By Cooper Jiron

Written in February 2025

Crisa Seals, a business and computer teacher, has been an advocate for computer literacy at OHS since she began teaching computer courses.

Starting her first year teaching computer classes in 2020, she inherited a Web Design class from her predecessor. She taught this class for a year before she wanted to bring back another class, Multimedia.

“I felt there was a gap in computer courses that would be something after Computer Apps but not a coding course. So I brought back Multimedia with the focus of providing students an education and knowledge base of product design that could translate into tasks they could do in a job or as a hobby,” Seals said.

Students in the Odessa school district have been using Chromebooks for years, modernizing their school work through Google Classroom, Infinite Campus, Edupuzzle, and others. So, classes such as these seem obvious for the ever-growing presence of technology in students' lives inside and outside of school.

A freshman, Avery Sanders, is in computer apps and feels she can use some of the skills she’s learned later in life when she pursues becoming a developmental disability nurse. Sanders also believes it's important to learn more about computers, even if you think you know enough to get by. 

“People believe they know everything, but there's so much you don't know and should learn,” Sanders said.

Seals shares this line of thinking, saying, “Computer Apps are built on Google Workspace which is all online and appropriate for this generation of kids that use the internet for so many parts of their lives.”

Another one of Seals students, Lucas Tate, junior, is in web design. Tate wasn't immediately drawn to web design, only taking it after not being able to take psychology the year before, but over time grew to enjoy it.

Tate's original slight interest has since expanded into feeling satisfied with his online portfolio and is passionate about being articulate with coding.

“I think they [computer classes] are important because a lot of people turn to AI instead of coding and people who aren't ‘classically trained,’” Tate said.

Tate is referring to feeding code plugins and prompts into AI chatbots to code things like webpages and computer graphics.  

Students in Seal's classes are becoming more interested in the devices that control much of their lives. It seems like it will only become even more important as time goes on. While OHS is a rural community, Seals has proven that computer education can happen anywhere and is important everywhere.

By Dawn Anderson

Written in February 2025

OHS welcomes its new student resource officer (SRO), John Newman, Officer Greg Daniel, former OHS SRO, retired at the end of the first semester of the 24-25 school year.

“It was bittersweet to see Officer Daniel retire. I am happy for him and all of his accomplishments, but we will miss him,” Kaitlyn Grace, Assistant Principal, said.

Grace is happy about the addition of Officer Newman to the OHS team.

“Officer Newman is very approachable and takes a genuine interest in those around him,” Grace explained. 

Staff is looking forward to the different programs Officer Newman can provide and assist with. He has different experiences he can share.

“He has CSI experience which is Crime Scene investigation. So that whenever there is a murder, he's like the guy that goes in there and investigates it,”  Robbie Shepherd, High School Principal, said.

Officer Newman has already worked with Health classes to help students learn about substances and their dangers.

“I think officer Newman is doing a great job; he's good with kids as well and that seems to be a good fit,” Shepherd said.

So far, students seem to enjoy Officer Newman as the new SRO. Many kids claim that he seems very approachable and like a good fit. His kindness and willingness to help others were the top two attributes mentioned in a Growler survey of students. 

By Engel Maun

Edited by Bachman-Twombly

Written in February 2025

Austin Mallot, OHS shop teacher, began covering classes for Natalie Powell, first semester shop teacher, in January. 

“He is very energetic and fun to be around,” Austin Ray, agriculture teacher, said. 

“Mr. Mallot is pretty cool,” Jasper Lunceford, senior, said.

The general opinion seems to be that Mallot is a good individual and has fit right into the fabric of OHS and the shop.

“I didn’t find it hard to transition [to a new teacher],” Will Feltrop, senior, said of his new bulldog block teacher.

Mallott stepped into a position slightly in disarray after the sudden departure of Powell. 

“I think his background in the field and his previous work in school is helping him a lot,” Ray said.

Mallott, OHS alumni, is excited to be back, teaching at his alma mater. Previously, Mallott was the in-school-suspension (ISS) teacher. This has not prevented him from developing some exciting projects for shop students.

“He has some pretty good ideas for students to work on. Many of them are working on Chicken Coops, and it's nice to see them collaborate on these projects,” Ray said.

Other projects he has introduced include: diagnosing small engine problems, building CO2 cars, mudding and tapping drywall, and washer games. 

Mallott is proving to be a knowledgeable asset to the shop and has adjusted well to the challenges of accepting a teaching position mid-way through the school year. 

“Springtime in the Ag Department is a busy time so getting someone new and learning to work with them in such little time has been an adjustment,” Ray said.

By Cooper Jiron

Written in January 2025

Hunter Luttrell started at OHS earlier this year, teaching science.

Luttrell is familiar with Odessa and the community. Luttrell is originally from Oak Grove and graduated from GHS in 2016. After Luttrell's graduation, he attended the University of Iowa.

Post graduation Luttrell stayed in Iowa for two years, he taught in a small district near Iowa City, Iowa.

Luttrell’s district in Iowa was much more limited in resources compared to OHS.

“The district I came from, I was the only high school science teacher and so I had all high school science classes. With freshman we started with physical science the one year and biology the next – I also taught electives,” Luttrell said.

Now, teaching has changed for Luttrell. He is now on a team of science educators working together at OHS. This has its own challenges, but Luttrell always takes pleasure in teaching science.

“I always wanted to do something science-related. My mom is a teacher, so it was always kind of a thought, and then in my junior year of college when I was really excelling in my education courses and volunteering for classes and enjoying them more and more,” Luttrell said.

According to students, Luttrell's love for teaching comes out in his teaching style.

“He's a very fun teacher and he'll actually sit down and teach things to you, and I convinced him to do a marine biology class and he did,” Rylee Hicklin, junior, said.

According to Hicklin, Luttrell’s style of teaching is centered around students and what they would be interested in learning.

“He's really focused on students and listens to what we want to talk about and do in class,” Hicklin said.

By Dawn Anderson

Written in January 2025

Officer Daniel, Student Resource Officer (SRO) at OHS, retired after the first semester of the 24-25 school year. 

“Officer Daniel was very serious about safety,” Robbie Shepherd, OHS Principal, said. Daniel was the only SRO employed by the Odessa School District for several years.

Shepherd had a good working relationship with Daniel. They frequently had morning hall duty where they could be found joking and talking.  Shepherd also mentioned they had many tense moments together in neutralizing student disruptions.

“He had thought about retiring since the beginning of the school year but decided to retire after the first semester to be with his wife and grandkids,” Sheperd  said.

“Officer Daniel was a very hard worker and loved working with kids, a lot of the kids loved him here,” Officer Sam Bell, OMS SRO, said.

“He was a very funny guy and I had lots of good memories working with him,” Bell said.

“One time we went to Chipotle and a student we knew was working and got his order wrong multiple times, so he kept getting more free food and it was so funny,” Bell said.

Lisa Dowell and Sarah Corder, the office secretaries at OHS had nothing but nice things to say about Officer Daniel.

The new SRO is Officer John Newman.

By June Mueller

Published 12/2/24

T’Quia Bandy is the new OHS librarian. 

“My love for books and information literacy is what made me become a librarian,” Bandy said. 

Bandy wants to provide students with information about library resources and what books the library has to offer.

Although this is Bandys first year as a librarian at OHS, this isn't her first year in education.

Before becoming a librarian, Bandy was a special education teacher for ten years. Nine of those were at Osage Trail Middle School in Independence teaching math and ELA. When she joined the OHS staff last year, she focused specifically on ELA.

By: Engel Maun

10/30/24

Aaron Larson is the new choir director at Odessa High School for the 24-25 school year.

“I became a music teacher mainly because I love music. I know how it has helped me in my life and I want to be able to help people through music,” Larson said.

Teaching music to various students at different ability levels is one of the most challenging parts of being a choir director. Despite the challenges, Larson enjoys many things about music.