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Time flies when you're graduating

5/5/2015

By Daniel Thoelke

Everyone is getting ready for graduation with parties and plans for the future.

The end of the year is just around the corner and many students are very exited, but not as much as the seniors at Audubon High School. With seniors getting out in a few weeks, many can’t wait for graduation and the end of their high school career. Some are looking forward to “not doing the same thing every day,” like senior Brad Kerkhoff, while others are excited about “getting out on [their] own and going to college,” like senior James Thoelke.

A lot can happen in four years and every one has their favorite moments. Kerkhoff said that this year has been by far his favorite. He also said that sports have had a huge impact on his high school experience.

Thoelke agreed that this year was his favorite and “[him] and the other senior guys doing the ALS ice bucket challenge was a good bonding moment that [he] really enjoyed this year.” Thoelke also said because of this that he will miss “seeing his friends and classmates” the most.

Since it is the end of the year and there is only a few weeks left, a lot of the seniors are winding down and getting “senioritis.” Kerkhoff said that “9/10 seniors are getting it, myself included”.

Knowing what your plans are after graduation is a major decision. Some plan on going straight into the work force. Kerkhoff, like most others, plans to go to college to get his degree. He also plans to wrestle for whichever college he goes to.

Thoelke said his plans aren’t like most others. He said that he plans “to work the summer and fall, go on a two year mission for [his] church, and then get [his] degree”.

Graduation is just around the corner and everyone is excited no matter what their plans are.

Year in Review

4/28/2015

By Drew Christensen

Audubon Middle and High School

A year as an Audubon Wheeler is one to cherish. Audubon provides many athletics, clubs, and activities for their students. No matter what you’re into there are many things to do in the school that have had many great memories.

From the beginning of the year, Audubon was named the Bank of Iowa Traveling Cup trophy winner for class 1A. As a student body we excelled in activities such as athletics, fine-arts, and academics. Audubon was number one in the state for doing well in all of those activities. When mentioning his favorite memory, senior Trevor Smith didn’t hesitate to say that his favorite memory was ‘ beating a powerhouse of a [football] team of Council Bluffs Saint Albert’s for the first time since 1979.”

Junior Maddison Hagedorn said her favorite memory was, “Prom decorating coming to an end!” Many juniors spend the majority of the year planning the senior prom. For students like Madison, It can be stressful.

Another major activity that recently played a part in our school was the pennies for puppies. Audubon raised over $2,400 for this fundraiser. We raised enough money for 5 puppies. This showed how Audubon students weren’t afraid to donate a few extra bucks and sponsor a program that will impact many people’s lives.

The next huge accomplishment is completing yet another year of school. There were ups and downs, good times and bad times, but no matter what happened, Audubon Wheelers stick together and push through to complete the final goal. Audubon Wheeler Senior Tyre Vokt said, “My favorite part about my last year in high school is how it prepared me for college and getting out on my own.”

This year has been great and out of all of the things we’ve won and accomplished, by far the best memory for me was the times shared with all of the students here in Audubon. Our School will forever be a Wheeler Nation.

Out with a roar

4/15/2015

By Morgan Malloy

Shawn Hemmingsen is super excited to go to "The Lion King."

The speech team ends their season with a roar by going to the musical “The Lion King” at the Civic Center on Wednesday, April 29th. The musical has won six Tony awards including best musical and best costume design. This is the first and potentially the only time the team will be going to a live musical together, and the students are very excited for this rare opportunity. Senior Kaitlin Andersen said, “I am ecstatic to be able to go on a trip with my speech group that I wouldn’t have been able to attend on my own.”

Senior Shawn Hemmingsen feels similar to Andersen and said, “I’m excited because I haven’t been to a live professional musical. I think it will be good. I’ve heard good things about it.”

The evening will consist of going out to eat in the downtown Des Moines area before attending the two and a half hour long show and making the commute back to Audubon. Andersen, as well as many of the other seniors who have participated in the speech program, believes that the best part of the day will be getting together with her speech group for “one last hoorah.”

Prepping for prom

4/1/2015

By Daniel Thoelke

An Evening in Vegas is the prom theme at Audubon High School this year. (Image from Google Images)

Prom is less than a month away and everyone is getting ready, especially the Audubon High School junior class who will be setting it up this year. To raise money for prom, the junior class sold magazines in late fall. But as of now, not as much money was raised, so the class, in their adviser groups, have had to compensate in their own ways.

Within the adviser groups, individuals are stepping up to help in their own way by getting things donated to looking into ways to save money. Junior Madison Hagedorn is in the group responsible for the ballroom and said that she is “looking up decorations trying to save money” herself and that they are for the most part “getting all we wanted.”

Junior Joseph Remsburg is part of the group that is in charge of pictures, the invitation, and the DJ. Remsburg said, “since grand march is getting everything donated, we have a little more money” for things that they want, which is the same case for Hagedorn’s group.

Hagedorn said that “the groups are working well together” and Remsburg agrees that the class officers are working even better together. Both are hopeful for the best and excited to set up for their "Evening in Vegas."

Preparing for college

4/1/2015

By Drew Christensen

Senior Jordan Hansen, studying the graduation invitations.

As many high school students come to find out, there is a light to the end of the tunnel. That’s right, an end to the long stressful, drama-filled life: graduation.

If seniors haven’t already started filling out scholarships, applied for college and or filled out the FAFSA, then they're probably too late. Many students at this time of the year spend hours upon hours filling out scholarships and coming up with different ways to make themselves look better, sound better than the rest of the students filling out the same scholarships. The toughest part about filling out scholarships said Trevor Smith, “is writing and going through the long gruesome essays about what you want to do about with your life”. But in reality, if one knows what he or she is going to do in life, one needs to consider a backup plan because the chances of getting and achieving exactly what one wants in this world are quite slim.

Another crazy event that seniors have to plan for is graduating! Trying to figure out what food to serve at the party and what shoes to wear at commencement, is all new and can be quite scary for seniors. Carly Johnston’s biggest fear with her graduation party is the whole thing, including the weather, the food, and the décor. It’s all new and very nerve wracking.

As the final days of the school year come to an end here in Audubon, the toughest part is not the grad parties, the scholarships, or even the classes, it’s leaving behind the days and the memories the class of 2015 has shared, which has molded and shaped their lives. “The memories we’ve shared, the times we’ve had together, they will stay with us always – goodbye is not forever.” - Unknown (AHS 2015 Senior quote)

Spring Cleaning

4/1/2015

By Sarah Mosinski

After all the snow and cold weather, people start to get anxious when the weather rises to the mid 50s. Taking off heavy coats and rolling the windows down on the way home from school is definitely trending at the Audubon High School. Something else that goes with warmer temperatures is spring cleaning, which involves a lot more than some would expect. Popular activities of spring cleaning include bringing spring and summer clothes out of storage, boxing up winter clothes, cleaning out garages and sheds, and dusting miscellaneous furniture throughout the house.

Melanie Petersen, a senior, cleans out her car at the end of winter so her car is ready for the spring. Rachel Mosinski, a freshman, goes through her dresser in the beginning of spring and sorts through her warm clothes. “I box all the winter clothes up and take them to the attic. After bringing down my summer clothes, I go through them and decide what items I will sell in the upcoming garage sale,” Mosinski said.

Now-a-days most people can find a variety of tricks and tips to make cleaning easier. When looking on a popular site such as Pinterest, one might find various wacky ways to get tasks done easier or faster. For example, a trick to washing a washing machine tells a person to run a cycle with bleach and then another cycle of white vinegar. This may seem unusual but it might be what someone’s washer needs. Another popular spring-cleaning activity is getting younger kids involved.

Bittersweet Times

3/17/2015

By Morgan Malloy

Kyle Polson, Brandon Hansen, Jordan Hansen, and Davis Sebetka playing at the District Jazz Band competition AHS hosted.

On March 31, the Audubon High School Jazz Band will be competing in the State Championships. This will be the third year in a row in which they will be competing. They were accepted into the championships by receiving 2nd place at Districts, which was hosted in Audubon and again by receiving 1st place at a competition in Woodward-Granger. Senior Shawn Hemmingsen was optimistic and said, “I’m excited! I think we’ll do pretty well. Hopefully even better than last year.”

But among all of the joy the students have from their success, there is also sorrow creeping its way in. Their beloved director Bob Hoffmann is stepping away from his role as their teacher next fall in order to pursue a new career path as an instructional coach for Audubon High School. After hearing the news, Hemmingsen said he wasn’t surprised. “I had been thinking that he was going to retire here pretty soon.”

Senior Ashley Hansen had similar feelings and said, “I was kind of shocked, but I’m not surprised. I think he deserves a chance to try new things after 30 years of teaching.”

Sophomore Kyle Polson believes that next fall without Mr. Hoffmann will be hard for the students. Mr. Hoffmann has been their band director all throughout their middle school and high school years. However, Hemmingsen and Hansen believe the kids will be able to adapt to the change.

Blood Drive

3/16/2015

By Daniel Thoelke

It's important to donate blood

    The NHS is hosting the Audubon blood drive at the high school on Monday March third. Many people are lining up to donate blood as a “way to give back to the school and community” as social studies teacher Randy Spies would put it. Some don’t have to give blood to donate. Senior Bradley Nissen is part of the NHS and is donating his time to working at the blood drive instead of donating blood. Nissen doesn’t donate blood because he is too afraid to, but said “I rationalize it that I am donating my time instead of my blood.”
     It is important to donate blood especially if you have a rare blood type like Spies who has AB+ and donates every year. He said he donates because “I know blood has a very short shelf life so,” with his blood type being rare, “it is important that people who are able and willing to donate blood do so.” There is always a big turnout to the blood drive for people to donate. Nissen says this is because a lot of people are “often unselfish people who love to help others and give back.”
    Spies said that he thinks “in many cases people have either personally benefited from blood donations or a friend or family member did.” Saying that they know what donating blood means and how it saves lives that it can be “a very powerful motivation, to know that your simple donation of blood may in fact save someone's life.”
    We all can give back to the community whether it’s donating blood or volunteering, either way you are still helping others.

Spring Fever

3/4/2015

By Drew Christensen

   “ Six more weeks of winter,” said Phil the groundhog. Some cheered, but more sobbed and hated the fact that winter won't end anytime soon. Even though Groundhogs Day is fun, it’s still just a superstition with a made up outcome.

    Around this time of the year, you see people around the school starting to mope and whine, posting pictures on instagram from summer and trying to remember nights where the sun set a 9 o’clock. They reminisce about when the weather stayed somewhere in the mid 80’s. In reality, there's a saying for those who live in Iowa, "if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes, it will change."

    The next sign that spring fever it setting in is when one hears people talking about their spring sports. After talking with freshman Nolan Smith, he said, “ I love spring because it's track season, and I’m out to break records.”

     This kind of chatter can be heard all over the school since recently the winter sports came to a close. “The snow is [almost] gone, and we can get outside to start track,” said senior Carly Johnston.

    Finally the biggest clue that spring fever is in full swing is if one walks through local stores and sees winter coats hung alongside of swimsuits. It's simply a genius way to make money. When the buyers are craving the hot sun and cool pool water they will start buying their new summer attire to ease their spring fever sickness. At the same time, they are also purchasing winter coats on sale to get a good deal.

    If a person waits long enough, the weather in Iowa will soon change. In the mean time, button up coats and wear mittens, because it's not going to change anytime soon.

Freshman Nolan Smith not enjoying the winter weather anymore.

Audubon FFA Presents: The Peterson Bros

3/4/2015

By Sarah Mosinski

The Peterson Bros: Agriculture Advocates

The Peterson Brothers will be coming to Audubon, Iowa on March 9 at 6 p.m. to provide information and entertainment about agriculture in the United States at the FFA Banquet. The chapter members discussed different entertainment options and the idea to have the three brothers come from Kansas to take part in their end of the year celebration was the group they got feedback from first. Greg, Nathan, and Kendal Peterson became a big hit on Youtube. They make parody music videos of popular songs and change the words into lyrics about agriculture and farming.
Every year, FFA spends money on entertainment to join them at their banquet. With 125 members in FFA, the students come together to prepare for the meal and activities during the event. They decide who will be coming to their banquet a year in advance. The meal is served by Two Palms and the ceremonies give recognition to the seniors leaving the Audubon Chapter. Awards to seniors and other members are given in front of friends and family members. The brothers will give a presentation about farming and agriculture as a whole and what being an agriculture advocate means. FFA has many achievements including the record number of students participating in Career Development Events on the Sub-District, District and State Levels.
“Fourteen Audubon FFA Members will receive their Iowa FFA Degree at this year's State FFA Convention! The Iowa Degree is the highest honor a member can receive on the state level,” said Britney Elmquist, the FFA adviser. The Audubon FFA Chapter has been very successful.