Neoga High School National Honor Society Induction

3/31/11

by Becca Warfel

National Honor Society is an organization that recognizes the achievements of high school students in four areas: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Students who are accepted into the organization have been reviewed by a council of teachers and have been shown to excel in each of the four areas of consideration. This year, the Society, sponsored by Mrs. Sally Cohorst, has accepted ten new members at their annual induction banquet, held this year on March 15th. The new members include Amanda Baker, Heather Baker, Hannah Fritcher, Erica Hotze, Ryan Ott, Sierra Struthers, Molly Tartar, Becky Walk, Mikaela Walk, and Rebecca Warfel. In addition to these ten, seven seniors were also recognized for their second year in the organization. Seniors recognized were Tyler Pikowski, Lauren Schumacher, Kristina Kastl, Ashley Deters, Olivia Deters, Dalton Mc Farland, and Natalie Walk. Congratulations to all National Honor Society members!

Neoga Regional Championship and Season Overview

by Dalton Ellison
March 8, 2011

On February 25th the Neoga Indians took to their home court against the Dieterich Movin’ Maroons for the Regional Championship. In the first quarter, the Indians outscored the Maroons 14 to 10. Travis Cornell and Dalton McFarland (both seniors) did a great job keeping the pace and moving the ball up court. By the beginning of the second half, the score was 33 to 24 Neoga’s lead. Senior, Tyler Pikowski done an excellent job at the three-point line keeping the Indians ahead of their opponent. Nearing the fourth quarter, the Indians defense had been prominent throughout the game. Guard, Jacob Cole (Senior) did a great job slowing down the Maroons. At the end of the fourth quarter, the Indians pulled out a victory with a final score of 53 to 60. After a victory at home the Indians had to make the trip to Altamont for the Sectional game against Red Hill. Neoga had beaten Red Hill earlier on in the season with a score of 41 to 31. This time around the Indians held it together through most of the game, but couldn’t finish in the fourth quarter. The final score of the game was Red Hill 49, Neoga 37.

As an overview of the season coach Jason Hanson was quoted as saying, “The season, overall, went really well. The players that we had to work with were a great bunch of guys to coach. Winning the Monticello Tournament was a goal we had at set at the beginning of the year, and which we were able to accomplish. Being able to win the Regional game on our home floor was something I will remember as I’m sure our players will as well. Our four seniors (Tyler Pikowski, Travis Cornell, Dalton McFarland, and Jacob Cole) that we are losing have set an incredible example by their commitment and work ethic. We are looking forward to next year already with the guys we have returning.” The Indians closed out the season with an overall record of 17-13. Congratulations Neoga Indians on a great season, and best of luck to the four seniors!

Neoga Culver’s Night

The National Honor Society Chapter of Neoga High School will have a fundraiser at Culver’s in Effingham on Thursday, March 17^th from 5:00 until 8:00. Proceeds from the evening will be used to help pay for the induction banquet and towards future service projects. Enjoy an evening out and help the National Honor Society with this fundraiser.

Kill the Silence: Neoga Students Sing Out Against Drugs

by Becca Warfel

3/3/2011

Students at Neoga High School are taking a stand against drugs and violence in their upcoming album, Kill the Silence. The album is part of the Nobody’s Fool CD project, a class activity started in 1999 by teacher Martin Gibson, created to help combat the growing drug problem in American teenagers. With the help of teacher Stephen Poggendorf and the students of the Poetry Club, the Nobody’s Fool project has grown from a class activity into a school wide undertaking.

Kill the Silence, when released, will be the twelfth album produced by the rural Illinois school and will include four songs written, performed, and recorded by students at the school. Genres chosen for the CD include heavy metal, indie, techno, and goth metal, and each one of these musical genres will take a unique viewpoint of modern drug use and the impact it has on teenagers today. From experimentation to addiction, students tell the story of drug usage in a voice that is rarely found in health textbooks and documentaries: their own.

A community CD release party is to be held on March 29^th at 6:00 pm in the Neoga City Building

Contact: Marty Gibson, NHS, (217)-895-2205, mgibson@neoga.k.12.il.us

Neoga’s FCCLA Attends Section Rally

by Sierra Struthers
2/24/11

The Neoga Chapter of FCCLA recently took a field trip to a section rally at Eastern Illinois University to meet with other FCCLA groups. Students were able to make shirt aprons and turbans for cancer patients. They also played games such as human tic-tac-toe and gorilla gun. “It was really fun,” said Kristie Kastl about the event. “We all had an awesome time.”

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!