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WWW.CLINTONHERALD.COM2C | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 CLINTON HERALD

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Kicking Off a Great SeasonTara Geary

The Kings began theirseason victorious, domi-nating Davenport Northat Brady Street StadiumAug. 27. Although theweather was cold andrainy, the Kings pushedtheir way through todefeat the Wildcats 57-6.Dedicated fans over-looked the weather andcheered the Kings to theirvictory.

A second exciting wincame Friday, Sept. 4

when the Kings hostedDavenport West. Theenergy was high, and thefootball players wereready to hit the field.Many fans came out tosupport the team in thenew stadium, the first in81 years. The larger sta-dium was packed withfans eager to see theKings dominate on aclear fall night.

The Kings took thefield prepared to win andthey made a strong start.Within about five min-

utes into first quarter,quarterback JakeMangler scored the firsttouchdown of the night.By the end of the firstquarter, Mangler hadposted another TD with a54-yard run to make thescore 12-0. In the secondquarter, David Johnsonran the sideline to get a19-yard run and the thirdscore of the night. Byhalftime the score was26-0 when Johnsonswept the ball away onthe bounce of a Falconspunt, and made his waydown the 40 yards to thetouchdown.

The River Kings con-trol continued in the sec-ond half. The waningFalcons only gained 46total yards. The Kings,though, scored oncemore. David Johnson ranone more touchdown inthe third quarter. Thescore was 33-0 to end thegame.

On the team's undefeat-ed record, Mangler says,"...we are playing togeth-er well as a team and we

have been working hardat practice."

Although the team didits part to defeat theFalcons, the pep assem-bly Friday afternoonpumped up the playersfor the opening homegame. The pep assemblywas full of spirit andenergy, led by the cheer-leaders and the theme“Rootin' for the Kings.”The assembly began withthe school song, whichthen led to more cheeringfrom the cheerleaders.Another activity was apiggy back race involv-ing the senior footballplayers. The footballplayers were paired up,ran down to the end ofthe gym, one on theother's back, and thenthey switched positionsand ran back. The win-ners were Mo Walker andDevan Ebensberger.

The pep assembly thenended in an epic battle.Senior cheerleaders, vol-leyball players, footballplayers, golfers and crosscountry runners were

grouped up and had a twoliter root beer chug-off.The golfers were the firstto finish without spilling.After the battle, the bandfinished with anotherround of the school song.

If the team keeps onscoring like they have inthe last two games, thenwe are set for a great sea-son.

Left: The River Kingsstart off a great season.PHOTO BY ALYSSA WELLS

Clinton HighWelcomes NewStadiumGrace Shemwell

CHS Students have seensomething new slowingrising from the footballfields. Thanks to theAthletic Boosters andRestoring Royalty, theclass of 2010 will hail inthe arrival of a newbleacher stadium com-plex.

The bleachers, suppliedby Sturdis Steel of Waco,Texas, will seat a littleover 3,000 people. A newscoreboard has also beenerected at the south end ofthe field. A new ticketfacility and gate will faceEighth Avenue South.Residing underneath thestands will be brand newrestrooms by PayneConstruction, and a free-standing concessionsstand at the north end ofthe field built by Swanson,will complete the develop-ment. This is a greatimprovement to the previ-ous stands.

The previous stands,torn down this spring anddedicated on ClintonHigh’s second homecom-ing October 31, 1925,were supplied by Frank J.and Louis Iten, who hadalways been ardent sup-porters of all high schoolathletics. They hadnoticed the crowded con-ditions of the old woodenbleachers and thereforedecided to show theirappreciation of the fineathletic record of by giv-ing CHS the now oldstands.

In 1970, an addition tothese stands was made,seating about 1800 people.Unfortunately, they werenot handicap accessible.

The new stands seat about1,200 more people, thepress box will have allnew electronics in it, andthe scoreboard gleams atthe south end.

“One thing that I ammost proud of,” said CHSactivities director GaryLueders, “is that this proj-ect has been done withoutthe use of tax dollars. It isa tribute to Clinton that the$3 million used in thisproject was raised throughdonations and fundrais-ing.”

When asked if theywere excited to play in thenew stadium head foot-ball coach Lee Campreplied “Yes, we play[ed]Friday [the 4th] there andwe’re excited. Its capaci-ty is something like 3,100people and we expectthem to be packed forgames against some ofour bigger rivals likeBettendorf. The onlyissue will be parking.”

“I’m really jacked toplay in front of 3,000 peo-ple,” said senior WR andDE Wade Klooster beforethe first home game, “I’mreally happy the bleachersare done for my seniorseason and I think every-one wishes they wouldhave happened sooner,but I’m just happy they’rehere now and I have aseason to play in front ofthem. I think they willattract a lot of people whowouldn’t come [beforethe new bleachers werein] because the oldbleachers were in badcondition.”

The first game on Sept.4 was the first time thebleachers were open tothe public.

Brooke Larson

It’s predicted that in theyear 2011 the UnitedStates will be 200,000welders short. Welders areone of the most unrecog-nized but equally one ofthe most important jobsout there today. Job oppor-tunity is slowly declining,but not in a weldingcareer. Clinton HighSchool is doing somethingabout this welding short-age. Carl Thalacker washired just last year to takeMr. Wilden’s place as themetal’s teacher. He hadbig dreams for the depart-ment, determined to makeit better than ever. Thisyear he is fulfilling hispromise.

What if I told you thatyou could start your junioror senior year in a metal’sclass and when you’redone you can be hired towork as a certifiedwelder? Well it’s true. Thisyear at CHS, Mr.Thalacker is teachingAdvance Manufacturing,or as he likes to call itCareer Welding: threetrimesters dedicated topreparing you for goinginto a career in weldingand readying you for thejob site. Students are

informed about safety andperfecting techniques.Over the course of theirthree trimesters, studentslearn to perfect the art ofarc welding and also gainessential knowledge forthe job site.

This program was notjust made over night,though. Carl wasapproached in Februaryabout the idea for thecourse and that promptedmany changes to the shopitself. In mid July therewas an auction held andsome of the extramachines were sold, leav-ing space for muchimprovement. There was atotal shop gut, new safetygear, new welding stands,new welders and muchmore. Thalacker eventual-ly wants to make thiscourse into a 2 year pro-gram also.

CHS is really doingsomething special withthis program. It providesthe kids an idea of what’sbeing expected of them inthe real world and shows aglimpse of what life afterhigh school could be like.The course prepares stu-dents for college in certaincareers and best of allgives students a goal thatwith hard work and dedi-

cation can allow them thechance to become success-ful workers. This classisn’t just for students,though; it’s a benefit to thecommunity also. It willgive employers a betterjob pool and more profi-cient students to weld.

The class is unlike anyI’ve been in. You learn andhave fun at the same time,you can hardly go 10 min-

utes without learningsomething new, andeveryday you start tounderstand and appreciateall the work that goes intothe life of a welder. Thisprogram will benefit thestudents just as much asthe community we’re in;CHS students should beproud of the program andgrateful for Thalacker’svision.

Thalacker Welds Better Tomorrow

President’s Address to Students Sparks Academic InterestAlison Sullivan

Amid much controversy,President Obama spoke tothe youth at WakefieldHigh School in Wakefield,Virginia, along with stu-dents from all over thenation, on Tuesday, Sept.8. Fed by many conserva-tives’ concerns of politicalpropaganda, adults acrossthe country vocallyaddressed their concernsabout the context of thepresident’s speech.Among the concerns weremixtures of both skepti-cism as well as enthusiasmfor the speech to be shown.

“It’s a sad state of affairsthat many in this countrypolitically would ratherstart an ‘Animal House,’food fight rather thaninspire kids to stay inschool,” commented theWhite House press secre-tary Robert Gibbs, a fewdays leading up to the

event.Despite the discord, after

reading the text to thePresident’s speech no onecan deny the message hiswords were meant to con-vey. “…what I want tofocus on today: [is] theresponsibility each of youhas for youreducation…the responsi-bility you have to your-self.” Emphasizing theimportance of not onlystaying in school but work-ing hard, Obama stressedhow the things learned inschool were necessary tocreate opportunities later inlife.

“What you make of youreducation will decide noth-ing less than the future ofthis country. What you’relearning in school todaywill determine whether weas a nation can meet ourgreatest challenges in thefuture.”

Although the speech was

not addressed on a largescale at Clinton High, norwas any objection heardfrom parents, classroomstuned in, in small numbers,to hear the president speak.Most who heard Obama’sspeech felt inspired by hiswords.

“I believe that this has aton of meaning and is verypowerful,” declared KatieStanley, a CHS studentwho read the president’sspeech. “I think everyoneshould read or hear thisbecause it can make a hugeimpact on people.Sometimes people thinkthey know all of this, but itneeds to be repeated andpeople need to be remind-ed of how important [a]good education really is.”

“I thought it was refresh-ing and uplifting. We arelucky to have a presidentthat cares enough toaddress the next genera-tion. His message was

simple and true that every-one has obstacles andeveryone can achieve[their goals,]” reflectedMolly Eversoll, who wasable to watch the presi-dent’s speech.

The president’s wordsnot only impacted studentsbut teachers as well, “Itwas really good, veryinspiring. I think itshould…motivate studentsto work harder at their aca-demic studies,” remarkedMr. Haan, a statistics andpre-calc. teacher.

In addition to thespeech, packets were sentout to schools preK- 6th,all over that included acomprehensive worksheetfor students to refer to andthink about before, during,and after the speech.Questions such as, “Whatis the President trying totell me?” and “What newideas and actions is thepresident challenging me

to think about?” wereincluded in the packetalong with encouragementto write additional com-ments and draw pictures toexpress how they feltabout what they were hear-ing.

Historically, this conceptis not something new tothe American people.Presidents taking time toshare their thoughts withfuture generations are any-thing but a new concept.Ronald Reagan in the fallof 1988 spoke to studentsabout taxes and their effecton the American people.George H.W. Bush in1991, did the same, stress-ing the importance of hardwork and not doing drugs.

Even Florida’sRepublican PartyChairman Jim Greerchanged his belief that thepresident’s message was to“indoctrinate America’schildren to his socialist

agenda,” to stating that hiskids would be watching thespeech after reading thetext released the Sundaybefore.

While America facessuccesses and failures onall levels, our future gener-ations need to be remindedthat one day we will be thebearers of the actions takentoday by those who ruleour country. As Obamasays in the closing of hisaddress, “The story ofAmerica isn’t about peoplewho quit when things gottough. It’s about peoplewho kept going, who triedharder, who loved theircountry too much to doanything less than theirbest.”

With that in mind,today’s youth needs toopen their books and theireyes. Learn from the pastmistakes and the troublesof today, in anticipation oftomorrow’s obstacles.

Thalacker demenstrates his knack for welding.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 || 3CWWW.CLINTONHERALD.COM CLINTON HERALD

On this day in history: by Anna MarshallThursday, September 17th

The Battle Of Antietam, The bloodiest battle in the Civil War,where McClellan halted Lee's Northward Drive-1862

Birthdays:Jimmie Johnson (racecar driver)-1975Kyle Chandler (coach in "Friday Night Lights")-1965John Ritter (Jack Tripper in "Three's Company")-1948

Crazy Days: Mark your calendar for these upcoming ‘holidays!’

Play-Doh Day (18th)Talk Like A Pirate Day (19th)National Punch Day (20th)International Banana Festival (21st)

Back to School PerspectivesAmber Elkins

As another school yearbegins, there are severaltypes of students walkingthe halls; some are freshfaces while others are alltoo familiar. Regardless,everybody has a perspec-tive on being back inschool, whether they wereready for summer to beover or not.

For freshmen everythingis a new wonder and all ofthis can sometimes bequite intimidating. I askedsome of my freshmenfriends what they thoughtabout coming to CHS. “Iam extremely excited to

come to CHS especiallyfor the lunches!”exclaimedWill Callen. I completelyagree, Will.

I know when summerwas coming toward the endI was so happy to comeback to school and to seemy friends and meet newpeople. Sophomore JeniferBenoit was as well. “I wasso ready to come back toschool. I had a great sum-mer but I missed thefriends I hadn't seen in awhile.” When asked if shewas prepared for what thenew year had in store forher she replied, “I'm prettyready for what is ahead ofme and if not, then I will

have to take it one day at atime.” Benoit expresses auseful positive outlook forthe school year.

Another student excitedabout the prospects a newschool year brings isDerrick Bertram. You mayrecognize the juniorBertram from the dailyannouncements. Bertramsaid that he was excitedabout this school year buthe didn't want summer tobe over so soon.

To some people, thethought of coming toschool and knowing it isthe final year leaves a bit-tersweet feeling. TheresaStriley, a senior, says

“Being a senior is so fun sofar. It's going to be greatthis year and things aredefinitely moving fast.”

As the years progress, sodoes the homework andchallenging classes.Angela Wynkoop knowsthat her classes are harderthis year but that is just partof growing up and becom-ing a junior. Though it isthe beginning of the year,school will certainly fly byand before we know itsummer will come again.

I hope everyone enjoysthe school year and trustme freshmen, it's not thatbad. There's more to lookforward to than the lunch.

A Youthful MissionBy Arian Sullivan

It’s amazing how welive our everyday lives,expecting a hot dinnerready when we comehome from school and lov-ing parents who havetaught us to make gooddecisions. Some kids,however, are not that fortu-nate. Over the summer, afew people from theUnited Methodist Churchwent to Stockten, Calif.and experienced what itwas like to live in a com-munity that wasn’t safe.The group included stu-dents Allison Kimmer,Mara Kimmer, DustinMeyerman, Willy Maddie,Sarah Marston, CallieWilloughby, JakeHanrahan, and their youthpastor, Jeremy Penn. Inorder to go on this mis-sions trip, each person had

to raise $950 by writingletters to their friends andfamily, complete 10 hoursof community service, gothrough training meetings,and share testimony withtheir youth group.

“It was amazing to seehow good we have it here.Stockten is rated the fifthmost dangerous city in theUnited States. All housesare fenced in. Every doormust be locked. Prostitutesare on every corner andthere are a lot of gangactivity and gang wars,”Allison said about her visitto Stockten. What they didwas work with some of theinner-city kids. Theycooked the kids a meal,which might’ve been theonly meal most of themwould get that day. Theyprovided a safe place forthe kids to play. They sungthe children songs and

taught them lessons fromthe bible, which theycalled “Bible Club.”

They didn’t only helpchildren be safe and makegood decisions; they alsohelped out in the commu-nity! They did things suchas clean out a woman’scarport. “The carport wasthe most disgusting thing Ihave ever seen,” Allisonpointed out. “There werebags of dirty laundry, bagsof used cat litter, pop cans,bags of garbage, and evena dead bird. Many timeswe would have to leavethe carport just tobreathe.” They alsohelped paint a man’sfence. Among the manyhardships they witnessedon their trip, some of thehighlights included get-ting to know the kids, sim-ply having fun with thosethey met.

In My OpinionBy Deana Cunningham

In my opinion, this gen-eration depends a little toomuch on technology. Weuse technology to commu-nicate in many differentways; we text, e-mail andIM.

Despite the variety tech-nology provides, it has pro-duced a negative effect aswell. People have cut downtheir face time significantlywith these inventions. Withall of this virtual interac-tion, interaction withinfamilies has also beenaffected by these advances.In some extreme cases,families that are in differentrooms will choose to texteach other versus gettingup and walking over toanother room to converse.

Depending on technolo-gy rather than personalinteraction then becomesan issue. Today we havecell phones, mp3 players,portable DVD players, andlaptops. With the advancesthat society has made, wecan combine two or threeof these in one device,making us very dependableon that single piece of tech-nology.

For example, if that onedevice is a cell phone, it isnearly impossible to leavethe house without it. It is asafe assumption that a vastmajority of CHS studentstext throughout the schoolday, and if they don’t it isprobably because theydon’t have a phone. If youwalked down the hall at

any time during the dayyou would see at least 30students with something intheir hands or ears. I’vedone it, but you can barelygo anywhere without a cellphone.

Phones aren’t the onlyissue. There are a lot ofstudents who are verydependent on their music aswell. Rarely do you seethem without an ear budlogged into their ears.

Despite some of the nui-sances technology can cre-ate socially, there is nodenying its usefulness aswell. Teachers use theinternet to communicatewith other teachers fromnot only inside their staffbut with others from acrossthe nation. They also usethe computers for home-work purposes and allowstudents to turn in theirhomework electronically.Students use computer pro-grams such as MicrosoftPowerPoint to create newways to present informa-tion in projects. They alsoresearch facts on the inter-net and connect sociallywith other who live faraway.

Technological advancesalso lead to better medi-cines and successfuladvances in this field helpsave lives. As moreadvances are made, morediseases can be cured, andmore measures can betaken to prevent such dis-eases. It is up to the user oftechnology to not let it con-sume his or her life.

Have You Met...?Karishma Sikandar Faseeh

The bright yellow sunshining, elephant’s trumpt-ing, cheetahs runningfaster than a car, and aking of the jungle roaringlouder than you can imag-ine. If you haven’t figuredout what country I’m talk-ing about, I’m talkingabout AFRICA! All the wayfrom the hot and beautifulAfrica comes Mr. AdamBohach. He is one of thenewest additions to thebiology department andCHS is very lucky to havehim! The Clintonian satdown with him recently toget to know him better.

KF: What brings youto Clinton, Iowa?

Well I was looking for ateaching job when I gotback from Africa in July2008. Many schools hadalready hired people andClinton was the onlyschool that was hiring solate in the year and afterthe interview the jobseemed to fit.

What excites you aboutBiology?

I just think biology is soprevalent, it’s alwaysaround us, like when I lookat a flower I wonder how itcame to be. I’m a nature’sman.

Why biology, I meanwith so many fields outthere, why be a biologyteacher?

Well I know I love ani-mals and the outdoors andwhen I went to collegebiology seemed fit and Iwas going to be a doctorwith biology. Then Ibecame a teacher mainlybecause my motherinspired me...she herself isa teacher.

How does America dif-fer from Africa?

I think that people inAfrica view life differentlythan we do. They takemore time for family, workover there comes second.They are never in a hurry.People here rarely taketime to talk to their familyand friends. Most people inAfrica don’t have the luxu-ry life like we do, they alsodon’t have the same educa-tion and they barely have

jobs and less money to buynice stuff.

What did you take toAfrica?

I first went to Africa so Icould learn about peopleand their culture, toremove my own ignorance.

You said you went toAfrica to remove yourignorance. Did you dothat?

Yes, dealing with peoplebecause I was in a placewhere skin color and cul-ture is minority. Here I ammajority. It’s different.

If you could die rightnow, what would you saywas your greatestachievement?

I feel that I have achieveda lot things that’s why I’mhere today. I have changedso much. I could say I haveachieved this and that butall those make up me.

If you could spend awhole day doing exactlyas you wished with nodemands and no responsi-bilities, what would youdo?

I’d certainly be doingsomething outside hoping

it’s a nice weather.Were you an honor stu-

dent in high school?Yes.If time and money was

no object, to what causewould you dedicate your-self to?

Probably helping peoplearound the world, mainlythird world countries.

What was your favoriteand least favorite subjectin high school?

My favorite was art classand my least favorite Iwould have to say wasEnglish.

What inspires you themost?

My mother but mainlymotivation.

What do like aboutCHS?

I like the dedication theteachers and administra-tors have, the pride theyhave and the pride that thestudents have for thisschool. Even thoughClinton High is a bigschool it seems small.People here are so niceand welcoming to newpeople, like me.

School Now in Session forCHS RunnersSean Determan

The annual SchoolHouse Open kicked offthe cross country seasononce again on Tuesday,Sept. 8. The mock meet ispractice for the CHS teamalong with many localteams. Because the meetis not scored and general-

ly has small amounts ofcompetitors in each race,it’s traditionally low inten-sity. However, this year’sevent was slightly largerthan normal, with about120 people per race, com-pared to an average of 100people in past years, andproduced remarkabletimes for the season open-er.

Clinton High Schoolproved fierce in theiropening day with many

runners in the top ranks ofthe races. One outstandingperformance came fromKate Kaster running a16:06 and placing numberfive in the top-10 runnersof all Clinton High history.Also starting on top for theboy’s team was Evan Tuislplacing seventh and run-ning 17:40. The ClintonRiver Kings and Queensare greatly anticipating therest of the season as every-one has improved fromlast year’s season.

The coaches were veryoptimistic and positiveabout the performances atthe School House Open.“It was a good meet to seewhere everybody is at forthe beginning of the sea-son and every runner onthe team either met orexceeded my expecta-tions,” commented headcoach Wes Golden.

Even coach AlbertHayton was satisfied withthe results of the team. Hesaid, “It was perfect con-ditions for running andbecause of that we hadgood performances. It

was also a great day forthe newcomers to shine.”

“All the teams wereready to race and every-one began on a good note.I would also like to thankthe school staff, parents,and students that came upthe Saturday before to setup and take down equip-ment after the race thatday. I am looking forwardto the ClintonInvitational,” added thenewest addition to thecross country staff, AdamBohach, who is also a newbiology teacher at CHS.

The School House Openwas a great way to startthe season this year and aglimpse at the improve-ment to unfold in the com-ing season. The next race,hosted at the EricksonCenter, will be on Oct. 3,2009 for the ClintonInvitational on theSaturday morning ofhomecoming week. Thecross country team hopesto see support from fansthat will help the teamsucceed and acquire fasttimes this year.

“...every runner on theteam either met or

exceeded my expecta-tions...”

-Head Coach Wes Golden

Clintonian Staff: In this issue...

Editor-in-Chief & Layout: Alison Sullivan

Photgrapher: Brooke Larson

Staff: Sean Determan Tara Geary Anna Marshall

Arian Sullivan Karishma Faseeh Deana Cunningham

Amber Elkins Brooke Larson Grace Shemwell

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