Storm TrackerTHE United High School NewsLine

STORM ALERTS

The State of Illinois owes the United School District...

$139,605.66!

Volume 15, Issue 5

IN THIS ISSUE:

Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1/31/19)

JH & HS Honor Rolls pp. 9-11

School’s out

Dual regional at UHS pp. 12-13Cheerleaders raise funds p. 11

There will be no school on Monday, Feb-ruary 18, in observance of Presidents’ Day. That is the only scheduled day off for the month; however, there is an early dis-missal set for Friday, February 15, at 1:00 p.m. for school im-provement.

The United Red Storm Polar Plunge team will take to the waters at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 17, at Lake Storey. Participants are asked to raise $100 and, in return, will receive lunch, a hooded sweat-shirt, a warm, fuzzy feeling inside and an overall great time. Torch Run Polar Plunge benefits Special Olympic Illinois. While the Plunge promises to be a little frigid, participants and organizers do not mind because they are sup-porting the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois. Donations help pro-vide athletes with dis-abilities the opportunity to participate in Special Olympics programs. If you would like to be “Freezin’ for a Reason” or learn more about this “official event of winter,” visit www.plungeillinois.com for all of the chilly details.

Taking a dive

Biz teacher named ra-dio’s teacher of month United High School business teacher Joel Zink has been named teacher of the month of January by WMOI/WRAM radio. “Mr. Zink spends a lot of hours working with stu-dents, tutoring students, so that students always know that they can come up and get help if they’re strug-gling with courses. He’s a wonderful human being and an excellent teacher,” prin-cipal Amy Schmitz said. The Teacher of the Month award is sponsored

by MTC Communica-tions, the Regional Office of Education and Lacky Monument.

About those snow days...Snow days exhausted and we’re just thru January A change in how school districts establish their yearly calendar will cer-tainly have an impact on the next school year, but for this one the issue of snow days will remain the same. The first five days missed will be made up at the end of the year, but any more days missed will be considered an “Act of God,” as per past practice, meaning they will not have to be made up. Many may remember the winter of 1978-1979 when the total number of school days lost was mea-sured in weeks, not days, with some area districts registering at least 20 days of school missed due to the weather. For the United School District the total number of days missed through Janu-ary 30 now stands at ten, the equivalent of two weeks of classes. “On Friday (January 25) I received word from the state of Illinois that ‘Act of God’ days are back in our vocabulary. There was a short window where it was thought we would have to make up all snow days, but the state issued a memo saying that they will be back as they always had been -- at least for this

year.,” Superintendent Jeff Whittsitt said. “Stop wor-rying -- we don’t have to make up any of these days over five.” The days to be made up were built into the district calendar, including three days weekends in May, which will now be elimi-nated. “That puts our final day of the school year as May 30 (the Thursday after Memorial Day), Whitsitt said. “I’m still deciding what format we will end the year on, but nobody will be mandated to be here after the 30th. “That said, I personally think there comes a time when we should be obligat-ed to worry about the days kids are out when we don’t make days up. I’m not sure what number of days that is, but I do think there would be a day. We’ll hope this week ends the snow day issue for the year and it be-comes a moot point, but just know that it may have to become a discussion if the weather continues to drive us crazy.” One possibility is the creation of “virtual” school days, which some area districts have implemented where students are given lesson packets to complete

in order for the students’ absences to be counted as days of attendance. Con-sideration if being given to having this work completed online. “This would be a means for counting a snow day as a day of attendance. We have been discussing this at the administrative, instructional coach, and board level. We are not in a position to put this into practice, but we have some ideas when and how to use them,” Whitsitt said “Some other local districts used

them and got mixed, but mostly positive reviews with it.” The loss of days this past month will neces-sitate one change in the school calendar. The end of the third quarter will now be moved to Wednesday, March 20, the day be-fore spring break, with report cards going out on Friday March 29. There is no change in the graduation date, now set for Sunday May 19

STORM TRACKER

1905 100th Street Monmouth, IL 61462 (309) 734-9411

The Storm Tracker is published monthly, wth additional issues as war-ranted, by the journalism students of

United High School, and is distributed online via the World Wide Web. The

material published does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the administration

of United School District #304.

While every attempt is made to determine the validity of advertising

contained herein, the advertising in the Storm Tracker is not to be construed

as endorsement of a specific product or service. The Storm Tracker assumes no responsibility of liability resulting from

the content of paid advertisements.

The Storm Tracker does not knowing-ly accept advertsements that discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion,

color, handicapped status, veteran or sexual orientation, nor does it knowingly print ads that violate any local, state, or

federal laws.

Parties interested in advertising in the Storm Tracker should contact Mr. Kozelichki at the address and/or phone

number listed above.

Letters to the editor must be mailed to the address above and cannot be more than 350 words. The author’s name and phone number must be included for veri-

fication purposes. The Storm Tracker only edits letters in cases of timeliness and obscenity and does not guarantee

publication of all letters.

STORM TRACKERJoey Jones, Editor

Reporters:Kenzie Rutledge,

Alassandra Arteaga, Jacob Bentz, Carson

Clayton, Makayla Crain, Wes Eckert, Carson Huff,

Adam Johnson, Trent Jones, Olivia Mitchell, Emma Parkins, Ariana

Villarreal, Avery Winking

UNITED CUSD #304 contact numbers

Superintendent’s Office 734-9413 FAX 734-0223

United High School 734-9411 FAX 734-6090

United Junior High 734-8511 FAX 734-6094

United Elementary North 482-3332 FAX 482-3341

United Elementary West 734-8513 FAX 734-8515

WEBPAGE ADDRESS

The webpage contains links to each district build-ing and office, as well as

access to the online grading system and calendar.

www.u304.org

page 2

The Board of Education of the United Commu-nity Unit School District #304 is accepting applica-tions for the following positions:

Food Services Director/Database ManagerParaprofessionalsSubstitute Bus Drivers

All letters of application inquires and credentials are to be sent to:

Jeff Whitsitt, Superintendent United Community School District #304 1905 100th St. Monmouth, IL 61462

The Superintendent of Schools will screen all ap-plications. The administrative staff will conduct interviews. Applicants are not to contact board members.

In addition, the Knox-Warren Special Education co-op is accepting applications for the 2018-2019 school year. Interested parties can email their re-sumes to kdeschamps@galesburg205.org

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS

By Kenzie Rutledge Air conditioning is on its way to United’s west ccampus. The district board held its monthly meeting on January 10 and after a long discussion, a tentative tax levy was set at $4.61. At this rate, near $8 million will be collected. This money is to go to various updates throughout each of the campuses. United High School campus will be receiving new roofing in the “old gym” and above the wood-working shop. Also at the high school campus, the

bus ramp in the front of the building will be getting redone with new concrete. United Junior High and United West Elementary will be having new heat-ing and air conditioning installed. The playgrounds at the elementaries will be re-ceiving work as well. The “fall surfaces” beneath the equipment will have more shredded rubber added to it at the West Elementary. At the North Elementary, the shredded rubber will replace the previous fall surfaces under the play equipment.

Plans for an audito-rium are still in the works. Although nothing has yet been finalized, a new audi-torium is definitely in the near future for United High School. The white concession stand located at the base-ball diamond at the North Elementary School is to be torn down. A bid of $1,400 for the demolition by Brown Ex-cavation of Galesburg was approved. The new concessions will be at the red brick building near the outfield. This building also has rest-rooms in the back. Superintendent Jeff

Whitsitt recommended approving a bid from ANG Enterprises for mowing for the current year. The bid includes the mowing at all three campuses, the athletic fields, weed control, and trimming bushes for a total of $15,000 Following closed ses-sion, Jalynne Young was employed as girls’ softball coach and Taylor Steele as pre-K paraprofessional, as the disttrict accepted the resignation of Rebecca Marston, PreK Para at the high school. The next school board meeting is to be held on February 14, at 7:00 p.m. at United High School.

Summer construction to include central air

By, Jacob Bentz On October 10 of this past year, the junior class took their last PSAT before the real SAT this spring. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this class scores top three in this school’s history for PSAT,” Principal Amy Schmitz said. The junior class is only the third class to take the SAT in the spring. “I think this group will set the bar for these future classes with their PSAT and SAT test scores,” Superin-tendent Jeff Whitsitt said. The junior class met a higher or identical required benchmark than the state average with a 66% for both the junior class and

state average in reading, and the class received a 47% in math where the state only received a 42%. The state had 34% students achieve no bench-mark where the juniors only had 31% reach no required benchmark. “I’m not surprised, I ex-pected this from this class,” Whitsitt said. The junior’s average PSAT score sat at a 984 on a 320 to 1520 range. The state’s average however was only a mere 13 points higher at 997. “This class is academi-cally strong. I would say this class will score very well on their SAT’s this spring,” Schmitz said.

PSAT bodes well for spring SAT

page 3

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Much Ado About Nothing? Not at the Junior High

By Carson Clayton Once bare and bor-ing, United Junior High’s library is now the new and improved Media Center. The junior high was gifted the money for the enhancement of this li-brary from the Matt Repp Foundation in the form of $20,000. This library is no ordi-nary library any more, but a place where students can collaborate each other’s work and feel comfortable doing it. “The upgrades will al-low our students to collabo-rate with one another while they are working on class projects or assignments. We have six learning centers that are equipped with a flat screen tv, computer, and marker board table, princi-pal Chris Scharz said. “The

Principal works at team building, liter-

By Makayla Crain United Junior High Principal Chris Schwarz is creating relationships with his students by essentially stepping into their shoes. Schwarz has been par-ticipating in activities with students during and after school. So far. he has prac-ticed with the boys’ base-ball and girls’ basketball teams along with taking a spin on the pottery wheel in art class. “I found the idea in a leadership magazine and thought it would be a cool way to interact and bond with my students. I’m very relationship driven and I love hanging out with the kids because I’m a big kid at heart,” Schwarz said. He is hoping this experi-ence benefits his students along with himself. “Everybody craves re-lationships and I’m hoping by engaging with my stu-dents we can create bonds and get to know each other a little better,” Schwarz said. The plan is to practice with all five sports teams, the boys’ basketball being next, and possibly ventur-ing onto scholastic bowl and speech teams. He is trying to become as in-volved as he possibly can and will continue to build relationships as new kids come into the building every yea

“I’m always looking for new ways to become in-volved with my students. I try to avoid continuously doing the same thing all the time because it becomes boring and you can’t build off of it,” Schwarz said. Relationship building has always been important to him whether it is with students, parents, or faculty. When it comes to his stu-dents, however, he’s hoping

to do a little more than just getting to know them. “I’m trying to enhance their experience in school and their activities. I want them to leave the junior high ready to be more in-volved and open in high-school and eventually in college and life, “Schwarz said. “I’m hoping they each leave here with the want to get involved and help others later on.”

UJHS Principal Chris Schwarz poses with members of the girls’ basketball team

technology we installed allows each learning center to share and collaborate with one another, while the instructor works from their ‘teacher station’.” These television screens allow students to discuss projects with each other by hooking up their computers to the screen to show them their ideas to fellow class-mates or teachers. The Media Center also holds a special table for the school’s robotics club and the learning centers serve as the perfect setting for the broadcasting club to work on their section of the broadcast. Overall, United Junior High School’s library was bare and boring, but the new and improved Media Center is put in place for the expectation that more students will take advan-tage of the technology provide by the school.

From library to im-proved media center

Band & Choir look forward to state solo and ensemble contestBy Joey JonesEditor-in-Chief The United High School band and choir have been making great strides in not only improving perfor-mance, but also showing the state what United can do. “United instrumentalists cleaned up at ILMEA dis-

tricts. All-State musicians are decided at Selection Sunday, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Each of the nine districts of ILMEA is represented and it is based on percentage of participat-ing schools and ranking of student musicians at the district level,” band direc-tor Madeline Wood said. Upon completion of

ILMEA, students across the state were named to perform in the All-State

music festival which is part of a greater conference known as the Illinois Music Educators Conference (IMEC). “This year, 11,000 people attended (over three

days at the Peoria Civic Center). There are seminars for music educators, meet-ings, vendors in the exhibit hall, performances, and

See “Musicians” on p. 9

page 4

SCENES FROM THE SOUTH SIDETwo weeks lost to weather, but show must go on

An all to familiar sight for area students and parents as snow and cold resulted in eight days of school lost in Janu-ary. Page one has all of the details.

Recent improvements at the junior high include trans-forming the library into a media center. Details can be found on page two.

Crunch time as play practice continues for the February 23-24 production. Both shows begin at 1:30 at United High

United’s scholastic bowl team is using Februay to gear up for a March 4 regional. Story on page 6.

CSC Presents THE COLLEGIATE CONNECTIONStories, clues and hints to help you prepare for life after high school

page 5

CSC CALENDAR REMINDERSCLOSED - WINTER BREAK

March 8-17 Spring BreakApril 1 Fall Registration Begins

April 19 No Classes (Easter Weekend)May 16 Graduation

By Emma Parkins In 2018, the Dollar Gen-eral Literacy Foundation celebrated 25 years. This foundation, established in co-owner, J.L Turner’s, honor in 1993, has been providing $159 million to youth literacy programs over the years. To be eligible for this grant, applicants must be residing in one of the 44 states where Dollar General stores are located. Patricia Bertelsen, librarian and technology coordinator at United West Elementary, nominated Katie Fry and Emily Higbee for the Dol-lar General/Suave Help Write Their Life Stories Contest. “Both these teachers (Fry and Higbee) select the best children’s literature to incorporate into their teach-ing and design lessons that ignite curiosity in their stu-dents. I wanted the world to see the amazing ways these teachers use books to inspire their students to see the world outside our

school walls and to ask questions and solve prob-lems,“ Bertelsen said. Higbee landed in the top 25 finalist in the Help Write Their Life Stories Contest. “Hearing that my nomination was officially confirmed a Nominee Fi-nalist Prize winner, stirred thankfulness within me! I’m thankful to be a part of United West! Thankful to be surrounded by amazing staff members who come to school each day to give all they have to our AMAZ-ING kids,” Higbee said. She received $500 to put back into her outstand-ing classroom to help improve her “Boost Your Bookshelf” program and “National Park Passion Project”. In December, Fry was surprised by two represen-tatives from North Carolina to present her with $2,500 for her classroom and $2,500 for her personally. Fry was congratulated in regards of being selected as a top five finalist in the

nation. Dollar General also presented United West Elementary with $10,000 to continue the progress that has been started. “I will be buying books with the $2,500 grant for my classroom! I’m hop-ing to get even more texts the kids LOVE reading. I am super passionate about reading and early child-hood literature, so using the books will make my class-room library even better,” Fry said. “A huge thank you to Dollar General and all those who donate to the Dollar General Youth Lit-eracy Foundation at their local store. The funding is making its way right back into our community and truly impacting the education of our students,” Bertelson said. “We are so thankful and honored to have our teachers win this contest and for our school to be awarded and acknowledged for the won-derful things happening here at United West.”

By Carson Clayton The Daughters of the American Revolution, founded in 1890, is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization. Some of the DAR’s main goals are pro-moting patriotism, preserv-ing American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children. The Daughters of the American Revolution have a scholarship for students who are citizens of the United States, and Alena Buckley, senior at United High School, was one of these students to be eligible for it. All students who apply for this scholarship have to

send in a completed ap-plication, fill out a state-ment of 1,000 words or less

Dollar General being generous

UHS senior is finalist for DAR scholarship

about his/her career objec-tives, and much more. One that stands out is having to have a minimum of a 4.0 GPA (Grade Point Aver-age). The shock of being picked from United High School’s committee to be apart of the scholarship surprised Buckley so much she said, “At first I was in utter shock because I thought I would never be the one to receive and the I was simply unworthy of the scholarship from the Daughters of the American Revolution.” One student is chosen from each school to be eligible for the scholarship. The $5,000 dollar schol-arship goes to only two students in the nation who have applied for it. This scholarship can be renewed only after review and approval of the annual transcript for DAR. “The honor I felt when it was confirmed I had received the scholarship was unbelievable. It means so much to me to be recog-nized for all the hard work I put in school.” The scholarship award will be announced

CSC Board approves esports for 2019-20 academic year Grab your controller and headset. Carl Sandburg College is getting into gam-ing. The Sandburg Board of Trustees at its January board meeting approved the addition of esports as an in-tercollegiate sport starting this fall, making Sandburg the first community college

in Illinois and among the first two-year colleges in the country to offer esports. The program will include four talent schol-arships to be awarded to students. Sandburg will be affiliated with the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), which has more than 100 mem-

ber schools since forming in 2016. The only other schools in Illinois offering esports are Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan, Principia and Robert Morris. Thanks to streaming

services and live events, esports has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. In it, competitors from different teams square off in games such as “Over-watch” and “League of

Legends.” The College will now begin the process of search-ing for a coach and forming a roster to compete during the 2019-20 academic year.

page 6

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6Chicken NuggetsBroccoli/Rice CasserolePineapple TidbitsFruit Snack

7StormburgerChips & SalsaCornFruit Cocktail

8Chicken FajitaRomaine LettucePeachCookie

11PizzaGreen BeansPineapple TidbitsJello

12Pulled Pork SandwichTatot TotsMandarin OrangesCookie

13Grilled Cheese SandwichBaked BeansApple w/Caramel Dip

14Italian Chicken SandwichPasta SaladSliced CarrotsPear Half

15Taco StackRomaine SaladFruit CocktailTeddy Grahams

18NO SCHOOLPresidents’ Day

19Chicken StripsMashed Potatoes & GravyMandarin Oranges

20Hot DogTator TriangleStrawberriesCake

21CrispitoRomaine LettucePineapple TidbitsPudding Cup

22 CheeseburgerChips & SalsaCornApplesauce

25Breaded Chicken Sand.Baked BeansPotato ChipsPear Half

26Ham & Potatoes AuGratinGreen BeansPineapple TidbitsJello

27Bar-B-Que Rib SandwichMacaroni & CheesePeasMandarin Oranges

28Chicken & NoodlesMashed PotatoesCornPeach Half

January North Campus Lunch Menu

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MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

By Makayla Crain The scholastic bowl team is starting off its sea-son strong with high hopes of a regional win. Senior Alena Buckley is excited to just enjoy her final season, but is also hoping to make it far. Her goal this year is to win, but to have fun doing it. “I am confident in our

team doing well, but it all depends on the questions. The questions make or break you based on what you or your opponent knows,” Buckley said. The varsity team is made up of all past partici-pants who are continuing to work well together. They all have different strengths and weaknesses that work

cohesively to create a very diverse team. “I have a great group of students on the two teams. They are fun to be around and have a good variety of knowledge which helps us to win matches,” coach Susie Frieden said. Frieden, who decided to return this year to coach, is also hoping for the team to go far. She is hoping to win as many matches as they can and has high expecta-tions to come home with another regional plaque for her final year.

“It would be nice to win another regional. Although you never know what will happen on any given day,” Frieden said. The varsity team is con-

tinuing with a record of 3-1 with meets every Thursday starting at 4:00 p.m. The well awaited regional meet will be March 4 at Peoria Heights.

Minds set for a regional win

page 7

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7BBQ Rib SandwichBroccoli & CheeseSun ChipsCherry Tomatoes

8French Bread Pizza

11StormburgerBaked BeansSweet Potato FriesCucumbers/Tomatoes

12Super NachosCornFiesta BeansSalsa Diced Tomatoes

13Orange Teriyaki ChickenRomaine Salad & TomatoesBrown RiceEgg Roll

14Chili or Chicken SoupPeanut Butter SandwichCarrots Cheese StickValentine’s Day Cookie

15Pizza BurgerRomaine SaladSun ChipsBlueberry Muffin

18NO SCHOOLPresidents’ Day

19Tenderloin SandwichTator TotsCooked CarrotsRomaine & Tomatoes

20Chicken Fried SteakMashed Potatoes & GravyGreen BeansBiscuit

21Turkey SubCole SlawFritosRomaine Salad & Tomatoes

22Pepperoni PizzaRomaine SaladCherry TomatoesCupcake

25Mini Corn DogsFrench FriesBaked BeansRed Peppers

26Taco in a BagCornRefried BeansSpanish Rice

27Popcorn ChickenMashed Potatoes & GravyGreen BeansBread & Butter

28Chili MacSteamed BroccoliBosco Stick

February High School & West Campus Lunch Menu & CalendarMONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY3 4

JHGVB vs AlwoodGBB Regional @ AHS United vs Mendon 6pm A-Town vs West Central

5JH Spelling BeeJHVB vs CambridgeBBB vs Wethersfield

6JHVB @ Galva

7GBB Regional Finals 7:00FFA Greenhand @ QuincySchol Bowl @ Mercer Co

8FFA Conf @ SchaumburgBBB vs Princeville

9FFA Conf @ Schaumburg8th VB @ MR Tourney

10 11MS Music Boosters MtgJHVB vs Stark CountyBBB vs Rush/Industry

12Niorth PTO MeetingBBB vs Ridgewood

13FFA Section Job InterviewFFA Section Pub SpeakingJHVB @ AnnawanBBB vs North Fulton

14Schol Bowl @ Wethersfield

151:00 Dismissal - SIPNorth VIP DayBBB @ Annawan

16FFA Section InterviewFFA State Degree IntervMasonic Bowl TBA

17 18NO SCHOOL - Pres DayJHVB Conf @ CambridgeBBB Regional @ UnitedFFA Week

19JH Schol Bowl@ Kewanee

20JH Schol Bowl vs West Central

21BBB Regional FinalsHS Schol Bowl @ UHSFFA Parli Pro @ UHS

22HS Career Shadow Day

237th VB Regional TBAHS Play 1:00

24HS Play 1:00

25 26JH Schol Bowl @ UJHS

27 28FFA Section Meats @ Buffalo Prairie

page 8

UHS speech sends individuals, not team, to regionalsBy Adam Johnson As season full of weather related cancellations and turmoil has left the United speech team unprepared for regional competition. The team started off a little rough with no con-crete coach and no plan for the future. They were hoping for the best season and to have as much fun as possible; unfortunately, that will no

longer be an option as most they decided to discontinue this season’s activities. Two students, sopho-more Emma Smith in Informative Speaking and freshman Payten Swenson in Verse Reading, will com-pete in tomorrow’s IHSA regional at Monmouth-Ros-eville High School. The team started its sea-son with 13 students. “I enjoyed speech last

year. I just felt there wasn’t as much unity this year,” sophomore Jeff Ainsworth said. The team felt there was not enough desire to con-tinue with the 2019 season. Ainsworth said he loved being a part of speech last year and was disappointed at the idea of no season this year. Although some of the participants pushed through and wanted to continue

with the year, the majority overruled them. “The team’s morale at the beginning of the season was good and then slowly declined because of lack of motivation to better our-selves,” Ainsworth said. The team planned on having another season filled with ups and downs and memories to share in the future. However, the season

was forced out of the hands of the hopeful and into the hands of the ones who decided against the season and its many difficulties and problems it would un-doubtedly encounter for the members. Should either Smith or Swenson finish in top four at regional, they would advance to next weekend’s sectional at Normal Com-munity High School.

Students aides provide pre-K assistance at UHSBy Avery Winking “The More the Merrier” as we say at United High School. Ms. Tara Marshall teaches the pre-school class previously located at United North Campus. Starting in the fall of 2017, she was relocated to United High School due to lack of space at the North Campus. For Ms. Marshall this transfer came with the perk

of having high school stu-dents help her around the clock. “They (student aides) help us move around the classroom, help us partici-pate in activities, help us transition to bathrooms, to the gym, filing, cleaning, and mostly just interacting and playing with the kids,” Marshall said. One of Ms. Marshall’s student aides is junior Mar-

garet Peel (pictured right). Peel originally had hoped to be involved in elementary education but has now decided she has more interest in becoming a veterinarian. She says even though she no longer wants to be an elementary teacher, working with kids will still always be a pas-sion of hers. “I love playing and interacting with the kids.

Recently the kids have just started learning how to write their names and honestly it is amazing to see them grow,” said Peel. Peel is one of many stu-dents who enjoys volunteer-ing their time assisting Ms. Marshall and interacting with the little ones.

page 9

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UJHS names 2nd quarter honor rollUnited Junior High School is pleased to annouce the following students have at-tained honor roll status for the second quarter of the 2018-2019 school year:

6th gradeHigh Honors (3.75 or greater GPA)

Ava Anderson, Cameron Anderson, Taylor Ander-son, Samira Bitar, Emily Brakeville, Jon Brown, Kaia Caissie, Ezekiel Clark, Lauren Feltmeyer, Landon Hannam, Jacey Hasten, Kenneth Higbee, Jack Kane, James Keefer, Madilyn Lair, Isaac Ott, Rachel Purlee, SummerTharp, Hannah Thompson, & Leighton Trego

Honors (3.0 - 3.74 GPA)

Addyson Aguirre, Alexa Anderson, Emma Austin, Lance Baker, Austin Blake, Haylee Chambers, Elliott Copeland, Madison Co-zadd, Kiley Davis, Mason Giddings, Pasha Gipson,Ruslan Gipson, Kaitlyn Holmes, Legacy Hoopes, William Inman, Ryan Jimenez-Stephens, Ga-briel Johnson, Avah Jones, Chloe McCutcheon, Brodi McVeigh, Camryn Payne, Cassandra Pearson, Trent Raymond, Emma Robin-son, Tanner Rogers, Mae Sims, Jake Sombke, Dan-nica Stevens, Nathan Swit-zer, Braxton Thompson, Rhylyne Toops, Sullivan Wiles, & Eldon Wilson

7th GradeHigh Honors (3.75 or greater GPA)

Amber Brunswig, McK-elvey Bugner, Landon Burns, Skylar Deakin, Hunter Hall, Carson Horn-er, Kyanne Kasemeier, Ra-chel Leary, Jake McElwee, Kayelee Stockdale,& Leah Wilson

Honors (3.0 -3.74 GPA)

Emilia Brentise, Tavian Brownlee, Kiera Campbell, Rozalynn Courtney, Lilly Cozadd, Edgar Cubillo, Jessika Dell, Christian Gil-lette, Colton Gosney, Sloan Guild, Madisyn Hepner, Tanner Hinton, Luke Jung-mann, Luke Kinneer, Han-nah Lee, Ava Laws, Keira Laws, Bridgette Marston,Callie Mason, Owen McMillen, Molly Pleshko, Carter Rothzen, Derrick Sargeant, Keaton Simpson, McKenzie Stevens, & Nick Tyrrell

8th GradeHigh Honors (3.75 or greater GPA)

Isabella Colbrese, Jon

Grodjesk, Jack Jungmann, Hunter Lewis, Carlie Peel, Oniza Royeen, Ashlyn Trulson, Caydence Wilson, & Oscar Young

Honors (3.0 -3.74 GPA)

Addison Anderson, Natalie

Brakeville, Chase Bryant, Jennifer Buhlman, Deven Bushong, Payton Crain, Alex Feltmeyer, Mhylkah Griffin, Riley Hartzell, Alycia Haun, Lauren Jamison, Aidan Jenks, Si-erra Larson,Lexi Melleny,

Continued from page 2

more. I consider it Christ-mas for music educators,” Wood sais. Also, as soon as the last note of the performance was played ,Wood became president of Music District 2 in Illinois. Senior Erin Glisan, band member and All-State performer, displayed her Alto-Clarinet skills earning Tri-M and Honors ribbons during (IMEC) January 23-26. “Erin gave a phenom-enal performance with the All-State Honors Band. She was one of only two contra-alto clarinetists selected in the entire state,” Wood said.

Addison Murray, Caden Murray, Addison Olmsted,Andrew Olson, Ralph Peek, Ayden Penn, Kamryn Penn, Sam Perry, Naomi Purlee, Zair Velazquez, Abel Wilson, & Keegan Winking

Now after All-State concluded, it’s time for the band and choir to focus on the Solo and Ensemble contest in March. However, some students have been working even before All-State began. “Students began work-ing on their pieces before winter break. We practice scales in band each day to help soloists prepare for that component of their performance,” Wood said. United band has 30 solos and 18 ensembles this year leaving Wood “astonished” at how many students decided to prepare a solo and she believes the entire band will benefit with the hours of practice these dedicated students are willing to put in. “Solo and Ensemble Contest is at Rockridge this

year. Student musicians are ranked only against themselves. The scale is 1-5, with 1 being the high-est and 5 being the lowest. Overall, each 1 equals 6 points and each 2 equals 3 points. The points are accumulated by school and the schools are ranked by class. Last year, we were third,” Wood said. “I care more about quality perfor-mances, musicianship, and person growth, than I do about ranking.”. Fingers are crossed about the performance the band will display this year and United as a whole. Hopefully this year United can once again gain a great ranking while displaying a great perfor-mance.

Musicians prep for state contests

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United High School is pleased to announce the following students have at-tained honor roll status for the second quarter of the 2018-2019 school year:

HIGH HONORS: 3.67 and higher

SENIORS: Savannah Bal-lard, Alena Buckley, Erin Bushong, Jenna Chapman, Nathaniel Clark, Makayla Crain, Sydney Elswick, Emily Flynn, Erin Glisan, Abbigail Greenlief, Kelsey Hart, Tyler Hendrickson, Skyler Hoke, Kyle Holm-berg, Adam Johnson, Ayla Johnston, Joseph Jones, Trent Jones, Eryka Keeney, Alexandria King, Lora Livingston, Jane Mann, Alejandro Martin, Bran-nock McVey, Adriana Nunez, Caitlyn Olson, Emma Parkins, Melissa Poole, Brock Powers, Ivy Roden, Makenzie Rutledge, Blake Ryner, Payton Sals-man, Breanna Shea, Bailey Shimmin,Carly Thompson, Cheyenne Trout, Khloe Trulson, Benjamin Watson, Mercedes Wells, Avery Yung.

JUNIORS: Nicole Baker, Jacob Bentz, Nicholas Brown, Cameron Brown-lee, Carson Clayton, Kay-lee Cornell, Jalyn Curtis, Dylan Diaz, William Douglas, David Dutton, Andrew Fuller, Natalie Gil-lette, Anne Gregory, Emily Grodjesk, Courtney Hinton, Jerzi Johnson, Keirstyn

Johnson, Alexis Johnston, Isabella Kilgore, Natalie King, Aaron Lee, Kalyn Lee, Madisyn Lee, Avery Leffler, Quinton McVey, Olivia Mitchell, William Ornduff, Hanna Payne, Margaret Peel, Josie Sharer, Stewart Svob, Alec Thomp-son, Cassiday Tierney, Eleanor Van Fleet, Ariana Villarreal, Cade Whitsitt, Avery Winking, Evan Wynne.

SOPHOMORES: Tyler Barrington, Jackson Ber-gren, Danielle Bowling, Bridget Brokaw, Drew Brown, Mallorie Brunswig, Emma Colbrese, Declan Flynn, Catherine Fuller, Makaila Hootman, Riley Horner, Jordan Lantz, Haley Marshall, Rebecca Merry, Morgaine Olson, Sullivan Ross, Jennifer Shimmin, Kaylan Sperry, Laney Tabb, Aubrey Thompson, Trace Titus, Riley Tyrrell.

FRESHMEN: Elaina Al-laman, Amelia Bennett, Benjamin Bennett, Jenna Bentz, Joslyn Bentz, Wil-liam Boock, Laney Butler, Parker Cassidy, Madison

Diaz, Kathryn Douglas, Jacob Dutton, Cormaic Flynn, Grant Gillen, Paige Hall, Jaylee Hasten, Kim-berly Hays, Kaylynn Hennenfent, Abby Hinton, Grace Janic, Lauren Kane, Daniel Kimball, Alexia Lee, Josie McElwee, Ian McVey, Veronica Miller, Aidan Parkins, Madison Penn, Makaela Robinson, Angelina Sargeant, Savan-na Seidl, Karragan Sperry, Mackinzie Sperry, Austin Thompson.

HONORS: 3.34 - 3.66

SENIORS: Blakelyn Ar-endt, Alassandra Arteaga, Adam Cox, Carter Ehlen, Jacob Lair, Jonah Lester, Brittney Rabenau, Tyler Serres.

JUNIORS: Michael Brown, Dylan Cheline, Austin Davis, Lexuss Dut-ton, Diego Godina, Owen Jenks, Emily Wilson

SOPHOMORES: Skyler Albert, Alyssa Beltran, Gage Chenault, Coleman Orth, Toby Turnquist.

FRESHMEN: Christina

Brown, Jenna Bushong, Molly Chapman, Nicho-las Defenbaugh, Rebecca Denison, Mary Ewalt, Claude Gooch III, Eva Green, Madelynn Higbee, Matthew Holmes, Mason Hootman, Colin Jenks, Nolan Leffler, Benjamin Legate, Kittner McVey, David Oberhaus, Macken-zie Smock, Blake Stewart.

United High School is pleased to announce the following students have attained honor roll status for the first semester of the 2018-2019 school year:

HIGH HONORS: 3.67 and higher

SENIORS: Blakelyn Arendt, Savannah Bal-lard, Alena Buckley, Erin Bushong, Jenna Chapman, Nathaniel Clark, Adam Cox, Makayla Crain, Carter Ehlen, Sydney Elswick, Emily Flynn, Erin Glisan, Abbigail Greenlief, Kelsey Hart, Tyler Hendrickson, Skyler Hoke, Kyle Holm-berg, Carson Huff, Adam Johnson, Ayla Johnston, Joseph Jones, Trent Jones, Eryka Keeney, Alexandria

King, Jonah Lester, Lora Livingston, Jace Mann, Alejandro Martin, Bran-nock McVey, Cody Norton, Adriana Nunez, Caitlyn Olson, Emma Parkins, Me-lissa Poole, Brock Powers, Ivy Roden, Makenzie Rut-ledge, Blake Ryner, Payton Salsman, Tyler Serres, Bre-anna Shea, Bailey Shim-min, Carly Thompson, Cheyenne Trout, Khloe Trulson, Benjamin Watson, Mercedes Wells, Avery Yung.

JUNIORS: Nicole Baker, Jacob Bentz, Nicholas Brown, Cameron Brownlee, Carson Clayton, Kaylee Cornell, Jalyn Curtis, Dylan Curtis, William Douglas, David Dutton, Andrew Fuller, Natalie Gillette, Anne Gregory, Emily Grodjesk, Courtney Hinton, Jerzi Johnson, Keirstyn Johnson, Alexis Johnston, Natalie King, Aaron Lee, Kalyn Lee, Madisyn Lee, Avery Leffler, Quinton McVey, Olivia Mitchell, William Ornduff, Hanna Payne, Margaret Peel, Josie Sharer, Stewart Svob, Alec Thompson, Cassiday

Continued on page 11

2nd Quarter and 1st Semester HS Honor Rolls

page 11

Continued from page 10

Tierney, Eleanor Van Fleet, Ariana Villarreal, Cade Whitsitt, Avery Winking, Evan Wynne.

SOPHOMORES: Tyler Barrington, Jackson Ber-gren, Danielle Bowling, Bridget Brokaw, Drew Brown, Mallorie Brunswig, Emma Colbrese, Declan Flynn, Catherine Fuller, Makaila Hootman, Riley Horner, Richard Kroncke III, Jordan Lantz, Haley Marshall, Rebecca Merry, Morgaine Olson, Sullivan Ross, Jennifer Shimmin, Kaylan Sperry, Laney Tabb, Aubrey Thompson, Trace Titus, Toby Turn-quist, Riley Tyrrell.

FRESHMAN: Elaina

Allaman, Amelia Bennett, Benjamin Bennett, Jenna Bentz, Joslyn Bentz, William Boock, Laney But-ler, Parker Cassiday, Nicho-las Defenbaugh, Madison Diaz, Kathryn Douglas, Jacob Dutton, Cormaic Flynn, Grant Gillen,Paige Hall, Jaylee Hasten, Kim-berly Hays, Kaylynn Hennenfent, Abby Hinton, Grace Janic, Lauren Kane, Alexia Lee, Benjamin Leg-ate, Josie McElwee, Ian

McVey, Veronica Miller, Aidan Parkins, Madison Penn, Karragan Sperry, Mackinzie Sperry, Austin Thompson.

HONORS: 3.34 - 3.66

SENIORS: Alassandra Arteaga, Holly Brown, Wesley Eckert, Jacob Lair.

JUNIORS: Michael Brown, Dylan Cheline, Austin Davis, Lexuss Dut-

ton, Diego Godina, Nicho-las Hodges, Owen Jenks, Isabella Kilgore, Emily Wilson.

SOPHOMORES: Alyssa Beltran, Gage Chenault, Mallory Cooper, Zucka Cruz, Paige McKeown, Noah Olson, Coleman Orth, Spencer Schneider, Emma Smith, Paige Smy-sor.

FRESHMEN: Jenna

Bushong, Molly Chap-man, Mary Ewalt, Claude Cooch III, Eva Green, Lainey Hickman, Madelynn Higbee, Mason Hootman, Colin Jenks, Daniel Kim-ball, Nolan Leffler, Dakota McNabb, Kittner McVey, David Oberhaus, Makaela Robinson, Angelina Sargeant, Savanna Seidl, Mackenzie Smock, Blake Stewart, Payten Swenson, Addyson Trego, Ashlyn Vallero.

High school’s first semester honor roll continued...

Boys’ hoops schedule offers opportunity next yearBy Wesley Eckert United’s boys’ basket-ball team may have an op-portunity to play against an Australian team next year if they can make it work. “First, nothing is official yet. We have been asked by Doug Smith, former Monmouth AD and assis-

tant director of the Sports Travel Academy, to help assist in this opportunity,” athletic director Jeremy Sharp said. “We are the host center for this event, if it happens, and would play the Australian team on Tuesday, December 10. We are working hand in hand

with the IHSA to make sure all the paperwork and nec-essary logistics are official. The Australian team will be in Illinois from December 4-17.” The coaches and players are excited to possibly have the chance to play a team from a different country.

“I don’t know a lot about it, but from what I have heard it’s going to a pretty cool opportunity,” senior Cade Whitsitt said. “I think it would be a great experience/opportuni-ty for our program, players, our students, our school, our district, our communi-

ties, and even surrounding communities would be a memory/experience that we would remember forever,” head coach Doug Den-nison. “I’m assuming they would be great competition and look forward to the op-portunity, if we can make it happen.”

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By Ariana Villarreal At United, the sports seasons are very important to the plays and the boys’ basketball team is one ex-ample on how we see this. “This year has been going better than previ-ous years. We have been working better with each other rather than against one another,” junior Evan Wynne said. Since United is such a

small school, the friend-ships the boys have made on the court carry on of the court as well. The boys’ basketball team is coached by Doug Dennison,and assistant coach David Milroy. The coaches at United always do their very best to have their team and individual players be the best they can be. “Coach Dennison is

a great coach and is very good at getting us in the right mindset to give our very best,” junior Cade Whitsitt said. The boys’ basketball team doesn’t just play for fun, they play for some-thing even bigger, the name represented on the front of their jerseys. The basketball team may have not started out with the season they have hoped, but

By Olivia Mitchell The annual Cancer Night, this year hosted at United, was created many years ago and upholds a traditon in benefiting our community. “It is a night when two teams, West Central and United, get together to raise money for research,” United cheer coach Melissa Bushong said. The event raises money for a person in our district affected by cancer or a donation to an organization to fund research. This year, the cheer squad raised money by selling rubber duckies for

$1 apiece, and whoever got their duck to land on a target in the middle of the gym won a prize, and also by T-shirt sales. The squad raised $548 at this year’s fundraiser, and the money will be given to UHS grad Maddie Perry to help with her con-tinued treatment of cancer. “The last four years, we have also put together a performance with the West Central cheerleaders to entertain the crowd,” Bushong said. Erin Bushong and Alexis Johnston went to West Central to help sync the choreographies for a

seamless performance the night of the fundraiser. “Cancer night is all about two communities coming together to fight for one cause. We have tons of fun raising as much money as we can to help people af-fected by cancer,” Johnston said. As shown time and time again, the support shown by small communities like our own have an impact on something greater than our-selves, not only providing monetary assistance, but a sense of com-munity support for someone when they needed it the most.

still has plenty for chances to kick it in gear at region-als. Weather during the past two weeks has caused a number of cancellations and rescheduling, with the boys’ team finding itself with a packed schedule, including playing three nights in a row, the upcom-ing two weeks ahead of the regional. Regional seeds will be

Boys’ basketball with two weeks of play before home regional

Cancer Night vs West Central raises $500-plus

determined this coming Thursday evening, Feb-ruary 7, with pairings to be announced on Friday, February 8. Games will be played at United High School the week of February 18 with the regional winner advanc-ing to the Lewistown sec-tional the following week.

page 13

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are great people who care for each other and are will-ing to work hard and listen to coaching,” Gartelos said. United High School will host the IHSA Regional this week with games on Monday and Thursday nights, and right now it looks like weather will not be an issue. Ninth seeded United will take on second seed Mendon Unity on Monday, February 4, at 6:00 p.m. That game will be fol-lowed at 7:30 by a game between third seeded Abingdon-Avon and num-ber six West Central. The winners will play at 7:00 Thursday evening for the regional championship, also at the United High School Fieldhouse.

By Trent Jones The United girls’ bas-ketball team, led by head coach Lisa Gartelos and as-sistant Bri Todd, got off to a rocky start at the begin-ning of the season compet-ing in tough matchups, but not securing the win. “Obviously we would have liked to have a few more wins but we have competed in almost every game, and that is an im-provement from the past,” Gartelos said. The girls work hard at practice every day to cor-

rect the flaws that over-come them during games.The team struggled to take care of the ball, and value their possessions at the start of the season. “We continuously work on taking care of the ball and valuing our posses-sions during practice,” Gar-telos said. The team this year only has two seniors, but it is better than the previous year when the team only had one by the end of the season. The two seniors, Kelsey

Hart and Carly Thompson, make up for the lack of members with their leader-ship and supportive person-alities. “Both of our seniors demonstrate hard work, perseverance, and leader-ship through their actions on and off the court,” Gar-telos said. Even though the record isn’t what the team had in mind, the team still shows up every day for practice ready to work, and the team still plays with heart during games.

“ Our game at Galva stands out to me as one of our best games. We worked unself-ishly as a team and had many people step up and fill their roles,” Gartelos said. The team had set mul-tiple goals for themselves, and Gartelos is very proud of the team’s improvement. “This season we wanted to continue to get better everyday and make more of our games competitive,” senior Hart said. “We have improved our defense immensely and have caused some teams trouble offensively,” Gar-telos said The team has a lot of personalities on it, and everyday they bring an ec-static energy to practice. “This is a very fun group to work with. They

By Avery Winking The United High School cheerleaders will dance and cheer with 60+ girls, grades K- 5th, from West and North Campus at the annual Little Girl Cheer Camp performance. The camp costs $25 which includes the camp and a T-shirt. For and extra $10 the girls also got a bow. Last year, the camp raised about $1,300 for the high school cheerleaders

cheer account, money that is used for uniforms and other spirit activities. The practice for the per-formance will be February 2 at United High School from 9:00 A.M.- 12:00 P.M. During this time the girls will be practicing some of their favorite cheers from years’ past, stunting, learning a new dance and making new friends and memories. The dance is to “Hey

Mickey” by Toni Basil since the theme is Disney and the girls will be wear-ing Mickey Mouse shirts. “My favorite part about Little Girl Cheer Camp is seeing how excited the wee ones get about cheer,” say United High School cheer coach Melissa Bushong. The performance will be February 5 at United High School during the varsity boys’ basketball game against Wethersfield.

Stomp and Scream for the Red Storm Team

High school hosting girls’ regional this coming week