Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Christmas


Everyone is so excited about Christmas! Houses are beginning to be decorated with crazy amounts of tiny lights and houses are being filled with the scent like cookies and cinnamon. The wood-stove is on and outside you can see the snow. In every country celebrates Christmas in a different way.
So let me let you in on how Germany and America Christmases are different.
In Germany the Christmas Eve is still on December 24th. In the evening we go to church and afterwards have dinner. Then, we get presents that are lying under the Christmas tree. On the 25th and 26th we have our first and second Christmas day. On these days you visit family and have dinner.


By: Helke Sundmacher

Monday, November 21, 2011

Choir at The Methodist Church


Yesterday, our High School Choir sang at the United Methodist Church in Liberty Center for Thanksgiving. The Choir performed excellent and the views of the people in the church were great. The Choir sang “Go in the Grace of the Lord” and “Lord bless you” for Thanksgiving. Also they sang some songs, which we heart on the fall concert with some solos. Again a good job from the High School Choir and Mrs. Hughes!


By: Helke Sundmacher

Fossil Fun


The most interesting trip you may ever go on would be the Biology fossil field trip. We departed school at 8:30 with two buses. Fun Fact: We saw Santa clause walking around in Richmond Indiana. The bus ride took around two hours. We arrived on highway 27 and got off the buses on the middle of the highway. The buses then left us to find fossils all by ourselves, although there were four chaperons to guide us across the busy highway. We spent about an hour searching for fossils on the very steep, dangerous, fossil-filled hill. Many people slipped and fell down the rocky hill. Hands dry and lips chapped from the blistering cold, we then loaded back on the bus to go find nourishment. Our options were McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Burger King. McDonalds was very busy. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get your food, but in my opinion it was worth the wait. Although I have heard that a few people got sick from eating there. Then it was back on the road again for the very long bus ride home. Many people fell asleep on our way home, so it seemed a lot shorter than the ride there. We found this trip enjoyable and would gladly go on it again!



By: Brooke Penrod

Behind Me...Not Infront of Me


Usually, I hold my tongue and I don’t mind when people cut in the lunch line, but I’m getting sick of it. It’s not that there’s not anything left, I never buy ale carte. It’s the lack of respect that said cutter has for the people that came before them. It’s not cool and is unnecessary. I understand why people cut. I’m not very patient myself and I often look for people to join the front of the line with, but I don’t do it. Personally, being in the back isn’t that bad. The line goes fairly quickly and you’re always guaranteed food. Just grow up do what you’ve been taught to do since and go to the back. It’s the right thing to do.



I vote to bring back senior bell!

By: Austin Hampton

Mrs. Shoaf


Mrs. Shoaf is new this year at the school, but already everyone knows her. So I thought we could ask her some questions about how she likes working here. Her first statement was that she loves working at Southern Wells! Her first impression at this school was about the students here, who were appreciation for hard working. She found that many students are used to working hard outside of school and that translates well to the classroom. She also was impressed by the way all students interact. She feels like there is less separation between groups of friends here than at other schools she has been in. This is a great statement about our school.
To the questions, what’s her favorite part of teaching here? Her answer came quickly… Her favorite part of teaching at Southern Wells is making connections with the students. She likes teaching English, but she loves young people. Building respect with students is important to her and she really enjoys maintaining healthy relationships with her students and seeing them maintain healthy relationships with each other.
Which grade does she like teaching the most? She actually loves teaching all of her classes. She has at the moment two freshmen and two senior English classes. If she could chose any age for teaching, she thinks she would like a 7th or 8th grade the best. When she was a student she taught a group of 7th graders and she loved, loved, loved that grade!
Finally to the last question, why she wanted to teach at Southern Wells, the reason is, that she wanted to teach close to home, so when this job opened up, she applied right away. She lives about 25 minute’s away from the school, in between Bluffton and Berne. She also appreciates the atmosphere of a small school, so Southern Wells is perfect.




By: Helke Sundmacher

Cafe Write Away


Mrs. Shoaf has in her classes, the coffee shop, “Café Write Away”, where the students have coffee during class and write stories at the same time. The students have a lot of fun with this activity and enjoy the time to let their minds run free. I asked Mrs. Shoaf, how she came up with the coffee shop idea. She answered, that the coffee shop was her attempt at encouraging students to write and when we have a Café Write Away day, the students write in a “coffee house” atmosphere. It’s fun and gets our “smart” creative juices flowing.
A great idea from Mrs. Shoaf!



By:Helke Sundmacher

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Thanksgiving Break


REMINDER: We will not be having class on Thursday or Friday to celebration Thanksgiving. Everyone have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving break!






Sincerelly,
Southern Wells Media Team

YOU ARE MORE!


Thursday, November 10, the 15th annual Youth For Christ Banquet was held in the cafeteria. As people arrived they were seated and the Campus Life students served them beverages. The students then formed an assembly line and passed food out to the entire guest.
While everyone ate, some students gave their testimonies about Campus Life. This gave the guest a feel of what Campus Life is all about. Three Jr. High students spoke, Hunter, Autumn, and Tori. Four High School students then gave their story and they were Dain, Morgan, Cain, and Brittney.
Next a video was played featuring Seth Biberstine. He told us his story about how he came to be the person he is today and that there is more behind him than just sports.
Pastor Jeff then told us about some of the students he mentored in the past. All of their stories were interesting and very moving. He told us about the students that had passed in his time.
Then the kids passed out envelopes that the guest were to fill out, but only if they wanted to, saying that you would donate money to the Youth For Christ Foundation. Many people filled this out and gave a generous donation.



By: Megan Lefebvre and Molly Stoffel

Friday, November 11, 2011

Campus Life Banquet

Thursday, November 10, the 15th annual Youth For Christ Banquet was held in the cafeteria. As people arrived they were seated and the Campus Life students served them beverages. The students then formed an assembly line and passed food out to the entire guest.


While everyone ate, some students gave their testimonies about Campus Life. This gave the guest a feel of what Campus Life is all about. Three Jr. High students spoke, Hunter, Autumn, and Tori. Four High School students then gave their story and they were Dain, Morgan, Cain, and Brittney.




Next a video was played featuring Seth Biberstine. He told us his story about how he came to be the person he is today and that there is more behind him than just sports.




Pastor Jeff then told us about some of the students he mentored in the past. All of their stories were interesting and very moving. He told us about the students that had passed in his time.




Then the kids passed out envelopes that the guest were to fill out, but only if they wanted to, saying that you would donate money to the Youth For Christ Foundation. Many people filled this out and gave a generous donation.




by Molly Stoffel and Megan Lefebvre

On the Eleventh hour of the Eleventh day of the Eleventh month...

Veterans Day in the United States is one of the most precedented holidays in a typical year. On November 11, 1918 Armistice Day was proclaimed with the end of WWI taking place on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. Exactly one year later President Woodrow Wilson made it a holiday. But in 1954, congress changed the name to Veterans Day in order to show respect to all men and women who have served this great nation. Because it is a federal holiday, many American people have the day off from school or work for Veterans Day.
Non-essential federal government offices are closed. No mail is delivered. All federal workers are paid for the holiday. All this is due to the bravery shown by the Veterans of this country, living or dead they deserve our respect and I couldn’t think of a better way than dedicating an entire day to them. So the next time you claim freedom and why it is a great thing, remember “Our Finest Hour”, “ The Big Red One”, remember our young men and women who fought in the jungles of Vietnam, the scorching heat of Dessert Storm, and the “living hell” that is currently taking place in the Middle East. And think of everyone who has died so we can call this nation the greatest on earth.



by Lucas Miller

Southern Wells Veteran's Day Program

Today, November 11, 2011, the Southern Wells Community gathered together to honor our nation’s Veterans. The day started off early this morning when FCCLA students, under direction of Mrs. Franks, served breakfast for the Veteran’s. This is an annual breakfast done every year for the Veterans. I think this is a great way to show our gratitude to all of the service they have given. Then it was off to the gym for the program. The color guard was presented first, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem which was played by the High School Pep Band. Sadie Herr spoke about the history of Veteran’s Day, followed by Brittney Morton who introduced the guest speaker, Sandy Yencer. Sandy told about her brother who fought in the Vietnam War, and died flying a plane. She also told of the brave soldiers who risked their lives to recover his body so there could be a proper burial with his family and the effect this had on her family. Following Mrs. Yencer, Mrs. Shoaf invited individuals of Student Council to pass out the letters that were written by students here at Southern Wells. Overall, I think today was a very good experience for everyone, and I hope we all realize how much has been done to save this country we live in.





by Brooke Penrod
This year, Winter sports are coming a little earlier, with the football team running into a school that recruits… Tough luck huh ;) Anyways the boys are shaping up for a little bit of round ball. Last season was a success, with our Raiders taking home the Sectional Title for the second consecutive season. This year hopes are high as well as emotions, returning Senior Captain Clayton “C$” Hamilton takes the reins, along with Jagger “the Body” Love, and Kyle “Muggsy” Penrod. Levi "Shermanator" Sherman, a player who came along nicely and was a great addition to the depth chart. Yes sir, our boys are definitely shaping themselves for another run at a Sectional threepeat, something never done in the history of Southern Wells. Even with the changes in Sectional Sites (moved to Monroe Central after a long tenure of being held at the Raiderdome) the Raiders have the chance to live up to all the hype. It’s time to break out the bleacher seats and winter coats, ‘cause it’s Basketball Season!!!





by Lucas Miller

Raider Rasslers

This year hopes are high for the Wrestling team, with last year’s Semi-State qualifier Benjamin Fiechter as one of the leaders of the team. Senior Seth Biberstine who qualified for Semi-State his Sophomore year, was laid up with surgery to his shoulder last year is now returning to the team, they bring back a little more firepower. Coach Landis is as good as they come as far as coaching goes and the guys give him all the respect in the world. Hopefully the boys can make a run at the first ACAC Team Championship, or Sectional Championship in school history. It sure will be a lot of fun to come to the Raiderdome and see our guys representing our fine school on the mat this year.

by Lucas Miller

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Black Friday!

Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year. There was an estimated 212 million shoppers last year that spent an average of $365 per shopper. On Black Friday, stores will open at 4 p.m., although there has been word that some stores may open around 11 on Thanksgiving evening. Macys, Kohls, Target, and Best Buy are among the stores that plan to open late on Thanksgiving. So before you go out shopping, here are some things you may want to do as to save time and avoid as many crowds as possible:
• Gather sale ads
• Make a plan of stops you want to make based on which retailers open first
• Know where the items that you are looking for are at in the store
• And finally be prepared to…… WAKE UP EARLY! Or go to bed late. Which ever.

Only 16 more days until Black Friday, so get busy!




By: Brooke Penrod

Finance Park!

Today, our career planning class ventured to Fort Wayne to attend Finance Park. We applied what we had learned from the past 9 weeks of school to determine how much money we would make in a month. Also we learned how to make a budget and stick to it. The whole field trip was tiring, although a very good experience.
Given a chance I would go back and be a volunteer next.year.

-Megan Lefebvre

Friday, November 4, 2011

Fall Concert

On Tuesday November the 8th, the choirs and bands will be performing in the cafeteria at 7:00 p.m. The band will be playing concert and pep band music, and the choirs will be singing some modern contemporary music chosen by the choir. Also, the high school showchoir, Singers, will be performing their Street Fair show. If you aren’t doing anything on Tuesday night, bring the family out to see the various music groups.



By: Kendra Mounsey

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The First Week

The first week of basketball has been tiring, well, to me at least. I have not been running since summer league. I’m not going to lie, I felt out of shape, and I’m sure some other people did too. We worked on the basic things; running, shooting, passing, and some defense. Our coach, Mr. Lefebvre, has been ‘taking it easy’ for the pass few days, but I’m not sure how long that’ll last.
The first day was definitely the worst. We all thought that the worst part was the RUNNING. The thing that I hated the most and caused the most running was the pressure free throws. Only a couple people made their free throw, so we had to run more than I would have liked to.
Now that we are getting used to the sport again we are starting to have a bit more fun with the practices.
The Freshman Team’s first game is November 21st, and the first JV and Varsity game is November 14th.



By:Megan Lefebvre