The Chief Online December 2011

Remembering

Mitch By Mitch Miller On October 24

th, 2011, Pontiac

Township High School lost a very good student, classmate, and, to many, a great friend. Mitch was born on August 22

nd, 1995, to

Becky Siegel and Cory Robinson in Joliet, Illinois. Many know Mitch from the variety of schools he attended, including Pontiac Christian School until fifth grade, then Odell Grade School through eighth grade, and then as a junior here at PTHS. Some of his personal favorites were not agreed by others, but Mitch loved the Chicago Cubs, Dale Earnhardt, Denver Broncos Football, and first and foremost, Case IH Farm equipment. Nicknames were made-up from his personal characteristics and fun memories; some of the better known were “Mitch,” “Stubby Buddy,” “Stubby,” “Stubs,” “Bud,” “Buddy,” and “Fluffy.” I had the honor of speaking on behalf of the family and friends at Mitch‟s funeral. That week, the family came up with three words that best overall summarized Mitch and I shared them that day.

Inside this Issue:

Inside this issue:

Those words are “faith,” “family,” and “agriculture.” His faith with God, the devotion to his family, and his love for agriculture – I could not think of not think of any words that summarize Mitchell Robinson as well as these. Mitchell‟s funny and humorous memories were shared by many students here at PTHS. I would like to send a personal thank you on behalf of the family and friends to all the students and staff of PTHS for the help and support that has been shared since the accident.

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Ms. Doraba 2

Madrigals 3

Scholastic Bowl 3

Upperclass Acts 4

Student Survey 5

Ask Smitty 6

Major General Dohleman

7

Christmas

Movies

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P O N T I A C T O W N S H I P H I G H S C H O O L

New Teacher Report: Ms. Doroba

By Cassidy Murphy

If you have Mr. Krause, Mr. Shepard, or Ms. Stady for your math class then you may know Ms. Doroba. She has been co-teaching in some of the math classes since the beginning of the year. Ms. Doroba graduated from ISU this May and before coming to Pontiac she had some teaching experience at William Fremd High School in Palatine, IL. She says she likes the small-town feel of Pontiac after coming from a big town. She enjoys teaching math because she likes helping kids with algebra and she enjoys the teachers she works with. If you see Ms. Doroba around, don‟t forget to say hi!

Congratulations to Austin Bristow and Jordan Johns for placing 1

st and 2

nd place in the VFW‟s “Voice of

Democracy” contest!

Gravestone Project By Vince Murphy EarthTrek‟s Gravestone Project is a worldwide project which maps changes in the environment due to pollution and climate change. The way they measure this is by assessing how much erosion has taken place on marble grave stones. That‟s because a material in the marble is eroded by the acidic chemicals in rain fall. The amount of “acid rain” is a good indicator of the pollution in an area. This project started in July of 2009 and just ended this past November 30

th.

The project now includes data from Livingston County, with the help of Mr. Ritter‟s and Mr. Hitchin‟s Earth Science classes. These PTHS students traveled to Pontiac‟s Southside Cemetery and Odell‟s cemetery to collect erosion information. They did this by measuring the thickness of the stones on each side and on the top. The final statistics on this project will come out in early 2012. If you‟d like to learn more about EarthTrek‟s projects you can visit their website: http://www.goearthtrek.com/index.html

Mrs. Derossett is “Playing Games”

in Comp II By Aubrey Taylor Students wrote ten minute plays in Comp II, but not just for grades. The students sent their plays to Heartland Theatre for the Heartland 2012 Annual 10-minute Play Festival. This year‟s theme is “Playing Games.” You get four characters and ten minutes to wow the judges. The students in Comp II acted their plays out in class, as a sort of peer editing. Mrs. Derossett said, “They had fun, and provided more effort towards the project, when there were outside judges reading their work.” The idea that the plays were college resume applicable was rewarding. The semi-finalists are to be announced February 21

st. Good luck

to our Indian competitors!

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ELITE Conference By Mark Panno On November 28, seven students, accompanied by Mrs. Mullen, attended the ELITE conference at Country Companies in Bloomington. The ELITE conference is an annual event for students pursuing a Career and Technical Education, also known as CTE. Aaron Shelton, Brittany Hilleary, Dani Casson, and Zach Lane attended for Technology and Engineering Education, while Justine Pfaff and Trey Weidman attended for Business Marketing and Computer Education and Mitch Miller attended for Agriculture. The conference was a full day filled with speakers, workshops, and lunch. The keynote speaker this year was Mr. Dave Mouser, Principal at Tri-Valley High School. All of the students described Mr. Mouser‟s presentation as the highlight of the day. He delivered a fun and energetic message of encouragement, describing how being a teacher gives you the possibility of making a difference every day. Students performed teaching exercises in workshops; for example, Justine Pfaff demonstrated how to use Web 2.0 and share information over the internet. Mrs. Mullen stayed with Business Marketing and Computer Education and told her story of how she decided on a teaching career in the CTE area along with all the other teachers at the conference. Zach Lane enjoyed hearing teachers talk about being in the workforce as accountants, engineers, or technicians before becoming a teacher. The conference is open to any junior or senior who is interested in teaching in career or technical areas.

Scholastic Bowl By Taylor Araujo Ever wonder about Scholastic Bowl? Scholastic Bowl is an academic competition group. The members are quizzed based on their knowledge on academic and everyday subjects. The varsity team thus far is looking good. “They started off slow this year, but now they are looking doing real well,” stated Mr. Ramseyer, also mentioning that they are 8 and 7 so far. The team just won their most recent tournament against Bloomington Central Catholic last week! The Varsity team has ten members and the Junior Varsity has nine members. The team does not just practice by hitting the books and studying non-stop; as a matter of fact they try to fit in as much fun as they can. The teams form scrimmage groups and play against each other, even competing with teachers. For anyone considering Scholastic Bowl for next year, Mr. Ramseyer suggests filling out a drug form early in the year to avoid having to pay a fee. Also, talk to people who are on the team because they may have some interesting insights.

Look for the print version of The Chief in

The Pontiac Daily Leader

Seniors! Download an Upperclass Acts

Form HERE

Return the form to room 136 or email

HERE

Madrigal Dinner 2011 By Taylor Araujo Every year PTHS Music Department puts together a Renaissance-themed holiday dinner and show that showcases some of the best musicians at PTHS! This year‟s performers have been working hard since August to perfect music and lines. They have had many practices to get ready for the show, including Sunday camps and morning rehearsals. These young musicians have been very committed to their music and it is starting to show! This year‟s dinner were held December 5th, 6th, and 7th at Pontiac's Elks Lodge. The students looked forward to performing and getting to show family and friends all that they have worked on! Come out for next year‟s show and support your friends by purchasing tickets from Mr. Durbin today!

Literary Society Blog

A member of the Literary Society has set up a blog so that teachers and their students can participate and share comments. Check out what your classmates are saying about books at:

readersexpress.blogspot.com

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NAME: Kelly Ruther NICKNAMES: Kel, Baby Ruth (coined by Alec Fannin), Schmeil ROLE MODELS: Grandparents ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Pontio

Upperclass Acts

Business Manager, Vice President and Treasurer of Spanish Club, HOSA, Basketball, Volleyball FONDEST HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES SO FAR: Freshman year, 16

th birthday, anytime spent

with friends 3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Shopping, traveling, spending time with friends and family PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Hopefully attending SIUC in the Radiological Sciences Department of UltraSound FAVORITE MOVIE: P.S. I Love You INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Dare You To Move” by Switchfoot FAVORITE TEACHER(S): Mrs. Bozarth, Mr. Blair, Mr. Kraft, Mr. Nollen

FAVORITE AUTHOR: Nicholas Sparks MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Winning LACC Student of the Year for CAN WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: My ability to make them laugh with random remarks and my lack of tan. HOW I WOULD SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS: Pay for college, buy a house, take care of my family, and then take a giant shopping spree to all the PINK stores IF I WAS STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, THE THREE ITEMS I WOULD BRING WOULD BE: Fresh water, food, friends PET PEEVES: No cell phone service, slow walkers and drivers, and repeating myself. KELLY’S LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Take each day one by one and live it to the fullest, because there are only so many tomorrows promised. Don‟t see a bad experience as a regret, but as a lesson learned. Put yourself first when you need to, but don‟t be selfish. You‟ve only got one shot at these four years, make the most of them while you still can.”

NAME: Luke Bartosik NICKNAMES: Anything that rhymes with Luke pretty much ROLE MODEL(S): Doctors-because I want to be a doctor eventually ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Tennis team, Art club, Scholastic Bowl, CAPTAINS, Math team FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Meeting a bunch of people, and placing 1st, 2nd, and

3rd at the Cornbelt Art Show 3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Medical, Art, Engineering PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Going to 2 year college then onto a 4 year FAVORITE MOVIE: Step Brothers MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “It was Only a Dream”

FAVORITE CLASSES: AP Art and Engineering FAVORITE BOOKS: Harry Potter MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Getting Student of the Month all 4 years of high school PET PEEVES: People taking my stuff, people talking loud and louder and LOUDER! WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: Probably my art work HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? Pay off school, buy my first house, the rest split in half (save and invest) IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3

ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? A knife, a drawing pad, and a pencil LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Shoot for the best, don‟t settle for less.”

Student Survey:

“What do you really want for Christmas?

GPS – Zach Lane

My two front teeth – Kalyn Young Clothes - Arturo Lopez

A hippopotamus – Abby Campbell A three-legged pony – Drew Baker

A mogwai – Emily Holzhauer iPhone 4S – Lauren Pagel

Money – Bailey Graves A puppy – Rachel Lauritsen

An empty box – Jay Dronenberg Taylor Lautner – Caila Smith

A ping pong table – Charles Spencer Kindle – Sam Duffy

Perfume – Elizabeth Miller Chicken, chicken, and more chicken – Parker Gibson

Snow – Cassidy Murphy A Festivus miracle to happen! – Alyssa Nestor

FFA Update

By Jordan Johns Pontiac FFA has been very busy the past few weeks. Our Food Science team won their state contest, allowing them to compete next year at the 85

th National FFA

Convention in Indianapolis! Congratulations to Abby Legner for being the first place individual at state! Emily and Josh Carroll finished 4

th and 7

th. Also competing for

the state title were: Emma Rich, Abby Jacobs, Lauren Cassady, Arian Hamilton, and Molly Verdun. On November 10

th, we had our monthly chapter meeting

and Thanksgiving dinner. A presentation of the flag was given by the Odell Legion and a very special, heartfelt message was delivered by Mitchell Robinson‟s mom, Becky. The 100 Pontiac FFA members in attendance enjoyed Just Dance competitions and eating turkey, too. Saturday, November 12th, was a busy day for the chapter when the Ag Sales Team competed at Parkland Jr. College in Champaign. Team members Mitch Miller, Cailyn Carstens, Jordan Johns, Will Lannon, and Kyle Delong placed third as a team, and Jordan Johns placed 2

nd individual in Order Taking. Mr. Faber and 63 FFA

members and alumni FFA students built leadership and teamwork skills while having fun paintballing in Mackinaw. For the week of November 14

th, Mr. Bane

and Mr. Faber were at the National Agriculture Teachers‟ Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Faber walked across the stage to receive the Outstanding Young Member award. Congratulations and thanks to Mr. Bane and Mr. Faber for all the time and effort they give to 244 Ag students and Pontiac FFA members daily! Our next chapter meeting is December 12

th. FFA members, bring

your skills for our annual bags tournament!

Click HERE for PTHS FFA’s website.

By Charles Spencer

Take a moment and imagine a popsicle stick. Alone, it doesn't seem all that sturdy or interesting, but with about 99 friends, it is capable of helping support well over 200 pounds! Earlier this year, Mr. Hitchins‟ Physics class took the task of creating bridges with glue, wire, and 100 popsicle sticks.

Bridge Building in Physics

"The purpose of the project was to help students grasp the ideas of torques, forces and other course concepts - and of course, to be creative!" said Mr. Hitchins. The students were given creative freedom so long as they met the requirements of covering a 16 inch gap, being no more than four inches wide and

containing no more than 100 Popsicle sticks. The bridges were designed to hold a bucket in which a series of weights were placed into until the bridge snapped. Amazingly, several bridges held more than 100 pounds when before they reached their limit. Check back to The Chief for other stories of amazing and fun classroom learning experiences!

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The Sound of Music at PTHS By Jessica Ping This year our school is lucky enough to be performing the musical The Sound of Music. It is a classic tale in which a hopeful young woman, named Maria, is searching for a place where she belongs. After spending some time and breaking some of the churches “No singing without permission” rules, Mother Abbess sends her to act as governess to the seven children of Captain Georg Von Trapp. She goes through many comical and enjoyable experiences during her stay. The cast for the production are (in order of appearance): Maria Rainer: Ashley Haley, The Mother Abbess: Darian Stadler, Sister Berthe: Courtney Amm, Sister Margaretta: Daniella Araujo, Sister Sophia: Baylee Ritter, Captain Georg Von Trapp: Austin Bristow, Franz: Charles Spencer, Frau Schmidt: Hannah Lee, (children of the captain) Liesel : Abby Tronc, Friedrich: John Leverton, Lousia: Taylor Araujo, Kurt: Cody Hatzer, Brigitta: Kennedy Vilt, (Marta and Gretl TBA, they will be children), Rolf Gruber: Brandon Monical, Elsa Schrader: Sarah Bertram, Max Detweiler: Josh Anderson, Herr Zeller: Jeff Ellis, Admiral von Schreiber: Caleb Bray (other characters, townspeople, nuns, chorus, etc) Sam Quinn, Jessica Ping, Cassidy Murphy, Kyle Schott, Brittany Roper, Stephanie Delong, Alex Kaminski, Maddie Grundler, Mashaya Tharp, Emma Rich, Abby Snyder, Gavin Balotta, Brandon Duck, Natalee Byrns, Kayln Young, Rachel Lauritsen, Haley Browning, Taylor Sartoris, Jamie Carter, and Marissa Somodi. This show has a great story line, wonderful music, and a perfect cast! The performances will be March 9

th at 7:00, March 10

th at 7:00, and March

11th at 2:00 (?). We hope you come out and enjoy the show!

Want to win $10,000?

For complete guidelines, visit the Profiles in Courage Award at www.jfklibrary.org or see a PTHS English teacher near you!

help you before and after school. You also seem to be sufficiently lacking confidence in yourself. You will not fail a final. Okay, well you can, but there‟s no way you‟d get a complete zero on it, even by Christmas tree-ing it („Tis the Season, right?). In all seriousness, take a chill pill and remember everything will be okay. And do yourself a favor, make your New Year‟s Resolution to believe in yourself, alright? Smitty xxxo Have a question for Smitty?

Send it here!

Cassidy Murphy Vincent Murphy

Jessica Ping Adam Shelton

Charles Spencer Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor

Dear Smitty, With finals and the holidays and the teachers crunching everything in this next month, I‟m already freaking out! Any advice? Sincerely, Freaking Out Dear Freaking Out, Well first, there is this thing that you can do - it‟s called breathing. If it‟s one thing I‟ve learned over the past year, things are never half as bad as you‟ll think they‟ll be. Finals sometimes are super difficult, but all your teachers are probably more than willing to

Ask Smitty

Read Archived

Issues of The Chief Online

HERE

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The Chief Staff is:

Mark Panno, Co-Editor-in-Chief Caila Smith, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Taylor Araujo Dena Boatman Chloe Boden

Michaela Dohleman Haleigh Gill

Jordan Johns Cassidy Murphy Vincent Murphy

Jessica Ping Adam Shelton

Charles Spencer Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor

Book Review: The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I

Review by Dena Boatman Cassie Blake, a girl from California, lives a perfectly normal life. She is visiting some family friends at Cape Cod when she meets an interesting stranger. She helps him escape some people who are looking for him, when she realizes something. Even though she doesn‟t even know his name, she is in love with him. Cassie never tells anyone about him, and soon it‟s time for her to go back to sunny California. Little does she know, that‟s not where she‟s going. She and her mother are going to move in with her grandmother in New Salem. At her new high school, there is a group of students that everyone respects and fears. They are called the “Club.” Cassie soon notices some weird things about the Club members. One is that they all live on the same street – the same exact street that she lives on. One senior Club member, Diana, takes Cassie under her wing after another member, named Faye, starts to terrorize her. Life seems fair except for two things: there is only one opening for the club which a young girl named Kori will get and that she will never see that mysterious boy again. Soon though, terrible things start to happen. On her fifteenth birthday, Kori is found dead. She broke her neck. This incident will change Cassie‟s life forever. That night, Cassie is taken out of her bed, blindfolded, and placed on a beach. She recognizes Diana‟s voice who tells her to do things like take a step with a knife against her throat so that she will be initiated. She does and then finds out that she‟s not normal. She‟s a witch. The night of the initiation, a circle member comes back from a trip with the guy from Cape Cod. His name is Adam Conant and he is dating Diana. He came back with a crystal skull, full of dark magic and now Cassie‟s life is in for an interesting turn!

The Secret Circle by L. J. Smith is a wonderful book! It will have readers sitting at the edge of their seat, surprised at what just happened. It filled with mythology, romance, and drama on each page! This is the first part of a two book series. The Secret Circle is also a hit television show on The CW. Be warned, however, the show is nothing like the book! It is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to anybody!

Student Poetry

"My Hair" by Aubrie Taylor Brown and silky. Like an old dirty creek. Hanging in a ponytail. Twisted on the end from nerves and fidgeting. Hanging upon my crown like curtains, covering my eyes. The windows to my soul. My boundary, a border. Keeping people out, but when pulled back, let in the light of knowledge. My hair.

Former Student Visits PTHS!

By Michela Dohleman

Major General, US Army (Ret) Kenneth Dohleman took a stroll through the halls at Pontiac Township High School. The Valedictorian of the class of 1944 spoke to several classes about growing up on a small farm during the Great Depression, the importance of his high school education, and some of his experiences while he served in the military. He emphasized to the students how his English and grammar skills helped him in his career and his math classes taught him to solve any problem by knowing how to identify the unknown. After he graduated from PTHS, Kenneth Dohleman was drafted into the military during the height of WWII. After he returned from his duty, he planned to return to his education by going to college, and follow his mother‟s footsteps and become a teacher. Unfortunately he was unable to do so. After the war the waiting lists to enroll in college were affected by the G.I. Bill. After this bill, universities prioritized the waiting list of soldiers based the number of years in combat and other criteria. When he realized he was unable to attend college at this time, he re-enlisted in the military. Through this decision and his passion for serving his country, he remained on the army for almost 39 years. Major General, US Army Kenneth Dohleman retired in 1983. His visit shows his continuous gratitude for his education and his desire to “pay back” his home community.

Michela is the niece of the retired General.

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The Chief’s Top 5 Christmas Movies by Vince Murphy

In the spirit of the holidays, The Chief staff would like to countdown our favorite holiday classics. Drum roll please. . . 5. It’s a Wonderful Life It‟s hard not to love this movie. Yes, it‟s old (or a classic) and it‟s sappy, but Jimmy Stewart is great. He has you believing he‟s the home town boy who wanted adventure away, but stayed home to do the right thing. Throughout the movie, he forgets day-to-day just what a wonderful life he‟s made while waiting to leave Bedford Falls (plus, you have to check out Clarence the angel- in-waiting!). 4. The Polar Express The Polar Express is the 2004 animated movie, featuring Tom Hanks and Daryl Sabara, which not only shares a story of Christmas spirit but uses new animation technology to tell the tale. The movie features a young boy who questions his belief in Santa and the spirit of Christmas. That‟s when, on Christmas Eve, a train plows through the snow of his front yard and takes him on a wild adventure to the North Pole. Once arriving at the North Pole, the celebration of Christmas begins. Santa and the wonderful Christmas bells are difficult to see and hear without belief, but as the boy finally begins to believe, he finds himself face to face with Santa. The movie is a great telling of the kid‟s classic book. 3. A Christmas Story A Christmas Story is wonderful! Poor Ralphie tries throughout the movie to get the infamous Red Rider BB Gun. Of course, the answer everyone gives him, including his teacher and even the store Santa, is: “No, you‟ll shoot your eye out!” The movie features the family‟s hilarious 1940 Christmas. Hint; if you watch the movie, you‟ll find out the story behind the “leg lamp.” 2. Elf Elf is probably the funniest holiday movie to come out in the past decade. In this movie, Will Ferrell portrays Buddy the elf. Buddy believes himself to be a real elf because he was adopted by Santa and elves at the North Pole. When Santa breaks the adoption news to him, he decides to embark on a journey to find his real father. Buddy finds him in New York City: however, his dad and the city just don‟t treat the six-foot elf kindly. Buddy‟s ignorance tends to get him in (funny) trouble throughout the movie but his wisdom in spreading happiness and cheer to people eventually wins over his father, family, and a large group New Yorkers. 1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Christmas Vacation is an absolute classic. It perfectly displays how one does not want to spend Christmas hosting the big family Christmas. Anything that can go wrong does in this hilarious movie featuring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold. Clark does everything he can to make this Christmas the “hap- hap-happiest” family get- together ever. With the help of “Cousin Eddie”, “Uncle Louis”, and “Snots” the dog, Clark is pushed to the brink in this family Christmas disaster. Even with all this mayhem, in the end, Clark realizes all that really matters is spending the holidays with the ones he loves (remember though, when your Cousin Eddie visits this Christmas, don‟t answer the door!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from

The Chief staff!

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

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