Issue 5

On October 28th, the Pride of Plymouth marching band attended Semi-State at Pike High School, receiving 16th place out of 20 bands. They had qualified for Semi-State two weeks prior at Regionals, which took place at Lafayette Jefferson High School. While there, the band received a gold, and placed 6th out of 14.

Preparing for Semi-State had proven to be challenging. Coming straight from fall break, the marching band had practice Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. For the entire duration of Monday night’s practice it rained, so the band stayed inside to practice their music, and the color guard went into the gym to practice their flag work. Thursday’s practice was also the community performance and the annual flashlight parade.

The theme for this year’s show is called The Dark Reign. It is an intense and dark show, loosely based on Queen Mary I, more commonly known as “Bloody Mary.” The show features a queen, portrayed by junior Kenna McDonald.

There were also some soloists throughout the show. Senior Issak Holcomb opened our show with a baritone solo. Junior Alex Matthews had a flute solo during the middle of the opener. During the ballad, senior Olivia Emmons had a solo portraying the spark of light to start the rebellion that begins in the closer. In the closer, senior Elyse Lucas begins the rebellion by holding and waving the sword that the Red Queen used to “kill” Olivia. Senior Kate Jones had the final solo in the show, being the rebeller that kills the queen at the end of the show.

When asked about her role as the queen, this was what Kenna had to say. “It was an honor to have been picked to play the lead role as "The Red Queen". The queen believes everything is always about her and no one can tell her otherwise. It was so fun being able to portray an evil queen, and know that everyone in the stadium could possibly be looking at me. My favorite part would have to be that even though I was a lead, I still got to be a part of the color guard, and spin and dance with them. I love my band/guard family, and I am so blessed to have been a part of this season.”

Being in marching band has changed a lot of students’ perspectives on life, and many have improved themselves in the process.

Freshman Austin King said, “I always practiced hard and showed that I like the sport. I really have no idea how I have improved as a person but I have, a lot. I have started to speak out more in class instead of being the one in the back saying nothing. Now I have the guts to raise my hand and answer a question even if I think it is wrong. Especially in math.”

When asked about how she felt as this season was coming to a close, junior Paige Masterson said this, “I feel like this was a really good season. Everyone was very involved and many new friendships were made and I think everyone felt very welcome. This is such a great experience for new marchers because you can really learn from this. Being in marching band is like home away from home. You know that your "family" is always going to be there whenever you need them and they're always going to back you up.”

The seniors had a lot to say about this year’s group of marchers and how they felt about this season.

Samantha Payne said, “I don't really think that I have any regrets with this season. I've really tried my best and just enjoyed it. I'll be sad to close the chapter on my marching band years seeing as it has shaped who I've become and is how I became such close friends with my best friends. I'm going to miss it.”

Autumn Wilson said, “It's very bittersweet that this will be my last marching band season. I've enjoyed the past 4 seasons and getting to work with so many wonderful people. I don't think that I would have done anything differently because each season has been a unique experience.”

Callie Burch said, “Even though it was really hard work, I really am going to miss it. 5 years of a certain activity really grows on you... Just a big thanks to my band family and the staff, such as Mr. Ames and Miss Wallyn. Thanks for believing in me and being there through the hard times.”

Although the band did not advance to State finals, everyone was still proud of what they accomplished this season.

Drum Major, Mickaela Bush (junior), had this to say about the band. “I'm so proud of the Pride of Plymouth band this season. We have worked so hard and put so much effort into the season. Everyone has improved, whether it was something small or something huge, everyone has made something better about themselves. ...Even though we didn't make it to State, I think that was the best final run through we ever had. And that's what matters. I wouldn't have changed anything about our last run. We had the best final run through, and I think that's the way to end our season. I'm so proud of everyone.”

Heads up! There is a new superstar filmmaker entering the business. After weeks of writing, planning, filming, and editing, Josie Koontz finished her first short film and entered it in the Lake Maxinkuckee Film Festival in May. Not only that, but Josie came out on top, taking first place in the contest.

When asked about her motivation to take on the project, Josie said, “It was always something I thought I couldn’t do, but given the opportunity, I wanted to try and I was able to prove myself wrong.”

Josie said “It was really rewarding having people finally notice some of my work. It showed me that this is something I could possibly do in the future.”

While at the Film Fest, Josie was offered a scholarship. An attendee of the event was impressed by Josie’s handiwork and approached her. Josie said, “She was very impressed with my work and offered to set up an appointment with him [the head of the IU Bloomington Filmmaking Department]. He would look at my work and determine how big the scholarship would be.”

If you have ever ridden the bus to or from school, you have likely experienced the chilling mornings bouncing down the road toward the school or survived the stuffy rides home pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in the afternoon. However, just about a century ago those bus rides would have been a wonder to behold. In 1921, students were bused to school by horse and buggy. Pictured below is Elbe Beehler with his horse-drawn school wagon. The wagon contains seats along either side facing each other. Boys would sit on one side, girls on the other. When the winter chill came calling, the wagon was heated by a ‘pot-bellied’ stove. When snow piled up, students rode to school in bobsleds drawn by horses. Soon, in 1928, Jim Greer began driving students to school in the vehicle pictured below. The seating in this vehicle was similar to that found in the wagon. However, these vehicles were heated by the exhaust pipe which ran on top of the floor, providing a foot warmer for students. While schools were not required to transport students over the age of twelve to school, many students walked or had to get a ride from someone with a vehicle if they lived too far away. Many students that lived far away would carpool and pay the driver.

On Saturday, October 21, the Pilgrim boys cross country team, along with Ella Hissong, on behalf of the girls team, qualified for the Cross Country Semi-State, which was hosted at New Prairie High School. For both the boys and girls race, there were 180 runners from four distinct regionals who participated.

In the boys race, senior Jeffery Oliver finished in 56th place with his second fastest time of the year and finished his last race representing the Plymouth Pilgrims.

In 74th place junior Enrique Salazar finished the race with his best time of the season. Fellow junior, Devin Rogers finished in 113th, followed closely behind by sophomore Brady Hissong who placed 115th. Finishing the race were sophomores Konnor Ray, who came in 121st, sophomore Cameron Riddle who finished 124th, and junior Luke Walters who finished 175th.

Representing the girls, freshman Ella Hissong finished 126th, with her 3rd fastest time of the season. Altogether the team accumulated 479 points and finished the event 19th out of 20 teams for the last race of the season.

Walters said, “Over the season I learned that I can do a lot more than I realized as long as I put my mind to it.”

He also said, “I was close to quitting cross country coming into high school...the closeness of the team and the coaches of the team drew me in… I wasn't making a decision on whether to quit or not, I was making the decision on whether or not I was going to run six miles that day or seven.”

Oliver shares the impact that his last season of Cross Country had on him.

He said, “I learned that it’s a role for a senior to bring in the underclassmen and include them in cross country activities and out of cross country activities. You have to think about the class ahead of you, and how they accepted you when you were the underclassman. “

As Cross Country season comes to a close, all of the runners from freshman to seniors felt the loss at the end of the season.

Walters said “The cross country team is a family, and I won't get to experience the closeness of each and every one of the runners until next year.”

Oliver said, “I am going to miss the team because they are more than a team, they are family,”

The first break of the year, fall break is a time to just relax. The students at PHS decided that the first break, while not their favorite, falling short of votes for the favorite break to the other breaks, Winter and Spring break are ones they enjoy.

Tanner Zehner, a junior said, “Winter [break] will always be number one. My plan for fall break was to move on in sectionals for football.”

Gabby Ruiz, a junior, said “I slept and had a Birthday party. “

Students Julia Marohn, a junior, and Claudia Marohn, a freshman, traveled out of state and to Texas! Marohn said, “I went to Borger, Texas to see some family and it was amazing! I love getting together with them because we always have an incredible time doing many fun things.”

Senior Gavin Banks’ team won the dodgeball tournament for the second year in a row. A total of five teams played and the winning team got T-shirts and various gifts from local restaurants. The cost for each team to enter the tournament was $50. One of the requirements was to have two girls playing on the team at a time. Each team needed a minimum of eight players.

Banks said he really did not do anything to prepare for this tournament. He also said, “We weren’t nervous going into it, but when we took our first loss we were.”

Sophomore Alaina Clady, a teammate of Banks, said, “The tournament didn’t take much preparation, I was just prepared to have some fun with my friends.”

Junior Bryce Carmichael, was not nervous because “in the end it didn’t matter and it was just a fundraiser.”

Sophomore Olive Stanton said “I felt quite accomplished when our team won the dodgeball tournament, we had so much fun.”

Sophomore Claire Tanner said, “I was super nervous going into the tournament. The Rockies were the hardest team to beat and so were the teachers.“

This past Friday, October 27, 2017 the life skills kids had their very own Halloween Dance. Hosted in the multi-purpose room in Plymouth High School, the life skills students came from Triton, Argos, Bremen, Knox, LaVille, Lincoln Junior High and PHS to join in on the dance. Every year there is a group dress up theme and this years was emojis.

“My favorite part about the Halloween dance is everything. My costume is a dinosaur head that I made in art class. I’m so excited for the dance” said Gaia Frieschke.

Along with the dance, they had their annual popcorn sale which took place over fall break. Each student tried to sell as much popcorn as they

could to raise money for activities they do throughout the year, including a trip to the zoo, meals they cook during school, and the Halloween Dance. After sales ended, each student took their own special role in preparing the popcorn. Some of them bagged the popcorn, some cut ribbons, and some tied the bags together.