Two Speech Groups Advance

by Jacey Wood

                  Each winter students at GHHS test their speaking and creativity skills at speech contest. From talented acting performances to imaginative improvisation skits, GHHS students have traditionally done well at these contests.

This year district contest was held at West Hancock High School on Saturday, Jan. 16. Garner sent four entries, one in each of four categories: Ensemble Acting, Group Improvisation, Readers Theatre and Group Mime. The Readers Theatre and Ensemble Acting groups received I ratings and will move on to state competition on Feb. 6.

Sophomores Kristin Stromer and Jordan Blank acted their way to a I (superior) with their ensemble performance of Nobody’s Fool. “I was very impressed with how the two girls pulled together in such a short amount of time,” commented their coach, Ms. Elizabeth May. “We just have a few things to polish up and then we’ll be ready for state competition.”

GHHS has always had an outstanding performance by the readers theatre groups. This year was no change. The cast performed Hysterical History of the Trojan War, a performance that takes the history of the Trojan War but flips it into a comedic and lighthearted story. The group was able to “wow” and impress the judges at district with their side-splitting performance. “I am very proud of all them,” said coach Ms.May. “They had a lot of energy, and now all we need is to work on a few points and polish up for state.” The Readers Theatre group members are Marty Kalkwarf, Rachel Ricke, Kendra Kadrlik, Jordan Blank, Ethan Nannenga, Caleb Prohaska, Matt Kenney, Michael Brown, Chris Noty, Michael Boehnke, Kelly Weaver, Kristin Stromer, Stewart Blank, Laura Formanek and Janessa Reding.

Rachel Ricke, Kelly Weaver and Laura Formanek came back for their second year together in group mime and performed a skit titled “Detention.” “The girls wrote their very own script. It was fun and creative,” says coach Mrs. Joyce Hagen. “I believe they did an outstanding job despite their scores.” Garner’s group mime showed a lot of energy and hard work and received a II (excellent) rating.

Amanda Winters, Christina Furman and Nathan Opp performed in group improvisation. “They worked very hard,” stated Mrs. Hagen. “It was their first year and that is a tough one, but I am looking forward to improvement in their rating next year.” They received a good rating.

                  This year’s state competition will be held in Decorah.

Senior Spotlight--Jacey Wood

by Hillary Hayes

                  A day in the life of Jacey Wood can be described as spontaneous because she says things that are off the wall and she does things that are unexpected. Jacey was born on May 12, 1992, to parents Scott and Kris Wood. She joined her sisters McKenzie and Collie and nine chickens. Later, cats Meow and Tabby and dog Sasha were added to the Wood clan. Collie happens to be Jacey’s role model because Collie doesn’t give a hoot what anybody thinks and is absolutely brilliant.

On a daily basis, Jacey could not live without hugs. However, she despises driving into ditches as it just gets old. Some other things J-Woo cannot live without are pee-your-pants scary movies and any kind of music where she can “break it down.”  Other favorites of Wood’s are grilled big stuff chicken burritos, the color green, the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, the restaurant OP, Seventeen magazine and the TV show Gossip Girl.  

Although Jacey doesn’t care what one outfit she wears forever, she would like to wear tennis shoes so she can always run away. This outfit might include clothes from her favorite stores Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe. Her best personality traits are her friendliness and the fact that she’s fun to be around. On the other hand, if Jacey could change anything about herself she would be able to tan, but sadly, her skin is so pale that she cannot. If Jacey were a super hero, she would be a super genius; that way she would not only be a genius but a super one. Unfortunately, super powers are about as real as Jacey’s favorite fictional character, Edward Cullen. Jacey would love to walk in Bill Gates’ shoes so she could be rich; Likewise, Jacey would let Bill Gates walk in hers so he would know what it’s like to be poor.

During high school Jacey has been involved in softball, volleyball, soccer, cheerleading, FCCLA, Teen Advisors, mock trial, drama, speech, band, jazz band and chorus. One of her most memorable moments was when she played Shirley in the play Idiot’s Guide to High School. Jacey knew she was a senior when she started wearing sweatpants everyday, and she wouldn’t mind being Mrs. Bierle so she could spend all day helping students. Some advice she might give underclassmen is, “Live to serve. . .the seniors.”

After high school Jacey plans to go to college and receive a degree in psychology and history education. In ten years she sees herself in a trailer down in Florida with a pet alligator named Bugsy playing in a swamp with her 13 kids, and from this trailer you might hear her favorite quote echoing, “Not at the table, Carlos!”

New Face in the Crowd

by Janessa Reding

                  Who would have thought that someone who hated math in middle school would become a math teacher? This was the case for Miss Mallory Lovik, who is now student teaching in Ms. Schmidt’s math classes.

                  Miss Lovik explains that in high school she was fortunate to have a couple of talented math teachers who made math come alive for her. She added, “By college I loved math.” Miss Lovik is a Waldorf College student who has been active in golf, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Education Club and Student Ambassadors.

                  Simply being in school, being around the kids, each of whom has a unique sense of humor and personality, and being able to share in the satisfaction that comes with a student understanding a concept are what Miss Lovik enjoys most about teaching.

As much as she enjoys teaching, Miss Lovik is well aware that with teaching also come challenges. She finds keeping the students engaged when they have everything else to think about like technology, homework, friends, family and sports is one of them. Another is keeping up with all the technological advancements that are part of society today and figuring how to integrate them into education.

Miss Lovik believes that working with technology here at Garner-Hayfield, especially the traveling Acer lab and PowerPoint computer program has been valuable for her and the students. She added that Ms. Schmidt has been very encouraging along the way.

When she is not doing math, Miss Lovik, who grew up in Forest City, enjoys coaching basketball at Forest City High School, reading, and hanging out with family and friends. She noted that her favorite book is 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult.

 “In high school students should not learn just the facts; they should learn how to learn because when they get to college, they must teach themselves. They also need to learn responsibility and teamwork,” explained Miss Lovik when asked what students should try to take with them from high school.

Miss Lovik’s next student teaching placement is at Garner-Hayfield Middle School with Mrs. Carew in sixth-eighth grade reading since Miss Lovik also has her reading endorsement. In the future, she would like to educate students in a small town and hopefully stay around this area because her family lives here.  Her advice to someone that would like to become a teacher is always be patient and stick with it; it’s rewarding.

Senior Spotlight – McKenzie Hoadley

by Katie Schmidt

                  “They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself,” a quote from Andy Warhol, is a favorite of one particular senior at GHHS. McKenzie Tae Hoadley was born Aug. 27, 1991. Her family includes her parents Mary and Ross, her 20-year-old sister Kaylara and her 6-year-old brother Kyne. McKenzie, also known as Kenz, Kenzie and Mac, says that her role model is her mom because she’s the smartest woman Kenzie knows and everything Mac has needed to know about life she has learned from her mom.

                  Some favorites of this senior include the colors black, purple and teal, Chinese food, ribs and seafood salad, the restaurant Famous Dave’s, the fictional character Cheshire Cat, the movies Step Brothers, The Goonies and Just Friends, the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the band All Time Low and alternative music. Kenzie also enjoys shopping at Hot Topic, Spencers and American Eagle, watching Family Guy, Teen Mom, Scrubs and Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory and reading the magazine Alternative Press.

Kenz could not live without her phone because she needs it in her car and to stay connected because she uses it everyday. The comfortable outfit of jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops is what she would choose to wear forever. Unique is one word Kenz uses to describe herself because she is her own person, likes to do her own things and isn’t afraid to stand out and be herself. Mac would love to be able to read people’s minds but only when she wanted to know what they were thinking because constantly hearing other people’s thoughts could get annoying.

                  If she could be any teacher at school, Mac would choose Mrs. Bierle because in Kenzie’s words, “she is wonderful.” McKenzie would enjoy walking in an extremely smart person’s shoes because she thinks it would be awesome to know everything, and she would choose Beth Linville to walk in her shoes so Beth would be able to know what it’s like to be tall and be able to reach the top shelf. McKenzie considers her best personality traits to be her friendliness and her ability to speak her mind. But if she could change one thing about herself, it would be her height because it’s difficult to find jeans for tall girls. Her biggest pet peeves are people who don’t speak or spell properly and ignorant people.

                  Have a lot of fun and take different classes, but don’t be a procrastinator is Mac’s advice to the underclassmen. Kenzie knows she’s a senior because everyone else is much smaller than she is and her class selections are limited because she has already taken everything. While Kenz has had many memorable moments during high school, her favorite memories are all of the strange and hilarious trips she made to Taco Bell with her friends. During high school McKenzie has been involved in chorus and speech. After graduation she plans to attend NIACC and then transfer to UNI or the University of Iowa, and in ten years Kenzie sees herself living somewhere warm because she hates winter in Iowa.

Super Bowl XLIV Is Here!

by Nick Svare

After a long, grueling season with heartbreakers and unbelievable upsets, only two teams are left standing on the road to Miami: the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. These two teams will clash on Sunday, Feb. 7, in Dolphins’ Stadium.

This will be a game for the ages as both teams were the number one seeds in their divisions. This is the first time since 1994 that both number one seeds have reached the Super Bowl. For the Saints it will be the first time in their 42-year franchise history to make it to the big game, and their chances at coming home with the Vince Lombardi trophy are very high.

The Saints have the most potent offense in the National Football League and are able to put up high numbers every time they step on a football field. Drew Brees is the leader and quarterback of this offense and is the best at using the weapons he has around him to his advantage. Among those weapons is former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, and he will need to be all over the field on Super Bowl Sunday if the Saints want a chance to win. Whether it is catching passes, running the football or returning punts, Bush has the ability to get into the end zone every time he touches the ball. He dominated earlier in the play-offs against the Cardinals with over 200 all-purpose yards. Drew Brees knows that Reggie isn’t the only weapon on his football team; players like Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey and Devery Henderson will be all over the field catching passes.

Even though it sounds as if the Saints have this game already won, Peyton Manning will have something to say about it. Having been in this situation once before, Peyton knows what it takes to win a game of this stature; Peyton played well and was MVP of Super Bowl XLI. He is the best there is at what he does, and picking apart defenses is what he does. He knows how to read defenses and is the best at exploiting their weaknesses. Manning has made unknown receivers like Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon into household names. I think the game changer for the Colts will be tight end Dallas Clark, former Iowa Hawkeye. Dallas has great hands and is a good run blocker. He has been a big target for Peyton Manning this year with career highs in receptions (100), yards (1106) and games played (16). Look for him to be a huge target on Feb 7.

I think this game will be a very high scoring one with both offenses posting huge numbers. I cannot wait to watch Peyton Manning go for his second ring and the Saints go for their first ever Super Bowl title.

Senior Spotlight--Tim Molencamp

by Ashley Anderson

           Tupak Shakur once stated, “There’s gunna be some stuff you gunna see that’s gunna make it hard to smile in the future, but through whatever you see, through all the rain and all the pain you gotta keep your sense of humor; you gotta be able to smile through it all.” This is Tim Molencamp’s favorite quote. Tim likes the color black. He likes to eat chicken (especially KFC), listen to rap, shop at K-Mart, read Sports Illustrated and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and watch Transformers and The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Tim says his favorite thing to wear is his tan sweat pants and the biggest shirt he can find. He describes himself as charming because he woos the ladies, and he could never live without girls and friends because they are awesome. Even though Tim has many likes, his biggest pet peeve is when people steal food off his plate.

            Timothy Blaine Molencamp was born on Feb. 1, 1992, to Shawna Shepeard and was later adopted by his grandparents, Mick and Vanetta Molencamp. Tim also has a younger brother, Gregory, who lives with his mother. Tim says his grandparents are his role models because they have taught him everything he now knows. Tim has a dream of walking in Brett Favre’s shoes for a day because it would be fun to win a football game. He would like to see Ethan Nannenga walk in his shoes for a day because then maybe Ethan will realize that Tim is always right and wins all the arguments. Tim would opt to be Mr. Baumgard because he is really fun.

            Tim thinks his best personality trait is that he is hilarious, and he would not change a single thing about himself because he is fine. Invisibility is one superpower this senior whishes to have because he thinks it would be fun.

            Tim’s most memorable moment in high school is when the boys basketball team went to sub-state his junior year. During high school Tim has been involved in football, baseball, basketball, golf, SADD and YIELD. He knows he is a senior because he likes to reminisce with friends about the “good ‘ole days.” Tim’s advice to underclassmen is to have as much fun as possible because high school only happens once and you only have one chance to make the best of it.

            Tim’s plans after high school include going to college and majoring in physical therapy. In ten years Tim sees himself as a physical therapist who is married and has a wonderful wife and possibly children.