Friday, September 25, 2015

Hoco Week

             By Chris Huffman
Starting on Monday, September 21, Hartsburg-Emden will be having the annual Homecoming Week. There will be dress up days for all 5 days of the week and games to play on Thursday. All the students love Homecoming Week because it is always a competition-- everyone is always real competitive and wants their class to win.
Monday: Muscle Monday
Tuesday: Team Tuesday
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday
Thursday: Stag Theme Thursday
Friday: Flashback Friday
I hope everyone dresses up and has a great time.
FOLLOW THE DRESS CODE.
     

It Ain't Easy Makin' Green

by Kyle Johner
9.25.15

It’s not easy sometimes  when you are a teen and you have to work. It can get really stressful sometimes. I would know because I have a job and I know what it feels like. Sometimes you get home late and you do not have enough time to do your homework or you stay up late and do it and you do not get enough sleep.

Hoco 2K15

by Adre Vetter
On Saturday the 26th, the Hartem volleyball team is hosting Homecoming. This year Homecoming will be semi-formal. Homecoming is at 7:30-10:00. Pictures will be at 7. You can buy tickets at lunch or you can get the tickets at the dance for $10 for a couple & $7 if you're going by yourself.

Hartem Horse Judging

by Adre Vetter
Last week some of the kids of Hartem FFA went to Delavan for horse judging. Horse judging is where the kids have to judge the horse on how well it acts with the trainer, the structure, and how it walks. The kids who went were Kassy Eskew, Abbie Hoerbert, Noah Watts, Hayden Vetter, Justin Cannon, Brody Baker, and  Brandon Miesner. They got 6th overall and Noah Watts got 1st on the team and Abbie Hoerbert got 2nd on the team. Overall Hartem did pretty well!  

Why do kids say the Pledge of Allegiance?

by Lexi Strange
9-23-15

Today I interviewed my history teacher, Mr. Muntz, and this is what he had to say. "When we say the Pledge of Allegiance we're stating our beliefs in our country and our ideals. Stating that we're loyal to America each day. Despite the battles of people's religion." I then asked him if he thinks teachers need to spend more time on this. Muntz said, "I think learning about the flag is more important than saying the pledge. I also think the National Anthem is more important to know and we should cover more on that." I then interviewed a 7th graders asking why she thought the pledge was important. She stated, "It shows our honor for America and what we believe in. I think we've learned enough about it over the years." 


Thursday, September 24, 2015

It’s College Time!

By Alyssa Bridge
September 23, 2015
Attention all seniors! This time of year is the time to start applying for colleges, so get your information ready. Most colleges will accept applications later in the year, but you have a better chance of getting accepted if you apply now. For more specific deadlines, check the college of your choice’s website just to make sure of what those deadlines are. Also, make sure you apply to more than one college just in case you don’t get accepted into your dream one. Just remember what Bobby Scott said, “It’s virtually impossible to compete in today’s global economy without a college degree.”

Monday, September 21, 2015

Jr. High Softball Regionals

by Kaylee Beekman
Sept. 18, 2015

The junior high softball team recently ended their season. The team went into

regionals with low confidence but high hopes with the record of 2 wins and 12 losses. The

first game of regionals took place on September 9th against Illini Central. The team won a

thrilling game 19-12, improving their record to 3-12! The game was a confidence booster

for the team, but sadly, they ended their season in the regional semi-final against Midwest

Central 15-0. The team ended their season with a record of 3-13. When asked about the

season, Assistant Coach John Robinson said, “They improved and had a lot of fun

throughout the season!”

Mounds of Fun (And History of Course)

By Alyssa Bridge
September 19, 2015
On Friday, September 18th, Mr. Muntz’s Illinois History class took a field trip to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Park in Collinsville, IL. Since the beginning of the year, this class has been learning about the Mississippian Indians and a sub-group called Cahokia. They built massive dirt mounds by hand out of Earthworks. This class was able to walk over and was able to see the mounds that were created many, many years ago. On the top of one of them, you could even see the Gateway Arch. They had such a great time visiting ancient history. It gave all of the students a new perspective on the ancient historical world.

2015 Is Almost Gone!

by Hunter Langley
9.21.15
If you are looking to buy a 2014-2015 yearbook the last day you can possibly do that, is October 29th, for $35. If you are interested, you can call the school and talk to Nichole Folkman, who is in charge of the yearbook program at Hartsburg-Emden, and she will give you as many detail she can. Make sure to get while you can!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Pep Band: The Soundtrack of Our Team

By Nathan Nowatney

September 15, 2015

Pep Band- it’s a staple of American high-school sports events, and a hand-clapping, foot-stomping experience every time you attend a high school basketball game.

But, besides the few minutes of glory they get at the beginning of each match, nobody pays much attention to this congregation of inspiring musicians- even though it’s a possibility that they’re the most important part of the team.

Today, I’m here to take a deeper look into Hartem’s very own pep band. I got a chance to interview the man behind it all- the one and only, Mr. Pluhm.

When asked about the relation between the pep band, and the performance of the team, he had this to say,

“I think pep band is really important in creating an atmosphere that’s- I don’t know- full of fans. In my past experiences, when I’ve been in pep band we bring the, I don’t know… fun… excitement. I think the team appreciates the support we bring.”

So, pep band could be an incredibly crucial aspect of our team. If they’ve got a good crowd of pumped fans to scream their support, don’t you think they’ll perform better?

So far, there are currently eighteen members of the HE pep band. But that could change in an instant- if you’re interested in joining pep band, Mr. Pluhm is always interested in getting more members. So, just come to his room and give him a talk or contact him at cpluhm@hartem.org for additional information.

So, if you’re ready for a screaming, wonderful time, come to a basketball game, and take a listen of our pep band!

Horse Judging Results

by Chris Huffman

So a lot of kids in Hartsburg~Emden are interested in livestock judging but here recently we had a great group of high school students go to a horse judging event. Everyone had a great time and said they would do it again anytime. The kids say that they enjoyed the challenge and enjoyed meeting new people at the event. Noah Watts said that even though we didn't win or even place top 5 that he had a great time learning new things that he never knew about horses.
PLACINGS:
1. New Berlin
2. Mt. Pulaski
3. A-C Central
4. Williamsville
5. Lincoln
6. Hartsburg~Emden
7.Athens
8.Greenview
9.Pawnee
10. PORTA

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Do You Need Dinner the 24th?


by Hunter Langley
9-15-15
        Thursday, September 24th, the high school volleyball team will have a home volleyball game against Mount Pulaski, which is the homecoming game. Before the game begins, the junior class will be hosting a meal starting at 4:30. We will be serving a pork sandwich, baked beans, chips, dessert, and a beverage. The price is donation, so your choice! We appreciate everything you offer us! Hope to see you there!

Hearing and Vision

by Brooklyn Swinford


The Health Department is coming  to the grade school @ 8:30 am and then going to the high school @ 1:00 pm on September 23rd. They are coming because they are checking the students' hearing and vision. They come every year to our school.

Teachers aren't as cool as you think!

by Lexi Strange, September 11, 2015

I interviewed a couple teachers just to see exactly what they do after school. Things got very interesting. Come to find out Mr. Robinson tutors at Heartland on Tuesdays, while on Wednesday he's working on getting his Master's Degree. Robinson attends many sporting events contributing his time to announcing and helping coach junior high softball. He spends many late nights staying up and checking his fantasy sports and eating Twinkies. 

I also interviewed  Mr. Muntz and asked him what he did after school. On a typical day he leaves the school about 3:14 to head to the baseball field to practice with the junior high baseball team. After practice Muntz drives home changes clothes and heads to the gym, where he gets swole. After many long hours at the gym, he goes home and makes his favorite meal for himself: buffalo chicken tacos and ends his night with Netflix. But before he can call it a night he has very long conversations with his girlfriend before he finally goes to sleep. 


Glad I could interview the two most boring teachers! 


Friday, September 11, 2015

HARTEM JUNIOR HIGH SOFTBALL TEAM TAKES THE WIN

by Hunter Langley
9-10-15
   Wednesday, September 9th, the Hartsburg-Emden Jr-High softball team won the first round of regionals against Illini Central, at Mason City. They played all 7 innings with a final score of 18-12. With 7th grader Hattie Langley on the mound and 7th grader Grace Beekman catching, they played a great game. The girls will play Saturday, September 12th in Decatur against Midwest Central. GOOD LUCK GIRLS.

Baseball Celebrates 8th Grade

by Kyle Johner

The Hartsburg-Emden junior high baseball team had a cancellation this week, but on September 11th they have a game at home against Heyworth at 4:30. It’s also 8th grade night.

Golf Hits it Big

by Kaylee Beekman
The golf team has kicked off their 2015 season! Delavan High School and Hartsburg-Emden
High School co-op to form a golf team. The team won their first match against Mt. Pulaski at their
home course. This year’s golf team consists of 9 students from Delavan and 1 student from Hartsburg-
Emden.  Seniors: Teagan Teal and Sam Hodges. Junior: Noah Jeckel. Sophomores: Tollin Johnson and
Joey Matthews. Freshmen: Brady Vannaken, Pete Hultquist, Brock Bell, Charlie Hodges, and Hartem's Alex Eads. This year there are 4 of the last year’s 6 varsity golfers returning. Jason Garber is the head coach. Coach Garber thinks this team has a lot of potential, “I have some high hopes for this team. I know if we can shoot the score we are capable of we have a really great chance to be the first golf team from Hartem/Delavan to qualify for sectionals.” This year's team is the ICAC conference champion. Good luck to the golf team this season!

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Mrs. Jordan- Our New Special Education Teacher

                                                                                                    by   Kayla Zimmerman
                                                                                                            
                                                                                                             9.3.15

I asked one of our new teachers, Mrs. Jordan how she was enjoying the school year so far, these were the question(s) and answer(s) I asked/received


  1. Q: How do you feel about being a new teacher?
            A: It’s very exciting and every year you get to learn about new students!


    2.     Q: Are you enjoying being in a new school?
            A: Yes! I enjoy being in a school  because you have new staff / students to work with!


    3.    Q: Do you like the school lunch(es)
           A: I haven’t had the school’s lunch yet, but I bet it’s delicious!


    4.    Q: Do you enjoy being a teacher?
           A: Yes, because I get to work with children, and help them succeed!  

Reading and writing in every classroom- even P.E.

By Nathan  Nowatney

September 8th, 2015


For the past few years, Hartsburg-Emden has been pushing a new program they’ve called Hartem Life- How Authentic Literacy Touches Every Mind, Literacy is For Everyone.


The idea of this program is to throw practical, real-world reading at the students, so they know how to read, they can know how to comprehend the material they are given, or ‘read authentically.’


But… do classes like Phys-Ed. really need reading? I interviewed Principal Leslie, and here’s what he had to say on the matter.


“Being a former PE teacher myself, I had implemented that [reading assignments] in my classrooms in the past, and I am 100% on-board with that happening here,” says Leslie.


When interviewing Mr. Leslie, he seemed very passionate about the students of Hartsburg-Emden gaining that authentic literacy as described in the Hartem Life program.


When asked what Mr. Leslie felt personally about reading, he had this to say:


“I love to read- I read every day, every night. A lot of it is professional development, but a lot of it is for my own interest- my own fun.”


His favorite book is Seven Secrets of the Savvy School Leader.


I also asked Mr. Leslie if he wished he’d read more in high-school. He responded with this:


“Yeah, looking back on it, in high-school, the only reading that I was made to do was in English class, and maybe Social Studies class. When you go to college, that’s a lot of what you do. When you go into your first year of college, that’ll be a major realization, that’ll be a big part of whatever you take.”


So, for any of you college-bound students out there, or parents or relatives of said students, maybe you should look at this less as ‘the mean old teacher giving lots of work,’ and more like ‘assignments designed to help students read, and understand pieces of writing in the real world.’

Casey-Westfield Tournament

by: Adre Vetter

On Saturday the 5th, the Hartem high school volleyball team went to Casey-Westfield for a tournament. The girls opened up with a 25-5, 25-7 win over the Fairfield jv team. In match 2 Hartem defeated Tolono Unity 25-22, 26-28, 15-8. The girls won their pool by beating Casey-Westfield 25-12, 27-25. Then they won the semifinal match over Newton 25-16, 25-18 to play 3A school Mt. Zion for the championship, but the girls fell short to Mt. Zion 25-18, 17-25, 13-25. Hartem got 2nd place in the Casey-Westfield Tournament. Good job ladies!

You’re Somebody’s Type

By Alyssa Bridge
September 9, 2015

On Friday, September 18th, the Senior Beta Club will be hosting a blood drive in the gym from 9am to 1:30pm. This blood drive is held by the Red Cross. If you are 16 years or older and haven’t donated in the past 56 days, you are eligible to donate blood. However, if you are 16, you will need parental consent. If you donate only one pint of blood, you still save three people’s lives. As an added bonus, after you give blood, you can enjoy the food at the refreshments table. We encourage everyone to donate as you could save someone’s life, but just remember, you are somebody’s blood type.

Gearing Up for Scholastic Bowl

by Brooklyn Swinford

HS Scholastic Bowl will start their practices in October and  their first match is in January. There is a Tomahawk coaches' meeting on September 23rd to decide the scheduling for the season. Every Thursday there will be a match and every Wednesday is practice. Every year the Scholastic Bowl designs t-shirts.

Jr. High Scholastic Bowl is having a meeting on September 10th to start their season.

Ms. Helton's Switch to Full Time Science Teacher

by Chris Huffman


So a lot of people were wondering why in the world Ms. Helton chose to be our full time science teacher instead of the special ed teacher. So I asked her why she chose to be a science teacher instead and she said,  "I love working with kids and taking the opportunity to teach full time is nothing but a pleasure to me." She says, yeah it's harder being a full time science teacher, but what is the point of teaching without a good challenge?

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Junior High Baseball

by Kyle Johner

The Hartsburg-Emden Jr. High baseball team won over Williamsville on Friday the 28th. The score was 9-3. Their record is 3-8.

The Science Olympiad

by Nathan Nowatney

When someone thinks small-town extracurriculars, they usually only think about sports- but let’s try to change that mode of thinking! More and more scholastic extracurriculars are coming to old HE!


Introducing The Science Olympiad! The Science Olympiad is an inter-scholastic competitive contest where teams of two or three students construct a device or formulate a plan to solve a certain problem or complete a test during their event. There’s about 20 different events!


So, if you (or your child), is interested in The Science Olympiad, contact Ms. Helton. You can contact her through e-mail: ehelton@hartem.org, or just call the school. Students can go to Ms. Helton, and ask her about it.


The Science Olympiad usually starts towards the spring, so get hyped!


Ms. Helton has thoroughly enjoyed The Science Olympiad in her youth, and she hopes she can share that experience with the students of today.


When asked if she thought HE stood a chance in the Science Olympiad, she had only this to say:

“HE continues to surprise me with the high-caliber of the students’ scholastaletes.”

Junior Class Concessions

by Hunter Langley
   Thursday, September 2nd will be the first home high school volleyball game of the season. This year, like most in the last, the junior class will be doing concessions for home volleyball games and home basketball games. They will be doing as many fundraisers as possible this year, as they hold prom in April. If you hear of any fundraisers coming from the junior class, you can contact Nichole Folkman who is the class sponsor and a teacher at the school!

Changes to the Schedule

by Kaylee Beekman

Since the first day of the 2015 school year we have been on the 2:00 dismissal

schedule. This schedule will end on September 4th. We will go back to the regular schedule

starting September 7th. Hartsburg-Emden High School was allowed to have 2:00 Dismissal

school days up until Labor Day due to the fact that there are many classrooms without air

conditioning. Labor Day is the last day that we are able to do that. The change in schedule

also means that passing periods will be 3 minutes instead of 2 and that lunch periods will be

30 minutes instead of 29. Below is the schedule that we will be following from now on.

1st Hour: 8:17-9:08

2nd Hour: 9:11-9:56

3rd Hour: 9:59-10:44

4th Hour: 10:47-11:32

HS Lunch: 11:32-12:02

JH 5th Hour: 11:35-12:20

HS 5th Hour: 12:05-12:50

JH Lunch: 12:20-12:50

6th Hour: 12:53-1:38

7th Hour: 1:41-2:26

8th Hour: 2:29-3:14

Junior High Softball

by Adre Vetter

The junior high softball team starts their post season on Wednesday the 9th. They play Illini Central in their first match. They have 14 girls that went out this year. Two of them are 8th graders and then there are 4 each of 5th, 6th, and 7th graders on the team. Hattie Langley is the team's starting pitcher. Their record is 2-11 going into today. Good luck girls on regionals!

1st Volleyball Game a Success

by Lexi Strange

Hartem comes out with a bang. Last night the Hartsburg Volleyball team won their game against Delevan @ Delevan. Varsity swept the first match 25-6 and second match 25-14. Tearaney Eads had 14 consecutive service points. The JV team also beat Delevan 25-7 the first set, and 25-18 the second. Hartem's offense was on fire.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Senior Beta Club Changes

by Alyssa Bridge
Senior Beta Club underwent a big change this summer. The club received a new sponsor, Mr. Robinson. This year the club will be doing 2 blood drives, as usual, one on September 18th and another in the spring. These blood drives have the potential for the senior members to earn scholarship money.  The club will also be having a dinner before Meet the Stags on Saturday, November 21st to raise funds for their trip at the end of the year. This year the club will be participating in more community service projects than previous years. The members plan on cleaning up the bleachers after home games and participating in Together for Lincoln, a massive service project in Lincoln. The club is doing bigger and better things than previous years and it’s a leap in the right direction.

Farm Progress Show

By Chris Huffman

The juniors and seniors of Hartsburg~Emden FFA have officially attended the 2015 Farm Progress Show. Even though it was super hot all of students that attended enjoyed it as a fun learning experience. This year the Farm Progress Show was on Tuesday, September 2nd. The bus left the high school at 8 a.m. and returned at 3 p.m.
The students say that the bus ride to Decatur wasn't all that bad, it was roughly an hour drive to the show. The Farm Progress Show only comes around every other year so if you get the chance to go I would highly recommend going because it's a great learning experience for all ages. The students say that they learned a lot and had a wonderful time.


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Upcoming FFA Events

by Brooklyn Swinford

September 2nd is the Farm Progress Show in Decatur.
On September 9th there is a Horse CDE at  Rowlings. 
On September 23rd  there is the Ag Sales contest and Hartem is hosting it.

High School Volleyball Season Begins

by  Kaylee Beekman

The Hartem volleyball team is getting ready to kick off their 2015-16 season! The team

is made up of 15 girls. Freshmen: Anna Hayes, Lexi Barry, Ivy Merz, Madison Ferris, and Abbie

Hoerbert. Sophomores: Emme Olson, Tearaney Eads, Shyanne Conrady, and Kassy Eskew.

Juniors: Maddie Shawgo and Ashley Zinser. Seniors: Kaylee Beekman, Lexi Strange, Adre

Vetter, and Erin Lessen. The team is very excited to start the season. The first game is

September 1st at Delavan High School. The first home game is September 3rd against

Springfield Lutheran. Show your support by coming out to both games in orange and black to

support your Lady Stags!


New Students in The High School

by Hunter Langley

This year, we gained one new freshman. Her name is Madison Ferris who came from Lincoln JuniorHigh. She is now playing volleyball and slowly getting used to our school. I asked her, "How was the transition from a big school to small school?" and her response was, "Very different, weird, less confusing and better in my opinion. The teachers are much more available to help if needed." I then asked her, "With us being such a small school, most people are really involved in sports and other activities like FFA, will you be involved in anything?" And she said, "Well I play volleyball right now, and I'm not sure if I plan to do anything else. I may join some of the clubs the school has to offer, but I'm not sure at this point." We are very happy to have Madison attending our school this year!

Changes in the Science Department

By Hana McMullen

Maybe if you haven't heard, Miss Helton, our old Special Ed teacher, is now our new science teacher. Along with her new ways of teaching she has introduced all of her students with two very helpful apps. Google Classroom is an app that allows the teacher to post assignments, and the students to upload and send the assignments. It also tells what assignments you have left to do and the ones you already turned in. The other app Miss Helton asked us to download was Remind. This app lets the teacher send out reminders (hence the app is called Remind) and chats with the students about homework, tests, textbooks etc. With these two apps I could see the science classes running very smoothly. You have an advantage when having these for a class. No more getting a bad grade for forgetting about an assignment, and no more having to wait to ask a question.

All about Mr. Pluhm

by Adre Vetter
Mr. Pluhm is the high school and junior high band and choir teacher. He played the trombone ever since he has been in 5th grade and he also likes to sing. Mr. Pluhm wanted to become a band teacher because he admired his band teacher in high school and he also was the director of his high school marching band; he liked being in charged. I asked him what he thought about our school so far. He said, “Everyone is super helpful- even the students.” His goals for this year's music department are to get the middle schoolers more interested so that in high school he will have more numbers. In Mr. Pluhm's free time he likes to watch Frozen and sing along with it.

Changes to Homecoming This Year

by Lexi Strange

This year's homecoming will be held on September 26. The student council members asked for homecoming to be changed to volleyball season instead of basketball season. The volleyball homecoming dance with be formal, and the basketball homecoming dance will be informal. Thanks to everybody who helped to make the new transition.