Want your voice to be heard? Write in to the Rock-It News!
Send in comments and opinions, 40 words or less to Mr. Gilbert in room 408. The staff must know
the writer, but opinions will be published anonymously starting next issue in a brand new Opinion
Line section. Letters to the editor may also be written, with writer’s discretion on publishing
anonymously.
Thursday, March 14 2013
Volume 13 Issue 12
Rock-It
The
Rose Hill High School 104 N. Rose Hill Road NEWS
Rose Hill, Kansas, 67133
StuCo elects next year’s leaders
Chandler Boese
As the end of the school year
approaches, the student council is done
with the homecoming weeks and the
majority of the fifth quarters, so they
start to look to next year. Elections
took place yesterday to elect the class
presidents and student body officers for
the 2013-2014 school year. Results will
be in the next issue.
Also elected were the leaders of each
class, the class presidents. Freshmen
Rylie Wilson and Scott Tesser went headto-head to decide who was to be the chief
of their class. Tesser said, “I believe
I would be a good president because I
am hard-working, take suggestions, and
love making the school a better place.”
As for next year’s juniors, sophomore
Brooke Wheeler stepped up, contested
by none. According to Wheeler, “…
Student council is a blast and I love to
be involved in the planning of school
events.” The new senior class did not
have anyone step up to be the president
of the class, but the runner-up of the
presidential election will become the
class president.
The leaders of the council, or, as we
call them in StuCo, the “executives,”
were also decided. Sophomore Morgan
Clark is the new Student Body Secretary
and sophomore Meredith Bartley is the
new Student Body Treasurer. Danielle
Mount, junior, is stepping up to take
Student Body Vice President. She said,
“My position is responsible for keeping
everything on track and doing anything
I need to do to help the council as a
whole. I am also there as a backbone
for the president. I believe I will make a
good vice president because I am always
willing to try my best and do anything I
can to improve the council. I’m willing
to bring in new ideas as well as using
old ones.” The position of Student Body
president was one of two contested
cont’d on page 3
Freshmen Scott Tesser and Rylie
Wilson competed for Sophomore
Presdient. Juniors Chandler Boese
and Kylie Pfaff competed for StuCo
President. Photo by Mark Blauser.
Every student vote does count
After all of the candidates gave their speeches, students were allowed to put in their opinions on who they
thought should be the next representatives and leaders of the student body. Photos by Mark Blauser.
2
Editorial
Thursday, March 14, 2013
All boys deserve the
right to become scouts
Chandler Boese
One of the hotly debated topics in today’s news and
political environment is the Boy Scouts of America’s ban
on gays. They do not allow homosexual boys to join the
organization or participate in any of the activities. The policy
has been reviewed recently, but the organization decided to
leave it as is, leading to a nation-wide debate on whether these
children should be allowed into Boy Scouts.
But here’s my question: Why is homosexuality allowed
in the army (where men work much, much, closer together
and spend much, much, more time together), but not in Boy
Scouts? Boy Scouts should have a similar policy of “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell,” but instead, they prohibit young men from
getting the experiences scouting offers.
Almost all modern organizations and companies include
very detailed rules or clauses about non-discrimination,
including race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
Why do the Boy Scouts of America, who are one of the
biggest service organizations in the country, if not the world,
completely ban those who can’t help who they are. Scouting
should be about being a leader, about serving your community,
and about bonding with other kids who are like you. All
people, white or black, Christian or Muslim, male or female,
gay or straight, deserve these opportunities.
The majority of Americans feel this way, proved by
the petition put together by Boy Scout leaders and groups,
which contained almost a million and a half signatures. This
unconstitutional (all men are created equal, aren’t they?) ban
is outdated and needs to be repealed. America is all about
forward thinking and so many social reforms have been made
towards gay rights. Why shouldn’t homosexual children and
adolescents be given the rights they deserve.
One question that needs to be answered is if this is a
problem with the children normally involved in Boy Scouts.
The organization is largely composed of children in middle
school or younger. Are children at this age even aware
of whom they are physically attracted to? A study by the
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United
States reveals that 11% of admitted homosexuals discovered
their true sexual identity while in grade school. There were
only 6% that figured it out in middle school. 48% of these
homosexuals knew when they were in high school. The rest
discovered this about themselves in college.
So that is seventeen percent that could have been in scouts
when they discovered that they were attracted to their fellow
scouts (not including the small percentage of males who
continue on in scouts through high school). But even children
this young probably know that doing anything about these
feelings was out of the question to them in a scouting situation.
In addition, why is it that only the Boy Scouts of America
impose this ban? It wouldn’t even be legal if the BSA wasn’t
a private organization. If their thinking is correct, that boys
attracted to other boys would make certain activities such as
camping uncomfortable, wouldn’t the same problem occur
with girls who attracted to other girls? Girl Scouts have no
rules stating their position on the inclusion of LGBT, but have
stated in the past that they believe that all people, no matter
what their sexual orientation or gender is, are entitled to the
same rights.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/boy-scoutsfortune-500_n_2803933.html?utm_hp_reg=gay-voices
http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/boy-scouts-gay-ban07182012-girl-scouts-gay-policy/
http://borngay.procon.org/view.answers.
php?questionID=000014
The Rock-It News is the official student publication of Rose Hill High School. The newspaper will be published
14 times during the school year of 2011-2012. The Rock-It News is produced by the journalism students in Newspaper,
Yearbook, and Video Production classes. Journalism teacher Butch Gilbert is the advisor. The school’s phone number is 316776-3360: Mr. Gilbert’s email address is [email protected]. Anyone interested in advertising in the Rock-It News should
contact Mr. Gilbert and he will designate a student to contact the potential advertiser.
Current students who make up the staff of the newspaper include:
• Editor-in-Chief and Layout Editor - Caylee Sprague, senior
• Co-Editor and Editorial Editor - Chandler Boese, junior
• Feature Editor, Assistant Layout Editor - Meredith Bartley, sophomore
• News Editor - Colby Woods, junior
• Cartoonist- Alysha Phillips, senior
• Circulation Manager and Advertising Manager- Haley Canfield, junior
• Reporters - Haley Canfield, junior; Nathaniel Gregg, junior; Lauren Kalp, senior; Camille Mitchell, junior
• Photographers - Alysha Phillips, senior; Caylee Sprague, senior
Thursday, March 14, 2013
News
3
StuCo
Alysha Phillips
cont’d from page 1
races. Juniors Kylie Pfaff and Chandler Boese competed for
the honor. Pfaff said, “I believe I would make a good president
because I am a great leader and I absolutely love Rose Hill
High School. I like being in charge of things and being
involved in the school.”
As the council looks to next year, some of the StuCo
members weigh in on the 2013-14 school year. “If next year’s
council is anything like this years’ group then it will be a
fantastic year,” said Pfaff. Tesser agrees, stating, “I believe
next years student council will be fun and productive like this
years, and I’m interested to see who the new sponsor is going
to be.” Mount is optimistic, “It will be tough having a new
sponsor but it will be fun to incorporate the new sponsors
personality into our ideas! Hopefully the council will be strong
and ready for an adventure!”
Prom 2013 approaching quickly
Colby Woods
Rapidly approaching is the big night that seniors look
forward to, custom in the journey of high school. April 27 is
a chance to walk down the red carpet with your significant
other, or group of friends, and go to a dance different than any
other. This dance is called prom! Each year a committee of 15
to 20 juniors get together to select a theme for this magnificent
dance.
“Our juniors selected Arabian Nights this year and it’s
definitely a mixture of the Middle East. We have ancient
Egypt, we have India, we have a desert, an oasis, it’s going
to be really kind of this neat mixture of Middle Eastern
cultures… They select it by doing a lot of brainstorming and
spending a week talking to everybody and when they come
back the next week they put their best ideas on the board and
we go through all the details about what would be a good focal
point, what would be interesting to have on the stage, what
would make for a fun entry in the lobby, and then they vote
secret ballot to select the one that each student thinks is best,”
said prom sponsor Leah Ward.
But before any of this extensive planning begins in the last
week of January the prom committee has to figure out a way
to fundraise for this event. It takes a lot of effort, hard work,
creativity, and money to put on such an extravagant dance,
one that the attendants surely won’t forget. In order to raise
this much they do a frozen cookie dough fundraiser each year,
beginning the sales in the fall. The junior class takes orders for
this cookie dough, usually bringing in a solid $2000 to $2500
for prom planning. What about the rest of the money? The rest
of it is raised via ticket sales, which this year will be $25 for
early tickets and $35 for normal ticket sales. Only the juniors,
or underclassmen that are brought by a junior or senior, have to
pay these prices, as senior admission to the dance is free.
In many ways prom is very different from homecoming or
Snoball, but in other ways it’s sort of the same. Like these two
dances, prom features three kings and three queen candidates
for seniors with an additional prince and princess category
for juniors. At this dance there are no attendants because the
majority of dancegoers are from the junior and senior class.
Creativity is definitely not shunned at prom and gift
certificates for gas cards are given for most creative arrival. In
addition to this gas cards are given to a random student who
turned his or her key in via the valet parking that is provided.
Aside from those many differences Ward summarizes it
like this, “I think the level of formality is different at prom
because it isn’t associated with a sporting event. You don’t
have the players that are coming out of a sweaty game or
the pressure of the win and the lose. Prom is a little more
carefree because it’s all just a fun dance; all that other stuff
isn’t associated with it. I think it’s also it’s different because
it’s mainly the upperclassmen. We usually only have five or
six freshman and maybe 10 to 20 sophomores who come. It’s
almost all juniors and seniors and their guests.”
Be sure and get yourself a dress or suit and head
down to prom from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on April 27!
44
News
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Coach Stone honored after 34 years
Haley Canfield
After coaching 34 years of high
school boys’ basketball, 15 of those
at Rose Hill, Rocky Stone stepped
down from his position as head coach
after last season.
Coach Boese felt as though
Stone should receive some sort of
acknowledgement for all the time
he’s spent coaching. Boese talked to
basketball players coached by Stone
and put together a plaque in honor
of his hard work. Stone said, “I
would like to thank Coach Boese for
diligently researching and presenting
me with this award.”
Stone had the privilege and
blessing to take four trips to the
boys’ state basketball tournament. In
March of 2006, the team took third
at the state tournament, which is a tie
for the highest finish in RHHS boys’
basketball history. Stone said one
of the most memorable parts about
coaching boys’ basketball is, “The
special relationships that develop
between coaches and players that are
still maintained. Several years ago
a former player asked me to read
scripture in his wedding ceremony.
It is a true joy to see former players
develop into husbands, fathers, and
productive citizens.” A big thank-you
to Coach Stone for 15 years of pure
dedication to the boys’ basketball
program here at RHHS.
The boy’s basketball program presented
this plaque to Stone, filled to the brim
with some of Stone’s favorite vocab
words. Photo by Ray bBoese
that competition makes people
excited, gets their blood going.
And, you know, there’s a reason
to get a whole bunch of stuff
done,” said Hilgers when asked
why he thought competing in
Scholastics was important.
Art, to Hilgers and his
students, is just as important
as any sport of team. “You’re
creating something, and it’s your
own,” said Hailey McClellan,
a Rose Hill Senior who also
participated in the Scholastics
Art and Writing competition and
creator of the drawing,
‘What Now?’. Bringing back
an Honorable Mention with her
piece, McClellan expressed great
enjoyment with her creativity
and experience in art—just as a
majority of the art students.
Other Scholastic qualifiers
include the 15 gold keys won by
seniors Cameron Bates, Tyler
Bakker, Rayne Curtis, Brock
Doshier, Holly Kuss, Haley
LaKous, Lydia Mounts, Alysha
Phillips, juniors Courtney Nusz
and Kylie Pfaff, and sophomores
Michaela Cantrell, Joslyn
Pinkerton, and Brooke Wheeler.
Silver key winners were
seniors Kylea Cundiff,
Mackenzie Showalter, Caylee
Sprague, juniors Daimon
Cundiff, Eli Hildreth, Pfaff,
sophomores Haley Slade and
Greg Tinkler, and freshman
Madison Ast.
Honorable mentions were
awarded to seniors Brianna
Daily, Doshier, Phillips, Lexie
Wartick, McClellan, juniors
Pfaff, Carrie Rains, and Reed
Strawn, and sophomore Cantrell.
Rose Hill tops all other schools
with 15 gold keys at Scholastic
Alysha Phillips
The art department in the
Scholastics Art and Writing
competition as they do every
year. Bringing home 15 gold,
Rose Hill did the best they have
done in years, according to Rose
Hill art teacher, Ward Hilgers.
“I think the difference this year
isn’t that we had the best artists
we’ve ever had, it’s that we had
the most diverse creativity,” said
Hilgers when asked how well
he thought of the 2013 class of
artists.
For the past 90 years, the
Wichita Scholastics Art Center
has held an annual competition
for artists of all mediums and
grade-school students. For as
long as Hilgers has taught, he has
always attended each and every
one.
“The most important thing is
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Features
5
Wear Green for St. Patty’s Day
Colby Woods
Saint Patrick” and named after
Coming up on March 17 is a Saint Patrick, one of the most
commonly recognized patron
holiday everyone knows as the
time that pesky leprechaun is out saints of Ireland. In Christianity
and about. But did you know that the day represents the arrival
St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t actually of Christianity in Ireland and a
commemoration of Saint Patrick.
commemorated as an excuse to
Though as the old ways die out
wear green socks or to kiss that
the new generation has turned it
random Irish person walking
into more so a day of celebration
down the street?
and Irish pride.
The Catholic Church, the
Many events take place
Orthodox Church, the Anglican
on
this
day such as parades,
Communion, and the Lutheran
festivals, and of course the
Church originally established
wearing of green. Shamrocks are
the holiday as a feast day.
commonly associated with the
It’s known as the “festival of
greenness of St. Patrick’s Day
and seem to be the symbol of this
holiday. In addition to all of the
celebration, Lenten restrictions
on alcohol consumption and
eating are removed for the day.
Though this is an Irish
tradition, the green fad has
spread all over the world. If one
doesn’t wear green on this day
you can be “pinched” which is
a reprimanding for not wearing
a shade of green. So remember,
wear your shamrock green this
St. Patrick’s Day or suffer the
consequences!
big value! Flat-­rate tuition big
opportunities! Internships available with
the world’s largest companies Nick Dellasega,
Finance, BBA ‘07
Accountant,
Koch Industries, Inc.
big selection!
More than 150 academic programs
s
r
e
e
r
a
c
big
start at Pitt State
Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg, KansasËVËwww.pittstate.eduËVË1-800-854-PITT
6
Features
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The Dead Man’s Apprentice: Part 2
Meredith Bartley
My name is Carson Pied.
Which, by the way, is pronounced
“pide,” not “peed.”
I had been normal. Enough.
I’d gotten decent grades,
usually had enough sleep, even
went to a few parties, though
nothing serious. I had my
girlfriend Annie, the soccer star at
a nearby school, and my group of
bros. On top of that, it was only
junior year, and I’d already been
approached by a local community
college for a track scholarship.
Life was good. Enough.
And then, somehow,
everything went to crap.
It started with the breakup,
and ended with me in creepy old
Mr. Vaspar’s house surrounded by
zombies…
Yeah, I had been normal. The
key word was “enough.”
It was late—my phone’s
clock read 1:36. I shivered in
the spring air, rubbing my arms
and regretting my decision to
come with Tobin and his friends.
Apparently, their idea of “fun”
was daring each other to break
into old creepy houses, all the
while making enough noise to
wake the dead.
I looked around nervously
as they hopped the fence of the
local ‘haunted’ house. It’d once
belonged to an old businessman
named Vaspar, though we hadn’t
seen him for years. Rumors said
he was dead, which made me even
less excited to go poking through
his house.
“C’mon, Peed, whatcha
waiting for? Not scared, are we?”
Magically, all of Tobin’s friends
had caught on to my wonderful
nickname. I shrugged but caught
up, making my way over the
chain-link fence as gracefully as I
could. I knew I couldn’t back out
now, but my gut twisted as soon
as I set foot in the soggy grass.
Tobin and his friends ran
forward. I ducked my head and
followed, heart pounding. I’d
never done anything like this.
The whole idea seemed stupid,
breaking into a house for kicks
and giggles.
At a window, Tobin stopped,
holding up his hands. “Wait, wait.
Let’s let Peed go first. After all, it’s
his first time.” He grinned evilly
as his friends agreed.
Go first? Aw, crap. I had little
experience with breaking into
windows, so I watched as they
less-than-carefully busted open the
window. The wood was old and
the frame popped off easily. Tobin
set it aside and grinned again.
“There you go, Peed. Go on in,
we’ll follow.”
I doubted he’d follow.
It seemed like a great trick,
convincing the new kid to go in
first and then turning tail. Either
way, I had to do this. I hopped up
and through the window, landing
painfully on a hard wood floor.
The first thing that hit me was
the smell—absolutely disgusting,
like rotting meat mixed with
something my dog coughed up.
My eyes watered and I coughed
out of reflex, trying not to throw
up.
Wrong move. My cough
echoed around the creepy old
house, painfully loud. I was scared
stiff, picturing vampires, ghosts,
and old men with shotguns.
When nothing attacked after
what felt like eternity, I took a
slow step forward. Thankfully,
the old wood didn’t creak, so I
continued a little more confidently.
I glanced back, and Tobin waved
me on.
Great. Now what? I was in
the house, yippee. What was I
supposed to do now, break some
stuff? Wreak havoc on old, dusty
furniture? This whole idea was
stu-The house creaked in the wind,
and I jumped again. At least, I
thought it was the wind. The hair
at the back of my neck began
to rise as I heard what sounded
distinctly like… footsteps.
A light.
Coming closer.
Oh my god.
I’m going to die.
Oh my god!
I backed up, ready to run
for Tobin. But it was too late. A
man appeared in the doorway
across from me, an old-fashioned
lantern held in his hand. My heart
pounded as I held up my hands
in a show of innocence. At least
it wasn’t vampires or ghosts, but
I wasn’t safe yet. Here I was,
breaking into a house… What
would my parents say? I’d be
grounded. I’d go to jail. My mom
would kill me.
And then, the man spoke.
“I knew you would come.”
Wait, what?
About the author: Meredith Bartley
Meredith Bartley is an aspiring journalist, playwright and novelist, and has been
writing for several years. You can find her work at Kelucia.deviantart.com, Figment.com,
and on her (soon-to-be) writing Tumblr, allwrite-allwrite.tumblr.com.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Features
7
Rockets awarded All-League and All-State Honors
Junior Gabe Nickel received
honorable mention in All-League
selections.
Sophomore Kynnedy Myers was
awarded 2nd place in All-League
selections and honorable mention
for All-State.
Senior Alia Khalidi earned
honorable mention in All-League
selections.
Junior Bret Waddell was voted to Freshman Austin Waddell earned
2nd place in All-League selections honorable mention in All-League
selections.
and honorable mention in AllState.
Junior Autumn Lipscomb earned
honorable mention in All-League
selections.
Want a slice of this pi?
Alysha Phillips
3.14159265359, otherwise known as Pi, is a widely used
mathematical term that goes back to Greek empire, or a Greek
mathematician known as Euclid of Alexandria. Otherwise
referred to as the “Father of Geometry”, Euclid was the first to
use Pi as a mathematical constant, but overall didn’t invent Pi.
The symbol for Pi; π, started during 1706 and was first
used by an English mathematician known as William Jones.
Although he was English, the symbol was a letter from
the Greek alphabet (which are often used as mathematical
symbols, such as Theta).
Source: http://kanooth.com/blog/2011/01/where-did-pi-comefrom.html
Today, March 14 (3.14) is Pi Day!!! This
mathematical constant as been around for
hundreds of years! Image from Google Images.
Sports
8
Girls’ Soccer Schedule
Swimming Schedule
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Baseball Schedule
Softball Schedule
Track Schedule
Results from early season
games will be in the next
issue. Go Rockets!