Category Archives: Features

Features, Jonathan Blaylock

Goforth injects fun into his science lessons

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Science teacher Ron Goforth teaches his fith period class on genetics.
Science teacher Ron Goforth teaches his fifth-period class on genetics. Photo by Jonathan Blaylock.

By Jonathan Blaylock

When a school is built it can last for years and nothing exterior or interior can change. But one thing that does change are the people inside.

Students come and go every four years and teachers do as well. Last year science teacher Kirk Moldenhauer retired after almost 20 years of working at FC. Since he retired he left a job opening for new biology teacher Rod Goforth.

“Ever since I moved in the area, I thought it would be great to be able to teach close to home,” said Goforth.

After graduating from Jeffersonville High School, Goforth went to IU Bloomington and graduated with a degree in environmental science. He first worked at the Indiana American Water Company. As time passed he did not enjoy it and did not see a future in the career.  He then started teaching at the Indiana University Southeast and taught biology of birds. He then started teaching at the Louisville Nature Center, which is a part of the Louisville Zoo.

“After a few years I decided to do something that would make a little bit more money. I started my family at that time and my sons were born, and that’s kind of when the whole transition started,” said Goforth.

He first taught at Valley High School for two years and then Seneca High School for six; both schools are in the Jefferson County district in Kentucky. After teaching at these places he transferred to New Albany- Floyd County Schools where he met  Moldenhauer’s son, who told him about his father retiring. He kept a look out at FC, submitted his resume and has been teaching biology since August.

Since his arrival he has brought new things to the science department.

“We started Science Olympiad back up. It hasn’t been going on for several years. What it is is 23 different events in the course of the day and there are 15 people on a team and they all break up into pairs and they each go to different events.”

Goforth has also added a few new members to the class.

“We have a pet snake, a piranha, some turtles, some geckos,  some cockroaches — some interesting things that make it a little bit real,” he said.

In general he said that he just want to make class fun. He tries to make it enjoyable everyday because if he is not having a good time, he believes the kids will not either. It turns out the kids usually have quite a good time.

“I really like him. I think he is a fun teacher. He really gets the point across,” said freshmen Ryan Roles.

At the end of the day Goforth not only teaches biology but has made it an interesting way to learn the subject. Goforth believes the key to running a successful classroom is to actively interact with the students while also making sure they are enjoying themselves.

Features, Isaac Mathewson

Theatre graduates share their plans for the future

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By Isaac Mathewson
At one point, she was a student like any other. She was an actress and was in A Cappella.
Now FC graduate, Marina Hart, who gave a great performance as the lead in Thoroughly Modern Millie, is out of high school and currently in her second semester at Indiana University Southeast.
She continues to be a part of theatre at her school and is planning on majoring in journalism. She also plans on studying dance and music.
Hart continues to look positively at the future, “It is my belief that if you have a passion for anything, you will go far in whatever you do.”
Hart is not the only person who looks optimistically at the future.
Fellow graduate Cain Mathewson, who was also in A Cappella and gave a fantastic performance in Ashes two years ago, is also attending IUS and he plans on duel majoring in Zoology and Music.
“I’ve had a passion for these my whole life and I want to be able to say that I am a good musician and knowledgeable about animals.”
Mathewson is also working on his first novel entitled “Gone and Good Riddance,” a controversial book that he believes will be a critical and commercial hit. He also hopes to audition for movies and be a screenwriter too.
Both of these students said they look at the future with great optimism and that they know that although it will be a lot of hard work, it will be very rewarding in the end. 
Features, News

FCDM zumba class inspires participants

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By Haley Palmer and Amber Bartley

The floor shakes as the sweaty crowd shimmies and sways to the upbeat melody. Around thirty eager students showed up at zumba instructor Marcee LaHue’s second consecutive Dance Marathon zumba class.

“When I came here last year, I did not know what to expect. I was a little nervous about teaching Zumba to a bunch of teenagers, but when I got on stage everyone was so excited and enthusiastic and went with me,” said LaHue.

Zumba instructor Marcee LaHue directs FCDM participants. Photo by Amber Bartley.
Zumba instructor Marcee LaHue directs FCDM participants. Photo by Amber Bartley.

Numerous participants have personal connections to Riley Children’s hospital that inspire them to partake in the Dance Marathon activities. Sophomore Lucy Reising is motivated by her younger sister, Grace, who is getting a kidney transplant next year.

“My sister is in the hospital lot, so I know that hospitals can be really boring for kids. It’s nice to help them have fun while they’re going through a difficult time,” said Reising.

Others like junior Morgan Shultz have no personal connection to the children at Riley’s, but they participate anyways.

“I’m inspired by the Riley stories and what the hospital can do for the kids that wouldn’t have a chance otherwise,” said Shultz.

Whether those who participate in the marathon have personal reasons or are simply inspired by the emotional Riley stories, it’s a great way to support the community in a positive way.

“I think that your student body is so cool, diverse, and accepting. The energy level for students is amazing. I have a great time teaching zumba to the Floyd Central high schoolers and it is definitely the most fun class I teach,” said LaHue.

Dance Marathon, Features, Hannah Cheatham, News

Dance Marathon members prepare endlessly in the hours before today’s event

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By Alaina King and Hannah Cheatham

Although the fourth annual Dance Marathon for Riley Children’s Hospital does not start for another hour, the committees have been hard at work, some even sleeping on air mattresses in the school last night in order to finish decorating the gym.

“The committees started setting up right after school, and the girl room went to bed around 1:30 a.m. We got up at 8 a.m. and Mrs. Stansbury, Mrs. Martin, and myself made biscuits and gravy, eggs, and bacon for the executive committee,” said Katrina Uhl, one of the Dance Marathon Coordinators.

Only the executive members stayed the night, but others proved their dedication by staying late and coming in early to set up.

“I stayed until 9 and came in at 10 to prepare for the event,” said junior committee member Sydney Davis.

The committee’s main goal was to make sure the gym looked nice and all the booths were prepared.

“Staying the night here was awesome, we spent a lot of time putting things together to make it look great for today so everyone can enjoy themselves and have a great night since they raised money for the kids,” said senior executive committee member Tanner Cook.

Registration for FCDM is ongoing now. The event officially kicks off at 2 p.m. Check back for updates throughout the afternoon and evening for continued coverage.

Features

Snow days call for schedule changes

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By Rachel Lamb and Megan Johnson

Snow and ice have been cascading upon the ground in drastic amounts, especially over areas in Southern Indiana. Due to these wintery conditions, New Albany-Floyd County schools have lost several instructional school days.

“I have heard of two different ways to make them up. One is they take away from our second week of spring break and add on to the end of the year. Second is extra days are to be added to the end of next year,” said sophomore Logan Smith.

Options such as staying an extra hour after school and going to school on Saturdays have also been mentioned for other schools in Indiana.

“Fort Wayne Consolidated Schools have to stay after school one hour for 24 days straight, in order to make up snow days,” said principal Janie Whaley.

Senior Shaw Ray shared his opinion on the two ideas.

“I think the options are both bad, considering some people have jobs and play sports.”

Students that are seniors such as Ray,  just want to make up the days needed and get out of high school.

“Honestly, I really do not care how the snow days are made up, as long as I graduate on time,” he said.

Whaley added that the graduation date, which is currently set for June 8, will not be moved unless five more snow days occur.

Certain days that students have missed are waived due to not necessarily the snow, but the temperature outside. Sometimes, the days missed contribute to a mixture of the two.

“I feel as though we should not  have to make all of the days up, considering that we were in a state of emergency for a couple of them,” said freshman Kayla Brown.

Making up hours for two-hour delay days has even been in consideration by the Indiana legislature, but Whaley said that is not the plan for the immediate future.

Sophomore Heather Bouch shared why she thinks we should not have to make the hours up.

“We still went to school that day, just not for the full time.”

Bouch is not the only student that feels this way about the shortened days.

“I don’t think that we should have to make up the shortened days because we still attend those days and learn the material we need, even though the days were slightly shorter,” said Brown.

However, the administration has made an official decision on the matter. On Feb. 6, the dates on which snow days are to be made up were released on the New Albany-Floyd County School website. Students will have only one week of spring break and then will return to school on March 31 through April 4. There will also be an additional day added to the end of the year, June 2.

Any further missed days will be added on after June 2.