THE GEYSER November 7, 2018
Sock Fashion pg. 5
Art Show pg. 13
Outside Drinks pg. 4
Volume 103 Issue 1
Intercom Issue pg. 8-9
Venom pg. 5
Google Reviews pg. 10
Park High School
School Safety pg. 8-9
Front Doors pg. 3
Blood Drive pg.12
November 7, 2018
What’s Inside 2
Table of Contents Page 2-Murder in the Knife
Murder In The Knife Room
Room Student council elections Page 3-Opinion Both sides of the doors Bullying Page 4-Formal v. prom Open container rule Page 5-Venom, good or bad? New music Sock fashion Page 6- speech and drama Choir masterclass Jazz band festival Page 7-adam lewis Jongeward’s work Page 8-9- School security spotlight Page 10- Influx of new students Google reviews Page 11-Charles Cornwall New teachers Page 12-Literacy grant Blood drive Page 13-Work based learning Art show Page 14-New coaches Page 15- Football Cross country Golf Page 16-Soccer Volleyball MVP’s
Brought to you by Adrianna Castro, An-
gel Sherdahl, Brylea Beye, CJ Keller-Olds, Chase Petrulis, Dana Baskett, Eden Kirk, Gibson Erickson, Henry Cornwall, Jamison Geyer, Jasper Schuerr, Lily Deyoung, Lukas Ridgeway, Lydia Colmey, Lyndsey Baker, Madison Coon, Buddy Murphy, Mcleod Versland, Megan Sarrazin, Peyton Murphy, Leinee Smith, Shane Cornell, and Terran Speake. Faculty advisors: Kate Lende and Reid Lende.
Photo by Henry Cornwall
Sarah Mussetter practices her lines as Lynnette Evanson directs the cast for the staff play, October 24 which they will perform in November. “Murder in the Knife Room” will premiere this Friday at 7 p.m. in the Rec Plex. A second show will be performed on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. Admission to the show will be $5.
Student Council Elections at Park High
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LILY DE YOUNG Geyser Staff Writer
It’s that time again for our student body to choose the fate of Park High for the coming year… that’s right! It’s Student Council elections! High school students can run for and be voted on by the student body for Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. A Vice President’s responsibility is to sit in and observe the president for one year before automatically becoming the president the year after the current president graduates. This means to run for VP you must be a Junior. Treasurers and Secretaries on the other hand are positions available to any grade. A treasurer deals with the money matters of SC such as budgeting for dances. A secretary’s responsibility is to take notes each meeting for future references. Just because the elections are for student council doesn’t mean you can’t run if you’re not a member. Though having some experience in this type of environment is helpful, if you feel passionately about running for a position you still can! Meet with Ms. Tennant before November 9 so you can be in the running! As always, StudCo is in need of more members (especially freshman!) so feel free to stop on by any Tuesday right after school in D4. Everyone is welcome, and don’t forget to vote!
phsgeyser
@PHSGeyser
Also, make sure to check out our website for more up to date and student-created content at parkhighgeyser.org!
Opinion 3
November 7, 2018
Bullying: What can be done? JAMISON GEYER Geyser Staff Writer
It’s all around us. It’s an illness, it’s anarchy. It’s one of the biggest problems in the entire world. It can be a mean comment on your favorite shirt you got at Walmart for half off, or a beating in the back alley of the playground. What’s it I’m talking of, you ask? It’s one of the worst things in the world. Bullying! It happens too often, and most people experience it. There’s a high chance that most kids in school eventually gets bullied, some more severely
than others. Usually when people bully others, it’s because their lives are not great. They may be in an abusive relationship with their parents, siblings or friends. It could be that they are poor or rich, they’re not smart, or their grades are bad. Bullies are not born but created. It does not give them the right to hurt others because of their personal affairs. The people who get bullied have the most hurt in the situations. People don’t realize this, but words can do two things. They can bring people up, or they can bring death
and destruction to the person. It could be something as simple as a joke. People don’t realize that sometimes others joke around and call names. It in some cases, it hurts more and has a bigger effect. When a person who’s known for mean actions calls you a dummy, it’s easier to let go because you know that person is rude. When it is your best friend whom you care for and tell your deepest stuff to, it hurts more because this person has a bigger influence on you. This kind of “joking” happens more than the obvious bullying. This, my friends,
is the biggest problem. We must be kind to one another. Even if you’re joking, make sure they know that. I will promise you this: bullying does not stop in high school. It will happen your whole life. It will happen in college, at work, on the streets, even in the greatest of places. The Taliban in Afghanistan are right now bullying innocent people by killing the men, abusing the women and enslaving the children. It sucks because bullying will happen throughout your whole life, no matter where you are.
But there is something you can do about it. You can stand up to the bullies. If they are going to hurt others you can stand in their way. Helping people who suffer brings a sense of hope. If you help those who are bullied, you may be saving their lives. Just keep in mind the next time you press send, imagine you are staring at the person in the eyes and saying what you wrote. If you see someone who is hurt, help them. Sit by them at lunch. Say hi to them in the hallways. Be their friend. Love is what saves lives.
Front door security: Worth the walk? BUDDY MURPHY Geyser Staff Writer
PEYTON MURPHY Geyser Staff Writer
It started last year around the end of the first semester. It was the biggest pain in the neck. The locked door policy enacted shortly after the Stoney Douglas high school shooting. Everyone was left asking, does it really matter? With headlines surfacing fairly regularly of school shootings around the nation, it was only a question of when schools were going to take steps towards the safety of their students. Park High faculty had a school shooter training to prepare them for a real situation if one were ever to occur. The doors were another safety measure, along with the camera at the front doors, allowing the office to let people in and lock people out. During the middle of October, the school had security professionals come in and evaluate the school and how safe it is in its day to day operations. All of these security measures have been put in place to protect everyone in the school. But again, does it matter? The simple answer is yes. Although it is a bit of a pain in the neck to walk all the way around to the front of the school, I would say it’s worth the walk for that small safety measure. Even as a small 7,000 person town in the state of Montana, we have had threats and scares at our school. Although nothing has ever happened, how do we know that Park High isn’t next? Stoney Douglas didn’t know they were next. Nobody knows when their school is going to be next. It doesn’t matter what your demographics or percentages may be. While it may be inconvenient and there may be loopholes that could be exposed, it’s a step in the right direction. With the way things are heading, safety is going to be a growing concern. The school is trying their best to adjust, and the inconvenience is only a small price to pay for their attempt in keeping us safe.
The policy, as most Park High students are well acquainted with, restricts the entrance to students or other members of the public through any other door besides the front door, and if one comes in through the front door during school hours, they must be let in once they ring the newly installed bell on the front door. I personally believe that this new policy is very inconvenient, but only for the students, the people who this facility was built for. The teachers have no changes in how they enter the school no matter the time of day due to their door cards. But for us students, it’s a large inconvenience in the aspect of time. At lunch time in years past students were free to exit and enter through the side doors. Now, upon one’s return from lunch, they must go all the way to the front of the school.
November 7, 2018
Opinion 4
Why is winter formal more popular? Study hall
is key to success
BY LEINEE SMITH Geyser Staff Writer
At most schools, prom is the most popular event of the year, but here at Park High it is a different story. Every year, as soon as school starts, all the girls are talking about who they are going to ask to the winter formal and what they are going to wear. Many girls even make creative posters in order to ask someone to be their date. Every year, formal has a different theme with a lot of decorations, and there is always a grand march, which prom does not have. This is one of the reasons that formal is the more popular dance. According to a survey given to about 30 Park High students, most students feel that formal is more inclusive and welcoming to underclassmen. Formal is held in the school gymnasium, which some students like and some do not. Unlike prom, formal is all put together by the TNT group. Prom at Park High is more a casual dance unlike formal. About 6 years ago is when the Junior and Senior Prom changed, so they switched it to all students because not very many students attended. They also decided then to not do a themed prom anymore because they
Everyone goes into senior year thinking one of two things: either this is going to suck or it’s going to be a breeze. However, all of them just want to be out of high school. The start of my senior year I came into it saying that it was going to be so easy, and guess what, it is so far. I only really have four classes a day. Well, I go to five periods, but one of them is an office aide. But I had to do most of my credits Photo By: Angel Sherdahl in years prior. Even though my freshman Students looking for a last-minute dress for this Saturday’s Winter Formal can through junior year were still stressful, I browse the selection in the main foyer thanks to FCCLA’s efforts, shown here last got through them quite easily, and I’m not week. going to lie. I think that’s mostly because I’ve had a study hall every year, so in my spent too much time for the decorations on a dance so that people attend, and perspective, study hall is one of the most to be ruined. Prom to student council is there are not as many people who attend important classes a student can take. just a time for students to get dressed prom as formal. Could it be because I think study hall is very importup and go to a formal dance. There has guys don’t want to put the initiative ant because it is a time for students to been talk of also doing a catered meal at in? Perhaps not as many men are willdo their homework for other classes, and prom, but tickets would be extra. Stu- ing to pay for all of the items for prom. for some who don’t have homework, it’s dent council works really hard to put a time to decompress. A lot of the time my sophomore and freshman year, that is what I used study hall for because having our bottles checked just like our in the new rules put in at PHS? May- honestly those were confusing years backpacks are, being allowed to have be we should revise this rule and have and just sitting in study hall coloring unopened containers in the game, give some student opinion on it? I feel that or reading a book everyday was calmathletes some leniency after games, and students could have a huge impact on ing for me, and it made my day more just have free water at football games. the rules if we were allowed to share bearable. My junior year was only difThis is all some good student feed- on how we feel. An idea we could pos- ferent because I had Bausch and always back that could help revise the rule. It sibly take advantage of is Principal’s had to finish my vocab words or study. Some people think that study hall would be so much easier to just to bring Advisory. This is a good, efficient way should be used for only studying or doa refillable water bottle to the game. to discuss a problem or topic. We can ing homework: yes, they do let the ocThe rule only applies for students address it there. I’m sure many students casional “I don’t have any” slide past, as well, so parents could bring something don’t want to do that, or maybe there are but if a student is constantly doing that, into the game and just give it to their kid. more students who agree with it more some people get fed up. I understand That’s how a lot of students don’t follow than what I just surveyed. We won’t that if a kid is behind all the time, but the rule, so there are loopholes to the know unless more students speak up for a lot of students, that’s not the case. rule. Another rule that follows this is that Banning one thing is not going Yet we still get ridiculed for reading once you enter the game, you can’t get to solve anything. There are always our book or coloring to decompress for back in. This was established at the same those students who won’t follow the our school stress. In my honest opintime. To most students, this rule is a little rules and do what they want. No matover the top. What if we forget some- ter how hard we try to imply new rules, ion, I believe that everyone should have thing in our car and absolutely need it? not all students agree or follow them. a study hall every year of high school. Should students have some say
Student input needed on drink rule BY ANGEL SHERDAHL Geyser Staff Writer
As many students know, there were some new rules established here at PHS, but are they all fair? I conducted a survey of 60 students, from all grades, to get their opinion based on one new rule in particular, no outside containers allowed in at home games. There is a lot of controversy on this topic. The school put this rule in place becauseof poor decisions, so they thought this would be the best solution. Is it the best solution? Many students say no. Many students also agree that concession prices are too much, and most teenagers don’t carry cash. One of the questions I asked was, if you could change one thing about this rule, what would it be? Many students answered having clear bottles,
BY MEGAN HAMLETTSARRAZIN Geyser Staff Writer
November 7, 2018
Entertainment Page 5
New music November bringing the heat And now, a moment for socks LILY DE YOUNG AND BUDDY MURPHY Geyser Staff Writers
A new month means new music, and this month did not disappoint. From Rap to Classic Rock, there’s something for everyone! Greta Van Fleet, an American rock band with some solid 70’s inspiration released their second lp ‘Anthem of the Peaceful Army’ Oct. 19. With killer riffs and soulful lyrics, they make the music for anyone born in this generation who wishes they were around for Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Moving more toward the modern music scene, twenty one pilots released their longanticipated album ‘Trench’ Oct. 5 after taking a one year hiatus from all social media and
contact with their fans. Trench has made up for the long wait with unexpected tracks containing disco, hip hop, and coffee house inspiration, making this an album that has something for everyone and won’t disappoint. Imagine Dragons has been dominating the music scene lately with tons of top hits and their concert in Bozeman over the summer, and they’re not stopping. With new album ‘Origins’ coming out Nov. 9, there’s a lot to look forward to! For their third studio album, The 1975 are going where they haven’t before. They’re the same alt-pop band you know, but this time with more horns and riffs. ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ isn’t out until Nov. 30, but during the wait listen to ‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’ and ‘Sincerity is Scary’ to pass the time.
Albums aren’t the only thing that’s new, though, because many artists have released singles lately. Halsey’s second studio album ‘Hopeless Fountain Kingdom’ came out in 2017 and she has been working hard since on new music. The first taste is the song ‘Without Me’ that debuted in October. By the sound of this song, her album is not going to be something to miss! Swae Lee and Post Malone went back into the studio to record ‘Sunflower,’ a song featured in the upcoming “Spider-Man: Into the Spider- Verse” movie (Dec.18). It’s upbeat tune and Swae and Post’s compatible voices make for a must-download song. The Hip Hop and Rap scene has somewhat exploded in the late summer and early autumn season. With singles like
“ZEZE” by Kodak Black and “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes, there is no shortage of heat to keep your ears toasty as the cold weather sets in. Not to mention, albums like “ASTROWORLD” by Travis Scott, “QUAVO HUNCHO” by Quavo and “Tha Carter V” by Lil Wayne have only fueled the already blistering fire that is Rap and Hip Hop. Rap and Hip Hop have been around for some time, and the genres have had their fair share of headlines. Recently, the genres have been plagued with tragic deaths, assault accusations and beefs between artists. Notable recent deceased artists include Lil Peep, who continues to put out quality music even after death, XXXTENTACION, who was murdered last June and Mac Miller, everybody’s first favorite hip hop artist.
For many people socks are just another puzzle piece in getting ready in the morning. But for a small few, it can be considered a crucial part of an outfit. After posting an anonymous survey, 41.67% of responders said that they considered socks as a piece in their daily outfit more than half the time. Socks may not be the most expensive part of an outfit, but I am a true believer that the small spider emblem or did not even JAMISON GEYER things count, which includes use the symbiotes webs at all. Geyser Staff Writer fuzzy, colorful, and statement Now I know if you socks. The majority of the peoThe movie is about make a Venom movie with- ple that responded to the survey a symbiote (an alien lifeform out Spider-Man, it’s going to stated that they only shopped combines itself with other be different, but it does not for socks every so often, that hosts) named Venom who be- excuse the fact that they had being every three to six months. comes one with a reporter Ed- to change the whole plot. Personally, I shop for The villain in the movie die Brock. The casting of the socks very frequently, around movie with Tom Hardey as Ed- was Riot. In the comics, Riot, every two to three weeks. die Brock/Venom was a good in fact, is Venom’s cousin and Picking a new pair off of Obchoice. The plot, on the other is good friends with him. The sidian’s infamous sock wall. hand, was terrible. The plot in no movie lacked an excitement People like Megan Sarrazin, way followed the comics what- because there were not many Lily DeYoung, and Dana Bassoever and ruined the charac- action scenes. It was mostly kett are all people who wear ter’s unique self and origin. dialogue and drama. It was in socks proudly and as a stateAt the beginning, Ven- the end of the movie when Ven- ment. Whether that statement om did not come to earth on om had fight scenes and action. is Blue Q socks, Scooby Doo, a space ship. He came on a The rest was a lot of talking. or an array of others, Socks are The one big rule that was meteor, he did not get expertruly a type of fashion wear and broken was the rule of WE. imented on by the Life Founshould be worn just as proudly dation right away. He latched When a symbiote and a host be- as any other type of clothing. on to Peter Parker/ Spider-Man come one, they only refer themPhoto by Brylea Beye until he took off the suit force- selves as we at all costs. Howevfully and then it latched on to er, Sony Inc. did try their best on Eddie Brock, and the fact that a movie of a beloved character, Venom’s appetence had no even if the movie was terrible.
Venom: greatest or worst Marvel movie ever BUDDY MURPHY Geyser Staff Writer The new Marvel movie “Venom” has received its more than fair share of flak from the critics. With scores all under 35 percent from critics, many thought that this would be another mediocre superhero movie, with approval scores as high as 88 percent from audiences, Venom has become October’s highest grossing opening weekend movie in the United States to date with a total of $80 million in its opening weekend. Ok. Venom broke a bunch of records, how was the movie? The creepy crawly Symbiote, “Venom,” not only plays the role of anti-hero butt kicker, but he becomes Eddie Brock’s best friend and best wing man. Imagine the best friend you never had. The kind
of friend that knows EXACTLY everything you’re thinking. A friend that talks you up. A friend that gives you the ability to scale thirty story buildings. Who doesn’t want that friend? The balance between butt kicking and personal interactions with Venom and his experience with Earth tie the movie together with elements of action, romance, and suspense, and it’s all lined with the perfect amount of well thought out comedy. Although it does stray away from the comic book series, which many people and critics are angry about, Venom provides a new and refreshing take on most superhero movies. The few weak spots in the movie are minor enough so they don’t take away from the movie, leaving Venom as one of the best Marvel movies to date.
LYNDSAY BAKER Geyser Staff Writer
November 7, 2018
page 6
Livingston Jazz Festival returns to Park High BY LYNDSEY BAKER Geyser Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Melanie Nashan
Lilly Eaton, CameronReichert, Eli Stevens and Cole Nashan practice with guest artists during last year’s Jazz Festival.
On Nov. 16 and 17 Park High School will be participating the Livingston Jazz Festival. This is where professional musicians come from all over the country to teach students Masterclasses and perform. Jazz is a type of music taught by Garrett Stannard during zero period, here they learn improvisation in music. Unlike classic band, jazz is not completely written out for you, which is where professionals step in to help teach these skills during festivals such as this one. Sponsors such as the Montana Arts Council have already pitched in a large amount of money to help fund this festival. This year they have guest artists coming in from Montana and Wyoming to perform at Park High, The Depot, and The Attic. The bands performing during the festival are Jazztet,
Little Big Band, and The Alex Platt Collective, Stannard said. In past years the Jazz Festival has only lasted one day, but this year it lasts a total of two. Making it bigger and more integrated into students classes and in the ways that they can perform music. You can access tickets to the festival by visiting parkhighbands.org, where an Incident Organization Chart and completed schedule are also available. People such as Melanie Nashan have volunteered to take photos during the activities. Where Stannard and others will learn how to facilitate and organize a festival as large as this one. If you are a music fanatic or just want to get out of the house for a few days, buy tickets to the Jazz Fest where amazing performers are gathering to spread information on the beauty of Jazz.
Murphy selected for Speech and prestigious masterclass honor Drama mixes things up this year
BY GIBSON ERICKSON Geyser Staff Writer
Peyton Murphy has spent lots of time in the choir room during his time as a student, and if he is not singing academically, he is always a part of the projects at the Shane Center. Any of those who are familiar with the choir class and what they do will know that Murphy is extremely involved and very talented. He is not only getting recognition from Livingston natives, but by college professors studying and teaching at MSU in Bozeman. On Oct. 8, Murphy visited the Howard Hall of Boze-
man, where he participated in their masterclass session. The masterclass was taught by Dr. Aamot, a Juilliard graduate and an active professor at Louisville University. Dr. Aamot contacted Nancy Curtis, Choral Director at Park High, and asked if she had anybody in mind to come to a session of the masterclass. She immediately suggested Peyton for the opportunity. It is very rare for high school students to be a part of this program, and after asking Curtis if anyone had gone before Peyton she said, “No, I’ve never heard of this before.” He was very lucky to go, and said he had a great expe-
rience training with the other three student music majors. He was asked to come to other sessions, and he showed lots of excitement for his future in music, and school. Murphy is very fortunate for this situation, because he is already familiarizing himself with college level music training, and getting his foot in the door for education after high school.
BY CHASE PETRULIS Geyser Staff Writer You may believe being called dramatic could be an insult, but for the 13 kids of Speech and Drama they practice for the title. This year Speech and Drama is co-coached by Addie Pittman and Keaton Ramm. They have 13 students who practiced twice a week had their first meet on Nov. 3. and their next meet Nov. 17. The club, formerly coached by Kari Blaylock, is
the biggest Speech and Drama club so far, beating last years member count of 12. Pittman is coaching 11 of the students while Ramm coaches two. The team has plans to have every member qualify for state at divisionals, which requires being in the top 16 of their event. Last year they accomplished this and the hope is to do it again.
November 7, 2018
News 7
Park High student learns the tricks of the trade BUDDY MURPHY Geyser Staff Writter
Adam Lewis, a senior, has his life figured out. He’s had it figured out for about a year and a half now. Jake Nelson of Arrowhead Electric has taken Lewis in under their apprentice program as an electrician. “I know that the way our society is headed is a lot of people are going to get in debt and their not going to be able to pay it off because what they went to college for, there is no demand for it. You look at how many people don’t wanna do this job but you learn so much and you get paid well.” Lewis’ look on society moving forward in the near future isn’t far off of most statistics. According to Phil Crone, the executive officer of the National Builders Associa-
tion, the average age of a carpenter is 49, welder 55, plumber 56 and stonemason 69. In the next five years, 20 percent of the laborers will retire, leaving a huge void of wanted tradesmen. Lewis worked for remodeling crew owned by his current boss, Jake Nelson, about a year and a half ago. Work grew thin, and Jake invited him to start an apprenticeship with the company. After completing state paperwork, he got to work with Jake. “I love doing electrical stuff. There’s is a big essence of problem solving and critical thinking. Definitely applications everyday of math, physics, Ohm’s law. You get to see the countryside. Many people sit in an office all day, but this county, and the counties around it, that’s my office. We literally go in the mountains sometimes just to do 30 minutes
worth of work, but it’s so worth it because it’s so gorgeous.” Lewis travels around the immediate area of Montana working on different job sites. This summer, Lewis worked on a 15,000 square foot house in the Bridgers, learning a lot about the lack of cooperation between designers and electricians. Other locations Lewis worked at this summer include Big Sky, the new photo studio next door to the Sport on Maine street and other service calls in town. “I definitely want to get this under my belt. I love doing what I do right now. If i decide I don’t want to do this down the line, that’s alright. I can make the money I need, or get the license, then I always have that under my belt, it’s a fall back. I can go to college if I want.” Although content with the apprenticeship and
and engineers, she inspires the politically active to speak out on issues that matter to them. Most recently, she won the “Janet Shirley Spirit Award” from Park County Environmental Council (PCEC) for the work she has done as, “an advocate for science-based decision making and better climate policies,” according to Michelle Uberuaga, the executive director of PCEC. This includes her work with the Park High Green Initiative. The Green Initiative was started two years ago in 2016 as a group that started and maintains the school’s recycling and other environmental interests. The award itself was created in 2005 in honor of Janet Shirley who was killed in a car accident. It is awarded every year for “outstanding citizenship and commitment to the community.” Uberuaga said of Jongeward that, “She cares deeply about the natural world
around us and inspires others through education to better understand our natural world. “ Jongeward visited Washington DC twice to talk to our representatives about what needs to happen to ensure there’s an earth to leave behind. The first trip was with the Sierra Club, an organization that was founded in 1892 and is dedicated to environmental protection. The second trip was with Mom’s Clean Air Force, non-profit that describes themselves as “community of moms and dads united against air pollution – including the urgent crisis of our changing climate – to protect our children’s health.” She was in DC after an event called the Mama Summit that was cosponsored by PCEC. She also went to Seattle to talk with people who own a large part of the mine in Colstrip. Colstrip, Montana is a coal-burning town that relies
Photo by: Buddy Murphy
Adam Lewis gets ready to drive to his Work Based Learning Internship at Arrowhead Electric on Oct. 23. his current career path, Lewis- lege. With a guaranteed job that wouldn’t be opposed to chang- provides experience and knowling things up, but with the way edge, trade job apprenticeships things are headed, a trade job may become a more popular opwill surely be in high demand. tion for students coming out of Lewis has chosen a differ- high school, and the nation may ent path out of high school, but just see an influx of more young nonetheless just as promising adolescents similar to Lewis. than attending a four year col-
Local science teacher speaks out on a big scale
DANA BASKETT Geyser Staff Writter
Who quits NASA to teach high school? Alecia Jongeward, but she didn’t just suddenly stop working on interesting things to be a science teacher. Even while she teaches future biologists, physicists,
Photo by Lily De Young
Alecia Jongeward teaches students about solar energy.
on that industry to sustain their economy and wellbeing. Two of four plants are set to shut down by 2022 because they don’t meet safety standards anymore. Jongeward went to Seattle to “testify for Montanans” and provide the science behind energy saying when she showed up “Do any of you know how energy is made?” Puget Sound Energy (PSE) energy owns the largest piece of Colstrip, a coal-burning town, and provides energy for a large portion of Washington and Oregon. Jongeward sees a shift in how people in those areas want to receive their energy and can explain how the shift to a more renewable option would happen. Everything is already set up in Colstrip to “switch easily” Jongeward stated. PSE will be paying the town of Colstrip ten million to work towards more renewable ener-
gy, but the people aren’t convinced it will ever be the same. Many towns folk are holding on to the hope that President Trump will fulfill his campaign promises of bringing back coal. The industry provides over 700 jobs and is many people’s livelihood. The biggest share-holders don’t live in Montana to see what happens. Senior Brooklyn Behm who has been Jongeward’s student a few times now said, “She’s literally the most amazing person I’ve ever met” she smiled, and followed it up with, “I don’t know what you want me to say, but that’s the truth” Jongeward has been described at indomitable, this means someone who won’t be subdued. Likely this brings to mind a person in a spiked leather jacket, not a science teacher with four degrees who rides a moped, but that is Alecia Jongeward.
8
Modern School Security
November 7, 2018
Intercom fix imminent after long silence MADDIE COON Geyser Staff Writer
Lack of Communication? One thing has been noticeably different this year at Park High. The intercom system, which also provides bells to the school, has been down since the first day. Lori Dust, Park High’s co-principal, said that one of the maintenance guys was working on something in the office, and then the intercom system just stopped working. Yes, not having bells and daily announcements is an inconvenience. But the questions that everyone is asking is are we safe. “We have different ways to communicate, whether we have a PA system or not. Teachers have been trained on how we can communicate,” Dust said when asked if our safety is in jeopardy due to not having an intercom system. Dust said that parents as well as community members have expressed their concerns about this issue. When this happens both Officer Williams and Dust express that it does not pose any added problems. Two plans have been set in place to
communicate with teachers if there happens to be an emergency. Though she did not talk about the specific plans, she was very reassuring that these plans would work. Teachers have been told to keep their phones easily accessible for better communication. Dust, along with SRO Officer Tim Williams, were not able to give a lot of insight on the details regarding the intercoms for safety reasons, however. The teachers participated in a live shooter simulation last spring. Reflecting on that, Dust and Williams said that our teachers and staff are much better prepared. “By going through that training, we became more empowered. Instead of feeling like we are victims and just waiting around to see what happened, we now know we can do something about this,” Dust stated. Currently there are no laws requiring schools to have intercom systems, like they do for fire alarms. Our intercom system and fire alarm are completely separate systems, so we still have a functional fire alarm. Principal Lynne Scalia said the Officer Tim Williams pulls up security footage of more intercoms will be fixed soon, mayvulnerable parts of the security system, assuring that be even as soon as the end of the week. everything is well watched over.
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In era of school security threats, new precautions are taken JASPER SCHUERR Geyser Staff Writer
In the 2017-18 school year, a lot of new safety policies have been implemented, most notably, the locked doors. These new policies raise one specific question. How safe are we at PHS? On Oct. 24th, a few students including myself met with Lori Dust, our co-principal, and officer Tim Williams to find out. As far as specific policies go, Dust and Williams couldn’t reveal too much information to us. They told us to be careful with what information to put in the geyser. This by itself is a security measure. Unfortunately the only procedures we were able to learn about was the locked doors, and the buzzer at the front door. These procedures are some of the more consequential policies in the school. They limit where a potential threat can enter the building and could stop an attacker from entering the building at all. The buzzer at the front door allows the front desk to regulate who is allowed into the school.
they can simply keep the door locked, and at the very least make it harder for the possible assailant to get into the building. Even if the intruder finds a way in, the locked doors and buzzer system give staff more time to react to threats. The new tardy policy of locking classroom doors after passing also acts as a security measure. If an intruder did manage to enter the building, having the classroom doors already locked makes any action necessary by the teachers to secure their classrooms much faster. It removes the step of locking the doors once the teachers are notified of a threat. They can immediately move onto other steps to keep the students safe. As far as students go, to keep the school safe, we need to follow the procedures laid out by the administration. Locking the side doors doesn’t do anything if the students let people in. It doesn’t matter if you know the person your letting in. Shooters are often students of the school. It does matter where the shooter enters the building. Students should also report any potential threats to the administration. If a student thinks somebody has a gun, they should tell an adminis-
Most people don’t like walking around the school to the parking lot when it’s cold and windy, but having the doors locked increases safety in our school. All the doors in the school are locked and we only have access to the front doors which is a very typical
procedure. The doors started being locked at the end of April 2018. To cover the doors, our Student Resource Officer Tim Williams is located near the front doors. Students and staff start getting buzzed into the building after 8:10 a.m. Visitors will wear passes if they go past the attendance office for safety reasons. After school safety training, the secretaries advocated for
The long haul from the parking lot to the front doors before school and during lunch annoys many students but helps monitors movement.
the buzzer system to be installed, explains Cahoon. Staff unlock the doors for people and can see who is coming in and who is leaving. Cahoon said the new security measures make her feel safer. If an individual requests entrance and the office staff does not recognize the person, they are able to access student records to confirm that they have a reason to enter the school. If someone
making threats, they should tell an administrator. In the event of a shooting, students should follow teacher’s direction. They have been trained in how to deal with an active shooter scenario. Active shooter training has given the teachers the tools to respond quickly and effectively to threats within the school and has allowed them to find out how they function in high stress scenarios. Recently, there was a group of police and law enforcement people who came in to asses our school’s security procedures. Their conclusion was that our school has better security than almost any other school in the state. When I asked Officer Williams about how our security compares to other schools, he said, “other towns would do good to copy us.” This doesn’t mean that our security is perfect, and there is no reason for the administration to settle with safe enough. They are continuing to work out flaws in the system to make sure that we are as safe as possible at PHS.
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Last month, students and staff witnessed a group of adults roaming the school, both in classrooms and in the halls. This group of law enforcement officers and school administrators from across the state was part of the School Shield Program. Their visit was a training exercise to teach them how to assess a school’s security strengths and weaknesses. The School Shield Program, sponsored by the NRA, is “committed to addressing the many facets of school security, including best practices in security infrastructure, technology, personnel, training, and policy,” according to its official website. Bozeman City Police Officer and SRO Eric Vandersloot contacted PHS principal Lynne Scalia to ask if Park High could serve as an example school for their security assessment training,
Scalia explained. As a result, PHS will receive detailed feedback and recommendations on its security, school climate, communication system and overall preparedness. Although this class has been taught hundreds of times around the country, SRO Tim Williams said that the instructor mentioned that our school is very secure compared to others he has seen. In fact, PHS is one of the safest out of 300 classes that he has taught. Williams said that the visiting team praised the way our administration and School Resource Officer have been making our school a secure and a safe place, which he said, “I am very happy to hear.” In Montana, School Shield has trained in schools all over the state. The participants that were here were from Bozeman, Ennis and Big Timber
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Cameras throughout the halls are utilized by Officer Will to help keep kids safe, and on their best behavior.
Students often reach for their phone in cases of school violence. Texts sent can facilitate the spread of rumors and get in the way of authorities
Crisis texting interrupts police ability to react
Students hike to the front as other doors lock C.J. OLDS Geyser Staff Writer
School Shield Program assesses PHS security
ADRIANNA CASTRO Geyser Staff Writer If someone looks suspicious or has a weapon, trator. If a student is worried about a student who is
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Teachers read out the morning announcements in place of intercoms. This has made school wide communication difficult and patchy.
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EDEN KIRK Geyser Staff Writer
has a no – contact order against them, Officer Williams or school administration will go outside and explain this to the individual.
Cameras are a security basic and have become a staple of modern security in many establishments.
Informing parents about the safety of their child during a school crisis is a priority. Being unaware of a child’s security, alarms parents, and communication between the school and parents can alleviate some of that fear. Dangerous situations in schools are rare, but if they do oc-
cur, the district has two protocols for contacting parents. Park High Principal Lori Dust states that guardians will be informed of their student’s situation as soon as possible. There are further concerns regarding panicking parents arriving at the school to see their children during a crisis. This could potentially create additional chaos. Dust said “Sometimes, people can come rushing to the school when they hear
it’s a problem and we have to make sure we stay out of their way and let them do their job. Once we do our job, we hand it over to the police and they take care of it.” Parents could get in the way of the police who are trying to diminish the threat. Dust does not believe she can prevent students from contacting their parents when the students feel frightened. Threatening situations can trigger students’ instincts
to turn to the people who they feel can protect them. For most students, those people are their parents. “I think in a perfect world, if things went south in a hurry and something is going on, if everybody stayed off their phones, that would be ideal, but is that going to happen? Probably not.” said Officer Tim Williams, Park High School Resource Officer.
November 7, 2017
News 10
Students capitalize on obscure Google feature Many students have turned to this format for self-expression. They vary in content, some immensely vague, others poetic descriptions of how they felt mistreated or had been spoken to in a “taunting” way. One review went as far as to call the school, “a prison… If not literally than ideologically.” Because of the nature of Google Reviews Teachers and staff also have reviews Including principal Lynne Scalia who commented on the, “Incredible students, teachers, community support!!” This received backlash from other reviewers who said it’s ironic that, “The Teachers and staff posting great reviews of the school while the students, the ones who are suffering, are letting out the truth.” Not all the students are leaving negative reviews; some former students left very positive reviews while they were here. The varying reviews make it hard to use Google Review at it is was intended, to give an overall vibe of the place.
Senior Adam Lewis who had left a review at one point reflected on the state of education on a national scale saying. “it’s nice to voice your opinion, but, in all reality, you should know that it won’t do a lot because the problems with school systems aren’t at a local level.” The question is what to do with these comments. Do you ignore it, fueling the students’ anger about being forgotten by the school, or do you respond and start an internet argument? Lewis also recommended that, “Teachers would have to really choose consciously which person they’re commenting on, which kind of comment it is because you could really start a fire.” Later commenting, “Maybe don’t comment online but maybe walk up to them in person and say ‘this is what I thought of your comment and here’s my opinion.’” Principal’s advisory and the school board meetings are alternatives to this method of venting frustration there are
alternatives Lewis agrees but stood by the review saying, “It was kinda a half-assed way of saying here’s my opinion. I didn’t really stand up for anything, I got behind a keyboard, but anyone who’s reading it might think that it’s a good point.” Park High isn’t the only school where this happens, many schools across Montana and the nation that are on the Google Rating system, but many of these schools have a more reasonable 3.5 score average as opposed to the 1.8 stars at PHS, at the time this was published. Another thought was that it’s a funny gag. Students at other schools seem to follow this theme, or are more brief with their distaste for the school. While Park High has a few like that, such as, “ESKETITTT. i aint bout it straight up G” or “LOOK MORTY!! IM PICKLE RIIIIIICK!!,” others give an essay of information about how they feel hurt, betrayed, or forgotten.
Students don’t often name specific teachers or specific events Dana Baskett because they must be “Why is this a thing?” there every day. Too many things happen every day to get exact with it, so stuWhy would you allow reviews dents leave vague reon a place people are required to be? sponses that get even more vague results. For businesses, that rating is crucial, There are ways to have your voice so owners will often respond to these heard that are more effective and let to try and make amends with the upset people who can do something know. My customer. For a school this is harder.
advice would be to avoid Google as an outlet for voicing your opinion. It’s not going to solve the problem, and it’s a weak way to make an impact. Have the courage to meet with someone from administration and approach them in a respectful manner; you’ll get better results. In addition, this 1.8 rating is a poor reflection of a school and staff that try really hard to help students. Even some of the very negative reviews acknowledge that there are teachers who put a lot into their students to help them. Most
students don’t have a comparison to realize what they might have at Park High. This also has a direct effect on new student’s willingness to come to the school which is a problem when trying to get new students to give our school a chance. So, the final questions are what do we do about this? And why does Google have this interface? Some schools have taken up a fight with Google’s invasion of this technology as well, but it is unsure if these will go anywhere.
BY DANA BASKETT Geyser Staff Writer
“Google it”: the saving grace of all family arguments. The search engine has broken into every tech field and it is working its competitors, from Google Photo combating the Cloud, to Google Pixel fighting Apple and Samsung, to Google Drive throwing punches at Microsoft Office, and even making Alexa sweat, it’s no wonder that Google has replaced word of mouth recommendations with Google Reviews. Yes, that star rating you rely on to avoid rat infested restaurants or cockroach run casinos. These reviews are available to everyone, so if you have access and an opinion you can bless the people with it. There isn’t a limit on what you can review, so, along with the Pacific Ocean and the Pentagon, Park High School has a fair share of reviews.
Influx of new students boosts total enrollment BY SHANE CORNELL Geyser Staff Writer According to school district registrar Lisa Peterson, Park High has a record number of new students. There are 41 new students, almost evenly split between boys and girls. That number of new kids are “More than Doubled from last year,” she said. She thinks one reason for the influx of new students
is because Livingston is considered a “feeder school” into Bozeman; Families are working in Bozeman but living here because housing is less expensive. The new kids are coming from everywhere and every background. “The majority of the new students are coming from out of state,” said Peterson. There are a couple new students in athletics and clubs and she thinks they are doing very
well, said Peterson. She strongly encourages new students to participate in such activities, because it helps make friends. There was several new students interviewed to see how they are liking our school. The first student interview was sophomore Ryan Marchant from Sheridan Wyoming. He said “It’s alright, all the kids are nice, the school has good teachers.” Ryan plays football
someway the sports compare is that there is “More conditioning, better overall environment, and better equipment.” The next person interviewed was Junior Olivia Wellbrook. Olivia was homeschooled in previous years, but is now attending Park High. again I asked her if she likes Park High and her response was “Yes, it’s a good learning environment, there are a lot of
interesting people.” She doesn’t think Park High challenges her and she said “No, it’s too easy.” Final person interviewed was Junior Rob Wolfe from Manhattan Christian. He said that he “Loves Park High, the people here are great.” Another question asked was, How does Park High compare to Manhattan Christian? He said that “Park High is a lot bigger, nicer, and he has more friends.
November 7, 2018
News 11
Park High graduate’s unique career choice HENRY CORNWALL Geyser Staff Writer
ino’s
Charles Cornwall graduated from Park High School two years ago. After graduation, he chose a unique career path. He decided to enlist and become a Military Police Officer in the Marine Corps. He started his career off at the Marine Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. During basic training, he learned how to be a rifleman and the basic skills he would need if he went into active duty. He was in California for 13 weeks doing field training and classroom work. After graduation, he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for his police training. For seven months was in Missouri as part of the 2nd Law Enforcement Battalion. Earlier this year, he was stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and he works as a police officer at the Marine Corps Air station in New River, North Carolina. As a cop, he must patrol on the base and respond to intrusion alarms, fire alarms, suicides, domestics and DUI’s. Photo courtesy of Charles Cornwall He also must work at gates and do veCharles Cornwall, who graduated from Park High in hicle inspections and check ID’s. During traf2017, is now a Police Officer in the Marines. fic stops, he must frequently inspect Dom-
Chiller new to PHS but not to teaching is teaching English/ Special Education. For those who don’t know her, she has She was in three schools before a passion for driving around Montana PHS. She has been teaching for ten years to old historical sites. Most of them and she went on adventures no one can are very old ghost towns. She loves to count. It’s the one and only, Caitlin Chiller. teach, whether it is students or other This is her first year in Park and teachers to help them be better at their job. She loves to be outside and hiking. Her hobbies include playing the game Scrabble and trivia nights. She is learning how to garden. “I’m learning how to fail at gardening.” She loves mystery movies such as the movie “Clue.” Her favorite book is “Jane Eyre.” by Charlotte Bronte. Chiller has been married for about a year and has no kids. She won the NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award for the state of Montana in 2017. This is her first-year teaching Special Education and she is currentPhoto By Eden Kirk ly taking classes and getting the proper Caitlin Chiller is one of two new training to do so. “Being a teacher is my special education teachers. favorite job in all time.” Chiller said.
JAMISON GEYER Geyser Staff Writer
pizza trucks that are entering the base. He has been working in North Carolina for two months as a cop. During Hurricane Michael, the base sent all non-essential personnel home, but because he is a cop on the base, he had to stay and patrol during the storm. He spent most of his time doing field work, shooting at the range, prepping for deployment, training for room clearing and detaining and waiting to get stationed somewhere as an MP. Throughout his training, he has had to go through many courses in order to get his badge, and he has been tazed, pepper sprayed, has been trained in a variety of weapons, and has done close quarter combat training. Through his training he was awarded with the expert marksman award for both rifle and pistol qualifications. It has taken him a year and three months to reach the rank of Lance Corporal. “I am glad I enlisted”, Cornwall said. “I have met a lot of cool people, but there is also a lot of stupid stuff that happens on the base.”
Math department welcomes Ramm, an outdoor enthusiast JASPER SCHUERR Geyser Staff Writer
This year, Keaton Ramm joined PHS staff in her first full- time teaching position, replacing Erik Jorgenson. Although this is her first time having her own classroom, she did sub for six months at Bozeman High. Ramm teaches the math courses that Jorgenson taught last year, which include Pre – algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Honors algebra 2. Photo By Angel Sherdahl Although she teaches math, she is also qualified to teach Spanish. She Keaton Ramm completing her double majored in both math and Spanish first year teaching. and has a teaching certification in both. Four years ago, Ramm took a year of school off to work as a girl. She worked just outside Libby for a bit and then worked in Helmville in Powell County, training horses. She would usually ride four to six horses per day. Ramm enjoys many outdoor activities other than riding horses. She hunts fishes and mountain bikes. Of these activities, mountain biking is probably her favorite. She enjoys both lift biking at Big Sky, and trail riding around Bozeman. The lift biking is all downhill. It’s the fun part all day. This doesn’t mean that the trail riding is bad, though. “There’s something to be said for the hard work,” Ramm said.
November 7, 2018
News 12
New tattoo trend causes blood drive donation hang-up LEINEE SMITH Geyser Staff Writer Park High held a blood drive on Friday, Oct. 12 in the school G-wing hallway. This year, the attendance was different from previous years. According to event coordinator Miya Tennant, even though the sign-up roster was completely filled, which has not happened the last few years, not everyone who signed up attended. The causes for the lack of attendance were that some students forgot, others could not get there, and some who attended were unable to donate because they had stick and poke tattoos. Students who had these stick and poke tattoos were unable to donate because it is against the law to donate if you
Stick and poke tattoos, an amateur way of inking one’s self, were a trend among PHS students a few years ago. The recent blood drive revealed that students with one of these tattoos cannot donate blood due to safety regulations. did not go to a professional tattoo artist. The self-tattoos can cause diseases and infections that can be transferred through blood donations. Some of the diseases
that can be transferred include, HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and staph infections. Before you can donate your blood, the nurses ask questions to make sure
it is safe for you and the people who will receive your blood. They make sure you have eaten and are hydrated. They also ask questions such as if you have or ever had a stick and poke tattoo or used needles on yourself in any other way. After they have made sure that it is safe to take your blood, they take you to a seat and prepare you. Then, they give you a ball to squeeze while they begin drawing your blood. This year, there were 20 donors who signed up, but only 13 of them actually donated. For every donor, we received one unit of blood, so we ended up with 13 units. These 13 units of blood helped save a total of 39 lives.
Literacy grant’s impact felt as consultants visit, teachers implement strategies in the classroom BY LYDIA COLMEY Geyser Staff Writer The Literacy Grant is an important topic and howit affects us as students. This grant is a big deal in our school system, as many teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals in Livingston are impacted by it. This grant will last for three years and the grant money received over three years is 1.3 million dollars. We received to help increase literacy achievement in our schools. SGMS teacher Debra Tedstrom helped write the grant and is one of the people in charge because she has many years of experience with reading instruction as well as technology. With this grant, they have done many things, including bringing a national consultant to help work with teachers. William VanCleve is the national consultant from Louisville, Kentucky. His specialties are morphology, vocabulary, and writing. Morphology is the study of words and how they are formed. When you learn
root words prefixes, and suffixes, you are learning Morphology of are language. VanCleve will visit Park High almost every month because of the grant we have for three-year period. You may seem him in one of your classes or walking down the hall. He will provide professional development for the teachers. This grant will include a peer coaching model. Teachers will work together to learn new techniques and strategies to help students. Students will benefit from the grant in many ways by reading, writing and building a great future. The Livingston District is very fortunate to have been awarded this grant and it is the hope of those teachers, principals and consultants that the students in Livingston now and for years to come will benefit by receiving an education which assist them in creating a great Photo by Gibson Erickson future for themselves and their families. This grant will not just help with the learning of the stu- Students in Natalie Storey’s Reading Skills and Strategies class discuss their dents and teachers, it will help the reading Nov. 5. This class is one of many in the English department that has school and benefit the community. been directly impacted by the Literacy Grant. Students completed MAP testing in their English class earlier in the year as one of several measures to indicate growth over the course of the school year.
November 7, 2018
News 13
WBL helps students find careers BY GIBSON ERICKSON Geyser Staff Writer
Photo by Gibson Erickson
Senior Cole Nashan practices his trumpet in the PHS band room.
Plainly stated, many students at Park High, and across the country, have no clue what they want to do after high school. Lots of us are unsure what is next, whether it be education, work, travel, or something else, they just don’t know what to do and don’t know where to look. A surprising option for many could be the Work Based Learn-
ing class offered at Park High, taught by Sarah Mussetter. Work Based Learning is a class for students looking for experience in places of interest. Students are given valuable skills for interviews, communication at the workplace, finding what you want and don’t want, and after all of the help in class, the students apply to their desired business and, if they get accepted, they start their internship. Everyone’s experience is different in their select business,
but every experience is valuable. Senior Cole Nashan has said his internship was “Awesome!”, and he was “learning a lot of valuable stuff.” Nashan wants a career in music, and he is doing his internship at Soundcolor Studios in the old Lincoln School. When asked how it was helping his interest and skill, he said “It’s a cool part of music to learn, and it’s a really important part of what I want to do. I’m learning all sorts of stuff about mixing.” Things aren’t always
great, but that can be just as important to the process as something you love. Lots of kids have passed through the class, just to find that they don’t like that line of work at all. It may seem pointless to go take a specialized class like that to find the thing you thought could be a career uninteresting, but trial and error is helpful in finding a solution, and Mrs. Mussetter will do anything to help students find what they want, and she will try to connect them to that.
Photo by Jamison Geyer Photo by C.J. Olds
Display cases showing the art that made it into the art show.
Lillian Eaton (left) and Eva Molina (right) tied for the artist’s choice award at the art show.
This year’s first art show BY MCLEOD VERSLAND Geyser Staff Writer Park High’s first student art show took place on October 15. This art show incorporated many different styles of art pieces that were completed by a few photography, drawing classes, painting, and pottery class, and a handful of
independent study students. art work. Nilan and HuntzickThe teachers of these er both believe the purpose of classes, Lois Huntzicker and the art show is to show parents Raeann Nilan, are the main peo- and other people who don’t atple that set up the art show. Lois tend Park High a presentation Huntzicker has created a very of what our students are workpositive environment by hav- ing on, and the quality that our ing her students fill out at least students are capable of. There two comment forms of pieces is one art show every quarter the students like. Huntzicker with specific dates coordinated says that these forms help en- with band and choir concerts. courage our artists by building The next art show is schedtheir self confidence in their uled to take place on Dec. 10.
316 East Park Street Livingston, MT 406-333-2515
November 7, 2018
News 14
Basketball coach is ready to shoot hoops ADRIANNA CASTRO Geyser Staff Writer Megan Burns joins the coaching staff this year as new head varsity girls basketball coach. The Winans elementary special education teacher is from Twin Falls, Idaho and has also coached track in Billings for three years. The fifth-year teacher wentto college in Dillon, where she got her degree in Physical education and in Special Education. She said
she hopes to someday teach P.E. Burns said her family has always played basketball, so the sport has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. She hopes that during games the girls have a focused mindset and everyone does their jobs, so they can play as a team. “You gotta know your job; that’s what makes the pieces move,” she said. Burns described her coaching philosophy as “It is not all about winning games or winning state cham-
pionships. Rather, it is about building people and developing life skills that will be utilized in all areas of their lives as the grow. Basketball is about learning how to be a respectful and respected person. It is learning about goals and having the drive and discipline to reach those goals. It is about teamwork and relationships.” She added, “Coaching basketball for me is about being a positive role model in young women’s lives, and being that person they can trust with more than just the X’s and O’s.” Photo by : Adrianna Castro
Coach Woods making good Coach Chapman first impressions showing students how to kick goals Megan Burns is the new girls basketball coach.
MADDIE COON Geyser Staff Writer
The Park High cheer team has recently undergone a change which will bring new leadership and excitement to the school. Angel Woods saw in the local newspaper that the coaching position was open at Park High. Since moving to Livingston from Dillon, Montana, she had been interested in wanting to coach the cheer team. In Dillon, she coached the JV and varsity cheer teams during the regular seasons and then took them to competitions in the spring. Since Woods was a freshman in high school at Dillon, she was involved in cheer. After gradPhoto by Maddie Coon uating from Dillon, she returned Coach Woods showing the varsity cheer team new moves. to the Beavers and coached them Going into the basketball season, Coach for two years. Woods was ofWoods has created a small JV team. She fered the coaching position for the Bozeman hopes that the turnout for basketball is just Hawks, but it wasn’t a good fit for her family as good or better than the fall sport season. So far this year, Woods has rebuilt the cheer program. Coach Woods has been getting the students more involved than in recent history. Both Woods and the captains have come up with themed football and volleyball games. The cheerleaders are handing out pompoms and noise makers to the student section and getting them more involved with the cheers. Her goal is to build more school spirit, and it seems to be working.
LUKAS RIDGEWAY Geyser Staff Writer
Kirk Chapman, one of the new assistant soccer coaches for Park High, joined the team in late August. He primarily was the goalkeeper coach and spent most of his practice time training the keepers and giving them advice. While coaching another recreational team during the season, there was some days where Kirk Chapman had to coach Park High soccer and recreational league soccer. He also played as the lead coach for the U-19 spring soccer team these past few years and is possibly looking to do so again this year. Chapman played a major role as assistant coach for the Park High soccer team. His sense of humor helped build a bond between him and the team and gave them relief if they were upset. As the season came to an end, Chapman and the other coaches were very
proud of the Park High soccer team and had felt that they had played their hearts out. He called the end of the season “a bittersweet end,” referring to the majority of the players who were seniors, playing their last season of Park High soccer.
Photo by: Lukas Ridgeway
New assistant soccer coach Kirk Chapman.
November 7, 2018
Sports 15
Seniors’ final football season at Park High terran speake Gyser Staff Writer
“Very emotional. I love those boys.” are the word Coach Jon Willyerd uses to describe senior night that took place on Oct. 12. He feels that the seniors on the team stepped up and became “incredible leaders” this year. Even though the football team didn’t have the best season, Willyerd finds the positive side of it and says that “...they reached their full potential in expressing to each other how much that the time spent together has meant to each of them.” Senior Warren Hanson has played football for all 4 years of high school and said that the coaching staff has been
the best he’s ever had. This previous season, they had one new senior and 6 new freshmen go out for the team. Hanson says that it was a little difficult to work with all the new players, but they pushed through the obstacles and became a tightknit team. Hanson was sad to play his last home game in his high school career but looks forward to the opportunity’s college football has for him in the future. He doesn’t know where he wants to play college yet, but he knows he wants to further his sports career. Thinking about how much support the team receives from the cheer section or stands isn’t what Willyerd pays attention to.
He focuses on how the players support each other in everything they do. He was very proud of how well the players supported each other this season; but support is always needed from Park High students and parents. Willyerd is proud of his team this year. They became close through their losses. He looks at every season as a “building year” because he has new players come in every year and they have different “personal strengths” than others. “...so, to me every year, every practice, every game, we are always in the process of building.” Using those new strengths and building upon the previous players’ strengths is part of the
Photo courtesy of Alana John
Park High seniors line up to say farewell to their final football season. building process of a team. Even though the team didn’t come out with as many wins as they had hoped for, Willyerd will continue to
coach and make positive relationships among the team; and will also continue to build up his team the best he can with the help of other coaches.
Ranger golfers compete at the state tournament
eden kirk Geyser Staff Writer
Six Park High golfers placed in the top 15 at the
Photo courtesy of Coach Cahoon
Park High golfers participate at this year’s state tournament.
Class A Divisionals Tournament on Sept. 21 in Havre, qualifying them for the state tournament in Hamilton. Senior Romy Feltman led the Park High girls’ golf team at this year’s divisionals; scoring 104 and finishing in fourth place. Kennedy Hader, Park High senior, placed 11th with a score of 128. Freshmen Annika Coleman and Ashlan Mortenson both shot 147, earning them the last two spots and qualifying them for State. The Park High boys’ team was led by sophomore Bryce Hayes who shot a 90 and received fifth place. Tyler Strupp, Park High sophomore, earned 13th place with a score
of 105, qualifying him for state. The top two teams and the top 15 golfers on both the girls’ and boys’ teams qualified for state. Park High as a whole placed fourth out of a total of four teams that competed. Divisionals had not been held in Havre since 2013. This caused many people to be unfamiliar with the course which affected overall scores. Hader and Hayes had both qualified for state before, but the other golfers had not. The qualifying Park High golfers traveled to Hamilton to compete in the two-day state tournament on Sept. 28 and 29. There were 66 girls competeing, and Romy Feldtman
placed 23rd with an overall score of 202, shooting a 105 on the first day and a 97 on the second day. Kennedy Hader placed 38th with a final score of 216, scoring a 110 on day one and a 106 on day two. Ashlan Mortenson scored a 266 overall and placed 65th. Out of the 64 boys who participated in the State tournament, sophomore Bryce Hayes placed 35th by shooting an 87 on day one and a 91 on day two, making his overall score a 178. Tyler Strupp received 52nd place with a final score of 192, shooting a 98 on the first day and a 94 on the second day.
A successful season for the cross-country team
terran speake Geyser Staff Writer Coach Kirk Lentz considers this former cross-country season to be successful even though
they didn’t place in Divisionals or State. Both he and runner Fionn Camp say that everyone on the team improved very much.
Beginning on Aug.10, they had nine new runners join the team, and with the help of Lentz and Coach Bridget Kelly, their running times
improved by 10 percent. Connor Pierson placed eight in the divisional meet. Camp and other runners credit both coach-
es for their improvement overall, and coaches are pleased with the team’s improvement.
November 7, 2018
Sports 16
Volleyball leaders vocal throughout season BY BRYLEA BEYE
Geyser Staff Writer
Playing volleyball since 7th grade, and going into my senior year, one of the biggest roles of volleyball must be the leaders or “MVPS”. It can be very hard and almost impossible to find a leader but players like Shania Johnson and Denie Hampson show that leaders seem to stand out from the beginning. A leader on the volleyball team to Hampson, is “... always having a good attitude, believing in everyone on the team, and one who always strives to be better.” Johnson focuses more on the personal aspect of it. “Someone who doesn’t freak out and stays mellow and calm, but always pushes themselves to their highest abilities”. One of the first people that I talked to for this subject was new assistant coach, Brenda Speake. She recently moved to Livingston this summer and has a daughter Terran Speake who is a sophomore and on the volleyball team. When talking to Brenda, she was more than happy to explain the ups and downs our team has had this season. “I feel as if the team is working out their bugs, as far as personality and trust goes”. One of our newest steps we took was choosing captains, which is an example of a leader, in the end of September. Another comment she made was, “When having a captain, the team knows how to play next to specific people who tell them what to do.” Abby Kokot was chosen by the girls to be one of the captains this year. Kokot is known for not only her play, but for her steady and stable personality. “When asked to choose a captain, I think hands down 95 percent of the people chose Abby as either the first or the second person” explains Speake. Kokot is a junior this year and a three-sport athlete. “She always has a good attitude and believes in every individual on the team. She never lets herself get down, while also lifting our team spirit up on the court” Hampson says. The other captain chosen this year was senior, Hampson. I have played with her not only from Freshman year, but also got the chance to play club volleyball with
Photo by Buddy Murphy
(From Left) Ryleah Floyd, Denie Hampson, Brylea Beye and Shania Johnson break after celebrating Ryleah’s spike during senior night against Fergus.
her going into my sophomore year. “Denie is an encourager. She puts everyone else before herself. Her attitude is always higher and rarely gets low.” replies Johnson. This season, Speake says “Our middles have picked up their game. About a month ago, we started focusing on our middles and giving them as many sets as possible, and that offensive strategy seems to be working for us.” Our middles for varsity are Kokot and Ryleah Floyd. During the varsity’s game against Dillon, Kokot had 12 kills and Floyd had 16. “This was by far my best game.” Floyd claims. In the beginning of the season, the back-row players tended to hesitate to go for a ball, which affected the rest of the team. During practice, we started doing more disciplinary-type drills to push ourselves and show what we
can really accomplish. Coach Speake is all about drills for mentality and has brought many back from her old team she coached. Shania states “I don’t think the running helps us, but I think doing drills where if we don’t get to that certain goal and then being punished helps us look at the goal as being more important for gamelike situations”. Hampson based her thoughts off “we are on an uphill climb and have been working insanely hard in practice to continue making ourselves better. We are pushing for the most important part of it all.” The volleyball team will head out to Glendive on October 31st through November 3rd for divisionals. Depending on how we do there decides whether we go to state held in Bozeman.
Boys varsity soccer mops up competition BY LYDIA COLMEY Geyser Staff Writer Park High Varsity boys’ soccer team had a successful year and made it to the playoffs in Whitefish Montana. The boys had eight wins, three ties, and three losses. The last time boys’ varsity team made
it to the playoffs was in 2013, and they were state champions. In this season’s last game, the Park High Rangers pushed past the limits. Many people would even say it was the best game in the season. Rangers had so many shots on goal, but they wouldn’t go in. Cole Vondra, Charlie Kirn, John Mcevans, Morgan Rosberg, Lukas Ridgeway and Trey Scaff all
had shots on goal. Two captains of the soccer team, Morgan Rosberg and Gibson Erickson spoke about the season and the last game. Gibson said “1st half best played all year, great passes and shots. We had it in our hands just couldn’t get a shot.” Throughout the season they did great and Morgan said “Good overall. All 12 seniors contributed to the team, and it
was a lot of fun for the season as well as the last game.” Lastly, I spoke to Shiloh Barret one of the main coaches for Varsity besides Jeff Dickerson. Shiloh reported “I feel the boys played their hearts out. They played the best game of soccer they played all season.” A few players said the best memory was the bus ride up to Whitefish. Whitefish was one heck of a week-
end, with all the excitement. When talking to Adam Mathias, and the soon to be sophomores, Park High will have a great season next year. Hopefully this year will not be the last year they make it to playoffs. But luckily, the Park High Rangers are always ready to play when they step on the pitch.