Reliving History
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P ONDER H IG H R OAR Volume 11, Issue 4 December/January 2014 Reliving History By Haley Chasteen istory, to most people is considered the most boring subject, but I’m sure that no student in Ponder was Hthinking that as they went through their first ever Living History Day at Ponder High School. After attending Fort Richardson’s History Days, Coach Pitman held his own here, at our school. Throughout the first three periods of school, the classes were broken into groups and sent to vari- ous stations. The Living History Day presentations varied widely from learning about the mountain men to being deafened by the sounds of whips. “The Living History Day was an event that intrigued me and some friends. We sat and listened intently to each of the speakers, trying to determine what it was like to grow up in the ‘days of old.’ Few of us knew about the buf- falo soldiers, but we enjoyed the knowledge and passion that the speakers provided. To me, Living History Day was a great inspiration,” senior Josh Debolt said. The presentations were very interesting and covered infor- mation not written into most history books. As the host of the event, Coach Pitman also gave a presentation himself. This presentation gave an insight to how mountain men lived. His descriptive lesson and immense knowledge of the subject obviously made an impact on the students’ interests. continued on pg. 2 Leading the Pack By Oksana Bekh n the 6th and 7th of December, the Pon- Chapter Conduct- der Radio Team represented Ponder FFA ing, which was Oat the State competition, which was held composed of sopho- in Huntsville, TX at Sam Houston State Univer- mores Justin Wag- sity. The Radio Team, which consists of seniors ner, Andrew Anderson, Josh Pitman, Tye Dol- Tori Alexander and Sadie Nielson and sopho- gener, Tyler Baker, Jacob Poole, more Sage Stover, has been dominating the Jack McKenna, and Tyler Besterfield, and junior scene since district, where they placed first, and Charlie Bruce, placed fourteenth. then advanced to area. After placing first there, At the district level, which was hosted on the team proceeded to state, where they com- November 18, 2013 by Ponder, the Ponder FFA peted well. “I am very proud of the Radio Broad- chapter placed third in sweepstakes out of all of casting Team. They made the top ten finals out District 7, or Denton County, schools, from 1A to of six hundred and seventy-five entries state 5A, which competed in the Leadership Develop- wide,” FFA coach and Ag teacher, Mr. Stover, ment Contest attended. “I was extremely proud said. of my students, they gave 110%, and they rep- Aside from the stellar performance from the resented Ponder ISD very well.” Ag teacher and Radio Team, the Ponder FFA teams, individuals, FFA coach, Mr. Lankford said. The following are and the Ponder chapter as a whole, competed the results from the district competition: well at all levels of competition. The following The Radio Team, Senior Creed individual, are the results from the Area 5 Leadership De- Senior Ag Skills Demonstration team, and Job velopment Contest, which was held at Sherman Interview individual all placed first in the district High School: tournament. Teams placing second were: Senior The Senior Ag Skills Demonstration team, Chapter Conducting and Greenhand Skills team. which included juniors Madison Hunsucker and The Agricultural Advocacy team, which Hailey Pennington and seniors Andie Beer and placed third, consisted of junior Zack Hooper Sadie Nielson, and Senior Skills individual, and seniors Mary Cage, Nikki Hausner, Ashley sophomore Sage Stover, placed fifth. Green- Reames, and Meredith Vedral. Taking fourth hand Skills team, which was comprised of fresh- were the Junior Chapter Conducting team, which men Courtney Wheeler, Vicki Frazier, Taylor included freshmen Cody St. Clair, Clayton Hicks, Hurst, and sophomore Hannah Wells secured Colten McCarroll, Nick Hausner, Ryan Weides, eighth. Jonathan Aguiler, and Jacob Summerlin, Senior Job Ag Quiz team, which consisted of sophomores Interview Hunter Ferryman and Josh Pittman, junior Kara individu- Parr and senior Magnum Sampson, and a Ju- al, Andie nior Creed Speaking individual, freshman Casey Beer, Porter. The fifth place Junior Ag Quiz team was earned freshmen Cole Delcambre, Ashley Hurlbert, tenth. Casey Porter, and T.J. Pullen. Senior “History”, continued from page 1 One of the other prominent presentations was held by a student from another school. Known as “The Whip Guy,” he presented many different types of whips and informed everyone on how to properly use them. Throughout his presentation he was very energetic and obviously knew how to get everyone’s attention by being very interactive. Living History Day was a complete success. Many students found it interesting and wanted to learn more. We are very thankful for each presenter and for Coach Pitman for making this event possible, and hopefully we can continue to do this each year. Living History Day was definitely a great way to inform every- Ponder High Roar - page 2 Ponder one of the many different passions throughout history and maybe even spark someone’s interest in further. New Year, New Me By Melanie Baker and Alex Fedele t the start of the New Year, you always thing I won’t give up.” Naturally, several stu- hear the words, “new year, new me,” dents have admitted to already breaking their but is that always so? New Year’s resolutions or having done so in the A past. Some have lasted two weeks, while one Every year, around sixty-two percent of people in America make New Year’s resolu- lasted only an hour. tions to help them achieve their goals in the So where did the tradition of New Year’s new year. They do this to motivate themselves resolutions begin? The answer is found in 46 to do better and be better, or just to remind B.C., when the date of when the new year be- themselves of what they wanted to do the pre- gins was initially decided by Julius Caesar. As vious year, but weren’t able to. the patron of January, the Roman god Janus For the start of 2014, statistics show that had two faces facing front and back so as to the top ten New Year’s resolutions are to lose look both into the future and the past. As the weight, get organized, spend less and save representation of the new year, Janus became more, enjoy life to the fullest, staying fit and the symbol for resolutions as Romans expected healthy, learn something exciting, quit smok- to be given forgiveness by their enemies in the ing, help others in their dreams, fall in love, year to come. and to spend more time with the family. Of Whatever your New Year’s resolution, it’s course, these are just the most popular resolu- encouraging to know that over half the amount tions. Twenty-five percent of people who make of people who make resolutions actually do New Year’s resolutions do not even finish out complete their goals. So don’t consider giving the first week. No wonder the gym is full on them up if you think that’s the normal thing January 2, but empty a week later. The other to do. We may not be hoping for forgiveness seventy-five percent maintain their resolutions from people like the Romans, but that is no through the first week, dropping to sixty-four reason to stop trying to achieve your resolution percent by one month and forty-six percent by after just a week. six months. In total, only fifty-three percent of people actually stick with their goals by the High Roar - page 3 Ponder end of the year. In Ponder High School alone, there are sev- eral different New Year’s Resolutions made by students. Some are outrageous like freshman Rabecca Queesenbury’s “to win the lottery, re- name Smarties to Ashley’s and go to Hogwarts and ride a hippogriff.” Some are more inspira- tional, like senior James Branin’s “to enjoy my last semester of high school.” Of course there are the serious seeming ones, like junior Clare Young’s “to get to walking before prom,” or ju- nior Shelby Greggerson’s “to eat healthy and I will not break it, but Starbucks is the only Signing on for Success By Oksana Bekh onder has seen senior Jessica Orozco as a valuable asset to its softball team since she stepped onto the softball diamond as a freshman. However, catching the eye of Pscouts from Southwest Christian University, in Bethany, OK, has opened a new door for the talented senior. “It is always exciting to have someone within your program sign to play at the college level!,” expressed Head Softball Coach at Ponder, Paige Wells, “We wish her the best in her new endeavors.” Jessica, who started learning to play when she was just four, has wanted to play college softball since she was ten years old. However, when Southwest offered her a spot on their team as a pitcher and outfielder, Jessica wasn’t quiet sold, but, after visiting the campus, she wasn’t disappointed. “After my visit I wanted to go to SCU,” said Orozco. Signing on to play for the college means that she is receiving a four year academic scholarship, which will cover most of the tuition costs, and her future coach will cover any additional fees. Playing for SCU won’t be a big stretch for Orozco for several reasons, which are exactly what she loves about the school. Southwest Christian University is a small university, described by Orozco as being “a little bigger than Ponder”, that puts an emphasis on religion.