The Old Post SentinelIssue 15 Volume 92 Vincennes Lincoln High School’s student newspaper...since 1924 January 24, 2014

VCSC grappling with bullying statistics

By KARA HEDRICKOPS staff writer

On Jan. 15 and 16 there was

a convocation for Clark Mid-

dle School students and Lin-

coln High School freshmen.

Jim Williams spoke about the

struggles that he and his chil-

dren have been through with

bullying, showing that bully-

ing is not an uncommon thing

and it happens to the best of

people.

Williams was brought in to

speak to students in grades

four through nine after the

Vincennes Community

School Corporation reported

200 incidents of bullying in

the 2013-2014 school year to

the state Department of Edu-

cation.

“It affects kids, and no one

is thinking it’s a big deal, but

it actually is,” said freshman

Darlus Evans about bullying.

There were three main

points to his speech. First,

kids should feel accepted;

second, that their feelings

should be validated, and

third, that they should be un-

derstood. Not only by their

peers, but by their parents as

well. One thing he said was,

“Your perception of others is

based upon what you think is

true.”

Afterwards, he had the stu-

dents write down 3 things to

do with the Columbine and

shootings relating to it: that

they were always boys, that

when you keep your feelings

locked in a jar, school shoot-

ings could happen, and that

most bullying is social bully-

ing. He had the students draw

a jar to represent the feelings

of those who initiate school

shootings.

Williams encouraged the

kids to show kindness to-

wards their peers, and to think

about others first in retrospec-

tive to themselves.

“He was okay, but it wasn’t

very enlightening,” said

Evans of the speaker.

However, Brandon Pfoff,

dean of students at Clark, told

the Sun Commercial that he

was impressed with the kids

and with Williams.

“It takes a lot of courage to

tell someone you’re sorry and

admit your mistakes,” Pfoff

said.

At the end of the session,

students came up and said

sorry to their peers and to

anyone they’d been mean to,

or just flat out ignored

throughout their school ca-

reers. Williams had let the

kids come up and tell him

who they wanted to call up to

the front of the auditorium.

Through him, they apolo-

gized, and ended their apol-

ogy with a hug.

“I think that they were

heartfelt, and being able to go

up there in front of everyone

made it easier to forgive be-

cause they didn’t have to go

up there alone,” said fresh-

man Tyler McKibben.

All in all, friendships grew

stronger because of Williams.

People made up and made

others’ high school careers

maybe just a little bit more

enjoyable.

By BRAYDEN LITTLEOPS sports editor

The Department of Educa-

tion has recently released

bullying results from the

2013-2014 school year. Lin-

coln High School reported a

total of 32 incidents of bully-

ing. Overall, the Vincennes

Community School Corpora-

tion reported 200.

There are four categories

involved in the reports. One

is verbal incidents, which in-

clude name calling and ver-

bal abuse. Physical

incidents are events of hit-

ting or smacking one an-

other. Social relational

incidents are relationship

conflicts between students.

Electronic incidents are any-

thing written on Twitter,

Facebook, or any other form

of social media.

The definition of bullying

from the state involves bul-

lying behavior that has oc-

cured on more than one

instance.

At Lincoln, there were

five verbal incidents, one

physical incident, 15 social

relational incidents, and 10

electronic incidents.

Social relational incidents

were the highest form of bul-

lying reported at Lincoln,

and Principal Steve Combs

understood why.

“Some students aren’t

equipped to handle those

conflicts in the most con-

structive ways,” he said.

All the elementary schools

around the VCSC reported

more physical incidents than

Lincoln. “Younger level

children are learning how to

deal with anger,” Combs ex-

plained. “That can come to

a push, shove, or a kick.”

The data was collected and

prepared by teachers or ad-

ministrators through discipli-

nary logs entered into

PowerSchool, an in-house

electronic record keeping

program for students, teach-

ers, and parents. Teachers

and administrators can log

bullying incidents that are

emailed to Vice Principal

Dave Hill and dean Don Alt-

stadt.

All of this data was then

compiled from PowerSchool

at the end of the year.

Combs is comfortable and

believes that the data is ac-

curate and has very simple

advice on how students and

parents can lower this data.

“The Golden Rule applies.

Do unto others as you would

have done to you.”

Batteries Not Included performingBy CLAIRE DILLONOPS opinions editor

Lincoln High School’s own

improv comedy group is

preparing for their first show

of the year on Jan. 27 at 6

p.m. in the Lincoln cafeteria.

Batteries Not Included is an

improv group of a variety of

students who are "crazy and

spontaneous" according to

their sponsor, English teacher

Carly Tibbs. Batteries is co-

sponsored by Lincoln alumna

Camille Watson. The group

has been around since 2010.

Their shows are very simi-

lar to the television show

“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

in which they play a variety

of games and take sugges-

tions from the audience to

play each game. This results

in a spontaneous, different,

funny show each time.

Even though they are an

improv group and technically

make things up as they go

along, they still have to prac-

tice for their shows. The

group practices every Mon-

day and Thursday in the cafe-

teria after school. They play

many diverse games with a

variety of different audience

suggestions to help them pre-

pare for what they may be

prompted with. The group

consists of 13 students, in-

cluding seven new students,

from all grades.

Junior Rowena Labo has

been in the group since her

freshman year and absolutely

loves it. Labo says that the

audience can look forward to

constant hilarity and being in-

volved with the actors.

Junior Mark Abendroth, a

new member, says he also en-

joys being in Batteries.

"Even during rehearsals,

everyone is laughing and hav-

ing a good time with each

other."

The group plans on making

the show lively and entertain-

ing.

Abendroth states, "My

hopes for the upcoming show

is that it has a large audience

that enjoys watching what we

do just as much as we enjoy

doing it."

The show is free and open

to the public.

Lincoln searching for hostfamilies for Germans

By ANAIIS ACUÑAonline content editor

Lincoln High School will

be getting dipped in German

culture starting April 6. Six-

teen students in 11th grade

and two teachers from

Wasserburg am Inn in

Bavaria, Germany will be vis-

iting Knox County. However,

host families are needed to

accommodate the visiting stu-

dents.

The program has been

around since the early 1990’s,

when Vincennes’ Sister Cities

started it. Each exchange stu-

dent is assigned with a host

family. They are already flu-

ent in English, because they

have studied the language

since fifth grade. Each Ger-

man student will attend

school with a host student.

German students even have

presentations prepared on

German culture that they can

give to classes they visit

while they are here at Lin-

coln.

The German guests are also

taken to visit historic Vin-

cennes sites. In the past they

have visited the Amish coun-

try. This year they are plan-

ning a trip to Lyle Station in

Princeton.

According to coordinator

and German teacher Donna

Kramer, the whole program

is “a wonderful opportunity

for our student to expand their

awareness of the world and a

different culture.”

Lincoln students have

found it to be a great experi-

ence.

Senior Alex Lewis has

taken part in the past.

"It was cool to see his reac-

tions to all the different things

in the U.S,” he said.

He also advised that for fu-

ture participants that they

should have various activities

planned for their visit so that

the student can experience as

much as possible.

French teacher Karen

Query has hosted German

teachers several times during

exchanges. She recalls be-

friending Mr. Haus, who was

in charge of the Wasserburg

exchange.

"He is like an old friend

now. I love catching up with

him,” she said.

"Allow this opportunity to

slow your life down a little,"

added Query. “Enjoy having

the opportunity to share your

American culture and

Hoosier hospitality as well as

learn about German culture.

It's a wonderful experience!"

If anyone is interested in

hosting a German exchange

student they need to contact

Kramer at Lincoln, and she

will answer any questions that

anyone has. The first meeting

for the exchange will be on

Jan. 22nd at 7 p.m. at Lincoln.

There will be more meetings

to follow as needed.

LHS reports 32 incidents Williams speaks to students about bullying

“...being able togo up there infront of everyonemade it easier toforgive...”

--freshman TylerMcKibben

Excel class records tours for MemorialBy ABI FOWLEROPS staff writer

Michael Hutchison's junior

history Excel class went to

Vincennes University on

Jan. 6, to record new audio

tours for the George Rogers

Clark Memorial.

The Memorial audio tours

needed to be redone for sev-

eral different reasons. First,

they were a little outdated

and had not been updated for

at least 15 years. Also, they

were not very engaging for

younger visitors.

"As a result, it was diffi-

cult for younger students to

stay focused," Hutchison

said. He added that they

tried to make the tour so it

would be more exciting and

relevant for younger stu-

dents, and they hope older

visitors will enjoy them as

well.

The students went to the

WVUB studios to record the

new audio tours on Friday

morning. They read from

blog postings that they had

written in Hutchison's class.

These blogs were edited by

Hutchison and Park Ranger

Jason Collins.

It was a fun and new expe-

rience for these students.

"It was very odd and nerve

wracking. They kept telling

me I was reading too fast,"

said junior Shelby Adams.

"It was interesting to go

into the studio to record.

Seeing everyones' questions

on the blogs was fun," added

junior Tamara Greentree.

Both Hutchison and

Ranger Collins hope that the

partnership between GRC

and Lincoln will continue

successfully.

“The partnership between

the Memorial and the class

has been better than we ex-

pected,” said Collins. “The

students have been great to

work with and have brought

some great ideas.”

OPS NEWS 1-24-15:OPS Sports Template 1/22/15 11:55 AM Page 1

OpinionsOPS 2

Question of the Week: Who is your Superbowl pick?

“The New England Pa-

triots. I hate the Sea-

hawks.”

Alex Lewis

senior

“The Patriots be-

cause...Tom Brady.”

Shelby Boger

junior

“Not the Patriots be-

cause they cheated.”

Kobi Kays

sophomore

“i want the Patriots to win,

because I could say the

team that won beat my fa-

vorite team in the AFC

championship.”

Caden Kotter

freshman

Old Post Sentinel

StAff

EDItOR-IN-CHIEf:ZACH HORRALL

NEwS EDItOR:ZACH HORRALL

OPINIONS EDItOR:CLAIRE DILLON

SPORtS EDItOR:BRAYDEN LITTLE

fEAtURES EDItOR:AUBREY HUDSON

ONLINE CONtENt EDItOR:ANAIIS ACUñAAD SALES:

WESTON FRISZCARtOONISt:

KAELA SPEIgNER

StAff wRItERS:KAITLIN HOLT, REID

MCCLURE, KARA HEDRICK,KAELA SPEIgNER, MEgAN

JONES, ABI FOWLER, KARLIEMESSENgER, MYRA BAUER,

BETHANY EVANS, ZACHKIRK, & DAVID WINBURN

ADvISER:MRS. HALEY S. LANCASTER

wEBSItE:WWW.VCSC.K12.IN.US/

LINCOLN/OLDPOSTSENTINEL.ASPx

Our pOlicy:

Persons wishing to commenton the news or opinions reportedin the Old post Sentinel are en-couraged to write letters to theeditor. Letters should be brief(250 words maximum) and mustbe signed by the author. Letterswill be edited for space, gram-mar, and libelous material. Per-sons or businesses interested inadvertising in the Old post Sen-

tinel are encouraged to contactthe editor as well. Letters andadvertising inquiries may bemailed to Old post Sentinel, c/oLincoln High School, 1545 S.Hart St. Rd., Vincennes, IN47591. Email may be sent to:lancasterh@vcsc.k12.in.us

lincOln HigH ScHOOl

MiSSaiOn StateMent & pOlicy:

Vincennes Lincoln High Schoolis committed to educating allstudents for success in a dy-namic society. Students en-rolled, or intending to enroll, atLincoln High School are not de-nied enrollment in any class be-cause of sex, race, color,religion, national origin, or dis-ability.

Standardized tests: How are they changing what we learn?

By ZACHARIAH KIRK

OPS staff writer

Beginning in 2011 the Vin-cennes Community SchoolCorporation upgraded fromusing dirty, old books to issu-ing the freshmen and sopho-mores iPads.

As of 2014, the VCSCnow buys Chromebook lap-tops as our source of educa-tion for the freshmen andfuture generations. The iPadsand Chromebooks have bothadvantages and disadvan-tages for our high school ed-

ucation. On the technology side of

education, you can do morethings than a book can withan iPad or Chromebook.Technology is lighter thanmultiple--mabe even one--heavy book. If you need tolook up a word in a book on-line you can go to the searchbar and type in the key wordand it pops up in seconds. Itis a lot faster than looking itup in a book. When you needto write a paper you can justtype it up and everyone canread it. Every word is spell

checked, every sentence isproof read, the words can beon a certain font and neatlyspaced, and all of this is doneautomatically. Unlike booksthe screen is lit up and youcan use it in the night or day.

But a book can do something that a Chromebooks oriPad can't do. The book does-n't have to rely on the internetto upload documents and as-signments. The lesson plan isin the book and you don'thave to rely on the internet tohave your teachers lessonplans. Also what happens if

your technology dies duringclass? You don't have yourbooks, your homework, youressays. Your are lost.

With the book you physi-cally have everything you

need. Also you don't have tocharge your book every day itis all there.

Both have benefits, it justdepends on the type of personyou are.

Books vs. Technology: Both have benefits

By KAELA SPEIGNER

OPS staff writer

Throughout my high schoolcareer, I've had a couple firstperiod classes where I'm theonly student who verballysays the Pledge of Allegiance.The teacher and the studentsdidn't even say it! If they did,it was so quiet that I couldn'thear it over my sincere voice.

I saw that some of the stu-dents just stood there, exer-cising their freedom ofspeech by not saying thepledge with their hand overtheir heart. This didn't sur-prise me too terribly much,but I thought to myself oneday, "Why should we say thepledge? I mean, how am Ihelping my country by saying

these words?” The question Ishould've asked myself is"Why not say the pledge?" Itis a symbol of our freedomand patriotism.

Reciting the Pledge of Alle-giance doesn't just mean ram-bling out words that studentslearn in kindergarten. If peo-ple really break it down to thebone, they'd understand thatwhat they're saying is a prom-ise of loyalty and love for thiscountry in which we live in.There are reasons for whythis land is called "the land ofthe free and the home of thebrave."

There may be some restric-tions that are set, but think ofthe rights that we do have thatother countries cannot luxuri-ate in. Four examples ex-

pressed by Franklin D. Roo-sevelt in 1941 are "the free-dom of speech, the freedomof worship, the freedom ofwant and the freedom fromfear.” In North Korea, thepeople are not allowed to door say anything without ap-proval from their govern-ment.

Men and women fight over-seas to ensure that these free-doms will not be taken fromus. Saying the Pledge of Alle-giance is a sign of gratitudeand respect for those riskingtheir lives to keep this coun-try from being leashed and in-vaded by another countries.

Even though our countryisn’t perfect, we can stillshow that we are thankful tohave the freedoms by saying

the pledge. We are fortunateto have the rights other coun-tries do not have.

Hilarious Holidays with

Yours Truly No. 14

Proud to say the Pledge of Allegiance

AUBREY HUDSON

OPS features editor

“Intelligence plus characterthat is the goal of true educa-tion,” said Martin LutherKing, Jr. I sometimes won-der if America’s educationsystem is successfully instill-ing either of these values inits students.

The last decade of educa-tion reforms across Americahave led to some unintendednegative consequences. Withan intention of promotingproficiency in reading andmath, standardized testinghas begun to dominate thefocus of schools. Here atLincoln High School, and in

other schools across the state,teachers of all subjects mustspend class time reciting tostudents exactly which Indi-ana state standards will becovered in class each day. Al-gebra students are drilledover questions that might ap-pear on the Algebra End ofCourse Assessment instead ofensuring that they understandthe valuable problem solvingskills Algebra is intended toteach. Sophomore Englishstudents spend hours of classtime preparing for the EnglishECA, rather than in deep dis-cussion of literary topics.

On paper, these tactics areworking. Our school’s testscores are improving, and

that is wonderful. But are stu-dents learning the valuableknowledge our teachers haveto offer or are simply theylearning to pass a test?

Lincoln is not the onlyschool affected by standard-ized testing. Schools acrossthe country deal with thesame issue, because the jobsof administrators and teachersdepend on the students intheir schools passing statemandated tests. While stan-dardized testing seems to bean accurate way to assess stu-dents nationally, it can havedevastating consequences forstudents.

Monty Neill, an educationspecialist, said that many stu-

dents leave high school with-out the critical thinking skillsnecessary for college levelcourses. “After so many yearsof multiple choice tests whereonly one answer can be cor-rect, they don’t understandthat there might be more thanone good answer, or that itcould change under differentcircumstances,” he said.

Standardized tests only cap-ture a glimpse of students’abilities. Students should notbe defined by one score, butby the quality of their workover a school year. Other-wise, education could lose itspurpose which, like Dr. Kingsaid, is to give students intel-ligence and character.

OPS OPINIONS 1-24-15:OPS Sports Template 1/22/15 11:04 AM Page 1

Sports OPS 3

LINCOLN SCORE BOARD

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Junior Varsity

vs. Sullivan, Jan 15. 66-23, Win

Varsity

vs. Sullivan, Jan 15. 77-37, Win

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Freshman

at Southridge, Jan. 20. 47-38, Win

vs. Gibson-Southern, Jan 19. 47-38, Win

at Pike Central, Jan 15. 39-38, Win

Junior Varsity

vs. Mt. Vernon, Jan 16. 40-26, Win

at Sullivan, Jan 17. 42-40, Win

Varsity

vs. Mt. Vernon, Jan 16. 60-45, Win

at Sullivan, Jan 17. 46-31, Win

WRESTLING

at Sullivan Invitational, Jan 17.

Team, 1-4

Daniel Miller (126), 5-0

Nic Dellion (195), 5-0

Athletes of Character program defunctBy ZACH HORRALL

Editor-in-Chief

Due to a lack in funding

from sponsors, the much an-

ticipated Athlete of Character

program is no more.

The program, which started

in 2005, was an honor be-

stowed to 24 student athletes

from the four Knox County

schools, six from each school.

Each student represented

one of Josephson Institute of

Ethics' Six Pillars of Charac-

ter from their organization

CHARACTER COUNTS!

The six pillars are: Trustwor-

thiness, Respect, Responsibil-

ity, Fairness, Caring, and

Citizenship.

According to the organiza-

tion’s website, the Six Pillars

of Character are meant to

teach character education in a

way that doesn't exclude any-

one by using values that aren't

political, religious, or cultur-

ally biased.

To be an Athlete of Charac-

ter, student-athletes had to

only fit into one criteria: be a

participant in at least two

sports. The athletes were se-

lected by their respective ath-

letic directors.

There were no scholarships

or awards for being an Ath-

lete of Character. It was sim-

ply an honor given to the

students.

The Vincennes YMCA and

Vincennes Rotary Club were

co-sponsors of the Athlete of

Character, with Rotary pay-

ing for most of the cost, and

the YMCA supplying the

luncheon honoring the

stuents. Around November

2013, after the students had

already been selected, Rotary

decided to drop their sponsor-

ship of the program.

With the help of the four

county schools, lead by North

Knox superintendent Darrel

Bobe, the Athletes of Charac-

ter program was able to con-

tinue for the 2013-2014

school year. However, it was

only a one-year deal.

Former Vincennes Rotary

president Jim Gislason said,

"It was something that was

coming, and we ran into a sit-

uation where we lost control.

Athletic directors started

making decisions, and we

weren't comfortable."

"It became a popularity

contest," he said of the pro-

gram, while explaining that it

has simply run its course.

The program that Rotary

decided to move on to is the

Backpacks with Love, which

provides food-filled back-

packs for underprivileged

children.

McDonald's, locally owned

by Deb and Wally

Nowakowski, had been ap-

proached and considered

being a sponsor for the pro-

gram, but they were eventu-

ally not needed because the

schools picked up the cost.

Students throughout Lin-

coln High School are disap-

pointed with the news the

program is no more.

"Seeing the Athletes of

Character every year, I had al-

ways hoped and strived to be

one," said senior Kristina Alt-

stadt. "Being a senior and

being told we would not have

the opportunity was a definite

disappointment."

Senior Brandt Nowaskie is

hopeful that it will make a

comeback.

"I think it could return in

time. It's nice for people to be

recognized for doing the right

thing."

"I would absolutely be a

sponsor of the Athlete of

Character in the future, as

long as there was another

sponsor involved," said Deb

Nowakowski, who is also a

science teacher at Lincoln.

"It's a very plausible thing

to go back to," she said, be-

cause all that would need to

be paid for is the photos and

the printing of the trading

cards and posters.

She also added that were

McDonald's to be a sponsor,

she would request a stricter

criteria for featured athletes

that included "extremely spe-

cific character traits."

Athlete of the week: Tate ShuckmanBy MEGAN JONES

OPS staff writer

This week's athlete of the

week is freshman Tate

Schuckman. Matt and Kristi

Schuckman are his parents

and Zach and Madison are

his older siblings.

Schuckman has been play-

ing basketball for seven

years. He has been the leader

of his team almost every year

he has played.

Schuckman plays baseball

during the summer, and in his

spare time he likes playing

basketball at the YMCA.

He played basketball for

Indiana Basketball Academy

and has won several tourna-

ment trophies.

His most memorable mo-

ment while playing basketball

was hitting a game winning

shot from half-court while he

played in IBA.

His most recent memorable

moments have been made

playing varsity on the Lincoln

High School basketball team.

Basketball coach Jeff Hein

says Schuckman works ex-

tremely hard.

"Tate is very coachable and

works hard on and off the

basketball floor,” he said.

Retired professional basket-

ball player Michael Jordan is

Schuckman's most admired

athlete.

"He is the greatest basket-

ball player of all time. He

never quit and always

worked hard."

Schuckman's future plans

include going to college to

enter the medical field at In-

diana University. He wants to

major in radiology.

Schuckman would still like

to play basketball after high

school.

"It will be a great opportu-

nity to be able to play. I love

the game too much to stop."

Discipline and self confi-

dence are what Schuckman

has learned from playing

sports.

"I learned how to manage

my time between school and

sports," he added.

"Have confidence in your-

self. Work hard in school and

sports but remember that you

are a student first," Shuckman

advises athletes.

Golf cart rides offered at ball games

By KAITLIN HOLT

OPS staff writer

Lincoln has recently begun

giving free of charge golf

cart rides to those in need of

assistance getting to the

school from the parking lots

to the front doors at home

basketball games.

The Knox County Sheriff's

Department recently donated

the golf cart to the school.

They themselves had ob-

tained the golf cart from a

drug seizure and figured Lin-

coln could put it to better

use. It now has a weather

cover to keep riders warm

during the cold winter

months. It was donated by

long-time Alice fan Archie

Webber.

Students in National Honor

Society are usually the driv-

ers during games, however

anyone can voluntarily sign

up to help. Drivers patrol the

parking lots and ask anyone

if they are in need of assis-

tance or if they would just

like a warm-ride up to the

school.

National Honor Society

member junior Trent Mc-

Crary has enjoyed being able

to help out.

"It really feels good that I

can help out the elderly in

the community," McCrary

said.

Principal Steve Combs

says the program is working

very well and is pleased with

the results. "The idea was

given to us by the school

board," Combs said. "It's a

great idea," he added.

Athlete of the week:

Jessica Donovan

By MYRA BAUER

OPS staff writer

Adviser’s note: Last week,

we ran out of room in our

print edition and ran this fea-

ture in our online edition.

We hope you will enjoy see-

ing it in print.

Last week’s athlete of the

week was sophomore swim-

mer Jessica Donovan. Dono-

van is the daughter of Karl

and Ann Donovan. She has

one sister, Alli Donovan.

She has been swimming for

eight years and is involved

with the Vincennes Swim

Team. Donovan has been

awarded with the McDonald's

award and All Conference in

200 yard freestyle while

swimming for Lincoln.

Donovan has an admirable

goal.

“I want to win sectionals in

the relay and 100 backstroke,

and advance to state,” she

said.

In the off season, Donovan

lifeguards at the YMCA and

Rainbow Beach.

Donovan said, "My most

memorable moment was win-

ning 200 freestyle in Big 8

Conference and setting the

school record in the 200

freestyle relay at sectionals."

Donovan does not want to

continue swimming while in

college. She wants to focus

on strictly academics.

She admires swimmer

Missy Franklin, because she

is a 17-year-old Olympic gold

medalist.

“Work hard and you get

good results,” said of swim-

ming and what it has taught

her.

"Stay out of trouble, study

hard, and work hard in your

sport," Donovan advises

younger athletes.

Photo by Rene LaMontagna

OPS Sports 1-24-15:OPS Sports Template 1/22/15 11:27 AM Page 1

FeaturesOPS 4

ASK BIG A: Advice for every Alice

"How does one get past se-

nioritis?" - An infected sen-

ior

Dear infected senior,

Senioritis is a serious con-

dition that seems to have no

other cure than graduation.

Many believe that it is imag-

inary; a supposed affliction

of students in their final year

characterized by a decline of

motivation and performance

that is really just laziness. I

am sure, however, that you

and many other seniors are

unfortunately infected, and

there are a few ways to get

around it if you're dedicated.

Now, I know the majority

of students dislike the idea

of doing something they do

not want to do. Especially

with your electronics beck-

oning to check Facebook and

play what ever game is pop-

ular that week. Unfortu-

nately, you still have

responsibilities, and letting

senioritis control your need

to watch three seasons of

“Parks and Rec” on Netflix

will definitely get in the way.

Put distractions away

please. You can't possibly be

paying attention to what

you're doing while texting or

playing games. Keep it out

of arm's reach or out of sight

to prevent a quick update to

your status.

Some other good ways of

making sure you get your

time in for studying or fin-

ishing homework is to im-

mediately start on it when

you have free time. The

sooner you get it done, the

sooner you can do what you

want to do. If that is not mo-

tivation enough, then try re-

warding yourself after a job

well done.

Just do it. Life is going to

go on no matter if you're

ready for it or not. Getting

behind on classes because

you simply don't feel like

doing it is not worth it. Just

remember it is only for a

while longer before you're

done with high school.

Senior Spotlight: Brayden LittleBy MYRA BAUER

OPS staff writer

This week's senior spotlight

is sports editor Brayden John

Steffey Little. Little was born

in Vincennes to his parents,

Mark and Gena Little. He has

two siblings, Tessa Little-

Boger, and Andrew Anson.

Another member of his fam-

ily is his dog, Julian.

Little is employed at Hall-

mark. His hobbies are swim-

ming, cross country, track,

and hanging out with “the one

and only,” David Atkinson.

He is also involved in the ge-

nealogy and cheer block

clubs at Lincoln High School.

Little's favorite teachers in-

clude social studies teacher

Kevin Myers, English teacher

Steven Toy, and social studies

teacher Seth Skelton.

"The best thing about Lin-

coln is the supportive stu-

dents in sports, and the

supportive teachers in educa-

tion,” Little said.

He is involved in swim,

track, and cross-country. He

is involved in National Hon-

ors Society and spends much

of his time volunteering at

various places. Little has re-

ceived the Legion Award for

cross country, he is a two-

year cross-country regional

qualifier, and a swim sec-

tional finalist in the 500

freestyle and 100 back stroke.

His favorite quote is from

Olympic runner, Steve Pre-

fontaine: "I run best when I

run free."

His advice to underclass-

men is "get involved, it helps

to manage time and you are

able to meet new people"

Little's favorite book is

"Catcher in the Rye," and his

favorite movie is “The Great

Gatsby." He plans to attend

Indiana University-Purdue

University Indianapolis to

study homeland security and

swim for their team.

He says, "If someone tells

you that you're incompetent

and won't succeed in some-

thing, shut their mouths with

success."

His most embarrassing mo-

ment is nearly false starting in

swim sectionals for the 500

freestyle. His most memo-

rable moment is beating a

record-holding opponent on

Gibson-Southern’s senior

night.

"The devastation in his eyes

was perfection," Little

boasted. Artist of the Week:

Zach ChapmanBy REID McCLURE

OPS staff writer

It's that

time again

for Lincoln

High School's

artist of the

week, and

this week is

focused on

senior artist

Zach Chap-

man. Chap-

man is the

son of

Melissa Lut-

trell and Jon

Chapman. He

also has a

sibling, Lexi

Wilson.

Chapman has been in-

volved with many forms of

art at Lincoln, such as Ad-

vanced Placement art studio

and painting. Outside of Lin-

coln he usually likes to draw

just for fun.

Zach's inspiration for get-

ting into art was from his

grandma, Cheryl Biehl. She

taught him when he was lit-

tle. The reason why Zach

likes art so much is because,

to him, it's his way to open

up to the world.

Chapman won first place

ribbon at an art show for his

work called "Horror Gar-

den."

His mentors are art teacher

Amy Lane and his grand-

mother.

"Zach is strong in his illus-

trative designs. He has mas-

tered the use of pen and ink

and experimented with

adding his own techniques to

the media,” Lane said.

Chapman also plays for the

bowling team for Lincoln,

because it is his other pas-

sion.

His favorite artist is Sal-

vador Dali.

"He used his imagination

and that's what I work with."

Zach said. His favorite work

by Dali is "Persistence of

Memory," because he feels

that the piece speaks to him.

After high school, Chap-

man wants to study anima-

tion or illustrate for

children's books. He plans to

do more art later on, but he

thinks the hard part will be

getting noticed.

"Be creative with your

mind and don't be afraid to

express yourself,” he advises

artists.

Senior Spotlight: Lora MargerumBy KARLIE MESSENGER

OPS staff writer

“I’m going to succeed be-

cause I’m crazy enough to

think I can,” is this week’s

senior spotlight Lora

Margerum’s favorite quote.

Margerum was born in

Racine, Wisconsin to her par-

ents, Eric and Debbie

Margerum. While she does

not having any siblings, she

has one dog, Angel, and two

cats, Socks and Tigger.

Margerum enjoys singing,

dancing, acting, and mostly

anything that allows her to be

creative. She has placed gold

every year at the ISSMA solo

and ensemble district and

state competitions throughout

her high school career. She

has maintained a 4.0 GPA

through all her years of

schooling, and has attended

six leadership conferences,

some which have taken place

in Indianapolis, Boston, and

Washington D.C.

Margerum’s extracurricular

activities include choir,

drama, student council, and

National Honor Society.

Her favorite classes are

choir, tech theater, and AP

English, while her favorite

teachers are English teacher

Haley Lancaster, choir

teacher Mark Snyder, and so-

cial studies teacher Seth

Skeleton. Margerum loves a

wide variety of books, but

her favorite would have to be

“Looking for Alaska,” by

John Green.

Margerum plans on audi-

tioning in February for colle-

giate musical theater

programs, so she is still un-

sure of which college she

will attend.

Margerum’s most memo-

rable moment during high

school would be standing on

the national wall to watch

Barack Obama’s inaugura-

tion ceremony in 2013 while

attending the High School

Presidential Inaugural Con-

ference.

“If you want to participate

in something, do it. It doesn’t

matter if you’re the only one

to do it, or if there’s a chance

of failure,” she advises under-

classmen. She adds, “If you

allow yourself to stand out,

you will meet awesome peo-

ple and have amazing experi-

ences you never thought

you’d have.”

Media Center to develop writing lab for students;

Peer editing to help improve writing

By DAVID WINBURN

OPS staff writer

The Lincoln High School

media center will soon be im-

plementing a writing center to

help students with writing as-

signments.

Librarian Jamie Wagler will

be heading the project and

will accept appointments in

two to three weeks. Appoint-

ments can be made anytime,

and sessions will take place

during enrichment on Tues-

day and Thursday.

The writing center will con-

sist of several student peer

editors who will aid students

with all aspects of English

class, from writing notecards

to outlining text, to proper

punctuation in essays and

short-answer questions.

Wagler read several profes-

sional journals, like School

Library Monthly, for the idea.

Then she looked for other

schools in the country that

use this form of English aid,

and discovered Madison High

School in Portland, Oregon.

She found the idea to be an

effective way to raise English

grades in Madison High, and

wished to integrate the con-

cept at Licnoln.

“I’m hoping it raises test

grades and works as a stan-

dardized test preparation for

Lincoln students!” Wagler ex-

plained

Students love the idea, and

are excited for the writing

center.

“I think that [the writing

center] a wonderful idea. I be-

lieve it will help a lot of stu-

dents!” said junior Macy

Thorne.W e’re on Tw itter! @ LincolnOPS

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