Tiger Blog

       By: Mason Trimby

  Unfortunately, Nathaniel Orr, the High School’s band director, choir director, and scholar bowl director has decided to leave Scotland County for good after 10 long years of humble service. He will be missed, but he will not be forgotten. His legacy will live on in the hearts of teachers and students alike. He had recently gotten married, and after their beautiful matrimony, he and his loving wife, Amy Orr, had come to the mutual decision of leaving Memphis, Missouri to Kansas City to be closer with their family. Mr. Orr has touched the hearts of hundreds of people. He’s been a great teacher, a great instructor, a great mentor, and especially, a great friend. He may be leaving, but wherever he goes, he will find just as great success there as he did in our school building.

           Mr. Orr has been such an important part of many student’s lives, helping them and teaching them to improve their skills. And while he taught music, he also taught his students how to be better people. He cared about every single one of his students and guided them. He was an inspiration to all his pupils. He would listen to them and help them when they needed help. 

          Mr. Orr had spent so much time and effort on his job. He always took the time to help his students understand what they were learning. He would take time to make sure that his students were succeeding. He may be gone, but he will always be remembered by the students he taught.

 By: Mason Myers

The SCR1 High School track team is preparing for the upcoming district track meet, an event that will decide their eligibility to go to the sectionals and even state competitions. This is a very important opportunity for some athletes, as it gives them an opportunity to showcase their skills and compete at a higher level. The team has been putting countless hours into training, and studying their techniques and speed in various track and field events, including sprints, pole vault, long or triple jump, and long-distance running, and throwing. In order to continue to sectionals, the Athlete must place at least top 4 in any of their events they are in. All of their hard work and commitment have paid off, earning them the privilege to represent their school on this prestigious stage.  

          As the date of the district track is coming up, excitement and intense practices are coming close to the members of the SCR1 High School track team. Each athlete is excited but nervous to improve their abilities and overall, to have success on the team. Athletes understand the importance of this event and the opportunities it holds for advancing to further competitions. As they continue to improve their speed and skills and mentality, they are giving their all at districts, knowing that their performances could lead to them going to state or even getting scholarships to even greater opportunities in competitive track and field.

By: Mason Trimby

 EOC exams are coming soon. EOCs are important and it’s important to prepare. There are many ways to prepare for these EOCs. Studying for EOCs is important. EOCs show how much progress you have made in a certain subject. Failing an EOC could be bad news. So here are some ways to study for EOCs.

          One way to prepare for EOC’s is to take the practice tests. Some classes have you take the practice test to prepare you for the EOC. Practice tests can be important and give you an idea of what the EOCs will be like. It prepares you for the EOC by showing you what to expect. It’s one of the best ways to study for the EOC.

          Another good way to prepare for the EOC is to make a quizlet of everything you’ve learned the entire way. This will help you memorize the main things you need to know for the EOC. If you would rather try to get an idea of what you’ll need to know, then this is the best way to do so. But if you care more about knowing what specifically will be on the test, the practice test might be a better way to study. 

          No matter how you want to study, it’s a good idea to study nonetheless. You could use the practice test to get a better feel for the EOC. You could also use a quizlet to memorize the information that will be on the test. There’s many different ways to study. If you put your mind to it, you could ace that test!

By: Mason Myers

         On April 8, 2024, a very special event happened in the sky around 1:30 central time, this was of course known as the solar eclipse. The Solar Eclipse is when the moon moves exactly between the Sun and Earth, which then makes the sun’s rays / light disappear, causing a short time of darkness. The path of totality is where you see the whole thing happen. The path went from Texas all the way to the state of Maine. This gave a multitude of people the chance to see this very cool event. The last solar eclipse took place in 2017, so a lot of the people were super excited to see it once again.

        At the SCR1, the teachers got a cool chance to view the eclipse by getting out early from their classroom. The teachers were really happy to view this and used it as a way to see something amazing and share it with the students. The next solar eclipse in the U.S. will happen on August 23, 2044. So next time u get the chance get ready to see one of the coolest events of your life! Have Fun!

By: Mason Myers

Water Safety Concerns in Memphis

           WAIT! STOP! DON'T DRINK THAT WATER!! In the small town Memphis, the Memphis water company is recently having an issue concerning the water supply at our local school (SCR1). The recent complexities with the water pipes have led rules in our grounds to not consume any tap water, specifically the water fountains, for the time being. Due to the safety and health procedures of our students of Scotland County, they are allowed to walk into the office and pick up their own free plastic water bottle for the day, so they can feel hydrated and wake up for academic lessons. Also parents, don't forget that your child may also always be allowed to bring a clear water bottle to get hydrated throughout the school day.

          The Memphis Water Company will fix this problem as soon as you know it and will be back to safe non-lead water and guaranteeing the water supply will be safe for consumption. As they navigate through Memphis to fix this problem, you can have testing for your water quality and be aware to avoid faucet water in all the affected areas. If you are in the area of the affected water, you can always go to your local grocery store (J’s Foods) and grab a pack or two of water bottles to supply and hydrate you and your family. Just remember, these  difficulties can serve as a major reminder of the importance of prioritization in water safety and investing in solutions to protect public health.

By: Niya Coffman

On November 1, 2023, the Memphis FFA chapter traveled the 6 hour drive to Indianapolis, Indiana. The 10 members selected included seniors Emma Harvey, Fawntana Wells, and Kyndra Cochran, juniors Hannah Campbell, Jaci Knupp, Kendall Small, Merit Miller, and Mason Mallett, as well as Sophomores Zada Ketchum and Niya Coffman. We were escorted by Waltedda Blessing and Dave Coch. We started our first night off by getting ready and heading off to the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts, to watch Lainey Wilson perform in concert. After watching a great performance, we ended our first day. Our second day started off with a visit to the Indianapolis Zoo, where we got to walk around and see all sorts of animals. After walking around the zoo, we headed to ax throwing. Our members got to have fun throwing things such as axes, throwing stars, and throwing knives for two hours and we ended our second day of National Convention.

The next two days of convention were more FFA involved. We started our third day off with an early official dress morning, and traveled back to the Lucas Oil Stadium for a morning general session. FFA members got to sit and watch national officers give out awards and spill their hearts into speeches. After the session, members traveled to the expo and FFA shopping mall, where we had free range to explore and see all kinds of businesses and college opportunities. On the final day of convention, members put their official dress back on and headed to the American Degree ceremony, where we got to see some of our very own graduated members receive their honors. After this, we packed up and started our drive home. Although I ended the week tired and with sore feet, I am very glad I got to experience everything. Walking around the convention center allowed me to learn more about businesses who proudly support the FFA, and more about the history of the FFA. Additionally, I got to have fun and bond with some of my classmates in the FFA. Overall, if you are a student in the FFA, I highly encourage you to sign up. Convention is a great experience where you get to see how many members, just like you, share their love for agriculture.

By: Mason Myers

          Halloween, the spookiest and scariest night of the year is just around the corner! Goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and witches everywhere and spooky, silly jack o'lanterns lit. Trick or Treating is also great and exciting, but let’s not forget how all this can be quite dangerous. Halloween can be dangerous for several reasons, starting off with Trick or Treating. When Trick or Treating you must be very cautious because it can turn dangerous in a matter of seconds. In neighborhoods with a lot of traffic, people can easily be seriously injured by citizen accidents. Especially if you or your child is wearing a darkened costume because they will be more challenging to see in the darkness. So you should always get glow sticks, flashlights or just a material that cars can see at night while you trick or treat.

       Speaking of treats, the most basic topic to talk about in the topic of  Halloween safety. You kids and parents should always inspect all treats before allowing your kids to consume them. Next, never trust a candy brand that you’ve never seen before in your life that looks unusual. Lastly, never allow your child / children to eat candy that is unwrapped, you would need to throw the treats away if so. Remember treats are very good but it could always be a trick. 

    When it comes to costumes, they can have a lot of detail put onto them to make them look finished and nice. Even though they may look nice they could still contain mini bits and pieces attached to them that could be a choking hazard for your child / children. If they do have little strings, plastic, or other loose material it should be inspected by a guardian and removed if necessary. When using face paint or makeup with your costumes. If you purchase makeup or face paint at a Halloween store you should look at the ingredients and toxic chemicals before purchasing because it is usually very cheap. You are also highly advised to look at the instructions of the item you purchased before applying to face as well. Be very cautious while applying it or removing it, because if done wrong it can damage your eyes, or skin in the process. Always stay safe and be aware of your surroundings while trick or treating because something bad could happen in a snap. Finally, don't let the traffic and other pedestrians upset your super spooky experience, although you should always be cautious , and remember to have a happy Halloween!

            There are many benefits of having an esports team at high schools. Esports give extracurricular activities to less athletic students or students that don’t wish to participate in typical sports. The school already has technology and computers, so starting an esports club would not be that difficult. Many people would benefit from having new after school activities that they could participate in. A high percentage of high school students just go straight home after school and are bored a lot. Esports would also help motivate kids to do better in school. The club could have school behavior and grade requirements like a lot of clubs do. In turn, this would help motivate the kids who really enjoy video games and esports to try harder in school. More diversity in clubs that are offered in general could up the schools grade average. This could help the school to gain more funding and earn special benefits.

            There are plenty of students who want stuff to do throughout their day but aren’t interested in any of the currently offered after school activities. Esports in high school also opens up new opportunities to students who participate. Colleges are starting to offer esports scholarships. People also can build careers off of competitive esports. Over all, esports are a good addition to any school because they are fun and provide new opportunities to students of any type.

 By: Niya Coffman

            Scotland County has been hosting sponsors from Jostens to show our students opportunities to personalize and purchase their own class rings with the sophomores and graduation necessities and class year merchandise with the seniors. Jostens is a private Minnesota based company, founded in 1897 by Otto Josten. Josten’s has 10 locations throughout the United States. Their employees work to hand craft every piece of memorabilia jewelry that is shipped out. Jostens is best known for manufacturing class rings for high schools and colleges, as well as creating championship rings for sporting events. 

            They put the same effort into creating perfectly unique and personal class rings as they do with creating Super Bowl rings for the best football players in the country. Each ring is able to be personalized to fit what its wearer wants. The metal of the band, the color of the jewel, the style of ring, and custom engravings are all customizable. Jostens supplies our seniors with their graduation needs. They rent their graduation gowns and buy their caps and tassels with Jostens. Jostens also sells the class memorabilia such as sweatshirts, shirts, crewnecks, and more for seniors.  Jostens offers Letterman Jackets for student athletes to purchase. Jostens also offers other services that our school doesn’t utilize, such as yearbooks and school pictures.             

By: Mason Trimby

     First, homework should be prioritized. Many things might seem more fun than homework. But if homework is done as soon as possible, it leaves plenty of time for people to do the things they want or need to do. Therefore, it would be much easier for someone to start on their homework as soon as they get home or whenever they are free to do so. This way, they can quickly finish their homework and still be able to do other things. It may sound easy to procrastinate instead of doing school work. But getting homework out of the way as soon as possible is much easier and less stressful than having to finish the assignment at the last minute or just not doing it entirely.

     Another way for someone to get their homework done is to ask people with the same exact homework to do it alongside them. It feels much easier for people to do things when they have help or just people to keep them company. And this way, the homework can get done more quickly and efficiently. More people are there and might know the answer while the other person doesn’t. Or they just came up with an idea the other person wouldn’t have thought of. Working in a group truly makes homework easier to do and having friends around can bring more motivation to doing it.

     Overall, homework may seem daunting. But it doesn’t always have to be hard. If it’s put first, it’s easy to get it done with. And people can have free time to do what they want. And working in a group can help efficiently finish homework. And the extra company can motivate people to actually try. In conclusion, anything can be done with a little motivation.

By: Niya Coffman

     Homecoming results are in! During the pep rally on September 15, Homecoming, the senior class of 2024 was awarded the spirit stick for the highest participation rates and most money raised during this year's spirit dress up days. Later that night, the rest of the results (such as the homecoming court and parade float winners) were announced during halftime. 

Our senior court winners were announced. The queen contestants consisted of Kendal Anderson, Makynlee Jack, Brooke Campbell, and Fawntana Wells. The king contestants consisted of Elias Hatfield, Payton Frederick, Hugh Baker, and Jadin Fuller. Makynlee Jack and Hugh Baker were crowned as our 2023 Homecoming Court Royalty. The class float winners were also announced. Third place was awarded to the Junior Class “Guess the Price of Victory”, second place the Sophomore class “The Panthers are in Jeopardy”, and first place was awarded to the Freshman class float “Wheel of Fortune”. The community float winners were awarded in the order of, Crash Control in third place, Off Road/RPM in second place, and the Scotland County Hospital “Gong Show” float in first place. The first place organization float was awarded to FCCLA “Dancing to a Victory”. 

A special thanks to the community for making our Homecoming possible. Without these organizations, the parade, dance, etc. would not be possible: Dave and Lou Koch for serving as Grand Marshals of the parade and their services to the trap shoot program, Scotland County Pharmacy/ Matt McKee for the float prizes, Scott Hathaway for halftime announcements, Mr. Orr and our Scotland County Marching Tigers for the pep rally and halftime ceremonies, Memphis Democrat and KMEM for advertising, Karri Feeney/Eclipse for the T-shirts, Pepsi/Kris Lister for attendant/candidate signs, City of Memphis for preparing the square for the parade, our janitors Chris and Kristie, secretaries Mark and Lisa for doing the orders/paperwork, Mr. Tallman and Mr. Anderson for their help, and the Scotland County community for their continuous support. 

By: Emory Black

     As people probably know, Scotland County High School implemented a four day school week in 2020. This format gives people 3 days off of school in between school weeks. It’s been convenient for students. It has also benefited teachers. But this system is more than simply avoiding Mondays. There are benefits and drawbacks to these four day weeks. 

     The four day weeks have a lot of great benefits for students and teachers alike. For instance, school can be mentally straining on a student. With a three day weekend, students will get a greater amount of time to relax. This way, when they come back, they are less stressed and more willing to learn. This also goes for teachers, who also get stressed by school. With a longer weekend, both students and teachers can come back to school with a more positive attitude. 

     However, with every positive, there are negatives that follow them. With more time away from school, students have more time to forget the things they learned. Also, with less days in a school week, there’s less time for students to learn. So, either more has to be taught within a normal school day than usual, or students will just learn less within a week than they normally would. And if there’s more being taught within a normal school day, then this could cause students to become stressed. And as said before, students would no longer be as willing to learn with all the pressure put on them.

     Overall, there are many great things and not so great things about having a four day school week. Having a longer weekend lets students relax so that they can come to school in a positive mood. This also goes for the teachers. However, with a longer weekend, people could forget the things they learned. And there’s less time to teach everything within a normal school week. 

By: Mason Trimby

     As kids, people have always been told by their parents to brush their teeth and take showers. But as people have grown, some of them have disregarded their personal hygiene, which means to keep your body clean and healthy. However, what these people fail to realize is that personal hygiene has long term effects on the people that ignore it. For example, if someone does not brush their teeth, they could get gum disease or even lose their teeth.  If someone does not wash their body, their skin could become irritated and bacteria would start to cause body odor. Having personal hygiene will cause people to have an overall better life for themselves.

      It also can affect the people around someone without proper hygiene. Like, say someone didn’t shower for 3 days.  Nobody is going to enjoy the fumes emitted from their body. Or, someone could have not brushed their teeth. When they talk, their bad breath could make people uncomfortable. If people don’t stay hygienic, they could be affecting the people around themselves. This is another reason why personal hygiene is beneficial. 

     Also, without personal hygiene, the bacteria that has overstayed its welcome as result could cause someone to be sick. If someone does not wash their hands, they could transfer communicable diseases. Almost everything someone does could spread bacteria. When someone sneezes, they could get bacteria on themselves. That’s why it’s important for people to wash their body and hands, so that bacteria can’t spread to other people. So people should wash their hands after going to the bathroom, sneezing, coughing, anything that could spread bacteria. If people do this, they can keep themselves and everyone around them safe.   

     In conclusion, hygiene is important for various reasons. It keeps people clean and healthy and keeps them from things like gum disease or skin irritation. It also makes things better for people around them. With proper hygiene, people can keep themselves and others safe from diseases. If people do things like wash their bodies and brush their teeth, they can benefit everyone around them, including themselves. Life is made easier with proper hygiene. And with this information, hopefully people can make things easier with the use of hygiene.

 By: Mason Myers

           Scotland County R1 is very lucky to have our school lunch ladies teaming up with Kohl's food company with a nice history of providing delicious and exquisite daily meals to schools, just like ours. Kohl’s has been participating in the food business for quite some time now. They started in the 1980s when a group of chefs and nutrition experts collaborated and made delightful, kid-friendly meals.

                 Kohl’s food making process is pretty interesting. They carefully select fresh ingredients, making sure that the meals are nutritious and edible of course. They also give you perfect proportions of food such as protein, fruits and vegetables, grains, and dairy to have energy and be prepared for your school day. Our chefs cook everything in a clean, efficient place to make sure it’s a good quality meal!

            Once the meals are set, Kohl’s packs them into a safe box to be safely delivered to our school. Our chefs and Kohl’s commitment and motivation of providing healthy meals to students is why they’ve become a trusted company to provide food for schools across the country, including SCR1. So, next time you see the cooks give them a big pay on the back for working hard in a safe environment, so students can refill their energy to learn again. 

By: Niya Coffman

       As you may have heard, the first home football game of the season against Clark County was moved back an hour due to the high temperatures. While this may be a pain for both players and spectators who want to get home at an earlier time, keeping the players safe is very important. Temperatures were reaching an all day high at the originally scheduled time of 7pm and would put the players health at risk. The game was postponed to start at 8pm, at a time where temperatures began to decrease due to the sun setting. Along with keeping the players out of the heat, coaches can make sure that their players are staying hydrated and help assure this by giving them frequent water breaks, and switching their players out to avoid overheating a player and giving them a break. While the delay may have been an inconvenience to some, keeping our players safe from over exhaustion is far more important.

By: Emory Black

             With the rising popularity and capabilities of AI, or Artificial Intelligence, it is unsurprising that it is affecting schoolwork. Students can use AI to “help” them with homework. However, having AI write your essays or answer your questions is still plagiarism and a form of cheating. AI is allowing kids to not actually put in work on their assignments. Luckily, teachers can use software similar to plagiarism checkers that can detect whether AI has been used on an assignment. This helps teachers to stop the spread of cheating throughout schools.

            AI is a very controversial subject. It can be useful and helpful in some ways but it can also have negative effects. For example, it can be used to help with research and certain things in businesses but it can also be used to recreate people's voices and be used to cheat. AI can be a good thing in school when it’s used in things like auto correct and grammarly. 

            AI’s like ChatGPT can also be used to help generate ideas or topics for essays. However, having AI actually write the essay is cheating. Tech people at schools can put restrictions on school devices that stop students from accessing AI’s that can be used for cheating. Using AI on a majority of assignments in high school will set students up for failure in the future. For example, if a student is caught plagiarizing in a college class, the consequences are much harsher. 

            AI may be able to help a person fake their way through highschool but it won’t get them through college or help them with future jobs. Relying on AI for simple tasks and assignments only has negative effects on a person. Using AI on assignments will only get you in trouble and give you bad grades. Using AI in school is not a smart choice.

Dance From the Past

Alumni graduates from Scotland County High School Poms have returned to their roots and teamed together with the current Little Paws squad to perform at the Scotland vs. Paris basketball game. These alumni have worked very hard to learn this routine and perform it well. The turnout has been incredibly successful with about 20 participating women and a wide range of graduating classes. These women have worked together as a team very well and have formed a very healthy relationship with one another. Linsey Tippet has taken the role of the choreographer and teacher of this routine and has filled her role well with being very positive and enthusiastic in her teaching, she also was very open to new ideas and slight alterations with the dance. Me, as a current Little Paw member, would truly enjoy seeing this being done again in the future, the experience and project has been very enjoyable and gave me a chance to have conversations with people i would not have had if i didn't have the opportunity. 

It is important that we, as a school, provide a safe environment for students. One area that needs safety evaluation is the student parking lot. While students recognize the need for safety in this area, including the existing speed bump, the effectiveness must be questioned. In order to improve the safety effectiveness of the student parking, the following improvement should be considered: updating our current speed bump, changing our speed bump placement in the lot, and frequently having supervision present while the school gets out of session. 

One area of improvement includes the current speed bump. The speed bump that we have currently has been proven to damage a large portion of students' cars. I have recently interviewed a plethora of students, and it has come to light that students with smaller, low-profile cars tend to often damage their cars when they go over the speed bump. No matter how slow or fast these students go, the height of the speed bump that we have now causes noticeable damage to their cars. A solution to this problem is replacing the speed bump with a superior speed hump instead. This superior speed hump is 2.75” in height, 39.25” in width, and also has a variety of lengths to choose from. The speed hump is made with 40% long-lasting recycled rubber and reduces speeds to approximately 10-15 MPH. End caps are necessary for product longevity, however, the end caps are conveniently included with the purchase of the speed hump and are guaranteed

 against breakage for 15 years. With the speed hump smaller in height compared to the current speed bump, causes the impact to be more manageable and in addition, does not leave any damage on cars of any size. 

Another reason why our current speed bump needs to be changed is the current location of the speed bump in the student parking lot is not as effective as it should be. With the speed bump placed in the middle of the parking lot, as it is right now, it allows students to go exceptionally fast up to a few feet until the speed bump, so it does not prevent students from  speeding in the parking lot. Thus, the parking lot is unsafe for students and teachers who are driving or walking to or from school. A solution to this problem is to revamp the placement of the speed bump. Rather than placing one single speed bump across the middle of the lot, instead have three separate speed humps placed like the diagram below:

An additional practice that can improve student safety in the parking lot is having frequent supervision in the parking lot, particularly while school is getting out of session. Most students driving in high school also have part-time jobs they go to right after they get dismissed from school. Students quickly and irresponsibly exit the parking lot to get to these jobs. Thus causing a risk of collisions and accidents that therefore cause everyone in close distance to have their safety put in question. As a student with a license that also uses the school parking lot daily, I have noticed that on the occasions there is supervision on stand-by, the quality of the driving is notably improved and is more manageable. I do, however, understand that teachers and also workers of the Scotland County Police Department already have many responsibilities and duties they need to take care of on a daily basis. Yet, I still strongly believe that with this addition to our student parking lot, the safety of Scotland County students and teachers would be vastly improved. 

In closing, everyone can agree that ensuring the safety of students at school is one of the major top priorities. Though the current safety of students is not insufficient, it does surely need enhancement.  The following enhancements include: updating our current speed bump, changing our speed bump placement in the lot, and frequently having supervision present while the school gets out of session. As a current student, I believe these improvements will improve overall student safety.