12kkrug@usd489.com

“I’m applying to the Coast Guard because it’s a great alternative to college, especially because I’m so tired of school,” senior Samantha Fisher said. “It’s four years to mature, get paid, serve your country, and it looks great on any and every application.”

The Coast Guard is a branch of the United States military that deals with law enforcement on U.S. waters. Areas of work include nautical science, seamanship, and leadership.

“I plan on being a Marine Science Technician, which is basically a marine biologist,” Fisher said.

The military offers ROTC programs that involve paying for a member’s college education in exchange for a certain number of years of service. Fisher said she plans to take one of these programs, but instead of going to college first, she wants to get her service years out of the way and get an education later on.

“I want to go to college,” Fisher said. “I just want a break first. I’m so tired of school, and the Coast Guard is a great alternative.”

According to Fisher, the Coast Guard is smaller, easier to advance in, and not involved in direct military combat (in other words, she won’t get shot at). Military service also looks good on both college and career applications, which she said is another big reason she decided to take a non-traditional route towards education.

Fisher said she is very excited to move on to this next step in her life.

“I can’t wait for the mental and physical challenges of the Coast Guard,” Fisher said. “But I’m more excited to get away from Hays and get on with my life.”

12lmarcotte@hayshighindians.com

On Aug. 18, new students filled the freshman hallway on the first day of the 2011-2012 school year.

“I thought it’d be a scary place full of tall big people,” freshman Amber Klaus said.

Other students disagreed and were not worried at the start of the school year.

“I’ve had a lot of siblings go through Hays High,” freshman Conner Custer said.  “So I didn’t expect it to be scary.”

Freshman Britney Werth expected high school to be scary with crowded hallways.

“I was freaked out, like I couldn’t move,” Werth said.

Small hallway sizes are not the only worries of students.  Several students worried about time spent with friends.

“It depends on the day and what class I’m in when I can talk to friends,” freshman Max Steiben said.

Custer agreed that seeing friends is the best part of the school day.

“I thought it’d be a lot of running around and homework,” Custer said.

Steiben was pleasantly surprised by the amount of homework within the first few weeks of school.

“I get some homework every night, but it doesn’t take long to finish,” Steiben said.

Although the impression of high school was scary, Klaus said she is adapting well.  Werth said that it is not that bad and everyone is nice.

“I thought some upperclassmen were going to be mean, but it turns out that most are nice and funny,” Steiben said.

12mtrout@usd489.com

Many students are looking forward to the carefree, relaxing days of summer. But summer isn’t just laying around catching some rays. Some will be spending their time with activities.

“I’m coaching baseball this summer,” sophomore Spencer Greathouse said. “I like working with the kids and it keeps me entertained.”

Sports occupies many peoples time in the summer. Getting outside and active is a great way to get involved in Hays and just to have a little fun.

“I’m thinking of doing community theater,” sophomore Anna Hickert said. “I just love performing.”

Students such as Anna spend the summer keeping busy and working bettering themselves in skills such as theater music, or art.

“I’m going to Band Camp,” freshman Amy Jordan said. “We get to drink pop at every meal and of course, the music is nice too.”

Along with the teens going to camps and working, there are the kids that just want to hang out and chill around town.

“I’m going to go to the movies,” junior Max Walker said. “Because it’s the only thing to do in Hays.”

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” – May 20

“X-Men: First Class” – June 3

“Super 8” – June 10

“Green Lantern” – June 17

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – July 1

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” – July 15

“Captain America: The First Avenger” – July 22

This summer seems to be filled with super hero movies or movies that are part of a series. Most notably are the Harry Potter movie, which ends an eight movie run, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which is the fourth in the series but is also missing two of main characters from the previous installments. Although this Pirates movie is sure to be different, sophomore Preston Ryan is sure it will still be a hit.

“I think it will still be successful because they’ve got hot mermaids to replace Kiera Knightly,” Ryan said.

Ryan is also excited for the antagonists of the movie.

“I’m excited to see the movie because of the zombie pirates,” Ryan said. “The first movie had skeletons that were cursed, these have skin and they’re really dead.”

On the other hand, senior Dalton Wolfe is rooting for the superhero movie, “Captain America”.

“I’ve seen some previews and the overall tone of the movie seems pretty dark and realistic,” Wolfe said.

As for the movie he’s not interested in seeing, Wolfe picked the next installment in the Transformers series.

“The movies never really impressed me, so I’m not really looking forward to it.”

At 7:30 a.m. on May 13, the band departed for Kansas City with Bishop and principal Michael Hester. The band performed at a music festival and went shopping at Legends on Friday. On Saturday, they had planned to visiting Schlitterbahn Waterpark for seven hours of fun, but the weather caused conflict.

However, temperatures in the mid 60’s led Bishop and Hester to decide against taking the band to the water park. Thanks to a generous donation from Hester the band made a trip to Worlds of Fun on Saturday instead.

“I think it was a very wise move,” freshman Aislinn Walters said. “In that weather, Schlitterbahn wouldn’t have been that much fun. It was still cold at Worlds of Fun, but there was no water.”

Both Walters and senior Brook McCullough agreed that the shopping trip to Legends was an enjoyable part of the trip, but McCullough said that the trip was different without Manteuffel’s presence.

“I wish he would have been there,” MuCullough said. “Things seemed a little out of order on the first day; the trip might have been a little more organized if he’d been there.”

“The best way to protect oneself from a physical attack is to keep aware of their surroundings and to plan ahead,” Eiden said. “A random act of violence is unusual.  More common are violent encounters stemming from a disagreement that will escalate into something physical.

Eiden added that the use of drugs or alcohol dramatically increases the likelihood of violence, and by simply avoiding these substances, and those using them, will significantly lower the threat of a violent encounter.

If a person does in fact become involved in a dangerous situation, however, it is recommend that young people do not carry weapons, even with the idea that they are for defense.

One reason that it is against school policy for students to have weapons with them at school or any school events. This will include inside a vehicle in the parking lot.  According to the Hays High Handbook, a violation of the weapons policy will result in expulsion.

In addition, Kansas law prohibits the carrying of weapons, which includes bludgeon, sandclub, metal knuckles or throwing star, switchblade, dagger, dirk, billy, slungshot, straight edged razor, stiletto, or any knife with a blade longer than four inches.  No firearm may be concealed without a permit, and even with a permit, firearms may not be brought to any school property or function (except for law enforcement).

“Frequently, people who have their own weapon get it turned against them in an attack,” Eiden said. “When people are not properly trained the assailant might gain the advantage.”

“My favorite vacation was when we went to Disney World when I was 11,” senior Tara McGuire said. “It was so much fun.”

Other students agreed that their trip to Disney parks topped the list.

“I loved our trip to Disneyland,” junior Jaici Sonntag said. “I was 5 and loved all of the Disney princesses.”

Another place many students discuss as being top of the notch is Hawaii.

“When we went to Hawaii we saw so many different things that were really awesome,” sophomore Nick Glassman said.

Junior Jill Taylor also discussed her Hawaiian experiences.

“The entire place was just really beautiful,” Taylor said.

However, some students believe that visiting places in Kansas is where it’s at.

“My favorite vacation was when we went to Kansas City,” senior Ryan Wooldridge said. “We visited family and it was just a really great time.”

Sophomore Jacob Bickle agrees.

“The best vacation I went on was when we went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City,” Bickle said.

Many students often complain about Hays High’s limited number of foreign language classes offered. The available courses include just Spanish, German  and Latin.

“I’d love to take a French course,” senior Roy Driskill said.  “I’ve always thought it was an interesting language and I’d love to learn more of it.”

Numerous students agreed and said that they’d love to see French become an option.

“Honestly, I’d like to learn French because it’s a beautiful language and everyone would seem a lot more attractive if they spoke French,” senior Jasmine Cohen said.

Other students would like to see a more difficult or abstract language taught.

“I think it would be really cool to see a hard language like Japanese or Chinese taught at Hays High,” freshman Josh Bull said. “It would really be interesting.”

Although many students would like to learn languages that aren’t currently options, some students believe that it’s practical to have just the languages already taught.

“I’m actually happy with the languages already offered,” sophomore Sarah Malott said. “They’re useful languages.”

“My favorite part about high school was meeting new people,” senior Rycor Reese said. “I’m going to miss the close contact with my younger friends.”

Senior Riki Keys agrees that the friend aspect was a huge part of her high school career.

“My favorite part overall was the fact that I knew everyone in my classes,” Keys said. “I will definitely miss my friends the most.”

While some seniors think the friendships through high school will be most missed, others believe it’s sports that takes the cake.

“What I loved most about high school was cheerleading,” senior Shannon Musgrove said. “I’m also going to miss cheering the most because it was so much fun. Cheerleading is just the best thing you could do with your life.”