Brenden Adams
Jordyn Picolet, Kellen Marshall
Jayden Moseley-Cannon, Felicity Smith
Wes Veh, Camryn Frazier
Caleb Mahoney, Abigail Bachura
TyAnn Blount, Marvin Henton
Wes Veh, Camryn Frazier
Brenden Adams, Myles Gant
Ethan Burton, Elle Dragone
Korbin White, Annabelle Thompson
Photos by Chase German; Editing by Carissa Dalquest
Photos by Mandy Wainwright
Photos by Chase German; Editing by Carissa Dalquest
Cassidy Dalquest discovered she won Nationals at the AJSA Classic in Grand Island. She was first place in the Calvin Drake Genetic Evaluation Quiz.
Carissa Dalquest spent time at the lake
Chase German enjoyed the sunset
Ethan Lif attended car shows
Felicity Smith went to lots of baseball games
Jude Kormanik went on a missions trip to Kenya
Macy Bolen helped herd cattle
and rodeoed
and carried the flag
and enjoyed the sunsets
Myles Gant made a silouhette
Tom House gardened
Carissa Dalquest enjoyed one last sunset
Editing by Lauren Brown
The Jr/Sr High School ended the first Trimester two days early on November 20 so teachers and students could use the two days before Thanksgiving to prepare for Remote Learning beginning on December 1.
The Board of Education had a special meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, November 15th to discuss USD 417’s response to the recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases in the community, state, and region. Administrators and the Board introduced a tiered system that they had created in cooperation with local health officials and KDHE.
County Health Officer, Dr. Frese, commended the school district on its efforts to reduce transmission of the virus, noting that the district has been successful at following guidance for wearing masks, social distancing, and sanitizing. Frese noted that while Morris County Hospital has only seen a handful of hospitalizations and one death due to the virus, the facility is already experiencing difficulty transferring local patients to ICU beds in-state, as the larger health care facilities in the state are reaching capacity and becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. Given these conditions, school administrators and local health officials have become extremely worried about the effect holiday travel and gatherings will have on area healthcare facilities, and the general consensus was that implementing less aggressive, mid-tier restrictions like not allowing spectators at activities or site-based testing for students and staff before activities would not be proactive enough. Ultimately, the board reluctantly voted to suspend all winter activities and move grades 7-12 to remote learning beginning on December 1.
The educational emphasis since Thanksgiving has been on delivering instruction while providing solid feedback. Students are concentrating on their own learning and connecting with their teachers and their classmates as best they can.
District leadership continues to monitor the situation and will make further decisions based on current statistics; guidance from community and state entities like KSHSAA and KDHE; and the probable local risk for students, teachers, and the community as a whole.
Story by Bryce Johnson and MHouse
The 2019-2020 yearbook was sent off to the printer last week, so we sat down with Ms. Redden and some of the yearbook staff to find out more about it.
Kyla Jones, Cora Noer, and Ms. Redden put the finishing touches on the 19-20 Yearbook
When the school shut down last year without warning, it left the yearbook staff in a very difficult place. They were stuck without any of the photo editing software they needed because Photoshop requires a more powerful computer than a student Chromebook. What they did have, however, was many empty pages. With the cancellation of spring sports and activities, they didn’t have any of the content needed to fill up the yearbook. According to Ms. Redden “We spent some time scrambling and thinking about how we could fill those pages, and we just had a really hard time. One, coming up with ideas that seemed important enough, and two, actually getting those things done and on paper.” Because of this, the yearbook was unfinished when students came back to school this fall. Now, the staff had two books to work on, with no clear path to completion. Ms. Redden was “very thankful to have two students, Kyla Jones and Cora Noer, in the yearbook class because they did such an amazing job.” Even under a time limit, they were able to add some special touches to the yearbook. Ms. Redden explains, “We tried a lot of new things with this past yearbook: creating little doodles in photoshop and uploading them so it looks like someone has taken a piece of chalk and drawn cute little stars and dots all over the page.”
Final Touches
The staff was able to work on both yearbooks simultaneously, finishing the 2019-20 book and keeping up with this year’s as well. This kept them very busy as they were “interviewing people. We’ve been writing all the stories. We wrote a story for each first sporting event because they looked so different with Covid, We got a story for homecoming. As much as we can get content of what this year looks like, we want to put that in the yearbook.” It may not seem like it, but we are living through history, and the yearbook staff wants to document as much of it as possible, specifically through students' eyes. For the staff, “It's really important to have a student voice in the yearbook. They are the ones that should shape what the yearbook looks like.” Cora Noer, Senior, summed up that she’s, “excited about how different it's going to be. We're not going to have Bellhop or Late Show in the Grove or anything like that. That means we're going to be missing a lot of pages, so we're going to have to make up for those.”
Cora Noer and Kyra Blosser, who was on staff last year, work on the book together
We should get to hear that voice very soon, as Ms. Redden hopes to have the yearbook in students’ hands soon. “I hope within two to three weeks. It’s all in Lifetouch's hands right now, so as long as it takes them to print it, assemble it, and ship it to us.” The staff that worked so hard to complete last year's yearbook are relieved that the work is finally done. Cora Noer said “Honestly, it feels like a lot of stress has been lifted off. It’s not my senior yearbook. It's last year’s seniors’ yearbook, but I want them to be happy with it.”
Photos by MHouse; Story by Carissa Dalquest
As the construction company finishes up the track, painting lines and completing the shot put areas, USD 417 leadership forms plans to dedicate the track sometime this year, staying flexible. "Much depends on the weather," says Mr. McDiffett. "If it gets cold fast, the final touches may not be finished until March." In the meantime, if the field is available, PE and Strength and Conditioning classes have been using the facility.
Touching up the track is lonely work
Myles Gant
Lance Crabb
Mr. Wilkens organizes his class
Jace Goodman
Mr. Doornbos has devoted a lot of time and energy to make sure every detail is right.
Photos by Lauren Brown, Rylee Powell, and MHouse; Editing by Carissa Dalquest
The new football field and track at Legion Stadium are complete, and have been a huge update for the sports facilities at CGHS. We sat down with Mr. Doornbos to discuss the project. Construction began in April, when Hellas Construction began to tear out the existing track. Doornbos explained, “A lot of people don’t realize the track is the biggest part of this. The flashy part is the football field, but the track is the expensive part, and the big need.” The project was scheduled to be complete in June, but “they found out that we have some problems with the soil underneath the track and field, which is part of the reason we have the cracking in the base of the track that causes the track’s surface to pull apart wherever there is a crack underneath.” To solve this problem, a stabilizer was added and mixed into the soil. This needed to be done between twelve and three a.m, which added an extra step and lengthened the timeline of the project. Fortunately Hellas was “willing to pull in extra manpower and equipment to accelerate construction if need be,” according to May 11th Board of Education meeting minutes.
With these issues addressed, the project was completed in time for the first home football game of the year, and Braves will play on the new field for many years to come. According to Doornbos, schools usually get ten to fifteen years out of the top layer of turf, and CGHS should be on the longer end of that since it’s a smaller school with fewer activities. Also, increasing the longevity and quality of the field was “what's called a Cush Drain Shock Pad that goes between the base and the turf. It helps the GMax rating, which is what they test for concussion safety. A lot of high schools don’t do this because it costs more up front,” but it means we won’t have to do extra dirt work when the turf needs to be replaced. As for the track, the base could last over 75 years, and the top will probably need to be replaced in about twenty.
There are some unexpected benefits from this project as well, the first of which is the drainage system. Since it’s underneath the field, it’s not as noticeable, but it’s an important addition. “On a regular grass football field, if it rains, and you have a ton of rain, you just can't play on it. But with this, you can have two feet of rain in a day, and you're still gonna be able to play on it. It just drains right out.” The cost and labor savings are significant also. The old field was mowed three times a week and had lines painted weekly. It also had to be watered often and sprayed with herbicides and pesticides to keep it in good condition. From an administrative point of view, “the amount of work that went into maintenance, and it was still just a gamble [whether or not we could use the field], was crazy.” Now, maintenance workers can spend time and money improving other areas of the school.
The last part of the project was the fence around the entire complex ensuring safety by protecting both the visitor’s seating from the ditch behind it, and the practice field from the road. The final touch, a new sign created by Alexander Artworks, was unveiled at the entranceway to Legion Stadium just this week.
The Board of Education cuts the ribbon for the new track and field at the first football game on September 4.
Photos by Mr. McDiffett and Chase German; Story and Photo Editing by Carissa Dalquest