Neoga School Spirit Award

By Alex Harvey
4/28/2011

It’s that time of year again! It’s time for the faculty to choose the winner of Neoga High School’s Spirit Award! However, not just anyone can win this award. To start, you must be a senior this year. Next, of course, is how you show your school spirit, and go beyond the “call of duty” in your life. You should be well rounded-not just in academics -- but in sports programs and the community as well.

Furthermore, the winner should show kindness, unselfishness, and should illustrate a positive attitude. The winner should be involved in the community, and active in clubs. With all of these factors considered, our faculty members have chosen three seniors that they feel best fits this award, and would like to thank and congratulate the one that they feel stands out above the rest with his or her achievements.

The votes are in, and congratulations Molly Tartar! For upcoming seniors, just remember, this isn’t an award based solely on athletic achievement -- there are other important factors involved. So, good luck to our 2011-2012 seniors!

Career Day at Neoga Jr/Sr. High School

By Mr. Steve Poggendorf

4/28/2011

Students at NJSHS were recently able to catch a glimpse at their possible futures. The Career Day event, held every three years, fills the classrooms with trained professionals in a vast array of areas ranging from law enforcement to pet grooming. As a supervisor, I immediately noticed that the students observing these presenters were not only respectful and attentive, but genuinely interested in the material being presented. It was more than a break from normal classroom activities; it was a chance to begin brainstorming the possible road ahead. While some students may believe that they are too young to begin the process of selecting a career, Mrs. Erin Eddinger strongly disagrees. After the event, she reflected, “It’s never too early to start planning. Most people change their minds about their career several times and it is helpful to have as much information as possible.” Further, she is particularly proud of the fact that many of the presenters are former Neoga students. Mrs Eddinger worked closely with the following committee members in order to ensure that everything ran smoothly: Marty Gibson, Tracy Wright, Jennifer Bridges, Jay Ballard, Jason Hanson, Amy Brown, Mike Snyder, Sheri Schafer, and Principal Ben Johnson. The students and staff of NJSHS would like to sincerely thank the Career Day committee for all of their hard work on this successful endeavor!

English 2 Poetry Project

By Kendra Schooley
4/28/2011

Recently Mr. Poggendorf and Mr. Gibson’s English 2 classes engaged in a creative poetry project. The students were required to select a song, find five poetic elements, and interpret the meaning of the song. Then, these findings were to be illustrated on a poster and presented to the class. Mr. Poggendorf stated that, “I definitely see the value in classic poetry. In fact, a great deal of class time was dedicated to Robert Frost. Most students, however, are more interested in analyzing the lyrics of their favorite songs. You can go through a Justin Bieber or Metallica song and find the same poetic elements contained in William Shakespeare or Walt Whitman. The students did a great job with this unit, and hopefully had a good time doing it.” Mr. Poggendorf came up with the idea for this project while student teaching at Paris High School. He knew that teaching poetry to teenagers would be difficult, so he tried to incorporate something that would truly “draw them in.” Personally, as a student who completed this project, the poetry unit has been one of my favorite things we have covered this year.