Kid day

by Kendra Schooley

12/22/10

Recently, Mrs. Schafer’s Child Development class had “Kid Day.” This event is somewhat like a daycare for half a school day. There were planned activities, arts and crafts, nutritional snacks, and story time with Mrs. Ludwig. Also, there was a surprise visit from Tigger (played by NHS’s own Paul Frailey).

The point of having Kid Day was for the students to have a chance to observe children using their motor skills. Also, it provides “real-world” examples of what the students have learned in the classroom. Mrs. Schafer summed up her class’s outlook on Kid Day: “It was fun, but exhausting.”

Student of the Month

by Kendra Schooley

12-9-10

Each month at Neoga High School, a committee chooses the “Student of the Month.” In order to be nominated, the student must be in good academic standing, be involved in the school and community, and be an overall positive example to the students of the school. This December, Natalie Walk was the recipient of this award. Congratulations on your achievement, Natalie!

Poetry Club CD

by Allyssa Becker
12/22/2010

The Poetry Club is starting its annual “Nobody’s Fool” CD project. The club had auditions on December 1, and had a great turn out with some familiar faces along with some new ones. The five genres that were selected by the students were: Indie, Rap/Funk, Metal, and Goth. The audition list included some of the most popular song choices from these various genres. The students are working to get the project done in a timely manner and hope to do their finest. In fact, the musicians have already begun writing and rehearsing material for this project. Although a release date has not yet been set, the Poetry Club hopes to have the album finished in Spring 2011.

Mom with a Message

By Alex Harvey

12/22/2010

On average, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. Altamont mom, Teresa Rogers, learned this in an unforgettable way.

NJSH students were visited on November 24^th, 2010, by this local mother and heard her very important message: Drunk driving kills. The name of her presentation was “Mom with a Message.” She told the students of her experience with drunk driving, and the tragedies that it inflicted on her family, friends, and life, in general.

When Roy Dean Rogers III, her son, went driving on a late night in October, it was his last. He was hit head on in a collision involving a drunk motorist, thus ending his life. He died in a crash that occurred on US 45.

There are many steps we can take to avoid tragedies such as this. If you are drunk, don’t drive. Have another, sober, person take you home, call a cab, or use public transportation. Or, simply don’t drink! In 2006, there were 17,941 driving fatalities related to alcohol. This was 41 percent of the total 43,000 fatalities. By avoiding alcohol altogether, this number can be greatly reduced.

Homecoming Week

12/9/2010

by Becca Warfel

Once a year at Neoga High School, students and teachers get to dress up in unusual costumes without looking weird. Neoga recently held their annual Homecoming Week, a week of dress up days and activities leading up to homecoming. Classes compete against each other and the teachers in contests such as the singing bee and tug of war and try to have the most students in costume. At the end of the week, the class with the most points from competing in these varied activities wins bragging rights.

This year the festivities started out with a board walk competition on Monday. For the board walk, students lined up on two planks and had to race across the gym, walking in unison with the planks attached to their feet. Students participated in color day for their dress up theme, dressing up in a color picked by their class. On Tuesday students competed in an obstacle course and dressed up for twin day. Students dressed up to match each other to be counted as “twins”. Wednesday was the singing bee, and the dress up theme was crazy day. For the singing bee, students held a “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” style contest. Participants were given a part of a song and had to sing with it. When the music stopped, they had to recite the next line without music. Students were instructed to dress crazily, and wore everything from funny hats to mismatched neon stockings and capes. On Thursday, the activity was sundae creation and the dress up theme was clique day. For the activity students competed in a relay race to build a sundae. Each student had to stand on a chair and held a different ingredient that they dropped into a cup held by a student on the floor. For clique day, classes were assigned a clique, like hippies or jocks, and had to dress like a member of that clique. On the last day of homecoming week, the students competed in the tug of war and dressed up for red and white day, all of them wearing Neoga themed apparel.

The winning class was announced on Friday after the tug of war. In fourth place was the freshman class. Coming in second was the sophomore class. Second place was seniors, and first place was taken by the juniors. Congratulations, juniors!

Student of the Month

by Kendra Schooley
12-9-10

Each month at Neoga High School, a committee chooses the “Student of the Month.” In order to be nominated, the student must be in good academic standing, be involved in the school and community, and be an overall positive example to the students of the school. This November, Kristie Kastl was selected as student of the month. Congratulations on your achievement, Kristie!

2010 Homecoming Game

by Dalton Ellison
12/10/2010

On December 3rd the Neoga Indians squared off against the St. Elmo Eagles for the 2010 homecoming game. At the Junior Varsity level, the Indians did very well in pressuring the ball and causing the offense to make mistakes. With the fourth quarter approaching, the Junior Varsity Indians held off the Eagles and pulled out a victory.

At the Varsity level, the Indians communication on the court really showed during the second half. At the close of the third quarter, the scoreboard read 31 to 29 -- Indians lead. As the fourth quarter began, the Indians did a very good job in handling the ball and communicating, causing two St. Elmo players to get into foul trouble. At the two minute mark in the fourth quarter, guard Jacob Cole took a charge causing the Eagles center to foul out. Shortly after that, the Indians pulled out a 42 to 36 win with help from their free throws and tight defense.

The Neoga Indians have two upcoming games. On the seventeenth they travel to Teutopolis and on the twenty-first they make the trip to Shelbyville. Feel free to come out and support your Neoga Indians!

A Hollywood Homecoming!

by Sierra Struthers
12/8/2010

Students give Neoga High School’s “Hollywood Homecoming” two thumbs up! Girls spent all day getting ready, boys picked up their dates, and everyone headed to the Neoga gym to dance the night away. For a few seniors, however, it was more than just a dance because they were selected for homecoming court. This year’s lucky few were Jenna Mellendorf, Natalie Walk, Molly Tarter, Lauren Shumacher, Jayson Hymes, Nick Bright, Clayton Potter, Travis Cornell, and Tyler Pikowski. Out of these, only two were chosen by the student body to be homecoming king and queen. Serving as crown-bearers were Claire Walk and Alex Cornell. The reigning king and queen, Travis McClellan and Taylor Walk, returned to crown this year’s recipients, Natalie Walk and Jayson Hymes. After concluding this year’s festivities, students are looking forward to next year’s installment for another 5-star performance.

Scholar Bowl Begins

By Alex Harvey

11/19/2010

Ready yourselves people! Scholar bowl season is here again for the 2010/2011 school year at Neoga Jr/Sr High School. This year’s JV participants are Joseph Goldstein, Ryan Evans, Jacob Alumbaum, Ethan Lawrence, Megan Schabbing, Megan Moran, Kaleb Henderson, Devin Olmstead, and Paige Osbourne. Representing the varsity team are Becca Warfel, Kyle Ludwig, Daniel Brown, Caleb Long, Candice Auxier, and Stella Modereau.

The first matches kicked off on October 25, with Neoga v. Stew Stras and Beecher City. Neoga experienced both victory and defeat, with our teams winning both Stew-Stras meets, with scores of 143-57 and 64-48, and both teams losing Beecher City tournaments. The current records are 5-1 for JV, and 4-2 for Varsity. However, we’ve still got plenty of matches to come! The next matches coming up are November 15^th and 18^th. If you’re a Scholar Bowl player, remember practices are held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school, held by Mrs. Ludwig, the coach, in the Library.

Thanksgiving Food Drive

by Kendra Schooley
11/19/2010

Once again the Student Council Thanksgiving Food Drive is underway. The food collected will go to help over fifty local families this year. The specific items needed to make this event a success are: canned corn, boxed potatoes, canned green beans, mixed fruit, and boxed stuffing. Student Council sponsor Kay Endsley notes, “I’m hopeful that we collect enough food to feed all the families.” Neoga Sophomore Andrea Fritcher emphasized the importance of this charitable event: “It’s definitely a worthwhile cause.” The NHS Student Council thanks you for helping local families, so that they too can enjoy a nice meal this Thanksgiving.

NHS Purse Party

By Alex Harvey
11/19/2010


Where were you after school on this past Friday? If you weren’t at the National Honor Society’s Purse Party, you missed out! The Purse Party ran from 4-6 PM after school on November 12th, 2010 in Mrs. Sally Cohorst’s room. The NHS provided refreshments and snacks for all attendees, and of course, displayed purses which could be purchased. Among the selection were purses and billfolds to buy for bargain prices. They ranged from about $10-50 each, and if you didn’t attend, you missed your chance for a great deal on these affordable purses! The club also had door prizes for attendees in which everyone had a chance to win! The prizes were won by Kristen Deters, Brenda Hynes, and Allison Mueller.

The Purse Party was a fundraiser toward the Neoga Community service projects and the NHS end of the year annual banquet. Altogether, the National Honor Society raised $145 for the club. The officers hosting the party were President Tyler Pikowski, Vice President/Student Council Representative Lauren Schumacher, and Secretary Kristie Kastl. If you missed the Purse Party this time, or have any other questions about future NHS events, contact Mrs. Cohorst, the club’s faculty advisor, in room 17.