The Sparta High School's Student Council is having Holidazzle Week from December 13 through December 18. Holidazzle is a week of school spirted activities just like Homecoming but in December for the Holidays. There will be dress up days for each day of the week such as Ugly Sweater Day on Tuesday the 14. "We will have a Peppermint Post Office," says Leah Wyland, the lead advisor of the High School's Student Council. Which you can buy different colored candy canes which have different meaning and send them to all your friends or your special someone. There will be a semi-formal dance on Saturday December 18 from 8PM to 10PM in the high school cafeteria. The cost is 5 dollars to get in or you could donate non-perishable food items or items for troops for seas and the cost would be 3 dollars to get in.
The Spartan Defender is the newspaper produced by the E-writing class of Sparta High School, located in (you guessed it) Sparta, WI. Please send any comments or complaints to thespartandefender@gmail.com. We thank you for your comments and support!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Holidazzle Week
The Sparta High School's Student Council is having Holidazzle Week from December 13 through December 18. Holidazzle is a week of school spirted activities just like Homecoming but in December for the Holidays. There will be dress up days for each day of the week such as Ugly Sweater Day on Tuesday the 14. "We will have a Peppermint Post Office," says Leah Wyland, the lead advisor of the High School's Student Council. Which you can buy different colored candy canes which have different meaning and send them to all your friends or your special someone. There will be a semi-formal dance on Saturday December 18 from 8PM to 10PM in the high school cafeteria. The cost is 5 dollars to get in or you could donate non-perishable food items or items for troops for seas and the cost would be 3 dollars to get in.
Intramural Basketball
The Sparta High Intramural Basketball season is starting next week. Intramural Basketball is for students that love basketball but do not want to go out for the regular team. The schedules are outside of Advisor Erik Forde's Room. There are currently 22 students signed up. "I would love for a few more students to join," said Forde. Usually they would have six teams, but due to the number of students that joined this year there will only be four. There will be six games in the season, then it will move to the playoffs, last would be the championship. They will play on nights Boy's and Girl's Basketball have games, so there will be an open gym to play in after school. If you are still interesting in joining talk to Forde.
Toys for Tots
The Sparta High School FCCLA recently sponsored a Grad Group charity drive for Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corp Reserve which donates toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. Toys for Tots was created in 1947 by Major William L. Hendricks. The Grad Groups got to pick one child or two children if they pleased. The toys for the children were due on Wednesday December 1. FCCLA and the High School sponsored approximately 85 children out of the 200 or more children in the Sparta Community in the Toys for Tots program.
Some Grad Groups asked if they could have more time next year, as they thought they didn't have enough time to prepare since grad groups only meets on Wednesday of every week. "We can't start any earlier next year due to the Community has to collect applications for the program and prepare lists of the children. All the gifts needed to be wrapped so they can be collected on December 10th," says Mrs. Hoiness. The Fire Department and local churches around the area will deliver the presents to the families on Saturday, December 18. The advisor for Toys for Tots in the Sparta area is Michelle Frisk, if you have any questions about the program.
Some Grad Groups asked if they could have more time next year, as they thought they didn't have enough time to prepare since grad groups only meets on Wednesday of every week. "We can't start any earlier next year due to the Community has to collect applications for the program and prepare lists of the children. All the gifts needed to be wrapped so they can be collected on December 10th," says Mrs. Hoiness. The Fire Department and local churches around the area will deliver the presents to the families on Saturday, December 18. The advisor for Toys for Tots in the Sparta area is Michelle Frisk, if you have any questions about the program.
History Club
History Club at Sparta High School is ran by History teacher Erik Forde. History Club is always looking for new members to join. Last year they have gone on fields trips to Madison to see the Capital and other historic places, Veteran Museum and Cable Wisconsin Natural History Museum. History Club is selling their famous T-Shirts for $10 in a selection of colors which is still undecided. Flyers will be around the high school and on the announcements when they will be sold. They are currently looking for ideas and plans for the club. "We try to promote history in the school and promote history outside of the school." says Forde. Meetings are every Tuesday after school in Room 531. If you would like to join History Club just stop by at a meeting.
New Arrivals at the Library
Anime and manga fans will be pleased to hear that the Fruits Basket manga in its entirety has made it to our school's bookshelves. Various other comics have arrived at our library as well. For our school's music fans, there are several books on the history of rock and roll, including books about Jim Morrison and histories on heavy metal.
The library has also acquired sequels and updated many of the series previously offered in the library, such as the "Tales of the Otori" by Lian Hearn. They have also taken in more works by James Patterson, author of the popular series "Maximum Ride".
For the nonfiction readers, there have been books arriving dealing with survivors of child abuse. Study guide materials have also become available, which is a good thing as students prepare to take their ACTs and SATs.
The LMC also continues to regularly receive various newspapers and magazines, both of which are also good references for reports.
All sorts of wonderfully interesting reads have taken their place in our school's library. From fantasy to historical, social problems to comic books, the Sparta High School library has something for everyone.
The International Club
The International Club is dedicated to spreading and celebrating diversity wherever it may be found. Meetings are held every week on Tuesday, and are typically held in Frau Hagen's room. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Frau Hagen, Club President Sarah Rodgers, or Club Vice President Nikki Naumann.
High tech rifle XM25
The XM25 is a 12 pound, 29 inch system, developed by Minnesota's Alliant Techsystems, it cost 35,000 per gun. Though the gun is highly sophisticated it is easy enough to learn and a solider can become comfortable with the gun with in a few minutes According to a Fox News article Lehner states " all the solider needs to do is know how to laze the target, it decimates anything within its lethal radius." From a Nov. 28th Fox News article
The Army plans to buy 12,500 XM25's before the end of this month according to Fox News " The enemy has learned to get cover for hundreds if not thousands of years, well now they can't do that anymore" said Lt Col. Christopher Lehner in a Nov. 28th Fox News article.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
World AIDS Day
Yesterday, December 1, 2010, was World AIDS Day.
The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. “Many people were very concerned at this time, especially since people who got HIV usually died within a year,” states Sparta high school science teacher Donna Kemp.
One way Donna Kemp is trying to get kids aware of HIV/AIDS is by incorporating activities in her classes. Yesterday, Anatomy students participated in an activity that replicated how fast AIDS can spread. Each student received a test tube, which contained water. However, what they didn’t know was that one student had sodium hydroxide in his/her test tube. The students then had to go around the room and mix their solution with three other people. Once this was done, Kemp added Phenolphthalein to the solutions. If Phenolphthalein detected sodium hydroxide, it would show up pink in the students’ test tubes. “I wanted to make my students aware of the fact that HIV can be spread without the knowledge of the person who has it,” adds Kemp.
According to aids.gov, an estimated 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV, and one out of five doesn’t know it. “These numbers seem pretty realistic. People wouldn’t know they have HIV unless they were sick or got tested. I am even surprised that the numbers aren’t higher,” said Kemp.
Teacher of the Year
Julie Ender from Sparta High School won the teacher of the year award for 2010.
The teacher of the year award was given by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sparta. In order to win this competition one must be a teacher and be nominated by someone. Then the V.F.W will decide on a winner.
Ender had no idea about this award until she was nominated. She said, "This was very humbling to have such nice things mentioned about me."
The student that nominated her was Angela Woodmen, a senior at High Point in Sparta. Not only did she willingly nominate Ender, but also wrote a essay about why she deserved it. The essay about Ender's teaching is what sold the judges and brought her the win
Sam Russ the principal at Sparta High had nothing but great things to say about the award. Russ talked about how proud he was of Ender. "I am very proud. It's a great honor," said Russ. The reason Russ believes Ender got the award was because of the relationships she creates with her students, her high standards and most of all the respect she gets, and gives to her students.
The teacher of the year award was given by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sparta. In order to win this competition one must be a teacher and be nominated by someone. Then the V.F.W will decide on a winner.
Ender had no idea about this award until she was nominated. She said, "This was very humbling to have such nice things mentioned about me."
The student that nominated her was Angela Woodmen, a senior at High Point in Sparta. Not only did she willingly nominate Ender, but also wrote a essay about why she deserved it. The essay about Ender's teaching is what sold the judges and brought her the win
Sam Russ the principal at Sparta High had nothing but great things to say about the award. Russ talked about how proud he was of Ender. "I am very proud. It's a great honor," said Russ. The reason Russ believes Ender got the award was because of the relationships she creates with her students, her high standards and most of all the respect she gets, and gives to her students.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
BCS Standings are shakin'
The college football season is getting late into there schedule with final regular season games finishing last night (November 27th) and now looking forward to conference championship games this next weekend.
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| trip to the 2010 Rose Bowl. Picture by Morry Gash, ESPN |
College football has seen many upsets and thrilling games throughout the season. This week alone had one major upset with a top five ranked team going down and nearly had two top five teams fall. Number four ranked Boise State Broncos went into their Friday night contest against the number nineteen ranked Nevada Wolf Pack with an undefeated 10-0 record and needed a win to keep there national championship hopes alive. The Broncos came out to a hot start, taking a 17-0 lead half way through the second quarter, things were looking good for Boise, the Broncos went into halftime with a 24-7 lead. The second half was then dominated by the Wolf Pack, but with a big first half the Broncos were still ok and gave themselves a chance to win with seconds to go. With a game winning field goal opportunity Kyle Brotzman missed which sent the game to overtime. In overtime Nevada hit a 34 yard field goal to win and upset the number four ranked team in the nation.
Auburn, the number two ranked team in the country also had a scare saturday in the Iron Bowl between Auburn and former number one, now ranked eleventh Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama took a fast lead with a twenty-one point first quarter and a 24-7 halftime lead. The number two ranked team looked to be in trouble but with the leadership of quarterback Cam Newton, Auburn came back to win the second half 21-3 which gave them the slim 28-27 victory. The win keeps Auburn's National Championship hopes alive. Auburn now goes on to play University of South Carolina in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) Championship game. With a victory, Auburn will take part in the National Championship game.
Home state Wisconsin Badgers, ranked seventh, put on another show for the home crowd. The Badgers played Big Ten rival Northwestern. With a win, the seventh ranked Badgers would win a share of the Big Ten with Ohio State and Michigan State and would also win themselves a trip to the Rose Bowl. The Badgers put up 70 points to knock of Northwestern with a final score of 70-23. Wisconsin has put up a total of 153 points in there last two home games combined.
The official BCS (Bowl Championship Series) ranking's will be released sunday night, with Boise State being predicted to drop in the standings and with conference championship games still to be played. Bowl games are not secured by any teams yet. The match ups will be released next sunday after all games are finished.
Sparta Dance Team's Winter Season
The purpose of the winter tryouts was so that everyone has an opportunity to try out for the team even if they choose to play a different sport during the fall season. Tryouts consisted of learning the tryout dance on October 25-27 from 3:30 to 5:30 and performing the dance in front of judges on October 28 at 4:30.
"I had the dancers learn a dance that was about a minute long and perform skills that were necessary for making the team," said Kristen Munger, the coach of this years' squad. She continued to talk about how the dance was challenging but necessary. "The fall season consisted of thirteen girls that have been practicing and performing since the beginning of August. It would only make sense to add new dancers that already could perform the necessary skills or showed great potential to improve," said Munger.
Since the winter season for the Dance Team is their competition season, this means that there is more expected of those who tried out. "The winter season is when the team goes to all the competitions, I needed new girls that were at the same level as the girls that have been practicing and dancing in the fall months," said Munger.
"I expect any girl on the team to be dedicated, hard working, and have dance as a priority in their life because dance is a demanding sport," said Munger. She continues to talk about how girls that make the team are expected to be at practice everyday until 5:30, and 6:00 during the week of competitions.
These tryouts also helped Munger determine which of the participants would be eligible to be on the competition team. Munger explained that the competition team is composed of members from the original squad. If a dancer is not dancing to the team's full potential, she will not compete with the team until she has proven that she is ready.
After all the tryouts were finished on October 28, Munger announced the final roster of the 2010-2011 fall squad. The team consisted of the prior members, Seniors Brittanie Hundt, Molly Sullivan, Brianna Brinckman, Kayla Kelsey, Nicole DeSmidt, Maddie Munger, Juniors Courtney Elliott, Jackie Schroeder, Cassidy Cripe, Harley Schauf, and Freshman Heidi Blaha, Alexis Hanson, Ashley Tester, plus the newest member of the Sparta Dance Team is Freshman, Brooke Granahan.
"We have 14 members on the dance team. 13 returning members and Brooke Granahan was our only new member," said Munger. Out of the girls who made the winter squad, ten of them made up the winter competition team. "The winter season is our busiest and most stressful season because of our competitions and multiple basketball and wrestling performances," said Munger.
The competitions the Sparta Dance Team will be attending are the Onalaska Coulee Invite on November 20, Wisconsin Rapids Raider Classic on December 11, Wausau's Lumberjack Showcase on January 15, and Dance Regional Championships January 29. The team has set high expectations for themselves and they hope to make it to state again this year.
Sparta DECA goes to Milwaukee
In Wisconsin Dells they will be stopping at the Chula Vista to hear a presentation about the sports complex and resort. "Having professional people speak to the students about marketing, and experiencing a professional basketball game is something a lot of kids don't get the chance to do," said DECA advisor Jamie Adams.
After the presentation they will be heading to Johnson Creek to the outlet mall for lunch and some shopping. "I enjoy going to Johnson Creek and so do the kids, it's a nice little stop and some of us can get some christmas shopping done," said Adams.
When done at Johnson Creek, Sparta and Logan will go to Milwaukee for the Bucks Experience, which is a tour of the Bradley Center and presentation about how the Bucks market themselves. After that presentation everyone will be watching the Bucks play the Rockets.
This is a good trip for students in DECA to participate in and a very nice experience. "This helps kids that are competing in Sports and Entertainment, Hospitality Tourism, and get experience in this industry," said Adams. Any student in DECA should consider this trip and get to do something not everyone has the chance to do.
Monday, November 29, 2010
2010 Sparta Soccer Awards
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| The Spartans get ready for a home game. |
Mitchel Pauley, junior forward, led the way by earning an MVC first team all conference award. “I was very surprised. I didn’t feel like I played well enough, but I was solid against our conference teams,” adds Pauley.
Pauley also was named Offensive Player of the Year by Spartan coaches Ben Crenshaw and Ed Hoskin."I worked hard and it paid off, but there were many players capable of getting this award,” said Pauley.
Along with Pauley, one Spartan received a Mississippi Valley second team all conference award. Zach Koger, senior goalkeeper, was nominated for his performance on the defensive end of the field.
Dalton Woodworth (junior) and Nick Loeffelholz (senior) both received Mississippi Valley Conference Honorable Mention awards for their contribution at the midfielder position. “I was surprised since I was out for 3-4 weeks with an injury,” explains Woodworth.
The last conference award went to Dillon Erickson, sophomore goalkeeper, who earned a spot on Mississippi Valley’s Sportsmanship squad. Erickson started the 2010 season as Sparta’s starting goal keeper.
The Spartans finished their season with a 10-13-2 overall record. As for Mississippi Valley Conference results, the Spartans shared second place with Aquinas.
The Wiz
The Sparta High School drama club put on a standing ovation play. "I went to the Friday night show and it was amazing," said junior Courtney Elliot. Elliot said her favorite part of the show was when Sydney Williamson(Dorothy) sang. "Her voice was so powerful and I loved watching every scene she was in," continued Elliot.
Life behind the stage might of been a little hectic. With clothes flying around and makeup on mirrors and even the floor, but on stage it ran very smoothly. Senior Kianna Mack has been the stage manager for the past 3. "I was nervous at first, hoping nothing was going to go wrong, and I'm glad nothing did," said Mack, "I heard a lot of wonderful comments from the audience and about how much they enjoyed it."
This year they had a special wizard mask made by Sue Iverson, head of the art department at Sparta High School, along with the background paintings. Many of the high school band members were a part of the orchestra.
Kianna Mack stated, "I'm excited to put on another show in the future. "Everyone enjoyed the play and looks forward to another great production!"
By: Maddie Munger
Viper Hockey
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| Viper Hockey team of 09-10 The Vipers started practice Monday, November 15, with tryouts for varsity players. Viper Hockey consists of three different schools; Sparta, West Salem, and Bangor. Ryan Kaufman, a senior from Sparta said, "On the first day of practice we did so many drills and laps people started throwing up." The Vipers don't mess around, mainly because they were undefeated MVC champs last year and hope to go to state this year. The Vipers practice at the Sparta ice rink by the golf course. The boys and girls have to be ready to practice from 3:45p.m. until 6p.m. They have a scrimmage at Reedsburg and host their first conference game on December 7 at home against Black River Falls at 7:30p.m. The Vipers love support from their fans. Johnny Lodico, sophomore at Sparta High School said, "When the fans come out to cheer us on, we get pumped up! That really helps us get our blood pumping and our heads in the game." |
NEW FLAT SCREEN TV
The Art Department at Sparta High School, run by Buck Engel and Sue Iverson, are trying for a new way to display students art work. A request has been made for $924.78 to get a 42" to 47" Vizio flat screen TV.
"One thing that impressed me and gave me the idea was that at all public entrances of the Chicago Art Institute had flat screen TVs displaying art. I thought that was a great idea not only to display multiple amounts of art but also to update the people of up coming events." Engel added.
The TV will be put in one of the locked Art Showcases by the Alton Ask Gym for the time being. Engel and Iverson are hoping to have a Plexiglas case for it with a mount.
"In the future it would be nice to have multiple TVs in the main hall way displaying not only art work but up coming concerts, sports events, and other information about the school." Engel explained.
Original art work will still be displayed but once taken down, they will be photographed and added to the slide show.
Having this will benefit photography the most because the photos look better on screen than print because the printer and the camera don't have the same output in quality.
Engel and Iverson are waiting for further funding and just might be in luck. The Alumni class of 2000 is looking into donating part of the cost for the project.
Fingers are crossed that this project will be done by the end of first semester.
Pictured above is an example of the TV they are looking for.
"One thing that impressed me and gave me the idea was that at all public entrances of the Chicago Art Institute had flat screen TVs displaying art. I thought that was a great idea not only to display multiple amounts of art but also to update the people of up coming events." Engel added.
The TV will be put in one of the locked Art Showcases by the Alton Ask Gym for the time being. Engel and Iverson are hoping to have a Plexiglas case for it with a mount.
"In the future it would be nice to have multiple TVs in the main hall way displaying not only art work but up coming concerts, sports events, and other information about the school." Engel explained.
Original art work will still be displayed but once taken down, they will be photographed and added to the slide show.
Having this will benefit photography the most because the photos look better on screen than print because the printer and the camera don't have the same output in quality.
Engel and Iverson are waiting for further funding and just might be in luck. The Alumni class of 2000 is looking into donating part of the cost for the project.
Fingers are crossed that this project will be done by the end of first semester.
2010 Sparta Soccer Awards
Mitchel Pauley, junior forward, led the way by earning an MVC first team all conference award. “I was very surprised. I didn’t feel like I played well enough, but I was solid against our conference teams,” adds Pauley.
Pauley also was named Offensive Player of the Year by Spartan coaches Ben Crenshaw and Ed Hoskins. “I worked hard and it paid off, but there were many players capable of getting this award,” said Pauley.
Along with Pauley, one Spartan received a Mississippi Valley second team all conference award. Zach Koger, senior goalkeeper, was nominated for his performance on the defensive end of the field.
Dalton Woodworth (junior) and Nick Loeffelholz (senior) both received Mississippi Valley Conference Honorable Mention awards for their contribution at the midfielder position. “I was surprised since I was out for 3-4 weeks with an injury,” explains Woodworth.
The last conference award went to Dillon Erickson, sophomore goalkeeper, who earned a spot on Mississippi Valley’s Sportsmanship squad. Erickson started the 2010 season as Sparta’s starting goal keeper.
The Spartans finished their season with a 10-13-2 overall record. As for Mississippi Valley Conference results, the Spartans shared second place with Aquinas.
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