Neoga WYSE Team Places Third

By Mrs. Sally Cohorst

2/18/2011

Neoga High School received third place out of fourteen teams in the annual Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge on February 10th. Lake Land College hosted the regional competition. Neoga competed in Division 300.
St. Anthony won the event with a perfect 500 points, followed by Cumberland with 392.5 points, Neoga with 379.6, and Dieterich with 364.5 points. In Division 700, Teutopolis won and Sullivan received second place. Charleston won Division 1500 and Mattoon got second.

Kelton Nichols received second place in Engineering Graphics. Other members who competed were Amanda Baker, Michael Baker, Kamryn Boarman, Daniel Brown, Courtney Cornell, Bailey Dow, Anna Frailey, Kristie Kastl, Seth Kline, Ethan Lawrence, Kyle Ludwig, Dalton McFarland, Kelton Nichols, Ryan Ott, Chris Peters, Tyler Pikowski, Lauren Schumacher, Sierra Struthers, Becky Walk, Natalie Walk, Becca Warfel, and Jessica Warner. The team is coached by Sally Cohorst.

Subjects tested are biology, chemistry, computer fundamentals, English, engineering graphics, math, and physics. Each student is required to take two tests. The team score is a normalized score using the top two scores from chemistry, English, and math and their best two from the remaining four subjects.

The top four teams from Division 300 will advance to sectionals which will be held at Eastern Illinois University in March. At the sectional level, only a team of fourteen members will compete. These fourteen will be selected based on their scores at the regional and the required subjects needing to be included for the team score.

NHS Yearbook Award

By Sierra Struthers

2/18/2011

Last year’s NHS Yearbook staff was recently awarded 3^rd place in photography and 3^rd place in theme development by Dr. Sally Renaud, IJEA executive director and professor at EIU. They competed in a state wide competition along with 28 other schools with populations of 500 or less. Last year’s editors, Taylor Walk and Tiffini Correll, along with Mrs. Bridges worked hard to follow the theme of “Guide to Neoga High A-Z.” They were judged in 8 total categories and the awards were presented to this year’s staff on February 10^th. Dr. Renaud’s said “I was pleased to see the Neoga High School yearbook place in the Illinois Journalism Education Association annual competition. Good design work shows that the staff carried out its vision from beginning to end, and their concept held up. When members of the class of 2010 come back for high school reunions, they will have a book that provides them with a great history. Last year’s staff should be very proud, and the acknowledgment gives the current staff a standard to uphold.” Congratulations on your award Neoga Yearbook staff!

No Boundaries

by Alex Harvey

2/18/2011

Brett Eastburn believes you are a success if you choose to be. On January 20th, 2011, Neoga High School students learned firsthand that the only handicap in your life, is you. Brett explained this by sharing his own life stories, and demonstrating that he was far more than meets the eye. Brett was in 1971 with a congenital birth defect known as quad-membral limbs deficiency. "I was born this way. There's no medical reason why," says Eastburn. "I just believe that God put me here to help other people realize their own potential."

Not only is Brett a talented comedian, he is an accomplished football player, basketball player, baseball player, and wrestler. "I used to play football until my friends used me as the football. That spiral thing was killer," jokes Eastburn. At first glance, this may be hard to believe, but Brett proved to the students that he was far more than he seemed. "I want you to understand that handicaps are not what they appear to be. Just because someone looks like they may be handicapped, doesn't mean that they necessarily are." says Brett."You can do anything that you want to do.” Brett went above and beyond all our expectations. The students thought he was a hilarious, brilliant speaker, and genuinely enjoyed his presentation. Thank you, Brett!