PProduced by the Writing For Publications Class

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1 A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL PUBLICATION PProduced the Writing For Publications Class VOLUME 9 ISSUE 1 November 30, 2017 BERLIN UPDATE Forensics explained Leah Vang KIND Committee members deliver doughnuts to the local hospital on Nov. 7, as an act of community kindness. We delivered doughnuts to the hospital during CIA because we had a challenge to do something kind for the community, KIND advisor Ann Ragus said. Photo: M. Marks KIND Commitee challenges students Megan Marks This November, the KIND Committee decided to involve the entire school with a daily KIND challenge to do. I brought the idea to them and then we decided as a group that November would be a good month to do it since November is a good month to be thankful, KIND adviser Ann Ragus said. There were many different emotions when the committee members found out about these challenges. I felt it was a good way to spread kindness so I was happy about it, KIND member Sarah Fleegal said. There was also the fear that the challenges were not going to work. I thought it was a nice thing to do, but I was worried it wasn t going to work. I didn t know if they would participate, KIND member Allison The comittee is also trying a new strategy making announcements for the challenges. However, Wendt is unsure if it s working. The time the announcements are made is right before lunch, so the students are lined up at the door waiting to leave and everyone is talking, There are many ideas some KIND Committee members have that would improve these challenges. They would improve if eveyone did them, if all 600 people in the building did them, Ragus said. Members of the KIND committee also say there could be something added to the challenges to make students participate. I think we should add a prize or initiative to it so more students participate, The committee also gets feedback from students and staff about how the challenges are going. I think the students have all been pretty involved and listen to announcements because I get feedback, Fleegal said. The KIND Committee does not stop at only doing challenges though. We donate and buy clothes and food for people that don t have much. We also hid pumpkins around the school, and if you found one you got chocolate, Forensics is a club for students with interests in public speaking, acting and performing. Forensics grants students to explore and gain experience through tournaments and meets. There are different public speaking competition categories and types students can do. Students perform and write speeches, act or perform literature. We go as a team and earn points as a team, Forensics Coach Nicole King said. Practice meets happen in January to help equip the students for tournaments and to qualify for competitions. Types of tournaments are subdistricts, for which you have to qualify, state, the main tournament for which you have to qualify, conference that Berlin is hosting this year and Saturday tournaments, King said. Some students do not know what Forensics is until they go to a meeting. I honestly didn t know. I thought it was speeches and demonstration. I also thought it was a lot harder than what it is now, freshman Catie Olsen said. Students who have been in Forensics in the past are excited knowing what is to come. I m looking forward to going to tournaments, state and seeing friends I ve made through Forensics, junior Calob Congdon said.

2 Page 2 November 30, 2017 Staff Editorial: School should not assign lockers anymore Students get assigned lockers each year of their high school career, but most of the school doesn t even use them. Maybe three or four people in the hall way use their lockers, but most of us usually carry our backpacks with us all year round. In a survey that the Writing for Publication class conducted, it showed that 86.3 percent of students didn t use their lockers and the other 13.7 did. For those who responded NO in the survey, about 61 percent of the students responded to the answer It was inconvenient. It is easier to have everything in the backpack, then 27 percent of the students responded to I already have a gym locker, and the rest of the 86.3 percent said they Don t know were there locker is or don t know what their locker combination is. This proves that most of the students that have been in school for the past three to four years do not use their lockers. A lot of people keep their backpacks with them because it is convenient for them to have everything with them rather than spending an extra minute or two gathering their stuff and getting to class as fast as they can. Instead of the school assigning lockers to everyone, they should give locker assignments upon request only. That is so the people who need them get them. It also makes it easier for the staff working in the building to know which lockers are being used to check if they are cleaned out at the end of the school year. The school should not assign everyone lockers anymore. It is a waste of time for the people working in the school and for the students attending it, too. The school should re-think this policy. Point Counter-Point: Should Students have excused absences for hunting? POINT: Natalie Ceman says COUNTER It s excused POINT: With having so many students being hunters, keeping them in school could lead to fewer hunters in the area. This could weaken the hunting force in our area. Having the responsibility to collect assignments and fill out a pre-excused sheet teaches students the importance of preparation and the rewards that come with it. Family time is very impor- Photo: M. Marks tant and many students bond most with their family when they hunt. Not excusing these students prohibits important family bonding time. The future of Media Created Jonathan Cervantes Hello everyone. I am happy to be here on this wonderful channel. Megan Marks says It s not excused Missing one or more days results in missed homework, notes and other assignments that the students will now need to catch up on. Many students are missing their finals or review days to hunt, which results in a lower grade at the end of the trimester. There are many other times Welcome to the Gamer channel. Today we have a special guest. Photo: N. Ceman to go hunting besides going on a school day. Thanksgiving break is just around the corner and that makes a good time to finish what you started opening weekend.

3 November 30, 2017 Page 3 Instagram entertainers create original videos John Vang A sparring match takes place in a backyard. Gloves are on, eyes are connected, and two men size each other up. The man on the left steps back, but he s too slow. He doesn t see it coming and before he knows it, the other man gives him a good right hook to the face. Hidden deep within Berlin High school lies an Instagram page full of various videos. The profile is named, vsvpbj which was inspired A.$,a.p. Mob s group title, always strive and prosper the bj part of the profile name stands for their names. The group consists of junior Ben Krasavage, junior John Gonzales, junior Jack McAllister, junior Jack Trochinski, junior Jenner Kay and sophomore Sam Molterer. We started the profile in Locker use infrequent Isabelle Willett Carrying a backpack can be convenient. It can also be heavy when books are not dropped off in a locker between periods. I don t want to carry around a heavy bag all the time. It s easier to just go to my locker, junior Ben Krasavage said. This is not the mindset for many at BHS. Lockers in the main hallways barely get used and many said they attribute this to not having the time to get there, according to the survey conducted the Writing for Publications class. I don t have time to go to my the summer of 2015 because we had a lot of videos that we didn t post on our own profiles, Trochinski said. It was something to do while we re bored. We skate and snowboard, so we might as well film it. On this Instagram profile viewers can find various videos, most pertaining to skateboarding, but not all. Some videos from vsvpbj seem to be thought out and heavily scripted. Trochinski said that the frisbee video the group made took all day to film, and that the no nut november video was the most scripted video they had ever made. Although the high schoolers create content, there has been an infrequency to uploading on the page. The first three months we posted like every day, sometimes twice a day. But then school started and then we stopped hanging out and regular locker, and I carry most things with me, sophomore Bryce Greening said. Students often do not know where their primary locker is located. This is why many are grateful that they are able to carry backpacks. I ve only opened my locker once, and that was during freshman orientation, Greening said. Student athletes are given a varsity locker in the locker rooms. If a student has one of these, it is normally used as their main storage space. I used my varsity locker when I had soccer, but that s about it. It s just second nature to go to my actual school locker, Krasavage said. Instagram Group vsvpbj : junior Ben Krasavage, junior John Gonzales, junior Jack McAllister, junior Jack Trochinski, junior Jenner Kay and sophomore Sam Molterer we kind of stopped skating, Trochinski said. We also started to care more about school. The internet has allowed these young men to create memes, and share their ideas with the world, but more than that, it has given them a way to show themselves in a different light. I would describe the profile as a bunch of friends making sick videos, Gonzales said. Junior Ben Krasavage prepares to land a trick on his skateboard for his group s Instagram video. Molterer agrees. It s just for fun. It s to demonstrate our social prowess, Molterer said. In the moment, these videos seem to be fun to make, edit and release, but what would these videos mean years from now? Memories. To look back at these videos. It s looking like Instagram isn t ever going to end, so it s a storage for all of these videos, Trochinski said. Opinions on locker use Q.Why don t you use your school locker? A. It s small and I don t have anything I need to keep in there, Greening said. Q:Why do you choose to use your locker? A: I use my locker because it s convenient, and I don t want a heavy bag, Krasavage said.

4 Page 4 November 30, 2017 Upcoming Sports Events Boys Basketball (5:45 JV & JV2-7:15 V)- December Berlin vs. North Fond Du Lac December Omro Girls Basketball (5:45 JV & JV2-7:15 V) - December Berlin vs. Kettle Morriane Lutheran December Plymouth Wrestling (6:30) - December Kimberly Invite JV December Kimberly Invite V Boys Swimming- December Plymouth Invite 10:30 a.m. December Academy 5 p.m. Created Natalie Ceman Boys Swim trains for season ahead Senior dancers Jacklynn Jorgensen left, Alex McClelland middle and Kelsi Cravillion right rehearse for their upcoming performance on Dec. 19. Photo: M. Beltran Seniors lead dance team in first performance Mari Beltran For seniors Kelsi Cravillion, Jacklynn Jorgensen and Alex McClelland, the half-time of basketball games is not a time they go get water or popcorn. Instead, they lead the dance team in a half-time performance. Senior Kelsi Cravillion came into freshman year with no dance experience, but still decided to try out and has loved it ever since. There s no groups. Everyone gets along. It s like one big family, Cravillion said. Being in dance does not require the time commitment that other sports do. We only have one to two practices a week, but at those practices we always make sure we re on task to make our performance good during half times, Cravillion said. Even though the performance is quite short, it is still very nerve-racking stepping out on the court to dance in front of crowds, the girls said. The only way to calm my nerves is I take 10 seconds to myself and trust myself and remember everyone will make mistakes while performing, but chances are no one will notice, McClelland said. The first dance performance will be on Dec. 19 during the girls basketball game. I personally think the dance is going to go really well. The choreography is very good, and we re doing a Christmas theme. I m very excited to perform it, Jorgensen said. Imagine having to swim from the high school to Mc- Donalds and back. Seem impossible? Well, Sam Ryf does it every day. At practice I usually swim anywhere from 4,000-5,000 meters, which is about three miles or more, junior Sam Ryf said. Ryf is coming into the season after a state qualification last year and there is more he wants to accomplish this time around. I think a couple of top five finishes at state are Junior Sam Ryf swims warm-up laps during practice. Ryf has been swimming since elementary school. I ve done it forever, and people do what they re good at, so I just keep going, Ryf said. Photo: R. Breeden Ryan Breeden what I want, Ryf said. Ryf is not the only one with some high expectations. I want to win an event or two at the conference meet, junior Nate While Ryf swims longer distances than his teammates, they all endure a lot. The rest of us swim around a mile and a half every day, Ryf also trains in the weight room before practice. I usually lift a couple of days during the week, Ryf said. The first chance to put their training to use is at their first invite at Plymouth on Saturday, Dec 2.

5 November 30, 2017 Page 5 Berlin Lady Indians get ready to rebound the ball to score at Cambria Friesland. The Indians won the game on Nov. 16. I was excited and nervous because it was one of our first games of the season and I was excited to play with teammates, wing Mya Chier said. Photo: M. Eichstedt. Lady Indians share true meaning of basketball Kalynn Wilson After the Berlin Lady Indians traveled to Cambria Friesland for their first game of the season, they focused on what basketball meant for them. I like the game itself, but my team makes it 100% better, point guard Myah Jodarski said. For other players, they have their own way to focus during the game. Making sure that my head stays in the game, and I m focused on what s around me, point guard Mackenzie Kurczek said. Teammates help one another achieve goals to better themselves and their teammates. I feel good when I win and achieve goals with teammates, post Madalyn Naparalla said. Bonding with teammates off the court is as important as being connected with each other in the game. We do a lot of things outside of practice together. We eat supper together before games. We all like to go to the movies and shop together, Naparalla said. The girls play basketball to have fun with their friends, but others play for their love of the game. I would still play if I didn t have bonds with other teammates. I would learn to make friends, wing Mya Chier said. Some members on the team have been playing basketball for a significant time. I ve been in basketball since second grade. There was a league when I was in second grade, and my parents wanted me to join so I did, Kurczek said. Kurczek shared what her last season at Berlin High School for basketball means to her. It s emotional. I worked for years to get where I am, and it s sad to know this is my last year at this school, Kurczek said. Besides the love of the game, the girls play for other reasons, as well. It s very diverse, you re doing lots of skills at once, Naparalla said. For Kurczek, basketball is more than bonding with teammates, more than performing a set of skills and more than shooting a ball through a hoop. It s the competitive feeling you get when you play in a game, Kurczek said. The Lady Indians next game is on Dec. 8 at home against KML.