The winter of 1932 in the US was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid

Dirty snow melts faster than clean.

In ten minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world’s nuclear weapons combined!

Oak trees are struck by lightning more than any other tree.

9 out of 10 lightning strike victims survive

The speed of a typical raindrop is 17 miles per hour.

Snowiest city in the U.S. : Blue canyon, California

Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women!

Contrary to popular belief, lightning travels from the ground upwards not from the sky downwards.

In 2010, it rained live fish in the Australian village of Lajamanu. There’s something a bit fishy about that…

The heaviest hailstone recorded weighed one kilogram – that’s huge.

“It gets me more into the game and something to look forward to since I’m not a huge fan of basketball. It makes each game a more memorable memory.” Taylor Rahe, 12 said.

Sheridan Wilt who is a participant encourages people to try it.

“To people who don’t participate, I know you’re probably thinking, oh, people would think that’s weird, but if everyone else is doing it, it’s more fun!  Just try it once or twice and you’ll like it!” Wilt 10, says.

You’re probably wondering how they come up with student section themes. Victoria Harsahw, 12, and Justine Powls 12, brainstorm ideas for the student section themes. “We try to think of what holiday or special event we can link it to. Like last Friday was Friday the13th so we decided to wear creepy masks” Harshaw said.

“A lot of players and other students have noticed our “lacking” student section.  The student sections boost the teams morality and energy.

“There are some games when the visiting team out numbers our student section which is kind of sad,” Kyrstie Miller, 10 said.

Even though few students participate, players still appreciate the support. “I appreciate the themes, and the dressing up. It would be a lot better if more people participated and more people showed up though,” Ethan Holaday, 10, said.

Once the seniors are gone, Powls thinks that the themes will end. But she hopes the underclassmen will continue to do them.

Halloween is almost here and what is not more important than being scared and having fun with it? You could go all of the way to Atchison or even Kansas City to the haunted houses. But why not stay local? Why don’t you attempt to take an adventure North of Holton and see what you can accomplish?

Some students at Holton High have tried and failed but others who are luckier have made it all of the way to the mansion and have a story to tell people for the rest of their lives.

“One time I was driving up to the mansion with a couple other people and in the field next to the mansion there was a grain truck with its lights on but nobody was in it or around it. When we turned around to leave the truck took off across the field- it was the scariest thing in the world!” Alexa Kitrell, 12, said.

Other students have said that an older man chased them away and that he was carrying a gun or an axe. Who knows if their stories are real or if they were just imagining things but either way it’s still scary to think about.

“It was Halloween night a year or two ago and we were trying to get out of the driveway and the old man pinned our car so we could drive anywhere, it was really scary.” Hannah Coverdale, 11, said.

Some student’s stories aren’t as scary and they really don’t make you worry at all.

“Me and a couple friends ding dong ditched the old man’s house. We left the car at the road so we could make a quick get-a-way. Nothing really scary happened but my friends went back later that night and there were a lot of cops.” Garrett Lambrecht, 11, said.

As student’s stories keep getting creepier and creepier you definitely wont want to try to make it up that lane. Behind that lane is something many people haven’t seen or that many wouldn’t dare attempt to see.

“We were getting ready to leave and out of no where this truck turned its bright lights on and an old guy told me to throw my keys and to get out of the car. The cops showed up and it was a fun night.” Jacob Ewing, 11, said.

There isn’t a better time to bring this scary place up. There might be scarier things to write about but what’s more scary than having a haunted house that somebody didn’t create in your own town? Now, I’m challenging you- Can you do what very few people have done? Set your mind to it and you shall succeed! My advice to you is to play it safe and if old guy comes after you then turn around and get the heck out of there as quick as you can!

Queen Elizabeth the first ate so many sweets that her teeth rotted away and turned black. As she grew older, mirrors were kept away from her so she couldn’t see herself.

Women were not allowed to play roles in plays, so men had to play women’s parts.

So many people wore wigs in Elizabethan times that if a child was out after dark, they were in danger of having their hair cut to be made for wigs.

Queen Victoria was only 18 when she came to the throne and was the first royal to travel by train.

Queen Victoria thought the telephone was ugly so she had a pretty box built to put it in.

Princess Diana was bipolar and had very bad anxiety.

The Queen is the only person in Britain who can drive without a licence or a registration number on her car. And she doesn’t have a passport.

The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June.

Fresh out of college, this is Brock’s first time being a teacher, and according to the students at Holton high, she’s a hit.

“She makes class a lot of fun and I look forward to having her class. She has a way with really connecting with the students because she’s so much closer in age to us,” Jessup White, 11, said.

Brock’s plan is to bring literature from the past, classic novels, the kind of things that teenagers now a day cringe at the thought of, and make it modern, make it relate to their lives.

“The way I envision my classroom is a place where kids can come and be creative, be able to use technology, and definitely have a sense of humor,” Brock said.

Brock will be spending the first part of the semester in Mrs. Harshaw’s room, teaching Senior and College English, along with Creative writing, and then second half of the first semester she will be moving into Mrs. White’s room and teaching Freshmen English.

“I’m lucky to have Mrs. Harshaw and Mrs. White as my mentors. They are both really great teachers,” Brock said.

Teaching, she says, is a lot harder than she anticipated.

“It is SO much work. I teach all day, and then I go home and work on my lesson plans for the next day.”

Even through all of the teacher work she has to work on, she also maintains another job that she works on during the evenings when she has time, and on the weekends.

Brock is a freelance greeting card writer. She’s been writing greeting cards for four years, and her cards are sold nation wide. She writes humor cards for birthdays and all major holidays.

Brock, even in her busy schedule, made sure to come to the football game on Friday. She was really impressed by how many people came and the amount of school spirit that Holton High School has. One of her favorite things about the school is its spirit.

“I usually go to bed around 11:30p.m. It just depends on how tired I am after football games and practices.” Ethan Holaday, sophomore, said.

Teens undergo a lot of mental and physical activity within a days span. Between sports, academic activities, and clubs most teens have very little time to rest. While the body and brain aren’t meant to receive hours and hours of stress in one day, that’s what happens. Leaving a little time to relax can help the body and brain recoup and be ready for the next challenge that you have to face.

“Yes, I have a hard time getting to bed because I am worried about my next day at school.” Ali Morris, freshman, said.

Many things can affect how and when a person may get to sleep. For teens, some of the obvious things are stress, diet, overworking, and maybe even their environment. Alcohol, drugs, and smoking can play a big role in sleeping habits also. But for others it may just be the fact that they can’t sleep very well.

“I feel very tired and unfocused?” Dustin Keen, Senior, sad.

Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep are more prone to suffer from depression, lower grades, nervousness, and even serious car accidents. Not receiving enough sleep can affect many areas of life.

Of course, you don’t have to get 9 hours of sleep every single night. That would be almost impossible. But leaving a little time to rest and/ or sleep will help you perform better physically and mentally.

“We started studying cultures and I knew we wouldn’t be cooking for awhile,” Oldehoeft said. After the students researched their country, they were to create a backdrop that made the class think they were in that country.

“It is a good way to allow the students to learn about cooking and incorporate different cultures,” Oldehoeft said. Groups had to work together to bring food that was related to the culture of their country.

Groups were allowed to get their decorations or they could make them. “My group got our decorations from Mrs. Eubanks, because she has been to Mexico,” Dustin Keen, 12, said.

The projects ranged from podcasts to music to decorations all related to that country. Once students had their food and decorations, they presented the project to the class. They had to tell how the decorations and the food related to its culture. “My group was Mexico, and we cooked food that was dominant in the culture,” Kallie Stallbaumer, 11, said.

“The project was fun because you got to cook stuff that you don’t cook everyday,” Stallbaumer said. Food that some might consider American, really isn’t. “It surprised me how much Italian food is cooked in the United States,” Stallbaumer, said.

After presenting to the class everyone got to travel around the world and taste the different cultures. The class period went from just learning to experiencing new cultures AND learning!

For the past 3 years, Bontrager had scored a 100% on her math KCA tests, and she was bored with her current math classes. “…I thought it would be really cool if I could actually learn in a class, and be challenged.” That’s when someone suggested that she ‘skip’ a year of math. “That’s when I realized I had more potential that I thought I did. Much more.” The next year, Bontrager had originally requested to skip a grade of school, but was denied- although they did remember her request. Since she had shown much improvement in English, they allowed her to excel in that area as well.

“Everyone was throwing out opinions. I had to remind them that it was my education, not theirs, and I had to decide what was best for me!” Bontrager said.

Bontrager had to over come many obstacles. There were people trying to get her to go in different directions than planned, and trying to get her to do what they would like, rather than her interests. Bontrager found it hard to communicate with the school board and principals to let them know what she wanted, without sounding rude.  Other students were even asking her to complete their homework, but of course she declined.

“I lost hope in myself, but I knew it was what I wanted. I had to pick myself up and keep going.”

Getting to where she is now was no walk in the park! During the summer of 2010, Bontrager had to take home two math books, and do all of the chapters in each book to be able to advance to a higher-level class. She was in the 8^th grade, algebra 1 class, throughout her 7^th grade year. Bontrager showed such an improvement on her English, and was already great at it, so they allowed her to be in Honors English 9 this year as well.

“The high school classes that I am taking aren’t super challenging so far.” Bontrager expressed. “Hopefully once we get into projects and tests it will get harder.”

According to FFA Advisor Jason Larison, “ They all did an amazing job.”

Holton swept the top 9 gold medals in the information test and had another student tie for the tenth-place medal, out of 350 students tested.

The following competed and medaled in the event:  First – Derek Haverkamp 50 (PERFECT SCORE); second-place tie Dean Klahr and Emaleigh Clark 49 (even on tie breakers); fourth place Karl Wilhelm 49;  fifth place Braden Sides 49; sixth place Nicole Kathrens; seventh place Tori Bontrager 48; eighth place Nathan Shields 48; ninth place Taryn Weilert 48; tenth place tie Shannon Sides 47.

Holton had six or seven more students in the 40′s.  Last year the top score at district was a 46.

“This is the best we have EVER had a group of freshmen do at Greenhand Conference,” Larison said.  “I challenged them in class that they have the brain power and ability to sweep the top 10!  They rose to the challenge. I am not sure if this has ever been done before. I am very proud of these kids!”