him.

“If you’re not the type of person who enjoys college and enjoys things like shop class, I would recommend it.

College definitely is not for everybody,” Moore said.

Normally, someone going into a field like the welding that he does would need to have a degree from a trade school or technical program. However, because his father runs the company, he was hired and receives all of his training on the job.

“My dad makes good money, and if I can have a wellpaying job with no college debt, I’m perfectly fine with that,” Moore said.

Although he can understand the reasons people go to a four year university, he has a strong opinion about their value.

“Nothing is ever a good value when the government regulates it. Now, colleges have to charge more in order to find the people they’re looking for,” Moore said.

Senior Sarah Seger’s plan is to utilize the Wentzville School District’s A+ program, which provides a free two year degree at a community college, provided that the applicants meet the simple requirements.

After community college, she plans to go to a four year university, although she is unsure yet of which one she will choose.

“At first, I thought I would go to a four year school right out of high school, but then I switched to the less expensive route,” Seger said.

5

Upcoming Events

November 15 - Navy @ lunch Bradley University @ 12:30 30 - ASVAB test 8:15-12:00 December 1 - Army National Guard @ lunch 14 - Army @ lunch A+ tutor training 2:30- 3:30 January 5 - Army National Guard @ lunch 11 - Army @ lunch A+tutor training 2:30-3:30 17 - Navy @ lunch February 2 - Army National Guard @ lunch

8 - Army @ lunch

When it comes down to deciding whether college is the right fit for you, it’s important to remember that education can look different for different people.

“I feel that it is important that students start by identifying careers they are interested in, then explore the necessary requirements before deciding if college is the right choice,” Mrs. Gerringer, Liberty’s college and career counselor, said.

As tuition costs rise, she recommends the A+ program.

The program is meant to combat the arduous financial burden that is usually associated with post-secondary education.

“Finances should not be a barrier to a person achieving their career aspirations. They may just need to do some careful planning to get there,” Gerringer said.

As you start to consider your options and your high school years come to an end, make sure you give equal consideration to all of your opportunities.

On the Right Path

Seniors put their post high school plans into action

Olivia Holler

“I want to go to Central Missouri and want to major in being a professional pilot. I’m excited about getting more freedom.”

-Brendon Weidinger

“I don’t know where I’m going yet, but I want to study in the medical field. I’m really looking forward to the freedom and the start of a new chapter in my life. -Elijah England

“I’m planning on attending Missouri State to study psychology. I’m looking forward to making new friends and moving to a new area where I will be allowed to have new experiences. I’m also excited because its one step closer to becoming a sports psychologist.”

-Taylor Stewart

“I still haven’t decided yet but thinking about Ole Miss or Mizzou. I’m going in undecided.

I’m looking forward to not having to wake up at 7 and making my own schedule.” -Sam Cox

Liberty Ledger

November, 18 2016

Pure as the Driven Snow Thespians put on their first play this school year

News

6

M a r c hi ng Towards Victory Liberty’s marching band has strong performances in fall competition

photo by D. Corgan Mortimer Frothingham ( Jake DeNunzio) tries to use his evil ways to get Purity Dean (Maria Hufford) but she holds her ground and doesn’t fall for his schemes. photo by D. Corgan Eric Pickens (Levi Fuller) tries to win over Alison Hewlitt (Marlee Doniff ) but her mother Ethelinda Hewlitt (Alyssa Fay) is not very fond of him.

August Ring, and Abby Klausen.

“Show nights were fantastic, everyone was happy” Evan Fuhremann said.

The cast and crew had been practicing since the beginning of the semester.

There were many new opportunities with the play that have brought a different group of people full of talent and ideas for the play.

The play has given people an opportunity to go outside of their comfort zone and try out drama club.

“I have seen so many new people try out and participating especially in crew,” junior Kennedy Hennessy said. “In the first year I know they were struggling to find people for crew and now we have an overflow of students which is awesome because we need the help.”

Theater has grown in numbers and in talent.

“The first year we were just a drama club and we did not have a ton of students, we had a good amount,” Hennessy said.

“Then the second year, we had three people became thespians with Timberland and then last year, we were able to induct a lot of people. Now we have a Thespian troupe here at Liberty.”

OLIVIA HOLLER Imagine stepping foot on stage and doing what you have been practicing for months and months at a time perfecting lines or getting costumes ready. It would all be worth it.

That’s how it feels every time a Thespian is done with a play. They have worked hours upon hours to prepare for the play.

All the hard work paid off at the annual fall play Nov. 3-5 with the performance of Pure as the Driven Snow.

Although the performance was supposed to be a dinner theater for the three shows, they lacked servers and only served desserts instead of spaghetti.

Pure as the Driven Snow was followed by the hero Lenander Longfellow (Evan Fuhremann), foreman at the pickle factory owned by the E.Z. Pickens (Levi Fuller).

Leander helps his aunt and uncle Jonathan Logan (Isaiah Woodall) and Zemah Logan (Julia Wolz) run a small inn.

The whole play takes place in the lobby area of the inn. There is a “terrible secret” that the heroine Purity Dean (Maria Pure as the Driven Snow Hufford) has been hiding.

The villain, Mortimer Frothington (Jake DeNunzio), of Purity Dean - Maria Hufford course wants Purity. Purity wants Mortimer - Jake DeNunzio Leander, and he wants her, but she Leander - Evan Fuhremann can’t let it happen because of her Zamah Logan - Julia Wolz secret. Imogene (Abby Falgout) wants Leander also.

Jonathan Logan - Isaiah Woodall Mortimer is up to no good, Mrs. Hewlitt - Alyssa Fay including swindling and having his Alison Hewlitt - Marlee Doniff sidekick, Jedd (Braden McMakin), Imogene Pickens - Abby Falgout an ex-con, kidnap a baby for ransom.

Jedd - Braden McMakin Desire leads to deceit, jealousy leads E.Z. Pickens - Levi Fuller to mistrust, and is very funny.

Mrs. Hogue - Abby Hankins Kennedy Hennessy is the production stage manager, helping the Letty Barber - Annette Oliphant Nellie Morris - Elizabeth Hall technical team; Andrea Detterman, Austyn Kloth, Dakota Barnett,

Cast List

McKenzie Bartels Liberty’s marching band has put together a successful fall season with some impressive results.

They placed second place in their division on Sept. 24, with color guard winning a caption award for best Photos by A. Amann color guard at the 4th Uniforms on and instrument in hand, the band stands in formation preparing for their Annual Music on the competition.

Meramec competition held at Fox High School in Arnold.

One week later band placed fourth at the Washington Marching Band Festival.

A lot of hard work and dedication was put into getting ready for competition. They started practicing in August before school even started, hosting a two week long band camp over the summer, where they prepared for this year by learning the basics of marching.

While you’re just waking up, band members come into school every morning at 6:30 a.m. They not only have to be at school extra early, but they have to practice outside on the football field, no matter the weather.

Band competitions aren’t easy, but at the end of the day it’s worth it.

At Music on the Meramec competition, they started their day out at 8 a.m.

Liberty’s performance didn’t even begin until 3:30 p.m.

Before they performed, they had to warm up (both physical and full warmup), change into their uniforms, and get their instruments ready.

Out of 5 schools in Liberty’s division, they placed second and Color Guard placed first.

“Band is in such a good place this year. It’s so incredible to see how far we’ve come,” junior Arianna Amann said.

As this is the first year the band has had seniors, they are able to do a lot more than years in the past.

Mrs. Magno, the band director at Liberty, has been with these students for years now and has seen a lot of improvement.

“There is a huge difference,” Magno said. “Our upperclassmen have more experience and confidence, and are doing a great job of mentoring our younger students. Plus having the largest band that we’ve ever had has made a big difference in our sound and the quality of show that we’re able to perform.”

Amann says that in the past she has been nervous before a competition, but this time she wasn’t. She was more confident in not only herself but the entire band as well.

Band has come a long way since the first year at Liberty with only freshman, now there are more than 70 members. The drum majors are Jenn Overton, Shelby Shields and Kaitlyn Morehouse.

“We want to continue to grow and get better each and every day. If that results in trophies and awards, then awesome. But if we know that we’re doing our best and maximizing the moment each and every time we perform, then I’m more than happy with that,” Mrs. Magno said.

Liberty Ledger

November 18, 2016

In-depth

7

DEBATING THE BALLOT

LHS Election: Deciding the President

Caleb Woods

124 people voted on a poll on LHStoday.org to predict the 45th President of the United States

43

Donald Trump

36

Hilary Clinton

33

None of the above

10

Gary Johnson

Jill Stein

Total votes: 124

2 10

20

30

40

50

1

in-depth

LiBerty Ledger May 18, 2015

8

in-depth

LiBerty Ledger

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Obama’s Legacy Saying goodbye to the White House after eight years in office

Job openings are at a

5 of Obama’s Accomplishments

1. Affordable Care Act (2010) the war in Iraq 2. Ended Last troops left on December 18, 2011 Osama Bin Laden 3. Eliminated Ordered the special forces raid of secret

5%

Unemployment rate

compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011

The Dow and S&P 500

reached a record high

around the auto industry 4. Turned The auto industry has added more than 100,000 jobs.

and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to spur economic growth.

year high

10.7 million jobs

Passed healthcare reform

the stimulus 5. Passed Signed $787 billion American Recovery

15

http://www.factcheck.org

Trump Wins 2016 Election

Who Was on the Ballot?

Get to know the two major candidates that were on the 2016 presidential ballot ALICIA ORLANDO

Hillary Clinton

Age 69 Political Democrat Party

Presidential Election Electoral College Results Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump

232

290

60,839,922 votes

Missouri Senator Election Results Roy Blunt

Jason Kander

46%

49%

1,370,240 votes

Missouri Governor Senator Election Results Eric Greitens

Chris Koster

51%

45%

1,261,110 votes

1,424,730 votes

Missouri House of Representatives Election Results Blaine Luetkemeyer

Kevin Miller

68%

28%

102,484 votes

248,880 votes As of November 12, 2016

Economic Issues Ex: tax reform, budget and economy, social security, welfare and poverty.

Very Liberal

Moderately Conservative

Strongly agrees on higher taxes on the wealthy, strongly agrees for pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.

Disagrees on higher taxes on the wealthy, strongly disagrees for pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.

no opinion to expand the military.

Domestic Very Liberal Issues Disagrees with stricter

Ex: gun control, crime, civil rights, and environment

Republican

years.

Defense and international Slightly Liberal Disagrees to expand free trade, Issues Ex: foreign policy, and homeland security.

70

Trump currently has no political background as an elected official.

Political Clinton has served as an Background elected official for a total of 8

60,265,858 votes

1,283,222 votes

www.ontheissues.org

Donald Trump

punishment to reduce crime, strongly agrees to prioritize green energy.

Slightly Liberal Strongly disagrees to expand free trade, agrees to expand the military.

Moderately Conservative Strongly agrees with stricter punishment to reduce crime, strongly disagrees to prioritize green energy.

in-depth

LiBerty Ledger NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Teachers for President

Students share which teachers should be president

Not your Family Video

DANIELLE CORGAN

Students share movie titles to describe the election “American Horror Story”

-Kelcie Normand, 9

“Mrs. Hall. She’s very intelligent and she seems like such a kind and wise person.”

- Mary Crets, 9

9

“Sacre. He seems like the most profound person and very intelligent.”

- Clayton Roy, 10

“Liar, Liar” -Noah Wilson, 11

“Dumb and Dumber”

-Sarah Stafford, 11

“Nightmare Before Christmas” -Grace Lammert, 10 “White House Down”

-Kathleen Bearry, 12

“Definitely Barker. He’s such an understanding and kind person.”

- Nicole Thompson, 11

“Webster. He’s a very strict teacher, but he knows how to get work done and keep his students in line.”

- John Brooks, 12

“Orange is the New Black”

-Suzie Altheimer, 9

How to Not Choose Neither

Liberty students express the importance of youth voting CHASTEANNE SALVOSA The focal point of responsibilities of turning 18 begins with exercising our right to vote and this year, with our first seniors, Liberty students are doing just that.

Whether their focus be on the local government or the fight for the White House, freshly minted 18-year-olds are recognized as adults and can finally have the freedom to vote.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2008, only 18 percent of eligible millennials casted their ballots, while the percentage declined in 2012, where 14 percent of young men and women voted.

But in 2016, the young vote is predicted to have the greatest impact on this presidential election for there are around the same amount eligible youth voters as the Baby Boomer generation (born 1946-1964), which comprises roughly 31 percent of the electorate.

And when young voters are so critical to the election is when students choose not to vote because as of right now, Iowa holds the top spot for youth votes with Missouri not even landing a spot in the top twenty.

Many of Liberty’s own students feel unmotivated to vote because they are tentative of their impact on the current election, but senior Haley Sante feels

otherwise.

“I think that it’s super important to get involved in this election because I don’t think people understand that this election determines the first eight years of your adulthood,” Sante said. Student’s timidness can lead to a shortage of local youth votes, leading to a potentially even lower rate of national votes overall, if many students in the nation are feeling the same way.

“I think it’s a civic duty because the Founding Fathers fought hard for us to have rights and it’s definitely not something to be taken for granted in my mind,” senior Nick McClanahan said on the importance of voting.

Not only do both Sante and McClanahan believe that voting is important, but they also both believe that their fellow peers can make their own decision when it comes down to the ballot.

“I believe it’s possible, but extremely unlikely,” Sante said. “If you come from a somewhat political family, I think that you are more likely to adopt their beliefs, while I think that other people will deviate from their parents’ beliefs and create their own. I think that’s really hard to come by.”

That tendency to adopt a parent’s beliefs is something called implicit bias, bias created by influences like social media

and cultural tradition can make it difficult to make such an important decision. But in the end, those young voters are the ones checking the box off for either Clinton or Trump, not their parents.

“Even though there’s people like our parents, who have had experience and know the right way to do it, we set up our future,” McClanahan said, “It’s really up to us to

be the most informed because if we’re not, nobody’s gonna lead us when they’re gone.”

And with the millennial generation predicted to soon be the largest eligible group of voters in the electorate, students are not only presented with the responsibility, but the opportunity to make a change in our country.

10 PEOPLE

november 18, 2016

Homecoming Lookback Olivia Holler

Parade

photo by A. Amann The dance team comes together at the parade. It was the seniors’ last homecoming parade.

photo by A. Orlando The football players were excited to be at the parade. They showed the Eagles pride to all of Wentzville.

photo by O. Holler The sophomore committee worked hard on their float.

They spent a couple days working on the float.

photo by A. Orlando The administrators came to join the parade. They went to show their Eagle pride to all of Wentzville.

Pep Assembly

photo by A. Orlando The Belles asked guys to do with a silly dance at the pep assembly. Belles and Bros made the pep assembly fun.

photo by A. Orlando Kylie Seaton blows up balloons for the assembly. Stuco prepares for the pep assembly.

Liberty Ledger

Senior Night

photo by A. Orlando Friday was the last home game and it was also the first senior night. The amount of school spirit was amazing.

photo by D. Corgan To kick off spirit week, students wore PJ’s or comfy clothes.

There was a lot of school spirit throughout the week. (left to right): Antoinette Oliphant, Jason Helmering, Emily Stabile, Carson Brown, Sami Sullivan, Justin Holmes, Gabe Rompel, Megan Smythe.

photo by A. Orlando Friday night was the last home game for the varsity season coach Ryan B. was going over plays with the players. photo by D. Corgan On Tuesday, everyone dressed up as a family member or relative on a road trip. top to bottom: Jackson Cox, Evan Sacks, Jose Canas, Heather McClanahan, Chad Bailey, Gillian Sandford, Abby Hinzman, Katie Bindbeutel.

photo by O. Holler The football players lined up along the field. They congratulated all the seniors who played sports all four years.

Homecoming

photo by B. McMakin Students were challenged by the color wars and they competed against each grade. The color wars was won by seniors.

provided by Trotter Homecoming court 2016: left to right: Marissa Sharp, Ben Adelsberger, Tyler Hammond , Peyton Eikel, Hayden Henningsen Sydney Sneed, Daniel Holmen, Danielle Corgan, Allison Patrico, Dalton Nilges, Cat Frank, Kyle Chastain.

provided by Trotter Danielle Corgan and Daniel Holmen were announce homecoming queen and king. They are the first seniors to get that in the history of Liberty.

Spirit Week

photo by D. Corgan Students went full out for tacky tourist day, bringing in items from lays to neck pillows. left to right: Melana Quarles, Santiago Meneses, Michael Thompson, Chasteanne Salvosa, Will Koester, Emma Ingle, Dakota Barnett, Mackenzie Murphy.

provided by Trotter

photo by D. Corgan On Friday, Students end the week strong with all American day. left to right: Eric Mason, Braden McMakin, Ben Leach, Cole Ruyle, Addison Donnell, Claire Roberts, Mallie Pattillo, Emily Gann.

Liberty Ledger

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

S p r e a d i n g Joy

Art Fundamentals made birds to spread happiness around the school Maddie Baker Being happy is a very important aspect in life. Ms. Biere’s second hour Art Fundamentals class made birds to spread some happiness around the school.

The idea of making the birds was based off of a famous painter Bob Ross and in the video that the students watched he said, “Painting happy trees for our little world.” This is where the class took that saying from and made it into their own. Their motto for the project was “Making happy birds for our little school.”

The birds are supposed to represent happiness, but some students incorporated both happiness and the personality of themselves into the birds too.

“I let the students choose what kind of bird they wanted to make,” Ms. Biere said. “I find it interesting the choices that were made and I feel, in some way, the birds do represent the students.”

Freshman Thomas Wiggins in second hour Art Fundamentals was one of the students that made the happy birds.

He made a raven and he felt like the bird did resemble some of his qualities, like personality.

The project wasn’t only fun for the students, but Ms. Biere as well.

“I loved this project. There was an upbeat mood in my class each day we worked on our birds,” Biere said. “The students really made me proud by taking on the project with such a positive attitude. There is always room to spread some happiness in our school, and I love that my students were willing to take on the project with pride.”

The happy birds are hung up around the school to show off the students hard work and to spread some happiness around the school.

Each bird has a smiling face on them with, bright colors, and feathers. When looking at them, all that comes across people’s faces are smiles.

Cheer and Shout

People

On the Right Path

11

Matthis pursues her dreams as an artist

Danielle Corgan gave their work some critiques.

Ever since she could pick One of the representatives said up a pencil, Ashleigh Matthis that if he happened to be in the has had a passion for art. She area, that the students could was always working towards her email him and meet at Starbucks. craft.

Matthis took the initiative to “I drew stuff in my contact the admissions director notebook when I was in assistant at Savannah College of kindergarten and my teacher Art and Design and set up a time Sketched by A. Matthis told me I should be an artist to meet at Starbucks. She brought when I grow up… that kind of all her artwork and talked about stuck in my head ever since then,” Matthis the ways to earn scholarships, boost GPA said. and how to advance her art.

Matthis’ mom worked with a therapist “It was a really cool experience, who was writing a children’s book. The because I got to show my artwork to author was in need of an illustrator someone and put myself out there,” which then led to Matthis illustrating the Matthis said. Taking this risk has a huge 50-paged children’s book, ‘The Pig in Your impact on who Matthis is and her drive to head’ at the age of 13. pursue art as a career.

“I was super excited because I was at Many are proud of her and the such a young age and I was able to already journey she is taking, including her art have kind of a gig,” Matthis said. “It was teacher, Mrs. Moore. kind of unique to have that experience at “She jumped on a really big such a young age.” opportunity to meet with a collegiate In her junior year of high school, the personal who’s going to give them feedback book finally got published. Matthis had at Starbucks… that was very mature,” Mrs. spent about a year drawing the pictures for Moore said. “I think that speaks to the the book. kind of artist she is. She is unique and a “I hid a pig on every page so the kids risk taker.” could find it and pig stands for problem Already establishing her style, Matthis with immediate gratification,” Matthis is heading on the right path to pursuing said. art and becoming a graphic designer.

As a senior, Matthis continues to “I feel like she kind of goes outside get herself noticed in the art world. Two the lines on things,” Moore said. “She representatives from Savannah College of has a very unique style about how she Art and Design (Savannah, Georgia) came does things to the point where if I see to Liberty to communicate with those who something I know, that was Ashleigh,” are looking to pursue art as a career and Moore said.

Three Liberty students win the cheer prize for being the loudest team Maddi Pomerinke On certain days in the patriotic red, white and blue Liberty halls, three students dress up in white, green and blue.

The girls have “Timberland Cheer” branded across their shirts as they walk the hallways, preparing for a Timberland hockey game to cheer at.

The Timberland hockey cheer team only features three girls, all who call Liberty their home - seniors Abi Fox (captain), Hannah Jones, and junior Vicky Parks.

Fox joined the team her sophomore year, when it consisted of girls from Timberland as well. However, the team was unable to continue onto the next year.

This year, Fox’s dad and dad’s girlfriend sponsored the team.

“We basically just said, ‘we’re signing up,’ and we signed up for Mid States and everything and now we are officially a team,

going against other schools,” Fox said.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, the Spirit Day for the Mid State Hockey Cheerleaders was held. The Timberland cheerleaders were one of 14 teams in attendance, and was the only varsity squad with three cheerleaders.

“I felt so happy to finally be there again,” Fox said. “Getting there, I wasn’t nervous really for the fact of how many girls were there. I was more worried about us winning spirit and making sure we were happy.”

On Spirit Day, the girls played games and trivia and learned cheers. Each squad was called down alphabetically to compete and there was a peer vote. The squads judged each other based not on their cheers, but on the team’s amount of spirit.

“They didn’t really focus on what our cheers were,” Fox said. “It was more if we had spirit and we were the loudest out of all

of them, with only having three girls.”

The cheerleaders were awarded the Megaphone Award, which is the first place award.

“This was an amazing accomplishment because they are the only varsity squad with only three cheerleaders,” head coach and head sponsor, Laura Kiefer said.

Fox said her and her team made sure they introduced themselves and got their names out. They threw out compliments and smiles left and right and just acted like themselves to get their tiny presence and huge spirit noticed.

“I am so very proud of the girls for being able to accomplish this goal of theirs against some very fierce competition,” Kiefer said.

Despite the sometimes small attendance at games, the girls refuse to lose their spirit.

photo provided by Laura Kiefera Liberty students Vicky Parkes, Abi Fox, Hannah Jones won the Megaphone Award on Spirit Day.

“We intend on staying spirited throughout the games, still getting along with the cheerleaders, and also we want to win Blue Angels for spirit competition,” Fox said.

12 Entertainment

nov. 18, 2016

Going Viral

Liberty Ledger

Funny videos that went viral fast Maddie Baker

Video

1. ‘Free collagen lip injections’ 2. Bad lip readings- Debate Edition 3. Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton singing “Time of my Life” 4. Mannequin Head Dance to Heathens 5. T-Rex taking on Santa 6. Girl proposes to nurse on anesthesia

Views

11,000,000 6,069,569

1,595,600 655,764 200,606 59,370

You Look Better Online...

Fast food ads get compared to what the food actually looks like at our local fast food stops Danielle Corgan

AD

v.s. Reality

McDonald’s Big Mac

McDonald’s Hot Cakes

Wendy’s Triple Cheeseburger

Sonic’s Chili Cheese Coney

reality photos by D. Corgan

Zodiac Panic

NASA confirms that they did not change the signs SARAH MARTIN Have you recently heard that your zodiac sign has changed?

Well the media was wrong, the signs have not been changed.

There are several arguments about why the signs may have changed. For example, when the zodiac was created, there were 13 constellations. However, since a 12-month calendar was being used, only 12 of the constellations were included, leaving out the sign Ophiuchus. This news was recently released by NASA. Astronomy is the scientific study of the outer space and everything in it. Astrology, which is where the zodiac signs originated, is not a science. Even NASA has claimed that the idea of making predictions of people based on when they were born is ridiculous.

NASA did not change the signs, they have nothing to do with them. They merely claimed that theoretically, if the signs were real, that they naturally would have changed by now.

“We didn’t change any Zodiac signs, we just did the math,” NASA spokesperson Dwayne Brown stated in a recent article in TechTimes.

Zodiac signs have recently become prevalent in today’s society, especially on social media. Many Liberty students have been discussing the rumored change.

“They’re not real… but I like mine because mine is true. But that contradicts what I just said,” sophomore, Ryan Lammert said.

Most Liberty students seem unhappy with the rumors of the change.

“I refuse to acknowledge it, I’m still in denial,” junior Abby Avery said.

The majority of the students claim that they do not want the signs to change.

“I’m a Virgo, I’m not changing,” junior Alicia Detterman said.

Because people have spent so long looking at their horoscopes and getting attached to them, you can imagine the anger that they felt when they heard of the so-called change.

Because of this debate, the sign followers have been divided. Those who believe in the original zodiac signs follow the Astrological (tropical) zodiac. Those who believe in the changed signs follow the Astronomical (solar) zodiac.

Scientifically speaking, the signs have not been changed. However, people are free to believe what they wish.

Liberty Ledger

The 2016 Circus

13

interactive

november 18, 2016

Match the Newspaper Staff Member to their Baby Picture

Cat Frank

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Maddie Baker

Jenna Schwandner

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Jessica Gibson Chasteanne Salvosa

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Danielle Corgan

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Maddi Pomerinke

If you complete all the activities on this NOVEMBER TURKEY page and bring it to YELLOW FEAST room 239, you have the CORN ELECTION HILLARY ORANGE chance to win BREAD FALL Name:________________________________ Date:_____________ TRUMP THANKSGIVING a QT gift card!

FALL WORD SEARCH

BROWN

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Mr. Hall

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McKenzie Bartels Max Fensterman

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Olivia Holler

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Word List: TURKEY HILLARY ORANGE

THANKSGIVING NOVEMBER BROWN

FALL FEAST YELLOW

ELECTION CORN

TRUMP BREAD

What story is this quote from: “I’m hoping that more parents will come in the future.”

Who said this quote: “The first year we were just a drama club and we did not have a ton of students, we had a good amount.”

14 people

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Liberty Loves their Seniors

Making history with Liberty’s first ever Senior Nights Maddie Baker Senior night is one of the many things you look forward to in high school and is typically held towards one of the last home games.

The main point of senior night is to recognize all the seniors and the hard work they have put in throughout the years of playing the sport they love.

This year, being the first year that Liberty has seniors, is the year all the sports wanted to show how much they love their seniors.

Each sport does something different to show them how much the teams have appreciated the seniors’ hard work and dedication to the team.

At senior night, the teams usually give gifts, have the seniors talk about their favorite moments while playing the sport and typically have some sort of celebration afterwards.

Each team had something very special planned for their seniors.

Football had the seniors walk across the field with their parents, had banners made for the seniors and got medals.

Cheer had shirts made along with sashes, banners with the pictures of the seniors, medals, cake with the seniors’ name on it, and a barbecue before the game started.

Softball walked across the field with parents, received flowers from their parents/

teammates, a keychain from the softball team and a medal.

“My favorite part was having all my family members come and support me,” Abby Sesti said.

Dance went to the seniors’ houses and put a sign in each house, then wrote on their cars with car paint. Once dance team got back to the school, they wrote on their parking spots with sidewalk chalk with quotes and each member of the team wrote a letter to each senior.

Boys soccer got the seniors an Ozark cup, a picture of all the seniors, a QT gift card and candy.

Girls tennis had banners with the girls’ action pictures made for them, chairs with their names on them, sweat towels also with their names on them and at the end of the night had desserts, fruits and snacks for everyone to have.

Girls volleyball also had banners made for their seniors, signs, t-shirts and a scrapbook with notes from everyone in the program.

“I liked the photo album the most,” senior Sam Cox said. “It felt good to feel appreciated. It was like I did make a difference for everyone in the program and I wasn’t just another person who played.”

Boys swimming had the seniors and their parents walk through a small tunnel and recognized.

photo provided by Trotter

photo by D. Corgan

While all of the seniors got a recognition ceremony, some teams also held barbeques photo provided by Trotter and other team bondings.

Liberty Ledger

October Teacher Of The Month!

Favorite Class In School: Spanish Favorite TV Show:

Nashville and Tiny House Hunters Hobbies: Playing piano, baking, sewing, embroidering, and spending time with her family.

Hannah Jones

Favorite Class: Sociology Hobbies: Cheerleading and reading

Favorite Part of Working Favorite Book: A Court of at LHS: The community and Thorns and Roses By: Sarah the LHS family.

Mrs. Greminger

J. Maas

Favorite Movie: Anything

Batman

Favorite Food: Shrimp Scampi

Accomplishments: Won

state 2 years in a row for color guard

October Student Of The Month!

Boostin Liberty

Booster Club is doing more than you think

Jessica Gibson Concessions, spirit wear, tournaments, trivia nights, holiday bazaars and apparel sales are all fundraised by one club that doesn’t get enough recognition.

Parents, staff members and coaches all help to run Liberty’s Booster Club. They hold fundraisers to raise money for teams, clubs and school activities that request for new equipment or sponsors. And you may not realize all that they do.

Each club or sport has a budget they can spend each year, and most of the time, photo provided by Ms. Poteet that budget can’t pay for everything the club Booster Club fundraised money to buy a scoring table for the needs. The Booster Club helps support any indoor sports to use. school sponsored activity that requests for help.

“There are a lot of things we do for this school, that people don’t realize,” Sandy Poteet said, who is the director of the Booster Club. “They kind of see us as the people who run the concession stands and sell spirit wear.”

Booster Club has purchased over $76,000 in items that were donated back to the school. This fall, they raised almost $25,000 in sales, resulting in profit of $13,871 in concessions.

They have bought turf for outdoor batting cages, 32 flagpoles for color guard, choreography fees for the dance team, warm up suits for cross country and track, iPads for coaches to keep stats, football endzone camera, registration fees for HOSA, FBLA, DECA and Key Club and so many more things.

“Booster Club is always looking for new members,” Julie Meyers said, who is the treasurer of the Booster Club. “We are always looking for volunteers to help at the concession stands and other fundraisers throughout the year.” It only costs $10 to become a member.

15

OP-ED

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

The Force Changes

Liberty Ledger

Students prepare for the future of the Star Wars series under the ownership of Disney

sarah martin After almost 40 years, the Star Wars canon has officially been changed, and everyone is waiting to see what happens next.

Disney officially announced that they obtained Lucasfilm, the film company that owned the rights of the Star Wars movies, on Oct. 30, 2012 for $4.05 billion.

Star Wars is one of the most popular

worldwide phenomenons in film. The fan base has stayed with the series, even multiplied, since the change.

I believe that the change was a very smart move on Disney’s part.

Liberty is filled with Star Wars fans that have opinions on the topic.

“Disney taking over is one of the best things that happened to the Star Wars franchise in my opinion,” senior Justin Yore said, “It gave them larger opportunities to expand the universe with more funds to go towards the movies.”

The first Star Wars film was released on May 25, 1977. Since then, there has been dozens of movies, games, books and television series’ made.

After acquiring the company, Disney announced that there were changes that were going to be made.

As of April 25, 2014, the only materials that are being accepted as canon are the six films and the series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as Star Wars Rebels. The popular Expanded Universe series is no longer viewed as part of the legacy.

Rewind to the Past

Disney claims that they made the changes to give their filmmakers maximum creativity with the new films. I think that this a good decision. They now have a lot more freedom with what they do with future releases.

Even with these changes, most fans are very positive about the future of Star Wars.

“I think it's quite interesting that Disney made the decision to wipe a lot of the stories from the universe,” senior Jake DeNunzio said, “I think it can be for the better to allow only select individuals to expand upon the Star Wars universe now, ensuring that all the stories written fit together and make the world these tales exist in seem much more unique and fitting.”

The 2015 Star Wars movie produced

by Disney, The Force Awakens, broke many records. It was the fastest film to gross $1 billion in 12 days. It was the highest grossing Star Wars film, gaining $529 million on opening weekend.

I particularly enjoyed the new movie.

Fans who have followed all of the movies

The way we can watch movies has changed over the years

jessica gibson Depending on when you were born, watching a movie has changed dramatically. Ways of buying and renting movies has improved along with renting from stores or online.

When I was younger, I would watch a VHS tape on a VCR and I still do.

Yet, some of my friends haven’t even seen one. They are so surprised and confused why you have to wait for a movie to rewind, instead of just hitting a start over button.

One problem of the VHS tapes that many don’t miss is when a sibling or small children pull out all of the film for that movie. Then having to wind all of it back inside the tape and hoping it still works.

I grew up on watching VHS tapes. I still own every Disney classic on tape too. They are in three boxes stacked in my closet full of VHS movies. Watching Disney, Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake and every princess movie known was all I did as a child.

My family started purchasing more DVDs then they

agree that the film was especially good because it was much more like the first few movies. I, like many others, prefer the older movies.

The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams, began a new plot including main characters Rey, played by Daisy Ridley and Finn played by John Boyega. This opened a new chapter in Star Wars which has fans on the edge of their seats.

As for the future, I am anxious to see what happens next. There have been many theories about where the plot is going next in Episode VIII, which will be directed

by Rian Johnson. The film’s expected release date is Dec. 15, 2017. Episode IX is scheduled to be released May 24, 2019.

“I personally believe that the next episode of the third trilogy will be dark, possibly the darkest movie in the series,” Yore said. “I feel that there is a connection between Snoke and Finn. I believe the plot will revolve around this connection.”

No matter what is released in the future, Star Wars will remain a sensational franchise that will never be forgotten.

“The way we watch movies has changed dramatically. It’s gone all the way from VHS tapes to Netflix.”

did VHSs and it happened over the course of about a year.

It was weird going from a tape to a small disk. I wasn’t used to having to rewind my movie, or being careful not to scratch a disc. Most of my friends know what a DVD is. It’s the easier form of watching a movie compared to a VHS. Once different ways of watching a movie were discovered, places opened up to where you could rent a movie for a certain amount of time.

The main movie rental store people would go to was Blockbuster. They rented DVDs and VHSs for certain amounts of time depending on what you pay. New releases were $2.99 for the first night and older films were $1.99.

Each day after would be 99 cents. I think that is extremely expensive. What if someone didn’t like the movie they rented? Would you have to force yourself to watch it to get the money's worth?

Most Blockbusters went out of business once other rental places like Redbox started opening. Redbox started opening in 2002 outside of every store, but weren't everywhere in the beginning. Then they started popping up at popular stores like McDonald’s, Walgreens, Shop ‘n Save, Walmart and Dierbergs. Also, Redbox was open 24/7 depending where they were located, compared to the store closing at 8.

You could rent a movie at 2 in the morning and return them as late as you wanted. The one problem was you would have to watch the movie in one day. Redbox only allowed 24 hour rentals, and each day it's late it raises the price. Prices range from $1.50 to $2.00 per movie and would increase $1.00 each day it was late.

Redbox soon died down when people started discovering Netflix.

Netflix at one point sent you movies in the mail, and still do. You were able to go online, find a movie you wanted to watch, and they would send the movie to you in the mail. You could also keep the movie for as long as you wanted. But you wouldn’t receive your next movie until you sent the first movie back. Netflix charged $7.99 a month and you could rent any movie they had stock off. Netflix is now a huge industry that everyone uses. It’s also way more expensive. Netflix now charges $19.99 a month.

You are able to watch whatever you want whenever you want, as long as they have it online.

Movies went from watching a film you had to constantly rewind, to literally watching it on your phone.

You can change the show or movie with a touch of a button. No more having to leave your house. You don’t even have to worry about not liking the movie.

16 Sports

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Fall Sports Wrapup MADDIE BAKER

Football Football’s end record for the season was 2-8. Tito Plaza (11) with 7 touchdowns, Branton McCain (12) with 6 touchdowns and Wesley Hines (11) with 5 touchdowns. John Brooks (12) with 40 tackles and McCain with 87 tackles.

Soccer

Soccer’s end record for the season was 1412. Lucas Mitchell (11) led in goalie stats with 74 saves. Jack Kavanaugh (10) with 5 goals and Andrew Stuhlman (12) with 13 goals.

Cross Country

Softball

Softball’s end record was 14-8. Amber Stockton (12) with an 22 RBI and Abby Behlmann (10) with an 21 RBI. Stockton hit 2 home runs and Behlmann with 1 home run. Pitcher Gabbi Evans (11) had 54 strikeouts and had an ERA of 3.86.

Volleyball

Volleyball’s end record was 9-18-1. Peyton Eikel (11) had a total of 99 kills and Mackenzi Sifuentes (11) with 131 kills. Amelia Quinn (11) with 217 digs and Maddie Baker (11) with 212 digs.

Living on the Greens

Liberty Ledger Abbigael Woods (9) qualified for state and set a school record with a 5K time of 19 minutes and 25 seconds. She finished 26th at the state meet out of 170 runners. She also placed 4th at districts. Gabe Rompel (12) placed 25th at districts and was named to the all-district team. He also qualified for sectionals.

Girls Tennis

The team took second place at the district competition. Nawal Cheema (9) placed first in singles at districts and qualified for the state tournament. She is the first Liberty tennis athlete to make it to state.

Avery (12) and Emma (11) Ingle placed 3rd in doubles at districts.

Boys Swim

Ian Herling (10) placed 4th in the 50 freestyle at GAC’s which qualified him to go on to state. Lucas Sproull (11) placed 13th in the 500 freestyle. The team finished first at the Fort Zumwalt North Invitational.

Proper Training

Golfers at Liberty qualify for the state tournament

Meet the heart of Liberty’s sports programs

McKenzie Bartels “I practiced for hours every day. I woke Setting goals takes desire, but up at 8 a.m. on the weekends and then I completing them takes determination. went and played golf all day. I also practice After lot’s of hard work and a passion to after school for hours too,” Harrington said. accomplish the goal, Madeline Larouere and Both golfers set huge goals for Zoee Harington made history at the state themselves going into state. golf tournament.

“My goal going into the tournament On Oct 10-11, in was to place in the top Columbia Missouri, 10, and I did just that,” Larouere and Harrington Larouere said. produced some excellent Golf is a very mental results in the state golf sport and at times it’s tournament. hard to stay confident and Larouere finished easy to think negative, with a two day total of however, Harrington and 158, and tied for 8th, Larouere proved that with and is also the first golfer the right mindset you can in program history to do it. make the all-state team.

“I was really happy to Harrington finished know that my hard work with a two day total of payed off,” Harrington 173, and tied for 34th. said. “I wanted to do Both Larouere and good because I want to Harrington have been set an example for other playing golf for a few kids that you can achieve photo provided by Coach Sodemann years now. your goals if you put the Zoee Harrington and Madeline Larouere both qualified for the state golf tournament in October. effort and time into it.”

Harrington began playing in eighth grade Harrington wants to when she went to a golf camp. A coach told continue playing golf for as long as she can. her that she should play at school and after She wants to play it in college and then she that she began playing more seriously. hopes that her body will let her continue to Larouere has been playing since play after college. freshman year. Her parents wanted her to “I most definitely want to continue start doing something in school, other than playing golf. I want golf to be a big part of gymnastics and they signed her up for golf. my life when I get older,” Harrington said.

She too, ended up loving the sport.

Larouere also wants to continue Just like any other sport, people have to playing golf. She hopes to play for a work really hard to do well in tournaments.

Division 1 or Division 2 school because she Both Harrington and Larouere wants to continue to be challenged. practiced non-stop every day before the state tournament took place.

Max Fensterman The most important part of being an athlete is being healthy. This means eating nutritiously and working out, but also it includes taking care of your muscles to prevent injury and also treating injuries that do happen.

Liberty has a staff member that specifically treats and prevents injuries within our sports programs, athletic trainer Michele Rava.

“The purpose of an athletic trainer is to help prevent, assess, treat, and rehab athletic injuries,” Rava said.

She works for a company called Athletico Physical Therapy, located on Ronald Reagan Drive.

That is her main job, but she arrives at Liberty every photo by M. Fensterman day just in time to assist Liberty’s athletic trainer Michele Rava tapes up basketball player Kent Lawson’s with practices and games. ankle before practice.

She did not originally plan to become an athletic trainer. However, after an ankle injury from cheerleading, she was left to treat the injury herself because her high school did not have a trainer. This is when she first learned about the responsibilities of a trainer and gained interest.

She is not originally from Missouri but grew up in New York and went to Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was excited at the opportunity of working at a new school like Liberty.

Her job includes a wider scope of training, not just at our school.

“Two mornings a week I work in a doctor’s office as a physician extender. I go into the patient’s room before the doctor and evaluate the injury so the doctor can come right in and give a treatment,” said Rava.

Like most athletes at Liberty, sophomore Ben Gagliano, a player on C-team soccer, has had his fair share of work from Michele due to thigh and heel injuries.

“She first told me to wait without putting pressure on it,” Gagliano said. “And in the end, she helped me out and tested to see what was wrong by stretching certain areas.”

She recommended thigh stretches to do which helped improve the muscle strength of his thigh while he was recovering, and even referred him to a doctor that could formally diagnose the injury.

Rava is enjoying her second year here at Liberty and most importantly, she is ready for whatever injuries are thrown at her.

Liberty Ledger Race to the Finish

Liberty’s Key Club hosts it’s 2nd Color Run

november 18, 2016

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Liberty honors its veterans

jessica gibson It might have been chilly, but that didn’t stop the runners from getting out there and supporting their school. Key Club held their second Color Run for Liberty and fundraised money to support them throughout the year.

The Color Run was held on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Liberty High School.

The run had an outcome of about 70 runners.

“This is our major fundraiser of the year,” said Ms. Borders. “It helps pay for the projects we do throughout the year.”

At the end of the run this year, there was a bit of a twist. After finishing the race, runners were able to participate in small minute to win it games, just as a little congratulations at the end of the run.

“I had volunteered last year for the color run,” said Maya Schnable, vice president of Key Club. “This year I was an officer and got to see the behind the scene of setting up, and showing the volunteers where to go and what to do.”

The Color Run had about 50 volunteers this year, which was a mix of student, teachers, parents, and others who just wanted to help out.

photo by A. Grant

On October 22nd, 70 people gathered at Liberty for the second annual Color Run.

photos by C. Carballo

JESSICA GIBSON On Friday, Nov. 11, Liberty held an assembly to honor its veterans and some of our very own staff members who have served for our country.

Luther Morris, a Marine veteran and LHS custodian, was a first responder on 9/11 when the plane crashed into the Pentagon.

“I could see the people running out of the building,” he said. He says that while people were running away, military members ran to the disaster site to help those in need.

Veteran Michael Stone was one of the many veterans in attendance. He was in the Navy for six years.

“It really changes you,” Stone said. “You see life from a new perspective.”

Mr. Nelson personally presented a certificate to a son who lost his father in Vietnam.

If you see a veteran, thank them for their service. For the courage they had during the hard times and for risking their lives for our country.

Raising money for a good cause

Volleyball tournament collects $324 for Hope Ministries Madeline Hamm Student Council hosted its second annual volleyball tournament on Thursday, Oct. 27 in the gym. There were 20 teams that helped Liberty raise approximately $324 for a canned food drive.

The tournament was for students and staff and the admission fee was 30 cans or $30. There were a total of 270 cans. The proceeds will go to Hope Ministries.

The competing teams dressed up in costumes or uniforms. The referees were students and staff. Some of the referees even played the part dressed up in a referee Halloween costume.

“We got our costume ideas off of Pinterest,” Cassidy Widlowski said.

It was a random pick of who you went up against.

“We won but it was intimidating because of all of the 6 foot tall guys,” Widlowski said.

Some of the students were on Liberty’s varsity volleyball team.

“We played hard out there and it’s very easy out there,” Lauren Jones said. “There’s not a lot of competitive teams.”

Everyone yelled and cheered for other teams as they waited for their turn and there was a lot of team spirit.

“It was for a good cause and I had a lot of fun,” Sam Linville said.

photos by M. Hamm

Student Council hosted its second annual volleyball tournament on Oct. 27th. They collected $324 for Hope Ministries.

18 PEOPLE

november 18, 2016

If you can dream it, you can do it

Liberty Ledger November Teacher of The Month!

Ms. T-O!

Addison Donnell received full ride to University of Tampa Olivia Holler Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do anything to achieve it?

Addison Donnell has been working hard for years and years horseback riding and recently received a fullride scholarship to University of Tampa to be on an equestrian team.

An equestrian is a rider or performer on photo provided by Addison Donnell horseback.

She started having interest in horseback riding when she was 3 years old and has not stopped since then.

Donnell was inspired by her dad to start riding horses.

“My dad is actually behind all the madness, because he rode horses when he was little and introduced it to me when I was 3,” senior Addison Donnell said.

Her parents have been huge influences during her riding career and helped her through the hard times and the easy times.

“They are the reason that I keep going because horse showing/ riding is definitely not the cheapest sport,” Addison said. She rides at Dardenne Creek Stables.

Horses have had an impact on her life greatly and has made her want to become a veterinarian.

“Horses have influenced my future because I want to study to be a large animal veterinarian in college,” Donnell said.

She wants to pursue riding horses after high-school and even after college.

“I will for sure continue to ride horses for rest of my life because they have been a huge inspiration during my life and have always been my rock,” Donnell said.

She spends a lot of time and effort working and practicing with the horse in order to succeed.

With her hard work, it has definitely paid off. She has been in multiple horse shows, and has won many titles.

“I have titles like Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion and multiple year awards as well,” Donnell said.

Donnell has worked hard for this her whole life and something great had came out of it.

If you push hard enough, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

A Memorable Experience

Quinn shares her story of making the USA Junior volleyball team at 11

Bri Corgan Amelia Quinn is a very experienced volleyball player who at 12 decided to take it to the next level. Quinn was accepted on the USA Junior Volleyball Olympic team for four consecutive years. She and 40 other girls made it out of all the girls who tried out in the United States.

Quinn, a junior, has been playing for nine years. She is on the varsity team at Liberty and plays club season when the school season is over.

Quinn was featured on the Winghaven Life magazine when she was 11.

“When I was younger, I was like obsessed with volleyball, that’s all I ever wanted to do,” Quinn said. “I didn’t care about hanging out with friends. I just wanted to play volleyball.”

When Quinn was 12 years old, her mom saw that the USA volleyball tryouts were being held at the Scottrade Center, so they decided to sign up. Going into the tryout, she was super nervous, but Quinn said that she plays better under pressure.

Being only 12, it was a lot of pressure, but she did it. The event was being held at Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training

facility. The whole first week they just practiced everyday and later on they were put into teams to play different games with other teams around the world.

Although it was really fun for Quinn, it was hard for her in the beginning. The two weeks she was there were very busy and she was separated from her parents for a long period of time. She cried a majority of the first week dealing with not being able to see her mom very much.

“Well, first off you have to stay in dorms on a college campus, and your mom isn’t allowed to come into the dorm,” Quinn said. “They all have to stay at a different hotel. You can’t like go say hi to her at the games or anything, so basically you’re on your own.”

Not only did she get accepted the first time, but also the next three years after which wasn’t very common. Her mom was very confident she would make it, but of course was a little unsure after the first year since the chances were so slim.

“After her first year, I was then nervous about her making it again the next year because I was told that many girls don’t

Favorite Class in School: English Favorite TV Show: Mary

Tyler Moore Show Hobbies: Playing with her kids and teaching

Favorite Part of Working at LHS: Students, students, students

November Student Of The Month!

Amber Scott!

Favorite Class: Math Hobbies: Reading and listening to music

Favorite Movie: Blind Side Favorite Food: Hot Wings Accomplishments: Getting my first job

photo provided by trotter

make it two years in a row and most not three years in a row,” Angela Quinn said, who is Amelia’s mother.

She was very proud of her daughter and had a fun time traveling to the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado and the other cities, watching her play with girls from all over the US.

Liberty Ledger

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

One Marathon and Four Hours Later…

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Senior Lindsey Gevers finishes the Cowbell Marathon to fulfill her goals Maddi Pomerinke Imagine running a marathon. Impossible, right? Most people dread running the mile in gym class, let alone running a whole 26.2 miles. Well, senior Lindsey Gevers trained all summer to do just that. She set her heart out to run a marathon, and run a marathon she did.

“I love running, and running a marathon is the top race you can do as a runner. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do it,” Lindsey Gevers said.

After 29 weeks of training, Gevers placed second in her division (female 19 and under) during the Cowbell Marathon in St. Charles on Sunday, Oct. 2. She ran the entire marathon, placed 156 out of 544, and finished with a time barely over four hours.

“I did surprise myself with how well I did,” Gevers said. “When I first signed up for the race, I put my estimated time as 5:15, however, after months of training I finished with a time of 4:08, over an hour faster,” Gevers said.

To help support Lindsey in her run, some of her teachers, fellow tennis players, and close friends showed up at the race, taking it into their hands to make signs.

“She’s probably one of my closest friends, and I know it’s really important to her,” senior, Kylie Seaton said.

Gevers knew a few of her friends would be there, yet she got quite the surprise when she ran by and realized how many people were there.

“Seeing my friends standing there at mile 17 was extremely beneficial, because I knew I would pass by them again when I looped back around. After I passed them the first time I just kept telling myself to keep going, keep running because I would be able to feel that support and motivation again soon,” Gevers said.

In March, she began training when she simply started running around her neighborhood.

photo by S. Pizzo

Lindsey Gevers’ supporters line the running road displaying signs of humor and encouragement for her.

“I had a training plan and some days would say how many miles to run and so I’d just go out and do that amount for that day,” she said.

While running a marathon is in itself a challenge, she thought the hardest part she endured was the training and sacrifices that came with it. She woke up early in order to beat the heat, which amounted to going to bed earlier and not staying out as late with her friends.

Along with early bedtimes and mornings, Gevers also changed her diet.

“I eliminated a lots of sugars and stuff because it slowed me down and made me feel sluggish so I tried to stick to really healthy foods,” she said.

The marathon was both a mental and physical challenge for Gevers, who said it sometimes gets boring running for that long.

Lindsey notes that she does plan on running another marathon. She just doesn’t know soon yet.

“It’s a big time commitment,” she said, “People don’t realize how much time it can really be.”

photo by S. Pizzo Lindsey Gevers flashes a smile at her supporters while she is running the Cowbell Marathon in St. Charles.

photo by S. Pizzo After the race, Lindsey Gevers poses with her supporters at the finish line.

Turning Quality Clothing into Money DECA takes part in a new fundraiser called Schoola McKenzie Bartels DECA participated in a fundraiser idea that is green, easy and doesn’t require students to be salespeople. How does it work?

Mrs. Vagner is the teacher who began this project after she heard about the success other schools have had from it.

“I never knew about it but tons of people do and it’s a really successful fundraiser. It’s basically like an online consignment shop,” Mrs. Vagner said.

DECA selected a couple weeks for students to be able to donate used clothes. The group gathered 35 bags of clothes and sent them to Schoola.

Schoola is a local place in Chesterfield.

Schoola is a fundraiser where schools can donate clothes and then earn money back for donating the clothes.

The organization currently supports more than 30,000 schools and the top-earning schools have raised more than $50,000.

After Schoola takes the clothes, they take pictures of the clothes donated and then price them accordingly.

Anyone from around the world is able to buy the clothes online.

Once the clothes are sold, the school that donated the

clothes will get 40 percent of the sales.

It’s a really fast and efficient way to earn money for your school.

DECA was able to collect many clothes, but will not know how much they earned until sometime in November.

Luckily, with Schoola you are able to track your school’s progress. Students in DECA can get onto Schoola’s website and see the progress Liberty has made.

The money that DECA earns is going towards state and internationals, which this year is in California. It’s going to be more expensive than years past with it being so far away, and with more students going.

Hopefully, with this fundraiser, they will make enough money to help with traveling and food expenses.

“It’s the biggest fundraiser we’ve ever had and hopefully we can just continue to have big fundraisers like this,” Kocsis said.

DECA has had many fundraisers in the past to help with expenses but they have never had one quite like this.

Their fundraising will continue to grow until they reach where they want to be for state and internationals.

photo by M. Pomerinke

DECA president Gabie Kocsis and vice president Hannah Dees show off the first of their clothes collected for DECA’s new Schoola fundraiser.

NEWS 20 Contemporary Colors

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Liberty Ledger

Christian Tebeau shows his true colors with Color Guard Braden Mcmakin Christian Tebeau is a sophomore here at Liberty with an exceptional passion for Color Guard.

He is a part of the Wentzville Liberty Eagle Regiment and has been involved with several performances and competitions, pursuing his dedication to the sport.

Tebeau became interested in Color Guard by a recommendation from a friend and ultimately went to an audition. He immediately liked it.

“Color Guard is an outlet for people to convey emotions, to perform and compete visually as a team to work towards a common goal,” Tebeau said.

He describes the motive of the team as a demonstration.

“It’s all about the visual aspect. Color Guard uses competitive dance and equipment to tell a story and represent the music to express emotion towards an audience.”

Each member of the guard is like family and plays an important role in every performance.

“It’s a team effort,” Tebeau said. “Anyone can do guard. No matter how uncoordinated you may think you are, as long as you can make the commitment and work hard alongside some wonderful people, you can grow as a performer and a person, work hard and it pays off.”

The WLHS Color Guard is an amazing environment where you can be yourself and work with extraordinary people such as Tebeau and many others. The guard took first place at regionals both in 2014 and 2015 for the WGI (Winter Guard International) competitions, as well as recently taking second place in the Red Division of the Music on the Meramec Competition and 4th place in Class A during the fall of 2016.

With the inspirational productions and developing school, the group is hoping to continue to improve and grow closer as not just a team, but as a family.

photo provided by Christian Tebeau Christian Tebeau gets set for the next drill movement and puts on his performance face as if he were actually performing in a competition photo by B. McMakin Color Guard puts on their show faces to perform at halftime of a football game.

photo provided by Winter Guard Winter Guard shows off their first place at regionals for the Winter Guard International.

One in a Thousand

One of Liberty’s own named a Commended Student in the National Merit Scholarship Maddi Pomerinke “Obviously it feels pretty good to be commended for that, and I do plan to put it on On Oct. 14, senior Cameron Dierks was spending his school day hard all of my college applications,” Dierks said. at work taking the PSAT in the library with all of his fellow juniors. Little Throughout his high school career, Dierks has achieved a 4.27 GPA and did he know, that he would later be named a Commended Student for scored a 32 on his ACT. He also has been on the Liberty band for all four years and also the Annual National Merit Scholarship Program all thanks to that test. holds a position on the golf team. Dierks is the vice president of the chess club and is a Each year, thousands of students enter the competition by meeting member of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), in which he earned second place published program entry and participation requirements, and by in accounting at a state competition last year. taking the PSAT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship “All of our students at Liberty High School are capable of amazing things. None of the Qualifying Test). great achievements our students reach surprise me. The accomplishments of our students Although Dierks intentionally signed up for the PSAT, speak volumes for the effort and dedication that our teachers pour into our students and he had no idea he was also signing himself up to become serve our students,” Kiesel said. an entrant in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

“I had no idea, I didn’t even study,” Dierks said. “I just took the test, and I was surprised when they named me.”

“Obviously it feels pretty good to be Some of the entry requirements include taking commended for that, and I do plan to the PSAT by a certain grade level, being enrolled in put it on all of my college applications” high school on the right track to graduate on time and being a U.S. citizen. Based on these requirements and the test scores on the PSAT, schools are notified in September if they have qualified students for semifinalists or commended students. photo by M. Pomerinke “Cameron is an excellent student, very diligent in Cameron Dierks works hard to expand his knowledge. He his studies and I’m very proud of his accomplishments,” Dierk’s has been named a Commended Student for the Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. former math teacher and new vice principal, Mr. Kiesel said.

- Cameron Dierks