Issabelle SanchezMaroon Echoes Reporter “The Love Runs Deep For Family,” Says Mr. Swayzer, the High School IJAG Educator.
iJAG (Iowa Jobs After Graduation) is a new class offered at MPCHS. This class is a pathway for students who do and don't want to go to college. This class helps kids get an idea of what will really happen after high school. The iJAG program is taught by Tony Swayzer, a new teacher to the district. Mr. Swayzer lived here in previous years and decided to move back to start this class. He has ten kids of various ages and when he's not spending time with them he's helping the YMCA in Burlington where he teaches martial arts. He grew up in Burlington where he lived with nine siblings; five brothers and four sisters. He attended college at Iowa Wesleyan, and Pennsylvania State University. iJAG offers a lot of ways for students to help the community such as fundraisers and service projects. This new program is also good for getting kids on track if they aren't already or if they need help with finding colleges they are interested in attending.
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Written by Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor The high school’s student council is up and running just in time for Homecoming 2019.
With just a week to make their impact, they have already landed with a splat! Their first order of business is to “Pie the Principal”. Kenna Smith, Student Body President, came up with the idea in a meeting with Mr. Wilson. Any MPCHS student can sign up now for a chance to give Mr. Liechty his dessert. You can sign up for a chance to pie your principal in the front office for $1. The proceeds go to the student council fund. On Monday, September 23rd at the homecoming pep assembly they will draw two names from each grade as well as 2 teachers and will give a pie to each of them. Each principal will be pied 5 times! Student Council has also created a hashtag to post all of your photos from the week under, #MPHoCo2019. At the end of the week, they will have a teacher select the best picture submitted from the hashtag. The photo contest will include all of the dress-up days! To see the dress-up days and homecoming schedule click the link below! This isn’t the only thing talked about at the meeting on Monday. They also discussed the ideas they have for this year. Mia Herrick, Student Body Secretary, has a few ideas on how to improve our school. Many of the ideas, come from her experience at her old school and their activities. One of her ideas is W.E.B. (Where Everyone Belongs), a program that is meant to help underclassmen specifically, freshmen find their place, what they want to do, and where they fit in. They are guided by upperclassmen to find their interests. Herrick was helped by this program at her old school. “I found basketball through W.E.B.,” says Herrick. Herrick also suggested a Frostfest or a winter homecoming to keep students involved in the winter months. Caroline Richtman, the student body vice president proposed seeking advice and ideas from advisory classes. This would take the form of surveys sent to every student. Some other ideas are a sports activity bulletin board or a weekly activity board where you can see all of the week's activities on a physical bulletin board designed by the student council. They would also like to have more school spirit weeks and promote school spirit in general. These are some of the things the student council has come up with! Mrs. Venghaus one of the student council advisors says, “The meeting went well. We had lots of great ideas and lots of focus on increasing school spirit.” Student council will meet again after homecoming to put more plans in motion. Hailley GrahamMaroon Echoes Reporter Mr. Jones's new chapter of FFA has been piquing the interest of over 40 students. Right now he also offers classes in Intro to Agriculture, Agriculture Business, and Animal Science classes at MPCHS.
Next year Mr. Jones is hoping to have an Advanced Animal Science. The difference between the two classes will be that Advanced Animal Science will be lab oriented with animal dissections going more in-depth than the other class. While the regular Animal Science class will be more book-oriented. In order to get this advanced class, he has to prove that this class is both needed and wanted to the school board. FFA provides students with leadership skills and career opportunities. They are currently exploring community outreach projects and ag-based fundraising opportunities. Jones is hoping that the school will participate in Agriculture Olympics which can earn student scholarships and an advantage in agricultural careers. Recently, FFA held an officer selection board. They interviewed the students after they turned in applications to the board. The Chapter President is Mitchell Moohart, Vice President is Jack Schimmelpfennig and Grace Scheetz, Secretary Apryl Simon, Treasurer Brennen Bender, Reporter Madison Campbell, Sentinel Zachary Wesely, and last but not least Historian Liam Gerleman. FFA president Mitchell Moothart joined the program because, “It was a great opportunity and it was something new to do”. Jones hopes this program will build strong leaders. He states that FFA is a youth lead organization, that is centered around leadership and career success, and promotes an interest in agriculture. The group had just got a donation of 13,775 from the farm bureau. Vice president Jack Schimmelphenig joined FFA because “Opportunity to gain leadership skills and new opportunities.” Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor Mount Pleasant Varsity Football flexed their might against the Central Lee Hawks on Friday night, dominating the field in a massive landslide 55-7 win.
The Panthers powerful offensive line pushed the Hawks 65 yards in just three plays, to score a touchdown early in the first. At the end of the first quarter, MP had already scored 14 points. They used this momentum to bring them 41 more points by halftime. Leaving them 55-0. Brody Bender made 7 out of 11 passes going a total of 164 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half. The Panther's offensive momentum stalled in the second half, although their defensive line held strong against the Hawks leaving them with only seven points scored late in the fourth quarter. This win pushes the Panthers to 2-1 season record, putting them back in the green. The panthers play Ottumwa @ Schafer Stadium next Friday, Sept. 20th. Student Body:
President: Kenna Smith Vice-President: Caroline Richtman Secretary: Mia Herrick Junior Class Elections: President: Cristina Carthey Vice-President: Emma Pieper Sophomore Class Elections: President: Isaiah Albright Vice-President: Jessica Miller Secretary: Abby Blint Freshman Class Elections: President: Zachary Frazier Preston StephensMaroon Echoes Staff. It gets pretty busy in the high school parking lot especially if you stay for 8th hour, which a lot of Mt. Pleasant students do. Parking spaces are limited and new drivers are abundant.
Student drivers often don’t pay attention and that’s how accidents happen. Many think that if everyone paid more attention and drove with more caution, that will help fellow students get out of the parking lot safe and quick. Driving fast to beat someone is dangerous, which most students do to save a little time but can lead to more accidents and slowing everyone down. If you leave for 8th hour, it’s not as busy as it normally is but still, students need to be safe, cautious, and patient when it comes to driving home so an accident doesn’t happen. The first day that I drove to school freshman year, right after I got my school permit, I was rear-ended in the parking lot by someone who wasn't paying attention. Traffic was at a standstill when it happened and their car was damaged. This would not have happened if they were paying attention. On Fridays, when there isn’t 8th hour, the problem gets worse. Everyone leaving at the same time is hectic and with everyone in a hurry, people get frustrated quickly. With the entire student body leaving at the same time, sometimes it can take half an hour or more to get out of the main parking lot. Everyone trying to exit and enter the parking lot on the same narrow drive makes for a long line at the exit. Maybe if there were more than one exit or entrance to get out of the parking lot, it would let the traffic flow better. The teachers and administration of Mt. Pleasant High Community School want students to drive carefully and be safe around the school building. Take your time and get home safe. Week of September 23 rd – 28th, 2019 Homecoming 2019 Theme: “Conquer the Trojans!" Days of the Week
Cross Country Invite at MPCHS High School – 4:30 pm Volleyball vs Fairfield at MPCHS Gymnasium– 5:45 pm Boom Night - Thursday:
Raven CorderMaroon Echoes Reporter Question of the week: Who is Owen Prough’s dog? What’s her purpose? Keep reading and you will find out more!
Fun fact, her name is Chyenne and she is a German Shepherd. She was a breed dog before her current job with Owen. She is about two years old, (They contacted the previous owners asking about her date of birth but they are patiently waiting for an email back). Owen says she’s, “A therapist dog, so like different things she can help me do to be more independent.” When asked about her behavior, he said that she is “Good at home, every day.” Students love how calm she is during class. Mrs. DePriest said during the chorus that maybe she might sing along! “When I first met her, she laid right next to Owen, looked around for a bit to see the people, but she was being protective of Owen.” When this writer went to interview our new star, she was laying down, and she did look happy while Owen did his homework. Some of you were asking if she is a distraction but personally at first seeing a dog at school was cool and interesting, but I feel she has blended in as a student. When they are at school working; Owen respectfully asks that if you would like to pet Chyenne, please ask first! Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor. Student Council Campaign week has officially started for the first time at MPCHS since the previous council was disbanded.
Candidates from all grades are running for the elections to be held during advisory on Friday, September 13th or this Friday. For Student Body President, Kenna Smith is running. Smith wants to be a voice for the students of our school. She wants everyone to be able to voice their opinions at our school, she wants to be able to give students easier access to the school administration. Caroline Richtman is running for Student Body Vice President and wants to hear from everyone in the school, she wants to be able to get representatives from every senior advisory to know what students want. “I think it’s important to include everyone’s opinion, not just a few,” says Richtman. From the freshman class as of the time of the publishing of this article is, Zach Fraizer is running for Freshman Class President. Zach feels he can best communicate to the school administration the needs of his class, because he runs in all social circles, and talks to everyone. From the sophomore class, you have multiple people running for class president. You have Tristen Davis, who believes he is best suited to lead the sophomore class because he is a leader and is willing to make decisions. One of the items he wants to do as president is to get a fridge for students to put their cold lunches in. “ you don’t want a soggy hot pocket.” says Davis. Then there is Jessie Andrew, who wants to bring out the character in our school, “when you look around you don't see much color.” Andrew would like to construct a mural that represents all of the interests at our school. Isaiah Albright is also running for Sophmore class president. Albright feels he is best suited to speak for the Sophmore class. He would like to introduce things like Life Skills courses during eighth hour. He would also like to promote a student mentoring program where students would help other students with classes and homework. Jessica Miller is running for vice president and Abby Blint is running for class secretary. For the Junior Class, Cristina Carthey is running for class president. Carthey wants to promote fundraising and student participation in the school, “we need to raise a lot of money for prom this year.” Carthey's running mate, vice presidential candidate Emma Pieper, is excited to participate in the student council, “I just want to have some fun this year.” Pieper also wants to enhance her leadership abilities. Elections will be held this Friday during advisory. Good luck canidates! |
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November 2020
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