Monthly Archives: March 2011

Co-written with Maxime vanDijk

Our teacher of the month for March is Mr. Kindler!

Mr. Kindler graduated from Evanston High School in Evanston, Wyoming in 1984. After graduating High School he went to University of Wyoming. In 1993 he majored in Social Studies with a secondary education license.

When asked what his inspiration was to become a teacher, he started laughing and said “June, July and August.” Then with a straight face,  continued that he wanted to help kids and always wanted to coach basketball.

As many of us know Mr. Kindler is our boys basketball coach.  What some of us may not know is that he also coaches golf and has coached football and baseball.

His favorite moments in class are when he has a really good discussion with his students and his favorite class is Government.

In his spare time he likes to play golf and go horseback riding on one of his three horses. When he gets home at night its family time and sometimes take a day off and do things with the family.

When we asked him the question how he manages being a dad, teacher and coach he simply answered,” You just do it.”

Student of the week is something that STUCO (student council) does to recognize the outstanding students who achieve more than expected. Students are nominated by students and then the staff votes and we get our Student of the Week. With the title the recipient receives a king size candy bar and a reserved parking spot, right in front of the school.

Last week was the first week that we had Student of the Week and the lucky student was Caleb Dodds. He was awarded his king size candy bar and the closest parking spot to the school.  ” It was perfect timing to get the spot, especially with the bad weather” said Dodds.

This week your Student of the Week is Laura Glass. She is a senior who plays basketball and enjoys being with friends. She is both excited and happy to be chosen. “I’m glad that I get the parking, but I still haven’t gotten my candy bar.”

We’ve all heard people say it, chocolate makes me break out. Does chocolate really make you break out? These and other fascinating truths.

Eating chocolate and greasy foods makes you break out.
Go ahead and chow down. There’s nothing in a candy bar or pepperoni pizza that’s going to make zits suddenly sprout—”unless maybe you rub the pizza across your face a few times,” says New York City dermatologist Diane Berson. (So please, try to hold yourself back.) The only foods that may exacerbate acne are sushi, shellfish, and soy sauce, explains Dr. Berson; they all contain high amounts of iodine, which has been linked to inflammation and breakouts.

Toothpaste on a zit makes it go away.
If you have a zit people will tell you: “put some toothpaste on it, you’ll feel it burn and that works!” Never try this, toothpaste contains fluoride and mint. This might dry out your zit but it will dry out your skin to. Which will make it red and sensitive. Most of the time you’ll be better of to just wait until the zit is gone or use some spot treatment. These treatments are made for your skin, unlike toothpaste.

Extra moisturizer at bedtime hydrates skin better.
Also this is not true. It sure will make your skin feel that much softer. This is just because the crème is still there. Your skin can only “suck up” so much, and when it has enough, it has enough. The extra hydration you just put on will still be there or even worse, in your hair, and on your pillow or blankets.

‘I can’t wear THAT color’
If there is one thing I always hear when I’m in a store, whether it’s about a t-shirt or a red lipstick is: ‘I can’t wear THAT color’ which is absolutely ridiculous. Everybody can wear every color. You may not be as comfortable with a red lipstick as you might be with a pale pink gloss. But it has nothing to do with skin tone as a lot of people may think. The one thing you have to pay special attention to, is the shades of the color, as well as the undertones. So while a hot, fiery red might not suit your complexion, a toned-down version might do you some good.

Chlorine makes your hair turn green
So not true. Copper, not chlorine, will turn your hair green. If a pool is not properly maintained and cleaned regularly, it can have copper residue which in turn could turn your hair a greenish color. Now this is mostly for blondes since their pigment is so light, but all you have to do is switch to a low pH shampoo which will help combat the color.

Scrubbing vigorously will get rid of acne
Extreme scrubbing and exfoliation of the skin, will actually cause more acne to appear since you’re ripping and breaking the delicate skin. Besides the fact that you’re drying out your skin so much that your skins starts to produce more oil. Your body’s way to protect your skin against cold, sun and other influences. This oill will start to clog your pores, and can cause acne. Use products that are acne targeted, and slow down on the scrubbing, you’ll see the difference.

Pink slips or hallpasses are becoming a huge contorversy in Meeker High School.  Most students don’t want a pink slip or just don’t care about pink slips. Some students disagree with the fact of using them for the bathroom but agree with using them for other things.

“Their g*y,” says Jose Villapondo.

“Their stupid,” says Sawyer Bivens.  Sawyer and Jose fit in with a lot of the other students. Teacher, Mrs. Kelley, says that they are a pain but are still imporant.

“I would agree with a hand stamp,” she says.

Pink slips may be difficult to deal with but won’t be going away anytime soon.

They got new uniforms, hats, and warm ups and are ready to play their first game of the season. The Meeker Cowboys are heading to Longmont, Colorado for their first couple games.  They will play Skyline High School and Adams City High School.

The team has been working hard on hitting, fielding, and all situations. The Cowboys are hoping to have a better season than last year.

Shortstop Cole Steiner says, ” I’m not ready to play but I will try my hardest.”  The rest of the team will try as hard as they can just like Cole.

The end has finally come for the Meeker Cowboys girls basketball team. Traveling to Denver on Thursday March 3, for regionals the team came ready to beat all and go to state. Unfortunately they were not able to go.

The first game they played was against the Peyton Panthers. The first quarter was a rough start for the Cowboys, 15-18 Peyton. When the second quarter began Meeker started to catch up, scoring 10 points and Peyton only scoring 8. Making the score at half time 25-26, Peyton still in the lead.

After coming out of the locker room the Cowboys were greeted by roaring and cheering fans. Fired up, they played a good third quarter. Going into the fourth quarter Peyton was still up 42-44.

Desperate for the win Meeker gave their all, scoring 31 points and keeping peyton to a 22 point score. The stands erupted with cheering the Meeker Cowboys won 73-66.

The next day Meeker played the Holyoke Dragons. Tired from the previous game the Cowboys had to fight to look for the energy. The first quarter went slowly by as Meeker only scored 2 points, but kept Holyoke to 8. In the second quarter the Cowboys fought for more points, but by half time Holyoke was still up 13-21.

Meeker refusing to get down came out of the third quarter catching back up with the score 32-35. The fans getting back into the game began cheering even louder, but having spent all their energy the Cowboys began to slowly give the game back to the opponents. The ending score 42-52 Holyoke. They had lost.

It was a good game.  Meeker played hard and they gave Holyoke a run for their money.  Their dreams of state were lost and the team came home to the warm welcome of theirs town.

There will be a dinner hosted by the Meeker Student Travel Club going to Europe. It will be held before the Harlem Ambassadors game. The dinner and game are tonight. The dinner begins at 5:30 until 7 p.m.  Dinner will be held at the meeker high school cafeteria. Costs for adults $12.50 and children under ten are $10.

The menu for this evenings dinner is english roast beef with horseradish sauce, french garlic bread, herded steamed potatoes, italian anipasto salad, and assorted desserts.

Please help support the Meeker Student Travel Club.

Freshmen have again been knocked down to the bottom of the food chain. For the wacko decathlon the seniors have picked rainbows and butterflies for the freshmen class colors, but are they even colors?

How are butterflies a color?

Butterflies are insects , according to the scientific order of Lepidoptera. In other words;  not a color.

How are rainbows a color?

Rainbows are when the sun shines on rain drops and creates a meteorological and optical phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light. Also not a color.

Rainbows and butterflies may not be colors and not okay to most freshmen but freshmen lets show those seniors and upperclassmen how we can make do with anything they throw at us.

Basketball is over, and now our students are getting ready for Track Season! With a lot of enthusiasm, people are really excited about Track, because there is more people participating and all of them are really confident.

With different kinds of modalities the last thing athletes will need are options; They can try the running events, like long distances, short distances, relays or maybe a jumping event like the long jump, triple jump and high jump.

Track  also provide for the “strong ones”  like the discus throw and shot put.  If you are not into sports, you can still come and try it because this is a very social experience with a lot of different people and differnt things to do.

Maxime vanDijk, our exchange student from Holland, told us that she is very excited about this expirience because its her first sport in United States and she hopes to have a lot of fun. She wants to do one of the running events, but she is not sure which one.

Our editor Tala Atoafa also said that he loves track because its fun and you can hang out with a lot of people. He is going to do the running event and he expects to go to state.

Lathrop Hughes is hoping it to be fun, he wants to run the two mile distance and he is excited because its the only co-ed sport here. So hopefully Meeker Track Team will have an amazing season and go to Track state!

Of all the people in the United States, only 38% can give blood, and only 8% of them do. Most people think giving blood isn’t safe. The process is simple and easy; only one needle and bag are used for each donor. It is virtually impossible to spread infections.

The Regional Blood Center of St. Mary’s Hospital is holding a blood drive for the public.   The blood drive will be held at west door of Meeker High School on Monday the 14 of March. It will be from 10:00am to 2:00pm. You must be 16 years of age and have parental permission to donate. If you are over 18 and planning on donating, don’t forget your photo I.D. There is a free shirt waiting for you if you donate.

Donate, save a life.

On March 3rd through the 6th there was the annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Elk Camp in Reno, Nevada.  Elk Camp is a world expo with nearly four hundred exhibits complete with outfitters, salesmen, music, and competitions.

Elk camp wowed kids and adults. While adults walked around booking hunts and buying hunting gear, kids found the Laser Shot video game and Daisy BB guns to be quite fun.

From African safaris to cold Alaskan mountains, hunters booked adventures of a lifetime, including dream hunts in Meeker, Colorado. Outfitter, Mary K. Kruger, and guide, Jeff McGuire, traveled to Reno to sell their hunts. They were only able to book two hunts, but now the word of Villa Ranch in Meeker, Colorado is out.

Its that time again. Fortunately, for the juniors and seniors, they have regular classes and will be educated just as usual, but for the rest of us, the terrors of CSAPS haunt us again.

March 15 -16, freshmen and sophomores  start the days with a regular first period, then take the writing test. After cowboy time, they take a math test and go to lunch. After lunch, the bell schedule will return to normal.

March 17, on the other hand is a tad different. First hour is normal, but during second hour, the reading test is given. After cowboy time, another math test is given.

March 18 is a normal day.

Good luck freshman and sophomores!

The Meeker girls basketball team traveled to Oak Creek Tuesday, February 22 to see who would be competing in regionals. Previously on Febuary 12, SoRoCo had traveled to Meeker, and defeated the girls 61-43.

Tuesday, the Cowboys came ready for a fight. In the first quarter the Rams kept up their game and stayed in the lead, but by the second quarter the Cowboys started showing SoRoCo the kind of team they really were. By the second half, Meeker caught back up and took the lead. Leading by ten they went into the fourth quarter with high spirits. SoRoCo not giving up began to catch up but slowly the clock began to run out. Two points down, on a failed last second shot, SoRoCo lost 57-55. Meeker redeemed themselves and are now off to districts!

Bags-ready

Bus-ready

Players-born ready

Game face-created ready

The cowboys are suited and ready to go as they will cruise on out to Westminster, Colorado in the north of Denver. Last week, district was a game of disappointment but motivation as they lost to the Hayden Tigers and were seated third if they beat Rangely. Instead of waiting and use all the anger in Denver, they used it out on Rangely the next day as they ablibiated the Panthers.

The cowboys might have lost some of their anger, they still have something or someone to fight for. James O. Sizemore. They’re risking everything on the line and they know whats on their way. They know their will be vicious crowds and teasing players, but they have a game plan to stay focused and to look forward to that one goal they struggle to crab. STATE.

Our boys and girls basketball team will need some support on this one, so for all the fans out their, we encourage you to come on out and support the cowboys as they will drip their tears sweat and their blood on the line for each game they play for you, and for James.

Bags-ready

Bus-ready

Players-born ready

Game face-created ready

Denver…here we come

Baseball practice restarted last night. The team had about 10 players to show up and thats not counting the varisty basketball boys.  Coach Matrisciano and Coach Browning had the players start working on their throwing, outfield and infield, and baserunning. The boy’s first game is in 2 and half weeks. They are going to work hard on all of the parts of game to hopefully have a winning season! Good luck to this year’s baseball players!

March 1st, 2011 after 2nd period, Taylor Ahrens, freshman, was surprised to find that someone had thrown up in her locker. Ahrens was grossed out by the fact that while she was in Language Arts, someone opened her locker and barfed. The locker was opened and a horrific smell spread across the freshman hallway. The locker was cleaned, and Ahrens will be back to using it soon.  The real question is:

Who threw up in the locker?

Goofer-Foods has recently introduced a fast food restaurant that is rapidly expanding across the U.S.  The chicken is quick and delicious with great service!  The chicken is deep-fried and served with sides like macaroni and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, and hush puppies.  Champs Chicken also offers many different kind of sauces and Coca-Cola soda. If you looking for a quick, smart meal, try the new Champs Chicken!

Editors, writers, and even Ms. Kelley all agree with the letter to the editors. You have opened the eyes of all the writers and editors.  One of the editors has enforced a new grading system, schedule and deadlines, class rules, and assigned seating.

The journalism class has decided to make sure that articles are out and informative.  They would like to apologize for the articles and the amount that is going into the stories.  This letter has changed the paper forever.

Signed the Editors  &  Ty Shepherd.

As of late, more and more students at Meeker High School have either been absent or showed up later in the day. It seems as if students perceive certain classes as less important than others, and do not think that they have to show up or even do the work.

Showing up to class is a huge part of your grade, if you’re not in class, you can’t learn the material. If you don’t learn the material, you can’t do the homework assignments. Of course, homework assignments not being turned in makes your grade drop. All these missing assignments followed by a test over the material that you didn’t learn, leads to a pretty disgraceful grade.

Now that being said, there are times when you simply cannot make it to school. It may be that you’re sick, have a doctor’s appointment, or something else that you can’t control. However, there are plenty of times that students can make it to school, but choose not to.

When you’re in high school, I think that you have good enough judgement to decide when you should and shouldn’t miss school, but you need to start making the right choice!