Riverbend Times Volume 2 Issue 2

Riverbend Times

Volume 2, Issue 2

Trimester 2 2023-2024

Exploring new things

Riverbend offers four new elective classes this year

By Carter Conley, Ryker Sitton and Anna Smith

There are many new classes at Riverbend this year, and all these new classes help students make choices for the future.

Riverbend is offering four new elective classes this year: Exploring Agriculture, Exploring Community Service, Exploring Digital Media and Exploring Languages and Culture. These classes are available to 8th-grade students.

Exploring Community Service is taught by history teacher Mark Mulligan. This is a brand-new class that prioritizes helping people and our local community. In this class, students will do things such as going on field trips to help the

community, making a website for a business, and helping find new ideas to improve our school.

“One element of our class is teaching kids how to help the community and how to build

a resume,” Mulligan said. The students say that Mulligan makes the class very fun and interesting. “We plan and learn about communities and help the

Meramec-Valley leaders make tough decisions during winter weather

By Jayden Barnhart and Bella Johnson

Snow days are like waking up on Christmas morning for the children, but for school staff, it’s not that easy.

Inclement weather days in Meramec Valley are decided by four people: The superintendent, Dr. Carrie Schwierjohn, the

assistant superintendent, Tom Sauvage, the head of maintenance, Jeff Pipes, and the head of transportation, Conrad Guenzler. Dr. Ketina Armstrong, the assistant superintendent, makes sure the community knows there is a snow day by communicating with families.

“It's a team effort with all of us,”

Sauvage said.“We are watching the weather constantly, driving roads and communicating with other districts.”

As superintendent, Schwierjohn considers many different factors when facing inclement weather. But the decision falls on her.

8th-grade students in Eric Covert’s Exploring Agriculture class practice casting fishing lines. Students in the class take a field trip to go fishing.

Photo by Bella Aiello

Riverbend Times Staff

Trimester 2

2023-2024

Newspaper staff:

Jayden Barnhart

Aydan Brady

Arden Brewer

Colton Burt

Carter Conley

Mary Dunn

Jordan Garrett

Raelynn Gregory

Morgan Howard

Hailey Husereau

Lily Inman

Livvy Jennings

Bella Johnson

Raegan Mackey

AJ Marriott

Declan Ogle

Hanna Ritz

Violet Sanchez

Ryker Sitton

Anna Smith

Elisha Stock

Konner Velasco

Daisy Wengler

Photography staff:

Bella Aiello

Megan Arflack

Taylor Bartel

Beau Blackburn

Aiden Blake

James Courtney

Ethan Frederick

Lyla Hendricks

Will Price

Newspaper staff advisor: Elise Moser

Photography staff advisor: Shelley Miles

Special thanks to Kathy Vogt

Electives

Continued from page 1

community in any way we can,” 8th-grader Josiah Prichard said.

Exploring Community Service is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to get out of the classroom and participate in fun, engaging activities to help out your community. The class is a fun way to give back to the community.

Another new class this year is Exploring Languages and Cultures, taught by 7th-grade English teacher Kathy Vogt. In this class, students are introduced to Spanish and French languages.

Vogt knows that this class can be hard and is always ready to help and work with students to get better.

“The idea is that students can get a good idea of the high school language classes, and to give them a booster so they can learn French and Spanish easier in high school,” Vogt said.

“I liked how Mrs. Vogt had different projects and things to do in the class,” 8th-grader Mason Vondera said. He said he enjoys having a class with Vogt.

“Mrs. Vogt is the GOAT,” Vondera said.

This class will be a perfect fit for students looking forward to learning a new language.

to try Exploring Agriculture, which is taught by 7th-grade science teacher Eric Covert.

In Exploring Agriculture, students learn about the outdoors and go on a fishing field trip, where they learn how to properly cast a fishing pole. Students will also learn about many different farm animals and basic crop farming.

“The class has been fun, challenging, and a learning experience for everyone,” Covert said.

“We learn about the use of animals and fishing and the history of agriculture,” said 8th-grader Maggie Smiley.

This class is a great pick for students considering a future career in anything outdoors or agriculture-related. n

Students interested in learning about all the different ways to care for plants and animals might want

Bella Cobb picks up trash along the railroad tracks in Pacific with her Exploring Community Service class. Students in the class take field trips to do service in the Meramec-Valley community. Photo by Taylor Bartel

Riverbend Man-on-the-Street

By AJ Marriott

What is your greatest fear?

“Heights, because you can fall and being up high is nerve-wracking”

Winter weather

Continued from page 1

“It is my final decision to call off snow days,” she said.

Sometimes Schwierjohn makes the wrong call, like on Friday, Feb. 16, when the snow was more intense than originally forecasted. Many felt there was an unsafe situation. With 4 inches of snow, many say the buses were struggling to drive

“The sea, because we don’t know much about it or what could be in it.”

the rural roads and many parents picked up their children early, concerned about road conditions.

On Feb. 16, a few other schools opted to go to school, so Meramec Valley was not alone. Usually, Schwierjohn makes sure her schools are not the only schools having a snow day or going to school when no one else is. She has two group chats with area superintendents to discuss inclement weather days, one with schools close to us and schools all over the St. Louis area.

The community typically has a lot to say when an inclement weather call is wrong. Schwierjohn says she’s happy to discuss her decisions with community members.

“If they call me on the phone, I am glad to address anything,” she said. “But the problem starts when people go straight to Facebook.”

Student drivers and buses are one of the top priorities in deciding to call school. They drive all of the rural back roads to ensure the safety of students and drivers.

“Not trying my hardest. I want to work harder in the future.”

“We have people out there very early driving all the roads watching for places the bus or student drivers could get hung up," Sauvage said.“The goal in snow days is to make sure everyone is safe.”

Upcoming Events

3/25-4/1: Spring Break

4/8-4/12: Parent Conferences

4/17: 8th grade tour of Pacific High School

4/26: Life Skills Day

4/29: No School

5/17: Breakfast of Champions

5/23: Last day of school, early dismissal

Kaden Markley 7th Grade

Liliana Martin 7th Grade

Bryant Jones 8th Grade

8th-graders anticipate the spring dance

By Arden Brewer

On Friday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m., eighth-grade students and staff will be having a blast at Riverbend Middle School. The 8th-grade dance is sure to be a fun, exciting place to be with friends and hang out. The staff love the dance and so do the students.

To attend the dance, students must be in attendance the whole day of the dance, cannot have any Fs, out-of-school suspensions after January, and no in-school suspension for the two weeks leading up to the dance.

Ken Grodie, Riverbend Middle School assistant principal, is very excited and glad to have the dance. He is looking forward to students having a chance to celebrate their growth this year.

“I really think [our 8th graders] have grown up so much since seventh grade,” he said. “The staff constantly looks at new and different things to make [the dance] better,”

The students are also excited about the dance and hope to see what is new at the dance this year. Kinsley Smith, an eighth-grade student is going to go to the dance.

“I hope there is one of those photo background things,” she said.

Shelly Miles, an eighth-grade math and digital media teacher, is in charge of the dance. She’s excited about adding new things to this year’s dance.

“I want to add a photo booth because I think it would bring a chance for students to get pictures and not just before the dance,” she said.

Miles believes the staff and students will enjoy the photo booth and will be able to have more pictures with their friends.

Alizabeth Havice, an eighth-grade student attending the dance said she’s looking forward to food and drinks at the dance. Grodie and Miles stated that there would be both food and drinks at the dance,

8th grade Spring Dance

When: Friday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m.

Who can attend: Riverbend 8th graders who have no Fs, no out-of-school suspensions February-May, and no inschool suspensions April 29May 10.

Cost: $10, tickets must be purchased at school April 15May 10.

including soda, chips, and popcorn.

Students who would like to attend the dance can bring $10 into school to purchase a ticket and have a blast at the dance with their friends and favorite teachers when they are out of their element.

Dress code: Dresses must have straps and hit 4 inches above the knee; students may wear dress pants and a collared shirt; no jeans, shorts or t-shirts n

What theme do you want for the dance?

“I want it to be ‘up on cloud nine.”

“Original party style: like some streamers hanging from the ceiling and some balloons.”

“I think neon would be cool.”

Annagail Bodi 8th Grade

Thomas O’Brien 8th Grade

Zariah Duncan 8th Grade

Riverbend Dungeons & Dragons Club gives students a chance to socialize

By Colton Burt and Konner Velasco

Dungeons and Dragons Club is a popular club here at Riverbend where kids play a structured, open-ended role-playing game. Riverbend D&D Club gives students something fun to do after school. It is sponsored by Emily Puls, the art teacher here at Riverbend.

“I took over D&D last year but there was a science teacher two years ago that first started to do D&D,” The D&D club meets every other Wednesday, right after school from 2:50 - 4 p.m. in the Riverbend library.

Puls said D&D club helps students work on their communication skills in a fun way.

“They argue but it is over if they want to fight a dragon or if they want to run or if they want to become friends with this group or kill them and it is in good spirits,” she said.

8th-grader Keira King appreciates getting out of her element.

“D&D has made me more social,” King said.

Dungeons and Dragons was created in 1974 and it originated from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. They created the game out of their love of fantasy literature and wanted to create a game that was like the books they read.

Students are in groups that they created themselves, while student

dungeon masters design the game for everyone else. The dungeon master, or DM, is the leader of the group. They tell the story and describe to other players what they perceive in the imaginary game world. Dungeons and Dragons can be played with a large group of people or a minimum of two people.

There can be a lot to learn for new D&D players.

“D&D doesn’t make sense at first until you start to play and learn the rules,” 8thgrader Thomas O’Brien said.

D&D is a great social activity. Riverbend D&D members say they get to make more friends, while DMs get experience creating the game, called a campaign. 8thgrader Jakob Kham is one of the student DMs who designs campaigns for his group.

“Being a DM is not really that hard,” Kham said “But it is kind of stressful because of the other students being loud.

Students get ready to play D&D after school in the library.

Pictured, from left: Ben King, Riley Hogan, Jakob Kham, Aiden Blake, Mikael Sanchez-Rosen and Kyle LaFrance.

Photo by Ethan Frederick

Pictured from left: Savanna Fowler, Amelia Coleman, Jamie Conway and Nina Wilson. Photo by Ethan Frederick

New Riverbend band directors bring changes to program

By Aydan Brady and Mary Dunn

This year the Riverbend band program went through numerous big changes, all of them affecting the students tremendously. Two new teachers were welcomed to the band, one brand new to the district.

Joseph Musterman joined our district this year after teaching for 10 years at Sullivan. He was inspired to become a band teacher after being in the band himself during middle and high school. He was especially inspired by the teachers he had growing up and how they not only taught him how to play, but also impacted him to be a better person.

Ethan Mann, a Pacific High School graduate, was welcomed to the district last year after teaching in Higbee, Mo. for five years. He was inspired to become a band teacher because of Central Methodist University’s band coming to perform at PHS during his junior year.

“You never know what you’re going to get when it comes to middle schoolers,” Mann said. “There really is something new every day.”

Being in the band takes good teamwork skills and communication with your peers. Even if you don’t get the solo part you are still contributing just as much as others. It’s not like a sport where there are bench players. Everyone works together to make a successful band.

Students have differing opinions about some of the changes to the band program this year, especially

whether or not Musterman and Mann have expectations that are too high. The opinions depend on the student and their work ethic.

“Their standards are way too high.” Arden Brewer, 8th-grade band student, said. “They are too hard on us all of the time.” Musterman believes high expectations are important.

“I think my expectations are high, but they are very achievable if you are willing to put in the work,” he said. “It depends on if you’re there for the right reasons or if you are just there to goof off.” Some students appreciate the high expectations in the Riverbend band program.

“I don’t think they are very strict at all,” Devin Gerdes, 8th-grade band student,

Joseph Musterman directs the 8th-grade band at Riverbend in February. This is Musterman’s first year at Riverbend. Photo by Megan Arflack

8th grade students rehearse during band class at Riverbend in February. Pictured from left: Roy Dodson, Nyla McCorkell, Alaina Weatherman, Sam Morrison. Photo by Megan Arflack

Ethan Mann leads the 8th-grade band during rehearsal in February. Mann graduated from Pacific High School in 2014. Photo by Megan Arflack.

said. “They just want us to be successful.”

Riverbend band students have had success in auditions and competitions. Nine Riverbend students were selected to the AllDistrict Middle School Honor Band in the fall. On March 2, the band competed at the Union Middle School Music Festival. The band’s performance earned the highest rating, a “1,” and 19 student solos and ensembles earned “1” ratings.

The changes being made in the band have had a pretty big effect on the students. Both band teachers haven’t been at Riverbend for very long, let alone conducting a band together. Adjusting to new teachers takes time. n

Student announcers take over morning duties at Riverbend

The morning announcements are changing at Riverbend. Students can now be heard reading the announcements every morning after the bell rings at 7:30 a.m.

Riverbend Principal Todd Dempsey said he likes having students take over the morning announcements.

“It gives students a chance to be involved with the school,” he said. Each student can only do the morning announcements once.

Student announcements began in the fall with 8th-grader Oliver Love doing the announcements every Friday morning. Love said he was given the opportunity to do the announcements by simply asking Dempsey if he could do them.

By Jordan Garrett and Morgan Howard n

“Students doing the morning announcements is very important,” Miles said. “It gets them out of their box.”

Some students are chosen for the announcements over their objections, like 8th-grader Zariah Duncan.

“Overall I absolutely hated it,” Duncan said. “And I never plan on doing it again, not ever.”

Reading the announcements comes with some responsibility. To make the announcements run smoothly, students in Miles’ Exploring Digital Media class write the script and the announcer for the day gets to study it.

But soon, other students wanted a chance to read the script. 8thgrade math teacher Shelley Miles coordinates the morning announcements.

Miles said if students don’t read the script as written, they will not be able to read the announcements for the rest of the year.

Riverbend student announcers use a phone in the main office to read the morning annoucements. Pictured above is Will Price.

Photo by Shelley Miles

Hart Hillhouse wasn’t always the best player on the team. That might be hard for his P.E. students to believe when they see him now, serving as the varsity boys basketball coach at Pacific High School as well as the Athletic Development Coach at Riverbend Middle School. But he worked very hard to be where he is now, making him a better coach. He can relate to the players in these ways.

Hillhouse has been teaching in the Meramec Valley School District for around 14 years. He prefers to teach 7th and 8th grade students

”I like teaching from the basics and getting them to learn,” Hillhouse said,

His dad was the superintendent of the school district, so he was around all of the athletics. He started to play basketball, and after a few years, his love for the sport really started in high school.

“Once I got the bug for basketball, I never stopped,” Hillhouse said.

He said his last high school basketball game was the most memorable. He lost his last game. He never really was an emotional person, but he remembers shedding a few tears at the end of the game because it finally set in: suddenly it was all over for his high school basketball days.

“It hit me like a big truck that like it was just over,” said Hillhouse.

After the game his coach hugged him and despite being sad it was over, Hillhouse realized he gained a whole basketball family.

His most influential coaches were Riverbend P.E. teacher Scott Brown

Bringing Heart

In his new role as varsity boys

Hart Hillhouse brings competition

By Bella Johnson

and John Vanleer. He chose these coaches because he also got the chance to work with them. He finds them almost like a family.

Brown, a P.E. teacher at Riverbend, has been in Hillhouse’s life for many years now. He feels Hillhouse has grown a lot in his years and transformed in a positive way from player to coach.

“Hillhouse’s best features are his competitiveness and he is fun to be around. That’s what makes him successful,” said Brown.

Hillhouse believes the skill levels and development of the players have improved greatly since he played in school; he mentions they were never as advanced as the kids now.

“More kids are able to shoot and do some more things with the ball because there is such an emphasis on learning that stuff and there are more coaches teaching it”

He finds the mental strength part of the game very valuable. He always has the determination to outwork the opponent, as well as absolute perseverance in everyday life and in sports.

“Even to this day, I enjoy exercising and if I exercise with other people in my head it’s just kind of competitive, like I’m going to try to do better than the other person.”

Hillhouse teaches P.E. at Riverbend and students his weight training class. Photo by Beau Blackburn

Nathan Swebilius faces off against Hillhouse during dodgeball at the end of P.E. class. Photo by Aiden

Heart to Hoops

boys basketball coach, competition and fun to Meramec Valley

He motivates his players by “gently pushing them in the right direction.” The kids respond well because they know Hillhouse cares and they respect that.

“If I do get loud, it’s not because I’m mad. It’s because I just know they have more in the tank than they are showing and I think they respect that.”

When he experiences setbacks or losses in basketball, he likes to distract himself by being around his family. His kids enjoy being around the sporting events and practices so he tries to lean on that as much as he can. He loves to go home and play with them to recharge.

He tries to impart to his players and kids that not everything is fair and even though you may think you are working harder than the other person, that’s not always going to get it done.

“What you can worry about is giving your best effort and putting yourself in the best chance to have success,” he said.

Charlie Meyer has had Hillhouse as a teacher since 1st grade. He is the basketball manager for the Pacific High School varsity basketball team and is really close to Hillhouse.

“He’s been a role model for me since I was little,” he said. “He’s always there for me whenever I need him,” Meyer said.

Hillhouse played many sports when he was younger including track and field, swimming and basketball. Basketball stood out to Hillhouse as a favorite.

“Basketball had more action and there is a lot of non-stop movement,” Hillhouse said

Hillhouse is an athletic icon in the Meramec Valley Schol District, going from high school ball and working his way up to varsity coach.

Hillhouse shows off his silly side at a teachers vs. students basketball game during 1st Trimester.

Photo by Kathy Vogt

students especially enjoy Blackburn during a game of Aiden Blake

UNDEFEATED: 8th-grade boys’ basketball team ends season with a perfect record

By Morgan Howard

The 8th-grade boys basketball team went undefeated 15-0 this season. They improved on a one-loss 7th-grade season. All of the players were very proud of their undefeated season.

“Going undefeated does not happen often,” Coach Daniel Missey said. “It is truly something special that I hope these guys, like myself, won’t ever forget.”

This team has come a long way since last year. As they lost two starting players, each individual player had to fill roles to continue to grow and get better as a team. Throughout the season they continuously worked on rebounding, a focus skill for the season.

Gavin Haddox was a key player on the 8th-grade team. He worked hard throughout the whole season and continued to grow as a player from last year. Haddox accomplished many things throughout the season but his biggest personal accomplishment was scoring 29 points in one game. He was proud of his team for going undefeated.

“We went from thinking we were always going to lose to thinking we would always win,” Haddox said.

Although the team was proud of their undefeated record, there were still places for improvement. Players all agreed that they needed to communicate better on the court and continue to improve their play

running. Missey said he is looking forward to seeing these guys play in high school as he thinks they will have a lot of success.

The Riverbend basketball team loved playing for Missey. 8th-grader player Ryker Cozby said Missey is probably the best coach he’s ever had.

“He was amazing and he really affected us, as he truly believed in us and overall is just a great coach,” Cozby said.

8th-grader Gavin Haddox (21) jumps for the ball during a game against Washington.

Photo by Kathy Vogt

Ryker Cozby (5) defends on the court in a game against New Haven. Photo by Kathy Vogt

7th-grade boys’ basketball look forward to next season

By Morgan Howard

Although the 8th-grade season went well, the same could not be said for the 7th-grade team. The team went 5-9 after struggling with confidence all season.

“The 7th-grade group has a ton of potential, they just can’t be their own worst enemy,” Coach Daniel Missey said.

7th-grader Mason Burt said throughout the whole season they struggled with turnovers and communicating on the court. But through all of the struggles they did manage to beat Washington, which is one of the best teams in the conference. They also won consolation in one of their tournaments.

“I really think that next season will be better,” 7th-grader Jaiden Pattel said. “We just need to work on our communication.”

The 7th-grade group did not have as much success this season as 8th-grade, but they are hoping for a better result next year. Missey said that this group just needs to learn how to work together.

Each player has something they need to work on. Mason Burt said he would like to improve his court awareness. They are all looking forward to next season, hoping it will be better, as they were not happy with how their season ended.

Riverbend wrestlers find success this winter

By Colton Burt

The wrestling season for Riverbend’s 7th and 8th grade teams went very well according to the coach of the teams, Daniel Velten. Wrestling is a popular sport at Riverbend and is usually one of our strong suits when it comes to sports.

“The season went very well as a program since it was my second year as a coach,” Velten said. “It was a positive experience for the wrestlers. Even though they didn’t win much, it was a good year for most kids.”

Brett White and Gus Knott are two male wrestlers for the 8thgrade team. White went 11-4 on the season and Knott went 12-4.

White was happy with how his season went.

“I improved a lot through the year,” he said. “If it was out of 10 I would have started at a four and ended at an eight.”

Both White and Knott said the team had a positive culture throughout the season.

“Everyone was always positive at practice,” White said. “Just everything in general went well and everyone stayed positive.” Knott agreed.

“At practice, everyone worked hard and were positive no matter what,” he said.

Nina Wilson was a female wrestler for the 8th-grade team. Even though Wilson didn’t win any matches, she still improved a lot through the season.

“I liked the coaches most of the time but sometimes the practices were very difficult,” said Wilson.

Sam Osborn is a seventh-grader who was with the team this year. Even though he broke his finger halfway through the year he still went 7-2. He said he improved a lot with his technique and skills.

Many 7th-grade wrestlers were wrestling for the first time.

“Even though most 7th-grade wrestlers were new to the sport, they still adapted very well and advanced on their technique,” Velten said.

Overall seventh and eighth grade had a very successful season, especially since most of the wrestlers were new to the sport.

Brett White, 8th-grader, is declared the winner of a wrestling match during a meet at Riverbend. Photo by Kathy Vogt

Cheerleaders bring spirit to Riverbend sports

By Mary Dunn and Violet Sanchez

The 2023-2024 Riverbend cheerleading season just finished, and they had lots of successful performances at football and basketball games. Tryouts were competitive this season: only half of the 50 girls who tried out made the team. During the process of tryouts, students learned the routines the Friday before during a clinic. On the day of the tryout, all of the girls received a number and got into small groups with their partners.

“The tryouts were really great,” Lyla Hendricks, an 8th-grade cheerleader, said. “Everyone had an opportunity to do what they are best at, whether it was tumbling, dancing and other stuff like that.”

The captains weren’t decided until the season began. To become a captain, you must prepare a speech to deliver at practice. The other cheerleaders vote on their favorite candidate. This year, the cheer captains in 8th grade were Bella Johnson, Olivia Osborne and Nyla McCorkell. The 7th-grade captains were Riley Shaw-Allen, Caroline Payne and Skylar Clayton. During the practices, all of the 8th-grade captains would lead stretches, kicks and jumps for a warmup. Then they would get into their stunt groups and practice cheers. They would also make up new pyramids for halftime at the game

Every year they attend one competition, which is held at Lindenwood University. The competition team is different from the regular team. The coach, Julie Bukowsky, said the team was cut down to 15 for competition this

year. When training, they learned a routine with several skills that were judged.

“The competition was really fun because we got to watch other teams too,” 7th-grader Gracey Webb said.

The cheer season ends when the boys’ basketball season ends. After things completely wrapped up, the coaches had a meeting with the team about the upcoming season. Each of the cheerleaders had a chance to talk privately with their coach if they wanted to.

Most 8th-graders are very excited for the upcoming season and entering a new high school team.

“I’m really excited, but also very nervous entering a new environment.” Raegan Mackey, 8thgrade cheerleader, said.

Spring

Girls’ volleyball players have

By Declan Ogle and Daisy Wengler

The Riverbend girls’ volleyball season kicked in late January. The 8th-grade team is to improve their record from last season.

The 8th-grade manager Summer Stack’s goal the season is to get the team as far as possible encourage them to do their best. Stack loves a manager to watch the team grow and to have outside perspective on volleyball. Stacks enjoys being with the team, and she wants to join more practices and attend more events. Summers goal is winning as most games as possible.

Oliva Osborne’s favorite thing about volleyball just playing the sport. She comes into this year’s season to win. So far in the season, Osborn the team is doing much better than last year.

Several 8th-grade players have worked hard on their fundamentals since last season. Avery Thomas’s goal for this season is to be a better

8th-graders Raegan Mackey and Lyla Hendricks cheer at a boys basketball game. Photo by Kathy Vogt

Bella Cobb prepares to hit a volleyball. Photo Vogt n

Spring Sports Preview

have big goals for 2024 season

by Kathy

kicked off hoping season. goal for possible and loves to be have an enjoys more Summers main volleyball is year’s thinks year. hard Avery better

setter, as well as for the team to improve. She has improved on passing and serves compared to last year. Jaden Gann, the 8th-grade libero, has also worked on her skills.

“I have improved on pass setting,” Gann said. “But I want to improve on hitting.”

Zariah Duncan also hopes to improve on her hitting but knows she has gotten better compared to last year.

Katie Hermann, a first-year player, comes into the season with a goal of improving her hitting. Her favorite thing about playing volleyball is being on the team and getting to hangout with her friends and the coaches.

The biggest goal is winning for 7thgrade girls volleyball team.

Sophia Moore comes into the season with the goal of having a good mindset. Her position has always been outside but this year she was changed to middle. She has played for two clubs for a total of four years. Sophia is going to play in 8th grade and in high school. Personally, she hopes to improve on hitting, but her team goal is to communicate during games.

Lili Douglas, an outside hitter, also hopes to improve communication on the team. She plans to work on her hitting in hopes of having an undefeated season.

Some players hope for more than just wins. Myla Miller is a first-year volleyball player. She’s excited to meet new friends and enjoys playing with the other girls.

Track and field athletes ready to line up for success

By Hannah Ritz and Elisha Stock

The Riverbend Track and Field season starts soon and many students are looking forward to the new season. Students are hoping to improve upon last season.

Track and field has two parts: running events and field events. Most of the events are track events, with athletes running alone or in relay teams. Field events are focused on throwing or jumping, like in the shot put or the pole vault.

8th graders Kenny Davis and Leo Fiedler both run 200 meters and they are some of the better runners in the track conference. Davis’s favorite thing is relays, while Fiedler also enjoys pole vaulting. Davis and Fiedler both said that they were fine with the coaches but said they made them run a lot at practice.

“My favorite thing is dusting everybody,” Davis said.

8th grader Lily McCann said track was fun last season and she hopes to improve on her results from last season. McCann said running is fun but it makes her tired. McCann also said many of the people in cross country are also in track.

“I joined track to get better at cross country,” McCann said. She is happy that she is improving through track and ready for cross country.

Mason Vondera is a multisport athlete who competes in cross-country, track and basketball at Riverbend. Vondera said that he likes cross country more than track but they are both good. Vondera said that he joined to get better at running and his favorite part of track is the racing.

7th grader Kaitlyn Bonds is looking forward to joining track. Bonds just wants to run with her friends and have fun. Bonds also runs cross-country.

“I really am excited for the practices and to have fun,” said Bonds

8th grader Addy Willingham said her favorite thing about track is when the team travels.

“Traveling is my favorite part about track,” Willingham said.

“Mean Girls” movie musical review

Musical numbers don’t improve on the original movie, our reviewer says

By Lily Inman

Mean Girls” first came out in 2004, 10 years before the new version in “Mean Girls” broadways version in 2024 filled with choreography, singing, and the ‘’realities’’ of being a teenage girl. The new version doesn’t add much to the original, even with the song and dance.

“Mean Girls” was a movie to represent a mean girl’s reality. The movie “Mean Girls” has been around since the early 2000’s and has become a total hit world wide. The 2024 “Mean Girls” that was released this year attempts to update the original by adding more drama and modernizing the movie. Both movies from 2004 and 2024 represent the struggles of the environment in school as a teenage girl.

The 2024 “Mean Girls” is based on the Broadway musical from 2018, although the original film is not a musical. This may make it seem more appealing to audiences that like things like choreography and singing. The new “Mean Girls” could’ve been better if it had more Broadway vibes, since the movie is supposed to be a musical.

The characters in the new movie weren’t as relatable as the old movie characters.The girls in the original movie seem to be more fierce and petty while the new characters seem very cheap, boring, and too outgoing for a “mean girl”. “Mean Girls” is a dramatic movie that should grab the attention of the audience.

However, most reviews and opinions aren’t very happy with this movie due to its boring and cheap appearance.

The new “Mean Girls” could have just

been better overall by making the characters have more personality or more dramatic. The movie could’ve given more creativity with props, clothes, and modern technology. The technology is modeled like the technology today, but comes off as cringe because the actors are trying to act younger or more “hip,” which isn’t very appealing.

The movie is cheap and plain with not much to work with. The props and costumes in the movie make it seem extremely low-budget and straight boring since they don’t add anything appealing to young audiences.

In my opinion, “Mean Girls” is not a good movie. The movie is not better than the first movie. It’s bland and overall annoying with its bad acting, singing, and dancing. Since this movie is a musical, it should be different from the original, but the singing and dancing are just annoying. I do not think the new Mean Girls is an improvement on the original. n

Staff Editorial: Riverbend

Riverbend Times staff editorials reflect the opinion of the staff as a whole.

This year at Riverbend, students had the opportunity to take new elective classes. The staff of the Riverbend Times are excited about these new classes but we also think there could be improvements.

Most of the 8th-graders feel stressed because of these classes and claim it’s more work than a core class. Some of the 8th-graders agree that some elective classes are a workload. They argue that it shouldn’t have finals or open constructed-response questions (OCRs) and there are too many notes and not enough hands-on activities. Some students claim that they don’t get much help in these classes if they are behind in work or confused.

At Riverbend, we don’t have as many elective classes as other schools do. Students want more classes like foreign language

From left, 8th-graders Oliver Love, water plants during Exploring Agriculture.

Riverbend needs to add more elective choices

classes, business classes, woodworking, and life skills classes that prepare them for high school. The students also agree that they need more elective teachers so that we can have more elective classes.

We want our elective classes to be fun and be a stress reliever and get more time to walk around and go outside rather than sitting at a desk all day. We also want more field trips since there haven’t been many this year.

Riverbend students want things in elective classes that will help with their future. They also want elective classes that will focus on teaching them about what to expect in the future and high school rather than learning about something nonproductive for the future.

We also want to return to mixedgrade electives. We think mixed classes with 8th and 7th graders would be good for both grades. Adding 7th-graders would be a good thing because they could socialize with the 8th-graders and

make more friends in their first year here. 8th-graders also say that having the same people in the class gets boring and adding more people would make the classroom a better place.

There are many pros and cons of elective classes for students. Elective classes can put stress on students with extra work. But extra

work doesn’t always mean it’s bad. Students also get to do activities they wouldn’t get to do in normal core classes.

Some changes to elective classes could be a good thing for students who want more challenging classes that they could do hands-on activities in. n

Opinion Column: In-school suspension is a good deterrent, helps students get back on track

By Livvy Jennings

In-School-Suspension (ISS) has been around for many years. It is a form of punishment for negative behavior. ISS is usually only up to 10 days. After students get out of ISS, they would usually go back to their original classes. ISS is a fair consequence for breaking the school rules.

Riverbend assistant principal Ken Grodie is a rule follower and gives no exceptions.

“So each policy we have in our student handbook comes with different consequences,” Grodie said. “So realistically, it’s what behavior are you doing and what policy does that move into?”

Students should want to avoid ISS is because it’s boring. They have to be quiet, not talk, and just do your schoolwork or missing work. Students have to stay in their assigned seats at all times, unless they have permission to get up.

According to Riverbend ISS teacher Melissa Goebel, students should be

responsible to communicating with their teachers during ISS.

“I encourage them to keep in contact with their teachers through school email and advocate for themselves as needed,” she said. “Taking responsibility for their behavior and academic success goes hand in hand.”

ISS also removes students from their friends. They won’t be able to see or talk to them except during dismissal or on the bus. Goebel thinks this is a good consequence.

“ISS removes the students from their classrooms and classmates, giving them time to reflect their behavior and the choices they made,” she said. Being removed from your friends keeps students from getting in trouble again.

ISS restricts students’ freedoms. It takes away a Smart Pass, so students can only leave the room twice during the day, including restroom breaks. Students cannot go anywhere unless they have permission or are escorted. n

Love, Carter Conley and Liam White Agriculture. Photo by Bella Aiello