Valley's Got Talent 2014

Tippecanoe Valley High School held Valley's Got Talent on Thursday, May 8.  $584 was raised from ticket sales, with all proceeds going to Rachel's Challenge.  There were fifteen performances at the talent show, with awards for both solo and group acts.

Solo Act

1st place: senior Nolan Sponseller telling a joke
2nd place: Health and P.E. teacher Mrs. Bush-Garbers making bird calls


Group Act
1st place: Peer Facilitators lip-syncing/dancing comedy act
2nd place: Les Filles Francaises dancing act


To see glimpses of the show, visit the school newspaper website at www.runicreview.com.

Genocide in Venezuela

The following is an article written by senior John Paul Secrest and junior Rockne Bhastardo about genocide in Venezuela.

               On February 27, 1989 the country of Venezuela changed forever.  In the months leading up to this event, an economic crisis had gripped the country.  It started with their government borrowing money from the American government.  They had no way of repaying what they borrowed with their current revenue.  In order to pay America back they looked for ways to increase their revenue.  Their plan was to over tax their people for basic necessities. 

               They increased the costs of public transportation by over one-hundred percent.  They increased the price of gas resulting in driving yourself impossible.  They increased the price of food making what they bought a week ago almost unaffordable.  In an outrage, a massive riot broke out near their capital city.  The government was left with two options: let them rage or take them down.  Their solution was to take them down.

               Armed soldiers started firing upon the citizens.  The soldiers had lost their chain of command and were just following the last orders they received.  They were killing people indiscriminately.  The rioters were put down, their families were put down, bystanders were put down, and everyone they saw was killed. 

               The government’s official death toll was three-hundred.  If you ask the people there, it was in the multi-thousands.  The victims have not been compensated in anyway after this occurrence.  The soldiers responsible for the murders where not even punished, they all now hold easy government jobs.  This past February marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the massacre.  The people that lost family and friends are still alive today.  The lives of these victims have been changed forever, and most people don’t even know what they went through.  

Seniors Go to Washington, D.C.

Thirty-eight Tippecanoe Valley High School seniors traveled to Washington, D.C. last week for their senior trip.  The trip, which in the earlier years of Valley was just a one-day vacation, has changed.  Students spent four days just in Washington, D.C.  They left on Tuesday, April 22^nd and returned on Sunday, April 27^th.  During their time in the nation’s capital, the seniors saw various monuments and visited several historical places.

During their trip, the seniors visited Gettysburg and Mount Vernon, two well-known historical sites.  The students got to walk in George Washington’s house and on the Gettysburg battlefield.  They also visited the Library of Congress, the U.S. Capitol, and the Smithsonian Institution.  Seniors saw memorials such as the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Wall, and the Lincoln Memorial.  Also, the students got to see a protest and Vice-President Joe Biden’s motorcade.

Students Raise Money for Rachel's Challenge

               Bullying and suicide are topics that are always talked about on television and online.  However, both of these subjects have impacted students and staff at Tippecanoe Valley High School greatly.  In the 2012-2013 school year, the school corporation grieved the loss of three students and two faculty members.  However, juniors Michael Thacker and Deontee Smith are working to bring a program called Rachel’s Challenge to the community.

               According to www.rachelschallenge.org, the program “equips students and adults to create and sustain safe, caring and supportive learning environments essential for academic achievement.”  Rachel’s Challenge is “based on the writings and life of 17-year-old Rachel Scott who was the first student killed at Columbine High School in 1999.”  The website also states that in the last three years, Rachel’s Challenge has received five hundred emails from students who, after hearing Rachel’s story, reached out for help because they were considering suicide.  Thacker and Smith believe that the program would be effective in preventing both bullying and suicide.

               In order to bring the program to Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, both Thacker and Smith have been working to raise money.  Rachel’s Challenge costs approximately $5,000, but this goal is very close to being reached.  

Students Perform Wizard of Oz At Valley

                Tippecanoe Valley High School presented the musical The Wizard of Oz.  The students in the musical performed four shows from Thursday, March 20^th to Saturday, March 22^nd.  The well-known characters from this classic story were portrayed by the following students:

Dorothy: sophomore Ally Weber

Scarecrow: senior Branigan Bahney

Tin Man: sophomore Nick Reynolds

Cowardly Lion: sophomore Kaden Sebastian

Glinda the Good Witch: freshman Devyn Masterson

Wicked Witch of the West: freshman Blake McBrier

Mayor of Munchkin City: freshman Thane Madeford

Aunt Em: freshman Jenna Schultz

Gloria: junior Megan Howard

The Wizard of Oz: sophomore Jeremy Himes

               All proceeds from the tickets purchased will go towards costumes for next year’s performance.  The set was created by Mrs. Jan Mills’ Art classes.

New Class: Political Studies-Part Three

            Seniors in the Political Studies class at Tippecanoe Valley High School completed their business plan presentations on March 14^th.  During the first semester, students created a business plan for a product or service.  For the second semester, the groups made a Power Point, stating the basic facts about their business.  These ideas were then presented to an investor panel, who evaluated the presentations.  The investors also decided how much money each business would get.

Each group received an investment ranging from $200 to $600.  The highest investment went to Boost Your Beauty (BYB), a not-for-profit service that involves volunteers giving manicures to elderly women in nursing homes.  Seniors Sofia Boganwright and Taylor Garringer won the competition.  Both students will go to Boca Raton, Florida, where they will present their business plan.  If Boganwright and Garringer win the competition there, they will advance to the finals in Washington, D.C. 

The Political Studies class has completed many projects over the school year.  They have completed a business plan and created a marketing plan for the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation.  The students have also taken many field trips, including one to the Indiana Statehouse.  Finally, the seniors in the class will have a YEA! graduation at the end of the year, with the Indiana Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann as a guest speaker.

Winter Sports Wrap Up At Valley

                Due to several instances of bad weather, completing winter sports has been very challenging for student athletes at Tippecanoe Valley.  However, even with the rescheduling of many games, Valley has had awesome highlights in its winter athletic career.  Wrestling, basketball and swimming have all had excellent seasons, with students traveling to state and making All-Area teams.

                For boys’ basketball, junior Chainey Zolman, and seniors Tanner Andrews and Robby Groom were named to the Warsaw Times-Union All Area Team.  The boys’ basketball team also made it to the sectional semifinals, but was defeated by Northwood.  Also, the Tippecanoe Valley girls’ basketball team had three players recognized as All-Area athletes: freshman Anne Secrest, senior Cara Hoffman, and junior Caylie Teel.

               The TVHS wrestling team completed its season with seven wrestlers advancing to regionals.  Austin Nault (11), Devin Childers (11), Wyatt Nelson (11), Cody Runyon (11), Garrett Bell (12), Keaton Bell (12), and Jaron Kidd (12) qualified for regionals.  Junior Devin Childers also advanced to state and competed.

               Tippecanoe Valley has had a great winter sport season, and will most definitely have a great season.  Girls’ tennis, boys’ golf, track and field, baseball and softball will begin practices, matches, and games soon.

Political and Economic Studies Class Surveys TVSC Alumni

I encourage all TVSC alumni to participate in this survey.  The Political and Economic Studies class is creating a marketing plan in order to bring more students into the corporation.  The class also wants to learn about the school corporation's strengths and its weaknesses.

"This survey was created and distributed by the Political and Economic Studies course as part of a collaboration with the strategic planning committee members in charge of creating a marketing plan for the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. The purpose of the survey is to help the students and committee members figure out the strengths and weaknesses of our school corporation. Your feedback and honesty is appreciated."

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PXWSFLN

Spanish II Students Present Bullfighting Speeches

               For the past couple of weeks, students in Mr. Kristopher Walker’s and Mrs. Noemi Malagon’s Spanish II classes have worked on a bullfighting project.  This form of entertainment, which is popular in countries such as Spain and Mexico, has both positive and negative qualities.  Some may see it as the cruel torture and murder of a defenseless animal.  But, others believe that bullfighting is a major tourist attraction that shouldn’t be destroyed.  Spanish II students have taken their opinion, whether it be for or against bullfighting, and created a campaign project.

               As a part of Project Based Learning, the students were each assigned a specific task for the project.  The positions for the bullfighting project were:

Speaker/Candidate: presents opinion to the audience

Group Leader: supports speaker; keeps group on task

Speech Writer: creates speech for speaker 

Marketing Publisher: makes posters, announcements, etc. for speaker

        Each speaker presented their speech to an audience on February 19^th.  Then, all audience members were asked to vote for their three favorite speeches.  The votes were all tallied up, and the winners for each class period were as follows:

Period 1-Mr. Walker

1st Place:   Amber Mikel

2nd Place:  Katie Gunter

3rd Place: Whitney Haneline

Period 3-Mrs. Malagon

1st Place: John Salmon

2nd Place: Katherine Nolan

3rd Place: Harrison Sponseller

Period 3-Mr. Walker

1st Place: Kaitlyn Ott

2nd Place: Brandon Lozano

3rd Place: Rafael Jimenez

               All in all, the bullfighting project is one of Tippecanoe Valley High School’s biggest activities connected to PBL.  

Snow Hurts Valley School Schedule

                  Everyone in northern Indiana has suffered from the huge amounts of snow over the past two months.  Vehicles sliding off the roads and schools delaying due to cold temperatures are just some of the problems students at Tippecanoe Valley have dealt with.  In fact, most schools in the area have cancelled approximately seven days due to the weather.  With piles of snow invading parking lots, and students calling off work and being stuck inside, the winter weather has made the beginning of 2014 interesting.

               Since Tippecanoe Valley Schools have missed several days of school, there have been many rumors as to what will happen to the school schedule.  Will students have to go until the middle of June?  Will they have to attend school on Saturdays?  However, a new statement by Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz says that schools can re-schedule holidays; they can also have school on Saturdays, add days to the end of the school calendar, or add additional hours to the school day.  At the time of writing, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board has not decided on how students will have to make up snow days.

Unsung Heroes: A Gallery By TVHS Seniors

               Students at Tippecanoe Valley High School complete many projects as a part of PBL (Project Based Learning).  However, teachers and students alike are expanding these projects towards the community, whether it be completing service projects or presenting a topic to city council members.  One of the recent activities was the Hero Gallery.

               Mrs. Melanie Mason’s and Miss Katherine Wine’s English 12 classes presented the Hero Gallery to the community.  Both teachers came up with the idea after talking to their senior students about what it means to be a hero.  They also discussed how to recognize heroes within the community.  Seniors in both English classes planned out the project and created the final product.  The students chose a person that they wanted to recognize, such as a teacher, parent or law personnel.  They wrote essays about their hero and created posters about that person.  Students set up their hero displays; and, during halftime at the basketball game versus Rochester, the classes presented their project.  Community members were able to talk to the students.  Some of the students’ heroes even came to see the presentation.

               The Hero Gallery is just the beginning of PBL, community-based projects.  Many students enjoy this different learning process, and hope that these activities will grow in number.

Tippecanoe Valley: Giving Back

               Throughout the past, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation has given back to the community tremendously.  But in the 2013-2014 school year, Valley has helped out in several projects, such as cleaning up damage from November’s tornadoes, having a fundraiser for a family after the loss of a loved one, and participating in a toy drive.  All of the schools have helped the surrounding community in many ways; whether a cake raffle or a community service day, Valley’s students know what it means to serve the community.

               As mentioned in a previous post, November tornadoes destroyed several farms within the community, leaving a mess of debris behind.  But, with the help of students from Mrs. Paxton’s agriculture classes and community members, the destruction was cleaned up within a matter of hours.  Without their help, it would have taken much longer for the affected families to repair buildings and pick up debris.

               Also, near the end of 2013, a Tippecanoe Valley student lost a family member after a tragic accident.  In order to help the family, one of the student’s friends, sophomore Monica Hatfield, set up a fundraiser with Home Economics teacher Mrs. Deb Zawlocki.  For one school day, students could pay $1 to wear a hat, and $5 for both pajamas and a hat.  The money went to the student’s family.  When asked how it felt to help out a friend, Hatfield said, “It feels amazing to know I’m helping someone.  Especially when it’s for a friend who needs me.”

               Finally, Tippecanoe Valley High School students participated in a toy drive.  All toys were donated to two local charities, Toys for Tots and Helping Hands.  The week-long toy drive brought in more than 500 toys, with the winning classroom donating approximately 200 toys for kids around the community. 

               So, even though Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation might be just people growing up around cornfields and in small towns, it by far has one of the greatest communities around. 

New Class: Political Studies-Part Two

               Seniors in the Political Studies class at Tippecanoe Valley High have entered their second semester of YEA.  During the first part of the class, students came up with an idea for a unique business, and began working on business plans.  The businesses range from children’s educational games to new devices for every-day items such as lockers and automobiles.  Now, with a scholarship and a trip to Florida on the line, the students are wrapping up business plans and venturing out to create their businesses/services.

               Even though Political Studies consists of Government, Economics, and English, the students meet with their YEA! leaders and mentors every Tuesday.  Several community members have dedicated their time and knowledge to helping the students with their business projects.  They give advice on the business plans and suggest ideas for developing the companies.  Senior Cyndi Stamberger, a student in the Political Studies, appreciates the mentors’ help, saying that “they have a lot of life experience and they know what they’re talking about.” 

               Many of the students in Mr. Jeff Shriver’s and Mrs. Melanie’s Mason Political Studies class have great ideas, but only one group will be declared the winner.  The prize: a trip to Florida and a chance to earn a college scholarship.  “I’d really love to win and go to Florida!” Stamberger said.  “I am working with Alicia Carnes, and we are creating a bra with a pocket in it.  It is more convenient for women since most of the outfits we [women] wear don’t have pockets.”  Even though both Carnes and Stamberger are confident in their business, they have both learned that “bras are really difficult to work with.” 

               All in all, the Political Studies class has progressed smoothly with their business plans/projects.  A winner of the project will be announced in May, and the victorious group will present their business plan in Florida.  A final update on this story will be released after the winner’s trip.

November Tornado Damage

Everyone knows that tornadoes are common weather occurrences during Indiana’s peculiar spring and summer weather patterns, but a chain of 26 confirmed tornados throughout the state in the middle of November should cause some alarm. It is known as the second biggest tornado outbreak in Indiana. On November 17^th, three of these tornadoes damaged many parts of our community and devastated a handful of local families. Sophomore Karis Tucker and Freshman Lucas Mills are two students who were stunned to see their farms destroyed by the tornadoes.

There were three tornadoes in Kosciusko County, the first tornado was an EF1 and ran near Talma and went past Mentone. The second one was an EF2 and went from Rock lake to east of Silver Lake. The third tornado was an EF1 tornado going from Oswego to Warsaw.

 Many people realized how bad the devastation was and wanted to help. Church members, fire fighters, police, neighbors, family, and friends from the community graciously helped both farms clean up the destruction.  Fifteen students from TVHS spent their day cleaning up the Mills farm and the Tucker’s farm. With the help of construction crews and the other community members, Tucker farms was almost entirely picked up. The next day twenty students visited the Mills farm for the afternoon and picked up the remainder of the damage.

Junior Cody Demske helped clean up the farms. “I loved knowing I make a difference in someone’s life, its heart breaking to see someone go through that, it’s hard to imagine putting yourself in their place. It was cold but well worth it.”

 All the students and community members courteously sorted through the debris and recycled loose parts they could find. With debris scattered all over the fields and piled on top of each other, the job could have easily taken weeks to clean up but was finished in only three days due to the help from community members. We have an incredible community, when someone is in need of help our community steps forward and helps them. 

Mock Interviews

On Thursday, December 5^th, the freshmen class did their annual mock interviews.  The mock interviews are part of the career planning class taught by Mr. Parker and Mr. Engbrecht. For the last few weeks the freshmen have been preparing for their interview. They have been practicing interview skills along with writing resumes, hand shake, eye contact, appearance, and posture.
                The freshmen have been placed into groups according to their career. There were thirty-one different groups with five to six freshmen in each group. Once every member of the group gets interviewed then the interviewer will choose a winner who gets “hired.” The interviewers were Mr. Parker and Mr. Engbrechts internship and ICE students which are all either juniors or seniors at TVHS. The Interviewers were given the names of their interviewees early and were told to look them up on social media and find out as much information about the student as possible. Some of the freshmen had a wide awakening when their interviewers asked them about some of their inappropriate material that was on their social media. We are hoping that they will now be more cautious about what they put on public media. The interviewers asked them a series of common interview questions and pick a winner based on their answers, speaking, handshake, appearance, posture, and willingness to take notes and ask questions.
                I am a senior at TVHS and I am interning at the hospital next semester, since I would like to become a nurse one day I got six students who  want to become nurses also.  I thought interviewing them was very fun and a good experience. We were also allowed to ask our interviewees a random question that they didn’t know was coming. I asked the same question to all of the freshmen. The question was “what can you bring to this business that no one else can?” while some answered the question very well  there were a few who didn’t do so well but it was entertaining either way. I think the interviews are a good experience for the internship students, ICE students, and career planning students. I hope that the freshmen are more prepared for future interviews and I hope they know what to expect in the future.

Author Mike Mullin Visits TVSC

             With incredible writing and taekwondo skills on hand, Mike Mullin, author of the Ashfall trilogy, visited both the Tippecanoe Valley Middle School and Tippecanoe Valley High School in November. During his time at the schools, Mullin spent time with the TVHS Creative Writing Club, a group where each member’s goal is to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month (November). They learned how to spark their imaginations and improve their writing techniques by creating stories about objects, such as bowling pins and baseball gloves. The group also learned how to publish a story and avoid writer’s block.
            Sophomore Cassie Abalos, a member of the Creative Writing Club, said she really enjoyed Mike Mullin’s presentations. “One of the topics I enjoyed most was the ‘What If?’ discussions. Mr. Mullin basically grabbed a marker and asked us, ‘What if this marker…?’ and everyone in the club pitched in ideas. Some of them were pretty crazy, but everyone had so much fun with it!”
           Abalos, who is currently working on a fantasy novel, learned many valuable things from the author’s presentation. “I think the most valuable lesson I learned from his discussion was to never give up. He said determination is key to writing any good novel. Just remember that it may take some time to polish your idea, but it’s never a good idea to throw it away.”

N.E.W. Career Workshop

              Twenty-five sophomore girls at Tippecanoe Valley High School attended the N.E.W. workshop in Warsaw, Indiana.  N.E.W. (or, Nontraditional Employment for Women) is an annual event which gives high school females the opportunity to learn about career areas that are dominated mostly by males.  Women from various job positions such as a meteorologist, minister, broadcaster, and lawyer were at the conference to talk to the students about their careers and how to deal with gender discrimination.

               The students also got the chance to try their hand at several projects, ranging from building a tool box to welding.  All girls who attended the event learned that there are very many opportunities within their grasp and that all females have the right to pursue their dreams.

Freshman Field Trip: JA Finance Park

Every school year, all Tippecanoe Valley freshmen are required to take Preparing For College and Careers, a course which helps  students learn about different career paths and college expectations. Also, through this class, they gain real-life experience by traveling to the Junior Achievement (JA) Finance Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana; it is a center where kids can learn how to make a budget and use it effectively.  Students from Mr. Darren Parker and Mr. Aaron Engbrecht’s attended the event for one day in October.

JA Finance Park is a not-for-profit organization, which, according to the group’s mission statement, empowers young people to own their future economic success by enhancing the relevancy of education.  Volunteers ranging from Fort Wayne community members to upperclassmen from Tippecanoe Valley helped at the event by supervising each station. After each student is given their marital status and number of children, they are instructed to “travel” to different businesses and create a budget not only for themselves, but their family members as well.   The stations are specific to their own category and are very unique.  From banks, automotive shops, and restaurants, to retail stores and entertainment, the JA Finance Park allows for students to make a budget for everything they will need in the real world.

At the end of the day, after “traveling” to various businesses, students calculate their final budget and see if they have any extra money remaining for either saving purposes or spending on a certain object.  After this, they can see how well (or how poorly) they created a budget.  This event helps students plan for the future and build skills they will need as well.

JAG Program

               JAG is a program and it is short for Jobs for America’s Graduates, and it is a new class offered at TVHS. JAG is a national Non for profit organization that specializes keeping students in school until they graduate and helping them succeed throughout the school year. The program also prepares them transition into the work force. JAG is a student led organization within the class with a focus on community service. Each student has to have a minimum of 10 hours of community service.

 The program is funded through the state, by Mitch Daniels who awarded six million dollars to the Indiana state JAG programs. So far the program is very successful. JAG is led by Mrs. Duran, a new teacher this year; she is in charge of the program and making sure the students are doing well in school. So far the program has eighteen students participating; they are able to have a maximum of forty students.

 The students have already taken a field trip to Wawasee high school and are looking to visit colleges.  Right now the class is launching an anti-bullying campaign through videos and posters.  JAG can also be described as a careers class that helps with business etiquette, appropriate business attire, and the students will learn how to write a resume. The class also helps with employability skills, scholarships, college preparation, and career options. JAG is  a great program that will help students get prepared for the future. 

Internship at TVHS

Internship is a great program that Juniors and Seniors can participate in to help them get prepared for their future career. Students can experience their career choice deeper and then they can decide if it will be a successful choice for them in the future. Most internship sites do not pay but give the students a chance to gain experience. Most jobs need training before you can start and internship helps them get that training. This is the fourth year that internship has successfully been going on.  The program has students leaving for a few hours either in the morning or in the afternoon. Mr. Parker (Darren Parker) is in charge of all the interns and internship sites. He helps make it possible for all the interns to have the experience they do.  

There are twenty-five students from TVHS who are interning this year. There are usually around twenty to twenty-five students every year who are involved with the program. Students can experience different career fields such as the medical field, veterinary science, agriculture, business, IT, journalism, education, ministry, finance, law enforcement, and many more.  The internship sites range from all over our community. Students get to participate in local businesses that accept interns. Any business that wants to have interns is available to, that way it gives students the chance to have a larger choice in internship sites.

               I am in internship myself and I am interning with Mr. Parker, I am experiencing what it is like to write stories and newsletters like journalists do. Next semester I get the opportunity to intern at the hospital. Having these experiences help me find out if the career field I want to be in is best for me. Internship is a great program that more students should participate in!