Deer Hunting

Deer hunting is really fun.  I love when we’re pushing deer and I’m sitting point and haven’t seen anything all day when all of the sudden a whitetail flies up and gets my heart pumping, especially when I fire my first shot at them.  I started hunting when I was 12 years old, and I’m 15 now.  The first time deer hunting was scary for me.  We went out to my uncle’s land after lunch and my dad put me at the end of the timber behind this big oak tree.  Well, after a half an hour, I was worried and then I heard the truck.  I started walking towards it and then I heard gunshots and heard something fly be me, so I dove to the ground and stayed until my dad appeared.  Apparently, a deer had run by the spot I was sitting.  After finding out it was a big eight-point buck, I was kind of upset.

                Deer hunting is also fun because you get outside and get to do some exercise.  However, I hate hunting in the rain and snow because snow means you get slowed down a lot and can hardly move.  Rain means your guns can rust.  I remember one time I jumped a fence and fell in waist deep of snow and on top of that, it was cold and raining hard.  But deer hunters don’t let the weather get the best of them.

Cody Bertelsen
May 24, 2011

Turkey Hunting

 I absolutely love turkey hunting even though I only have been hunting for three years now.  I love going out and hearing an old tom gobbling and strutting through the trees.  I wake up at 4 am or earlier depending on how long the drive is.  I want to be in the timber by daylight, which is about 6:20 am.  I get up and put on my camouflage and round up my face mask and camo gloves, because turkeys can see very well.  After my camo is on, I eat breakfast and head out to the timber. I like to hunt on the ground instead of using a blind because it’s more comfortable. I sit and wait to hear a Tom, which is a mature male turkey and a Jake is a young male turkey. It doesn’t matter to me if I shoot one, because I still get to go out and learn more about nature and hear one of my favorite sounds, a turkey’s gobble.

                Also, some things I like about turkey hunting are the cold and quiet in the timber at 4:30 am.  Other than turkeys, coyotes and other animals, it is very quiet. I also like the sound of a turkey flying down from roost.  No matter if it’s 100 yards away it still sounds like a helicopter going over you. One thing I love more than hearing them gobble is knowing that a turkey is getting closer and closer and all of a sudden it seems to pop out of nowhere. It really is an adrenaline rush to see them closer than 60 yards strutting and gobbling. The only bad part with me and turkey hunting is that I get turkey fever and my finger starts to twitch, my arms start to shake, and I just want to kill the turkey.  But, once it sticks its head up, the shot is made, and the turkey is flopping all over the place, my heart settles.  It’s like taking a huge weight off my shoulders. I recommend turkey hunting to all of the other hunters that have never been turkey hunting.

Cody Bertelsen
May 24, 2011

Summer

Summer is the time to hang out, stay out, and have fun, right? Well, that’s not what my summers for the last few years have turned out to be like. Between working, watching my sisters, and helping around the house, I really haven’t had much fun during the summers. Yeah, going to the lake a few times, going to my aunt’s and grandma’s is fun, but for one summer I would like to just take it easy. Sleeping in, eh not an option at my house. If I’m not working at the Café, I'm helping make money with my dad. Family vacation? I guess my family never really vacates anywhere together. We might go to Des Moines and stay in a hotel for the night, but then it’s back home for the rest of the time. So, summer really isn’t that much of a thrill for me.

KayeLea Cook

Wednesday May 18, 2011

A Thought to Ponder

I sit and ponder of what they will do this hot summer. Here comes the end. The end of the school year is too near. Some people will cry while others will jump in the air. Will they swim or boat? Will they see a friend or end up at a camp? Will they get a job or will they stick with chores?  Summer comes near and I know I’m not ready. I’ll miss the seniors and I’ll miss these new faces that I may never see again. For when summer ends I will feel like this again.  No peace at heart as papers will fly, but, in the end, it’s all a big goodbye. If we see each other around we could say hi, but who has time, after all we all did say goodbye. With summer here I’m now thinking of all the great times I’ve had. I’m thinking maybe school isn’t all that bad.

Shay Bardwell

May 20, 2011

Exercise

Why should people do exercise? It is very important to be physically fit. Being physically fit makes you look and feel your best. Physical fitness makes you look your best by keeping you skinny and helps you develop healthy muscles, bones, and joints. Physical fitness makes you feel your best by keeping you in shape so you can do things with less effort. If you do exercises regularly it can make you feel less angry and less depressed. Also, it reduces your chances of having diabetes, reduces high blood pressure, and reduces your chances of having some kinds of cancer. It is not that hard to do a little exercise here and there to stay in shape, but most Americans still don’t. That is probably why the United States has one of the highest obesity rates. If everyone did just a little exercise, the world would be a better place.

Levi Overstreet

5/19/11

Summer

            This summer I am staying with my family in Humeston. The reason I am staying up there is because that is where I am keeping my 4-H animals. Also, I have to pick up bales for my Grandpa, Uncle Roger, and my dad. My cousin, Kelton, and I are the ones that end up picking up all of the bales though.

            I also have five yards to mow. Therefore, I will have to come home two or three days out of the week. I plan on making quite a bit of money from that, my pups, and 4-H.  My beagle is going to have pups at the end of June so, hopefully, I can get almost a thousand dollars from pups, depending on how many she has.

            The end of July is when the Wayne County Fair starts. I have two sheep and two pigs that I have to show. I plan on making close to two-thousand dollars after I sell them. That is what I plan on doing this summer.

Ethan Horton
5/20/11

Working Teenagers

            Jobs allow for young people to make money and learn money management at a young age.  Despite the positives to working, many companies will not hire people under the age of 16. This reduces the opportunities for working. If students willing to work are unable to find a job, the potential to learn job skills is wasted doing nothing. Without learning the essential job skills and work ethic, they will be set back in the work place. Potential employers are more likely to hire people with job experience rather than a freshman to the job market.

            There is also the situation of children not wanting to work. These are the people that risk making trouble without anything productive to do. Work ethic is a quality that needs to be instilled into students like this. While they have the potential to work jobs that will train them for the real word, the lure of childish pleasures keeps them from working. While working might not be the most fun thing in the world, it is necessary for a person before entering a “working world.”

Evan Sinclair
5/20/11

Choir

KayeLea Cook

May 18, 2011

Monday May 16, 2011, was our last choir concert of the year. That night we recognized the senior class. When the seniors were announced, I felt kinda sad. Out of sixteen people, seven of them are seniors. Connor, Keagan, Kayle, Rosemary, Kirstie, Jessie, and Amanda are the senior choir members. Those seven people helped us underclassmen all year to become better, stronger, and more confident singers. Without them choir wouldn’t have been as much fun as it was this year.  Between learning all of our songs, performing at Audubon for large group (we got a1!!

J

J), and performing Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, we had a blast. Even though we only had sixteen people, only two of them were guys.  This year’s Wayne Community High School Choir was, no doubt, the best mixed choir I’ve been a part of. All of us were close to each other. When one of us was struggling to hit a note or couldn't remember the right words we would help. IF it wasn’t for a great director (Mrs. Anne Jaekel) and accompanists (Mrs. Harvey, Emily Bellon, and Mandie Gassman) we probably wouldn’t have done so well.                                          

Summer

A week and a half left in my freshman year of school and I can’t wait for summer to begin. Summer is filled with hanging out with my friends, playing softball, getting ready for the county fair, and spending time with my family.  During the summer, my friends and I like to get together.  We like to take my sisters video camera and make scary paranormal activity movies, go swimming, go camping, take stupid pictures of each other, play softball, and go out to eat.  Much of my summer will be taken up with softball.  The good part is that most all of my friends play softball, too.   This year for the county fair I will be working on some building projects, getting my steer and pigs ready to show.  I also enjoy spending time with my cousin during the summer.  She lives in the Cedar Rapids area, and I only get to see her once or twice every couple of months.  A week and a half left.  It seems like forever when I think about all the fun things I plan to do. 

Breanna Fortune

5/19/11

Softball Season Begins!

We have been practicing for a little over a week now with hitting at 6:15 in the morning, defense in the evening, and weight training two days each week.  On top of all that we have to keep up with our school work.  Talk about being tired!  I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Softball season is my favorite time of the year.  I love pitching.  I love striking out my opponent with a perfect change-up, hitting a hard base hit over an outfielder’s head, and getting a win at the end of the night.  There is nothing better than coming into a huddle with my teammates, who happen to also be my best friends, right after a great play.  This season we are pretty young, but have worked harder than we ever have in the off season.  I am excited for games to begin and to have my first varsity start as a Lady Falcon pitcher. 

Breanna Fortune

5/19/11

Adoption

Adoption is an amazing option for couples or single people who want a child but are not able to or have difficulty with having them. There are two types of adoption, closed and open. An open adoption means the person who is adopted can still see their real parent/ parents and know them. A closed adoption is where they will have no contact with them and won't know about them. Adoption is someone taking legal responsibility for a child under the age of eighteen and raising them and giving them the best life possible. Adoption can be expensive with lawyers and everything or can be pretty cheap if you adopt from a foster home. Kids that are put up for adoption can be there for many, many reasons, such as the parents dying or even something bad like the parents being addicts and can't raise their own children. Some adoption agencies make you adopt all the kids in the family if there are more than one. Kids are the greatest blessing in life and every child deserves loving parents, whether it be their own, or others that adopt them. Below are some pictures of children that need adopted.

Amber Nickell

May 12, 2011

You’re not alone

            Thousands of woman, children and men get abused every year, but I’m here to talk about teenage girls getting abused. Whether it is dads, friends, boyfriends, or even strangers, woman all over the world are getting beat everyday and no one can seem to stop it from happening. Being scared is normal but to not tell anyone and except it as your life is not okay.

Abuse can be physical, sexual, or emotional and both can cause major issues in future relationships, body image, trust, and self love and respect. One in every three woman is sexually, physically, or emotionally abused in their lifetime. This adds up to around one billion women getting abused every year.

Two million girls are taking into sex trade every year. Sexual assault and violence can away around one in five year’s healthy years of their life. In places like Israel about 200,000 girls are abused every year. 3 out of 4 people know someone who is abused or is the abuser. Almost 33 million U.S. adults admit to being a victim of domestic abuse. Around three or more woman are killed by their husband or boyfriend every day. 1 in 5 girl high school students are abused. If being abused they are 4 to 6 times more likely to get pregnant and 9 to 10 times more likely to try to commit suicide.

In Canada 90 woman are murdered by their partner each year. One is abused every minute and it’s just getting worse. Being abused in prison is becoming more and more common and can lead to suicide and murders. Domestic abuse in the biggest cause of injuries to woman in the US for woman ages fifteen to forty-four years old. There are a total of 1,500 shelters in the United States today for battered woman.

So I believe that no one deserves to be mistreated in any of these ways, physically, sexually, or emotionally. The way people are treated today is why there are so many murders, suicides, and other issues with people in general.

Amber Nickell

May 2, 2011

Trying Something New

This spring I decided to try something new, well two somethings actually - Tae kwon do and soccer.  I’m glad that I chose to do so. I have made new friends and I really like soccer. Trying new things also helps with confidence. I’m getting better about not being so shy. At first I was worried I would be terrible, but I’m not too bad. I play defense, and I’m an orange belt in Tae kwon do. Saturday, I will test to see if I get to pass to a yellow belt. I’m nervous about testing because there will be some judges and the rest of the class will be watching, gulp. Soccer is much more fun than I thought it would be. For jv games there are two thirty-minute halves. There are ten players on the field, three forwards, three mid-fielders, four defenders, and the goalie. Our team has done well so far in games and I’m excited for our next one against Creston. We beat them the first time we played them, and there was a really mean short girl on their team. So, I hope we beat them again.

Sam Banks

4/11

 

Drama

I’m a laid back person. I don’t try to get involved with drama and other people’s problems, but lately it seems that I get dragged into it. Why can’t people get along? I think certain people start problems because they get bored or are so insecure with themselves that they have to harass somebody else. In their dream world they are better than everybody else, but in the cold harsh reality they aren’t better than you or me. Everybody has flaws and for some reason they enjoy pointing other people’s out and ignoring their own. It reminds me of the Taylor Swift song Mean. That is all they are ever going to be. Instead of talking bad about a person behind their back, grow up and say it to their face. Trust me, I think I can handle what you say. I can handle what you say behind my back and my friends’ backs anyway, so I should have no problem hearing directly from you. If people have nothing nice to say they should not say anything at all. It’s sad because the people having these problems used to be good friends. That is what happens when people start lying, backstabbing, and being cruel.  They lose good friends because of their own stupidity. The end.

Sam Banks

4/11

Volleyball

Volleyball is my favorite sport. It takes a lot of practice time and a lot of effort to get better. I practice off season by playing on a traveling team. I got together with my team 3 times a week to get ready for a big tournament that weekend.  I enjoy practicing for volleyball. I don’t like running much but it is for volleyball and I don’t mind it.

            When the season starts this summer I will stay at the gym longer than all of the other girls just to get a little better and get more playing time. Volleyball is a hard sport to get a lot of playing time because there are only 6 girls on the floor. They don’t get worn out as much because they are not running as much as a sport like basketball. That is why I have to work so hard to get playing time when it counts. 

Makayla Andrews
4/11

My Summer

This summer I plan to play softball everyday. I want to get better at the sport and enjoy my first year of high school softball. I want to get in any practice time I can for every sport I am a part of. I plan to go to the gym once a week to practice volleyball. Sports mean a lot to me and I want to get better at them.

            I also plan to go camping and boating a lot. I like to camp with friends and family as much as possible. We usually go boating any time we can. Boating is really fun with friends. I love to tube and water ski. My favorite time for boating and camping is the Fourth of July. All of our friends and family get together to camp and we watch fireworks together. Then, on that Saturday we leave early to get a full day of boating in at Rathbun. I really enjoy my summers and I want to make this on a good one!

Makayla Andrews

4/11

What could we do to Improve Sports?

Sports are very important here at Wayne, but some we aren’t the greatest at. We know that our school doesn’t have a lot of money like others, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be good at sports. I feel that all sports are important. I think track doesn’t get as much attention though because of the fact that we don’t have a track that is able to be used. By now they should be having fundraisers and such to make money to build a new track. Then maybe more people would go out for track knowing that we can have home meets, and their parents can come and watch them. The leadership program that we are starting is more than likely going to help us improve with sports. It will introduce the new leaders of Wayne High School, and it will show people what we can do it even though we are a small school.  
Madison Feehan
4/11

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

New Schools

Going to a new school isn’t as easy as it looks. First, you have to make new friends and sometimes it takes longer than expected. You need to put yourself on the spotlight and show people what you are made of. Second, if you just talk to people they will normally be nice, not just because they are told to, but because they have respect for new students. It is harder to make new friends, but it is easier when you have someone you know there with you. Sometimes people don’t like you right away and they make fun of you behind your back, but that’s just because they don’t know you and aren’t sure of what you can do. Third, don’t be afraid to let your light shine as bright as it can. Without that light you are going to be the quiet one that nobody really pays much attention to other than in class.

Madison Feehan

4/11

The Seasons

Spring is a very beautiful season. It may rain a lot and be cool, but all of the flowers come out, the trees gain leaves, the frogs start to be heard, and countless other things. Baby animals are born, like calves, colts, fawns, etc.

Summer is a good season, too. It is usually always warm or hot. Though it may storm, the sun shines a lot. Summer is when you can go swimming, play in the park or go to an outdoor amusement park. You can work in a garden pulling weeds and picking vegetables, which can be boring, but you get delicious foods that way. Summer is also when you have to wear a lot of sunscreen when you mow or go outside.

Fall follows summer and all the leaves change from green to orange to yellow, or red and eventually fall off onto the ground and then you get to rake them up. In the fall it gets a little cooler, but it still feels nice out. You get to have hayrides and bonfires, which are super fun. Towards the end of the season it gets colder and might snow.

Winter is the coldest month. The snow falls like a blanket over the rolling hills here in Iowa. When you go outside you have to be careful for ice, but you can go sledding or make snowmen and snow angels.

All of the seasons are wonderful in my opinion.

Laticia Stewart

4/11

Bennett Springs

This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday my church, Allerton Presbyterian, is going to Bennett Springs down in Missouri. This year we have a record for the amount of people going. We have around 40 kids and adults going. Thursday, we don’t do much because we spend most of the day getting down there. When we do get there we set up our tents and campers and get things ready. Then we go to the park and get our fishing tags.

For supper, we dig a hole in the ground and there is a variety of vegetables, potatoes and meat you can put in tin foil and wrap up and cook them slowly on coals. Friday, the fisherman wake up at five and get all of their fishing poles ready to go. We go to the park and wait for the whistle to blow at 6:30 to start fishing. The kids come back at noon to eat and play in the river. We go rafting down the river and have fish or turkey for supper.

Saturday, we go see the spring and go to the gift shop in case somebody wants a souvenir. Then we drive till noon and stop to eat at a place made from a train cart. Then we drive back home. 

Ethan Horton

4/11

Hunting

What is hunting? You think of hunting and you think about going out, shooting an animal with a gun and it’s all over. But it’s not that simple. There are many aspects to hunting. For bow hunting you have to go out, scout, learn the terrain, set up the right stand locations, enter at the right time, be as quiet as you can, use the correct scent cover so the deer can’t smell you. You also have to have skill when it comes to shooting the bow. I consider fishing a hunting sport because you are going out there, choosing the right lure, the right location, and the right time of the day to go. There are a lot of things that can influence fishing.  If you let moss overrun your pond, it can ruin fishing. Also, you need to be on good patrol for otters and muskrats.

C.D. Kunzie

4/11

Baseball

There is no better feeling than stepping on to the pitcher’s mound. As I pitch the ball, the intensity of the game rises. The pitch at its precise pace, the swing that is barely off, and the last call that is a, “strikeout,” wins us the game. The minute the game starts I know there is no backing down! As I walk up to the plate everything freezes. It’s just me, the pitcher, and the ball. The second my bat makes contact with the ball I know right where it is going. Right as I see that ball go I begin to take off; base to base. It feels like I am unstoppable. When I score, there is nothing that can keep me down. When it comes down to the final inning, I, as a designated pitcher, pitch my heart out.  I prove to coach that this is what I am capable of doing and nothing less.

C.D. Kunzie

4/11

Drama

Drama is a part of everyday life. It happens more in the middle to high school ages. People make up pointless lies about others, just to get back at them. Drama is mostly over stupid things like lies and friends. People need to quit telling lies about others if they don’t know the whole story. Drama makes everyone mad at everyone. Their friends think that they need to pick a side, and they don’t need to. They need to stay out of it when it’s not their problem.

Brennan Banks

4/11