Category Archives: Sidney Reynolds

News, Sidney Reynolds

NHS hosts annual blood drive

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By Sidney Reynolds

Seniors Abby Marguet and Joe Wolf wait patiently to sign people in for the annual blood drive that is held at FC.

“I’m glad we are it doing it because it benefits our school and the people that receive the blood,” said Marguet.

Monday’s blood drive was hosted by The American Red Cross and the National Honor Society and helps raise scholarship money for NHS.

Students who donated had to pass some basic requirements such a being given a mini physical and having their health history checked. Once the test is passed a person was able to donate one pint of blood or two units of red cells, which is the same amount of blood.

“Some kids do it just to get out of class but they are still doing it. Holding it here gets people to donate who normally wouldn’t,” said senior Carmen Keehn.

Once a person donated, a NHS member helped them get a snack and a drink.

“I give them snacks and drinks. Then I patrol to make sure no one else passes out,” said Keehn.

The red cells people donate can only last 42 days, and The American Red Cross is always in need of donations.

“There’s always such a need for blood because of people with illnesses or car accidents,” said Lt. Col. Ben Gipe.

The students that donated blood on Monday received community service hours, along with the satisfaction of help saving lives.

“My dad had to get blood donated to him a few years ago and I think that’s why he donates. He got me into wanting to do it. Last year but I wasn’t old enough. I got to donate this year,” said Keehn.

Students were not the only ones to donate blood; teachers and staff members also did.

“It’s good for the kids to see, even if they aren’t only enough to donate yet,” said assistant principal Rob Willman.

“I’m proud of FC for hosting it, and it’s cool all the students helped out,” said Gipe.

A&E, Sidney Reynolds

Winter percussion prepares for POP’s concert performance

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By Sidney Reynolds

The sound of music can be heard flowing from the gymnasium where the winter percussion practices for their first performance of the season this Thursday.

“We’ve put a lot of work into it and have made something really good,” said junior Jerry Lacross.

The show this season is called Balloons.

“It’s about how in the beginning there was chaos and the music is set up to be extremely chaotic. Then we wear theses masks and are being controlled by these balloons. Then we pop the balloons but learn about balance,” said sophomore Alex Miller.

This season they have had many challenges, including as lack of funds, losing members, and having a place to practice.

“We have had a lot of people quit and that is really tough because then we have to change the whole routine,” said sophomore Zach Henderson.

Despite these problems, they have worked hard to overcome them and produce a quality show. One way they have overcome these challenges is by appointing underclassmen to higher positions such Henderson’s promotion to section leader this year. This is rare because they normally rank their positions by seniority.

“He’s doing great. He likes to have fun but then knows when to be serious,” said Lacross.

They started this season right before winter break and have been working hard to perfect the show.

“I feel like we will do well at the performance this Thursday and for the contest this Saturday. I feel as if we are at the point where the love for the activity and dedication will be put into perspective,” said junior Kaitlyn Seewer.

There are a lot of new people who joined winter percussion this year and have really enjoyed it.

“I love playing music, and it’s even better that I get to play music with a group of my friends,” said freshman Michayla White.

They are very excited about performing and hope a lot of people will come to watch and support them.

“I am glad we are doing the POP’s concert before our competition this Saturday because people are the POP’s concert will help boost our ego ,” said Henderson

Due to the forecasted weather the POP’s concert has postponed until mid-March, after Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Features, Sidney Reynolds

School members discuss mandatory reading

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By Sidney Reynolds

Year after year students buy, check out, and borrow books necessary for school. They need a summer reading book, which they must purchase during the summer or at registration. Perhaps they need a book for silent reading time in class.

“Summer is a time that we have a break from school and shouldn’t have to worry about doing work,” said junior Katie Davis.

Others enjoy it and see the benefits they can gain from it.

“Just reading in general benefits the student. It helps with their vocabulary and spelling. Students don’t know how much reading benefits them,” said English teacher Matthew Townsend.

Honors English students have to online quizzes over the book they have to read over the summer, while some AP classes must write essays in class upon arrival back to school. Some students think that students should just take quizzes over independent reading books instead of projects or activities.

“I think it would be much easier and would take up less time if we could just take quizzes like we did in middle school,” said freshman Katelynn Harrison.

Reading helps in many other areas of their lives.

“I truly believe that there are just some books that students should read before they graduate so they so that you have that knowledge going into a college setting, a career setting, or just adult life,” said English teacher Jessica Broady.

Sophomore Alexa Tuell thought both Night and Tuesdays with Morrie were very good books to read and learn from. Many students complain about required reading and wish they could choose the books themselves. Although there are many problems with students choosing the books that they like best.

“The funds aren’t available for us. I could go to the resource room and ask my students which book they would like but I don’t know if the students are going to choose classics. They are going to want something like anything by John Green,” said Townsend

Sophomore English students read the book Night. Broady said most of her students did not seem to care for the book.

“I just learned a lot about the Holocaust so I kind of already knew what that book was about,” said sophomore Bryce Moore.

Each student is unique and different, so it is no surprise they all have a different taste in books.

“I really liked the book Night. I would always take a break and read it throughout the day,” said Tuell.

The book Night caused a lot of conversation between students and this made some student wish FC would do the One School, One Book program. The One School, One Book is where the entire school reads a book together. They say this causes bonding throughout the school and helps strike up conversations.

“If you didn’t understand something then there would be more teachers there to help you rather than just one teacher,” said Davis.

Broady strongly believes that FC should do the One School, One Book program.

“I think that is a really cool idea and I wish we could do it here. I feel like we get close with summer reading, but there are so many kids in our school that don’t do summer reading. Something that I think is really cool is when Mockingjay was coming out, the third book in the Hunger Games series. I was waiting for it to come out, and so were Mr. Lang, Mrs. Stansbury, and Mr. Townsend and the whole group of us teachers waiting for it to come out and a whole group of students waiting for it to come out, so we would have these conversations everyday. When the book was finally released, we had conversations about it as we read it and it was just cool for that community of readers to exist. I loved the idea of the school becoming a community of readers,” said Broady.

Not everyone feels this way about the idea of the one book one school program coming to FC.

“It is not a good idea because what I like to read is completely different than what my math teacher likes, and I know if I don’t like a book then I won’t read it. I just put it down and find something else to do,” said Tuell.

This is what makes choosing a summer reading, class book, or group reading book hard to choose.  For now, teachers and the school will just have to work hard and do what they think is best for the students.

“I don’t think I could make everyone happy. That’s the thing about mandatory reading; it is hard to make everyone happy because not everybody likes one genre or another,” said Broady.

Features, Sidney Reynolds

Class ring delivery excites students

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By: Sidney Reynolds

Last Friday students eagerly waited in line to pick up their class rings that they ordered from Jostens. Jostens sales representative Mike Long and his wife, Jenna Long, enjoyed passing out the rings.

“The kids were very excited to get their rings and it’s always great to see the smile on their faces when they do,” said Mike Long.

Long also explained to the students that if their rings needed resized there would be no charge because of the warranty. Luckily there was only one student that needed their ring resized so far. Students were allowed to take their ring when they had paid the entire cost.

“I love the saxophone on mine. Now I have a memo from my high school years,” said junior Kaitlyn Seewer.

Some students have not completely paid or that paid in check had to wait until they paid completely or until the check cleared to get theirs. When the cost does clear, students rings will be available for pick up at the book store.

“I haven’t gotten my ring yet, but I saw it and I like it a lot more than I thought I would,” said sophomore Rebecca Lusren.

Some students’ parents are making them wait until their senior year to get their class ring.

“If I get it my senior year I’ll only get to wear it one semester, but I can’t wait until I do get it,” said sophomore Syliva Donovan.

Every class has a different feature each year but if you want to order your ring your junior or senior year you will still get the same features as the rest of your class.

“I was really, really excited to get it and I think I wear it later in life, too,” said sophomore Emily Naville.

Sophomore Kyle Beach paying for the rest of his class ring.
Sophomore Kyle Beach paying for the rest of his class ring.
Sophomore Maria Wimsatt's class ring.
Sophomore Maria Wimsatt’s class ring.
A overhead over of sophomore Harleigh Lang's class ring.
A overhead over of sophomore Harleigh Lang’s class ring.
A left side of sophomore Harleigh Lang's class ring.
A left side of sophomore Harleigh Lang’s class ring.
The right side Bethany Arteburn's class ring.
The right side Bethany Arteburn’s class ring.
Bethany Arteburn's class ring.
Bethany Arteburn’s class ring.
The right side of sophomore Harleigh Lang's class ring.
The right side of sophomore Harleigh Lang’s class ring.
News, Sidney Reynolds

New Voices Program comes to FC

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By Sidney Reynolds

On Oct. 16, sophomore English honor students started their first session of the New Voice Playwriting program. This is the first time at FC that English classes have gotten to take part in this program.  The New Voice project is a program helps develop students’ creative writing ability.

“I think it helped me become a better creative writer,” said sophomore Jacob Huntles.

Actors Theatre of Louisville sends trained instructors to teach students about play writing and help them write their own 10-minute play. At the end of the program some students will get the honor of having actors from Actors Theatre of Louisville to come and perform their play in front of the class.

“It was awesome. I feel so honored to be one of the first students at FC to be able to take part in this,” said sophomore Sylvia Donovan.

The two New Voice instructors that taught the classes were Keith McGill and Liz Fentress.

“It’s been a wonderful experience for me. I love that I helped create a play from nothing and got to watch it develop,” said Fentress.

The students started the first session with the discussion of every element that goes into a play.

“I really love how it was taught step by step so no one gets confused or lost,” said sophomore Harleigh Lang.

The students also wrote two monologues to help understand more about the purpose of monologues.  The first monologue was about an object to help them learn how to write a monologue. The second monologue was a character monologue and to help them get more in depth.

“It was fun to be creative and have people read mine,” said sophomore Caleb Combs.

At the third session students started to write the draft of their play.

“I had to write down a couple of ideas before I could really pick one,” said Donovan.

In the fifth session, students did a plot diagram of their play and then they started to write the first two pages of their ten page play.

“At first, I was overwhelmed because I’m not a very creative person so it was kind of scary for me at first,” said sophomore Kelsey Lengel.

On Oct. 30 students went over their first draft. They had the instructors, teachers, and peers edit their drafts.

Lang thought was really helpful to get feedback on my play from McGill, her english teacher Anne Martin, and her peers.

“It told me what was strong about my play and what I needed to change. I am also glad they were there to help me with formatting my play,” said Lang.

On Nov. 2 actors from Actors Theatre of Louisville came to perform the students’ plays.

“It was interesting to see professional actors perform plays that my peers wrote,” said Huntles.

Many students enjoyed watching the plays be performed, however when student’s own plays were performed, it made them nervous.

“It was kind of interesting but kind of awkward,” said sophomore Kayla Popson.

Sophomore honors English teacher Anne Martin enjoyed working with this program.

“It’s nice to have new voices in the room and many of the activities in the curriculums that allow students to see what good writers they are,” said Martin.

They also are hoping that next year actors from Louisville’s Actors Theatre will come and do the program again next year only for all sophomore English classes.

“There has been talk that they will try and get the same grant to be able to do all sophomore English classes next year,” said Martin.

Many students believe New Voices was a good program to participate in.

“I’m glad that I got to do it. It was so much fun and I think it helped my writing skills too.” said Lang.