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P ONDER H IG H R OAR Volume 11, Issue 2 October 2013 Notably Honorable Students By Oksana Bekh onday 14, 2013 may have been just another Monday for the rest of the world, but not for the 42 Ponder High School students preparing Mto be inducted into the National Honor Society. Wear- ing their Sunday best, the excited yet nervous, induct- ees stood in the hall waiting to be introduced to the audience. Finally the co-sponsors of the Ponder High School NHS chapter, Mr. Lankford and Mrs. Wallum, gave the students the signal to proceed. After being welcomed by the audience, the inductees SENIORS took their seats on the stage, and the ceremony pro- JUNIORS Tori Alexander ceeded. Elizabeth Branin Brittany Avelar Leanna Brown Andie Beer Several students who were chosen to speak immedi- Kenneth Clevenger Oksana Bekh ately rose and came to the podium to await their turn. Jared Davenport James Branin The first to speak was Perrin Hughes, who welcomed Kennedy Davis Mary Cage Eric Dearmin Riley Carter the audience to the induction, he was followed by se- Jennifer Eppler Elizabeth Chilson niors Tori Alexander, Andie Beer, and Emily Summer- Alex Fedele Josh Debolt lin. They spoke of the founding of NHS, which was Zach Hooper Nikki Hausner Cole Hudson Billy Howell founded by Edward Rynearson in 1921 because of the Madison Hunsucker Perrin Hughes growing emphasis on athletics and academics, rather Austin Jones Nick Kuhl than leadership and character. Next, senior and presi- Kara Parr Keaton Malcom Craig Reames Josiah Meek dent of NHS, Spencer Waldo, told of the fifteen thou- Elizabeth Richardson Sadie Neilson sand chapters of NHS that are present today, and the Cameron Sallee Jessica Orozco expectations that NHS members are expected to meet. Wesley Vick Ashley Reames Clare Young Macie Simpson Austin Spiker Aly Stone Emily Summerlin continued on pg. 2 Meredith Vedral Spencer Waldo Bring Down Bullies By Katie Dickens hink of something about yourself that you dislike. October is Bullying Aware- Maybe it’s your hair, your clothes, your weight, or your ness Month. This is to draw acne. You know that it’s there, and you hate it. Now attention to those who are imagineT everyone else hating it, shaming you for it, and tormented and give resourc- pointing out how ugly it is or how horrible it makes you look. es on how to lend a helping hand. This month, the focus That hurts, doesn’t it? Now imagine every time someone is to help those who are bullied take a stand. Students are points out that one thing you dislike the most, they shrug provided with helpful resources on how to deal with bullies it off with, “It’s just a joke. Stop overreacting.” It hurts even or how to stop the torment they see happening to others more now, right? That’s what countless teenagers go around them. through each and every day. This month, a great deal of attention is being drawn to pro- “Teenagers will be teenagers,” people will say as they dis- grams such as The BULLY Project. The BULLY Project is a miss the reports or complaints. However, over the past few campaign inspired by the documentary film BULLY. It was years, bullying statistics have been higher than they’ve ever designed to reach out to children and show them that there been. As a matter of fact, over 70 percent of teenagers say are people who care about them. TBP goes from school to they have been bullied in one way or another. Yet it school giving presentations and getting kids involved in isn’t seen as a big problem in many places. It is activities to help stop bullying. a problem. Another program trying to get rid of bullying is “After you hear something for a long time,” STOMP Out Bullying. This was established by says sophomore Kim Corkins, “you’re going Love Our Children USA and focuses on pre- to start to believe it. The point is that even if venting bullying, cyberbullying, and other digital you don’t think it matters, it does make a huge abuse. It educates against some of the causes difference in someone’s life.” of bullying, like homophobia, racism, and general About 30 percent of depression has been hatred. STOMP Out Bullying provides kids ef- caused by bullying. Depression is a much more fective ways to deal with bullying and thoughts of serious condition than people think. Less than 15 per- suicide. cent of depressed teenagers have considered suicide, and Project Anti-Bully is a non-profit organization formed by about half of those teenagers have attempted it. Statistics students across the world. This program has headquarters show that the majority of these kids have thoughts like this in over 20 countries. It’s goal is to empower people to fully because of how rough their school lives have been. embrace who they are and stand up for those that can- A common form of not. PAB is run by students and has grown to be one of bullying is social/ the biggest anti-bullying organizations. It emphasizes the emotional bully- importance of talking to trusted adults, such as parents and ing. It only takes one teachers, about bullying. person in a group to October is coming to a close, but don’t let that stop you say something like, from striving to make a difference. Don’t be afraid to stand “Did you see what he was wearing?” Then, another person up for yourself and others. Remember, one voice is enough will agree or add something, then another, and another. to start a chain reaction. They wouldn’t want to disagree with everyone else. So they keep passing on the hate to others until, finally, that person For more information on bullying or how you can join one hears, and everyone laughs. The fact that it comes in such of the anti-bullying programs visit the following social media large groups is why people think it’s so hard to stop. feeds. #STOMPOutBullying bullymovie #proj_antiBully “NHS”, continued from page 1 After everyone returned to their seats, Mrs. Wallum asked the members to stand up, and keep standing, as their names were called and the audience applauded. After everyone was seated, the ceremony continued. The ethics that all NHS members should attempt to uphold, scholarship, character, service and leadership, were pre- sented by senior Meredith Vedral. Seniors Keaton Malcom and Riley Carter and junior Alexandria Fedele continued by noting the importance of NHS members upholding these values,which is the reason that the NHS is what it is today. The first quality that was reviewed was knowledge, read by senior Elizabeth Chilson and the center candle was lit by junior John Vick. The center candle was lit first because the other four qualities stem from knowledge. Scholarship, read by junior Craig Reames and candle lit by junior Madison Hunsucker, was introduced next. It is the commitment to learning. Service, read by senior Sadie Nielson and the candle lit by senior James Branin, is helping others when it is of no benefit to you. Leadership, read by Austin Jones and candle lit by Ashley Reames, is the sacrifice of personal interests to step up and lead a group to achieve an objective. Character, read by Leanna Brown and candle lit by Cameron Sallee, is moral integrity. After the five qualities were reviewed, and the five candles lit, Mr. Lankford led the inductees in the pledge. At the end, all the inductees were asked to sign the NHS book,receive their NHS pins and shake the principal’s hand. The names were called in alphabetical order, and the ceremony came to a close. This years induction ceremony was a suc- cessful one; no one tripped, no serious mistakes were made, and everyone was inducted. However, it was different as well. This year is the first time in the history of the Ponder NHS Chapter that juniors were allowed to apply to be members of NHS. Ponder High Roar - page 2 Ponder Now that the new members have been inducted they will have a chance to start on the lengthy list of volunteer projects that they hope to accomplish this year. Fall Festival “FUN”raiser By Sterling Stinson All this semester, Ponder’s classes and clubs have been anxiously preparing for one of the school’s biggest fundraisers, the Fall Festival. Groups brought in candy, soda, and any other prizes necessary for their booths to their sponsors in the days leading up to the festival and arranged who would be working which booths when. When the day of the fundraiser came around, people brought baked goods to the school for the dinner, cake walk, and bake sale, set up their booths, and got ready for a night of fall fun. Around six o’clock, when the booths officially opened, hun- dreds of Ponderians flooded the north side of the football field to participate in fun games and win awesome prizes. The senior dinner, which took place in the elementary cafeteria, was a hit as usual, as everyone stopped by to support Project Graduation and grab a nice BBQ dinner. The cafeteria was full of friends and neighbors chattering and laughing together the entire night. The elementary gym held another fun Project Graduation fundraiser-the silent auction. Seniors and their parents have spent the past few weeks gathering fun items and talking to local businesses about donating items to their class, and then auctioned them off. The senior class had a raffle item as well-a Ponder T-shirt Quilt, which was won by Rebecca Lavender.

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