to the fullest 

-Be positive 

-Being happy is never 

checking  to see if you 

are 

Aleesa Suarez- Do your 

homework. 

Ethan Phillips- Go to 

school 

Clayton Hohimer- Don’t 

get in our way 

Trixie Stallbaumer- 

Lesson Learned: Never 

shut off your light while 

driving in the dark- it 

doesn’t end well 

-Never regret only learn 

Heath Robertson- Do 

your best to become 

thunderclassmen 

Brooke Maples- Don’t 

lie 

Mary Burns- Enjoy 

your time in high school 

-Practice safe things 

Dillion Klahr- Calm 

Down! 

Ashtin Meerpohl- Don’t 

ever think you have 

better ideas than Coach 

Barta…because you 

don’t. 

Chelsie Moore- Don’t 

park in senior parking 

lot 

-Have fun in high 

school and don’t let a 

dumb boy get in the 

way of your dreams 

Cheyenne Wells- 

Respect Upperclassmen 

-Park where you are 

supposed to 

-Work Hard 

-Have Fun 

-Make the best of high 

school and be yourself 

Cody Kelley- Enjoy 

your time in school it 

goes by fast 

Carlene McManigal- 

Don’t take anything too 

seriously 

Elizabeth Dunn-Be nice 

to Kathi Kimmi she is 

one of the best things in 

this high school 

Ryan Matzke- Live it 

up. It goes by fast! 

Chris Drury-Don’t 

disrespect the 

upperclassmen. 

Cole Augustyn- Stay 

out of trouble with the 

cops and leave your 

wallet on the dash 

when out and about. 

Kelsey Wilson- Have 

fun in high school 

before you have too 

many responsibilities. 

Dylan Calhoon- No 

advice. You can fail 

miserably. 

Jacob Boyd- Do the best 

you can in school – it 

will pay off, and enjoy 

this. It goes by fast. 

-Study for American 

Government. 

Micah Harman- 

Everyone vote Garison 

Morris for homecoming 

king!! 

Richard Iverson- Have 

fun and be as active 

as possible. Don’t miss 

P.E. or weights. Also 

don’t take anything 

for granted. It goes 

very fast. Last don’t do 

drugs. 

Corey Helus- Have 

great times!!! 

Brittany Masters- Don’t 

let drama run your life! 

Have fun in high school; 

make memories. If you 

think school is going 

fast now, wait until 

senior year. It’ll fly by. 

Zach Bowser- If you 

don’t use it, you lose 

it… in terms of high 

school opportunities. 

Devon Long- Don’t let 

drama get to you. It’s 

pointless. 

Garrett VanWinkle- 

Watch for teachers. 

They get crazier as they 

get older. 

Shelby Duncan- Be 

organized. If you are 

not, life in high school 

is so much more 

stressful. 

Shelby Dallman- Chill. 

Alex Determan- Study 

hard and enjoy your 

school days. 

Lauren Hower- Just 

DANCE! 

I thought the exact same thing when I went into the theater. 

It didn’t look original at all. Turns out “The Last Song” is 

much more than that. It really connects with you and will 

most likely get to you by the end. 

   The plot is about the stereotypical troubled teen nick- 

named Ronnie who is shipped off to her father for the sum- 

mer. Ronnie is a little less thrilled to be there than her 

young brother is. 

   After a stroll on the beach, like in every love story, she 

runs into her soul mate, Will. Of course it doesn’t work out 

in the beginning considering he is perfect. Blonde hair, blue 

eyes, attractive. Not everything can happen that easily. 

They do have a few haters, Will’s best friend, ex-girlfriend, 

and his mother. Eventually, Ronnie falls for it and they fall 

deeply in love. 

   Everything appears to be perfect in her life, including her 

relationship with her father. Not soon after her whole world 

is changed once again 0when Ronnie finds about her father 

has been diagnosed with cancer. 

   Multiple surprising secrets will be discovered throughout 

the story line.  The movie definitely has many twists but still 

maintains a good, solid story line. I give it 7 out of 10 paws.

It’s wet, it’s slippery, it’s flouride? Some people might ask, “Isn’t that in toothpaste?” Flou- 

ride is in toothpaste, but it’s also a contaminate in tap water, which makes it taste like it 

does. 

   Flouride is in both, and some might ask, “Why is this a problem? It’s in toothpaste, it’s not 

bad for us.” It is bad for us, at least to consume, that’s why swallowing toothpaste is looked 

down upon. 

   Flouride level limits in tap water was 2.4 mg/L. The limit was raised in 1985, and is now 

about 4 mg/L. 

   The reason that flouride is considered dangerous to consume, is because it is more poison- 

ous than lead, but slightly less harmful than arsenic. A lethal dose of flouride is 5 mg of 

flouride per 1 kg of a person’s bodyweight. 

   Amounts for children is about 15 to 20 less than that of a full grown adult. That’s why 

children under the age of 2 cannot use flouride toothpaste. 

   For years scientists have known about how toxic flouride is, but kept it from the general 

public, and tried to put it in a favorable light through controlled media. 

   That seems to be some information that shouldn’t be kept secret. 

   One part that is terrible is the fact that the government supports the amount of flouride in 

the water, and long-term exposures of this chemical has shown to cause cancer. 

   Excessive consuption has also shown that certain people will eventually have a weakening 

of bones, kidney problems, possible liver damage, chromosomal damage, low IQ, and suppre- 

sive effects on the thyroid. 

   Even though the truth is out there now, it is kind of scary to know what could potentially 

happen, but most people will ignore the facts and call it just another “conspiracy theory”. 

“Our school isn’t that much different from yours; we just have a little more of the good, the bad and the ugly,” Ron Vinduska, principal said.

The total number of kids at Seaman is around 1,250 and each class has about 250-300 kids in it. One grade almost equals our whole school! That would make it difficult to meet new friends and then have a good chance of those people being in your class.

“It was very intimidating because the school was so big,” Christa Hill, sophomore journalist, said. “At break everyone has their spot where they stand everyday and being a ‘new student’ I didn’t know what to do other than just stand there and wait to go back to class.”

“Going to Seaman made me realize how much I like Holton, walking through the hall ways was like walking through a crowd of hyenas,” Victoria Harshaw, sophomore journalist, said. “The rooms were all open; it made me feel like I was in middle school again.”

Besides the apparent fact of their school being a giant compared to Holton, we found many more differences. While our classes are alternated everyday, they have all classes every Monday and then the rest of the week they alternate days. The principal is very strict on NO cell phones. It’s either put away and shut off or taken away and put into the office where a parent must come pick it up and the student gets a detention. They have four different lunches for 25 minutes instead of just two. Another huge difference was how the rooms were built. In most halls the rooms would sit right next to each other, with just one measly wall separating them and no door or complete wall to close in the class. In most of the classes a student could just look over the wall and peek into the next class.

“It was really hard to concentrate because I could hear a louder teacher in the room next to me talking to his class,” Sam Riley, sophomore journalist, said. “Every time somebody walked by I would look up to see who it was, even though I hardly knew anyone from there.”

Seaman high school was different from Holton High School on the inside and also in the classes it contained as well.

One of the main differences was the large variety of opportunities students get to choose from. They have specialized classes like zoology, orchestra, pottery class, foreign languages like Chinese, French, Spanish, and a lot more. Talking to other students at lunch, we found that they have all the way up to Spanish 5, while our school only reaches to Spanish 2.

“I really liked how the kids had so many choices to choose from, that was probably my favorite part of the school,” Kylie Miller, sophomore journalist, said. “If I did go there it would be so overwhelming, but in a good way.”

One major course at Seaman is marching band. There are around 70 students in their Middle school band and they have 168 people in their high school marching band. In order to fit all of the middle school students in one room for band practice they have to bus them from the Middle school to the high school where they have a room big enough.

The Multimedia Department has a set studio where they have daily broadcasts telling students and teachers about the weather and upcoming activities in their school by television. Every class has a television so in the morning students can watch some of the kids in their school inform everyone what’s happening that day.

One thing that really stands out at Seaman was that they have a student- run bank right in their school. The bank was established in 1927. It is actually part of their business and documents class. There is only one other school in the area that has a bank in their school and they only have it because the former principal at Seaman high is now the principal at that school.

Seaman has more opportunities in the sports area also. They have all of the same sports as our school, except they have more to choose from such as soccer, swimming, tennis and even bowling!

When we were first thinking about writing this story we just wanted to visit a bigger school and figure out the difference between our school and theirs. After going through with it we ended up finding out what it’s like to be a new student, in a new school, not knowing anybody but each other. Overall, however, it was a great experience and we would all do it again.

The story starts out as an abandon baby and his mother float up to a ship in a box. The fisherman inside the boat takes the child and raises him as his own son. When Perseus grows up his parents, sister and himself taking a fishing trip to Argos where they discover soldiers of Argos tearing down a statue of Zeus. When the statue falls Hades appears and kills off multiple soldiers before destroying the ship that Perseus and family are on. Perseus is the lone survivor on the boat. Perseus is brought before the King and Queen of Argos who almost immediate start insulting the gods, enticing Hades to return and as punishment to the King and Queen condems the city to be destroyed at the hands of the Kraken, or sacrifice there Princess Andromeda. As Hades is leaving he notices Perseus and immediately recognizes him as a demi- god. Later Io appears to Perseus and tells him that he is in fact the son of Zeus. He then tries to find a way to kill Hades, defeat the Kraken and save Princess Andromeda.

Along the way he meets and often fights giant scorpions, a mutant- king, the Gorgan Medusa, the stygian witches, harpies, Zeus, the Kraken and Hades.

The movie is designed to be fun but it has deeper messages asking us if we have the power to throw off the shackles of oppression, the ability to know right from wrong and madness, and whether the life of one is worth an entire city. The character of Perseus is the main draw for the movie, his struggle to use his power to do good with actually becoming like then gods themselves, is truly inspiring.

This is a good movie to go see on a boring weekend for fun. Fans of action, adventure and fantasy movies will find plenty to enjoy. I give the movie three and a half stars, it’s a good movie that’s worth carrying the title of a summer blockbuster even it is the spring.

“I don’t see these cuts ending for two or three years,” Principal John Ernst stated.

The first round of cuts were made last Monday at the school board meeting.  The list of cuts saved the district an estimated $383,000.  This list included non-renewing the contracts of 12 instructors at the special ed co op and one high school math instructor, Luke Lang.  Steve Bowser, school board president, explained that the board has the Reduction in Force (RIF) policy in place in case there are budgetary problems or they need to change the schedule.

“This policy takes into account tenure in the district, and if there are other places that teachers are qualified to teach,” Bowser said.  He explained that even if a teacher is qualified to teach at the high school level, that instructor might not be certified to teach at the middle school level.

During the 2008-2009 school year eight Kansas schools switched to a 4-day school week, and more districts are considering making this switch this year.  However, Karleskint was personally opposed to making this change.  “It is not an effective way to educate students,” he said.

Bowser pointed out other concerns with making this switch.  “You run into trouble with grade school children who have parents who are working and have to find day care for one day a week,” he explained.

Some other cuts that will affect high school students include changing the way that the medical careers class will be offered.  Next year if a student wants to take this class, it will be offered the second semester and the student will have to ride the bus down to Washburn Tech to take it.  Another possible change includes offering an interactive Advance Placement Calculus class in which students will learn from a teacher on a television screen.  The teacher will then come to work with the students in person once or twice a month.

“No it is not the most effective way, I would much rather have a teacher in the classroom every day,” Bowser said.  “But, this way is better than not offering it at all.”  Another topic that the school board brought up was changing from block scheduling to an eight day period.  The board decided to let the teachers vote and they voted to keep block scheduling.  Other changes at the high school level include eliminating a freshman or JV sporting event, having Alex Bartel, science teacher, teach half time at the middle school and half time at the high school, having all teachers instruct seven classes, instead of six, and cutting  $100,000 from the technology budget.

Although USD 336 is going through some tough times, we aren’t alone.

“If you watch the news and read the paper, we aren’t the only ones going through it.  It’s just not Holton, Kansas; it’s nuts,” Bowser said.   He also stated that the board is doing everything they can to keep as many people working as they can.

“Right now we are in the process of building a schedule and doing everything in our power to give the students the same class choices and chance to succeed as possible,” Ernst said.

Someone told me the other day the Chiefs didn’t have a good draft, which is why I’m chuckling as I write this story. This person mentioned the only key player we picked up was Tennessee safety Eric Berry. I guess he turned the T.V off for the second day. Have you heard of Dante Hall, Devon Hester, or even Darren Sproles? The Kansas City Chiefs second round pick, Dexter McCluster out of Ole Miss, has the capability of all those guys. He is only 5’ 8”, but has the speed of Sproles. He can come in and be a huge factor as a slot-receiver, which the Chiefs lacked tremendously last year. Just think of a package with Jamal Charles, Thomas Jones, and McCluster all in the game at the same time. I would be going crazy if I was a defensive coordinator. There’s no possible solution to stopping all three of those guys.

The Chiefs also drafted Javier Arenas from the National Champion team Alabama. This guy finished second all-time in the NCAA for special teams returning punts and kickoffs. This is a position the Chiefs haven’t been consistent in for the last 3 years. Dante Hall was the last guy to come through and succeed as a returner for the Chiefs. Adding this guy will improve the offense’s starting field position incredibly this year. He is also said to be the best blitzing corner back in the draft, according to ESPN Analysis Mel Kiper Jr.

So, you might want to think twice before you talk smack on the Chiefs draft.

The state requires that school districts set their maximum budget authority for capital outlay funds every five years. Our resolution expired this year and in order to levy any amount of capital outlay the board must pass new resolution. The state also sets the maximum budget authority for school capital outlay funds. The maximum in Kansas currently is 8 mills, which is up from 6 mills which was the amount when the last resolution was passed by the USD 336 Board. Approving the 8 mill maximum budget authority does not mean that the board is raising its mill levy, it just gives the board the authority to levy up to that amount. The reason the maximum was raised to 8 mills is due to the fact that the Kansas Legislature is placing more responsibility on the local school board to finance schools. An example of that is that in years past when the school board levied one mill of capital outlay the state would provide 46% of that amount to the district. This pass year the legislature eliminated that 46% for capital outlay, (they did not eliminate the 46% for bonds for construction, just capital outlay). Since I have been here the board has never raised the capital outlay mill levy over 4 mills. This past year the amount was 2.25 mills. It was the consensus of the board and I agree that in these times of serious financial constraints it would be wise to have the authority in case of emergencies.

To get to the point of what the protest means. Since 10% of the registered voters of USD 336 signed the petition there now must be an election to determine if the board can levy capital outlay funds up to 8 mills. This item is on the agenda for tonight’s school board meeting. It is first on the agenda.

The board has one of three choices. 1) Call a special election for a vote on the question, 2) wait till the primary election, which is August 4 and put the question on that ballot, 3) wait till November and put it on the general election.

In number 1 the school district would have to pay the full amount for the cost of the special election; in number 2 the board would have to pay for the set up and printing of the ballots as they pertain to the question – the district would have to do that in all 3 options. Number 3 is really a bad choice; if the board waited till November to put the question on the ballot we would not be able to levy any capital outlay for this coming school year. The 2nd choice has its challenges also, we would be cutting it very close to have the election, get the election certified, then publishing the budget (must be published in the paper at least 10 days prior to the hearing) and then having the budget hearing. The deadline date to have the budget finalized is August 25th.

Some have asked why we don’t just levy what we did last year. This is not an option our resolution for capital outlay has expired so we are at “0″ until there is an election. If it passes, the board can levy up to 8 mills; if it fails, we are still at 0.
This does create challenges for the district if we have no capital outlay. We currently have two loan payments that must be paid next year, one is for the roof repairs on the Middle School that was made 4 years ago, and the final payment on the computers for the 1 to 1 lap top at the high school. These two loans total $235,000. (The computer payment has been made from LOB in the past; it was my intent to make this payment out of capital outlay next year, which would leave more in general fund and LOB for operating and salaries) We would then have to depend on the General Fund to make these loan payments if we had no capital.

Another interesting event will be taking place this week as Tiger Woods plans to play golf again for the first time since his “incident” with his wife.  Woods had been a national icon and one of the top athletes in the world.  For me, I had always respected this guy and he was up on a pedestal to me as a top athlete and person.  The hugs with his dad after winning, playing on one leg after injuring his knee, and the story of his dad working with him when he was young all captured the attention of America and me.  I guess we will see if he is truly sorry and going to change his ways.  If fans decide  to forgive Woods hopefully it will be because he is remorseful and has changed his ways, not because he won the Masters.

Here is Haley’s Comet’s positive take on the outlook of KC’s sports teams.

Look at the Chiefs this year being aggressive.  Not only have we returned two proven Pro-Bowl offensive linemen, we have also added 2008-2009 fantasy wonder Thomas Jones.  The Chiefs are already five weeks ahead of where they were last year.  If the Chiefs can have a good draft to go along with their free agent pickups, then they might have a shot this year.

The Royal’s are 13-11-3 in spring training play.  They are sitting in the middle of the pack, ranked 6 out of 15 teams.  With 182 runs scored, most in the Cactus league, the Royal’s offense might be turning around this year.  Danny Duffy, one of Kansas City’s top pitching prospects pulled a Zach Greinke.  In late spring training he took a leave of absence.  If he turns out like Greinke I’m all for it!

This month  is Car Care Month.

(Drew Porter)