The Rock - Issue 22
Challenges, Charisma and Cheer
The Grinch says, "You'd Better Have a Merry Christmas!"
Email: rburk@sd365.us
Website: www.sd365.us
Phone: 208.834.2260
Creative Writing
Bells ring in the distance, Snow gently falls as I look out the window The smell of pine trees fills my nose, I look over, and the Christmas lights glow The fire pops and crackles in the fireplace, My family runs outside and a cold gust of wind blows through the house, I laugh and watch through the kitchen window as they leave footprints in the soft, glittering snow I see snowballs flying, Smiles on their faces, The timer beeps; I open the oven The smell of fresh cookies fills the room I set the pan on the counter and run to the door I ball up snow as I leave the house I look up at the falling snowflakes in awe, And I hear a thud I look down and see snow falling off of my jacket Laughing, I bend down and throw a snowball back Everyone laughs and raises a snowball, threatening to throw it I dash back to the door and pull it closed The smell of cookies fills my nose once again and I hear four thuds against the door
Senior: Samanta Elizondo
For her senior project, Samanta Elizondo hopes to supply things for homeless people so that they can stay warm during the winter. When she graduates, Samanta hopes to be a social worker because she loves helping people and she knows what it's like to not have much . She hopes to inspire others and make people smile, and this is what makes her the proudest. The favorite part of her project is helping others and showing them that there is hope . According to her, the toughest part about her project was her research paper.
Senior: Todd Marvin
Senior Todd Marvin has completed his senior project...a parking lot for the football field. Todd started his senior project last October. Todd said he got the idea to do the football parking lot when he saw that it was a big safety issue. Todd got help from Doug Thurman, Harold Simper, Jeff Fowers, Raymond Robison and the Boy Scouts. Todd said his favorite part about his project was leading people and the different challenges in leading each person. Todd said the thing that makes him proud of the overall project is how useful it was and the compliments he got. He thinks that his project affects people in a good way.
Boys High School Basketball
By: Laura Gasper
The boys basketball team is off to good start with the new Head Coach, Arron Hall, who coached the varsity team into their first victory in two full seasons. When I asked him what he hopes to accomplish this season and what his goals are he replied with, “getting a win this year...” which they did! They had their win when they played at the two day tournament in Jackpot, Nevada.
Ian Burbank, a junior at Rimrock, says that the one thing he was looking forward to the most this season was the Jackpot Tournament. They played three teams in total including Jackpot, Community School, and Bliss. Of those three games, they won two of them, which gave them the opportunity to play for first and second place. They played Jackpot and Bliss the first day and had a win against Bliss and a loss against Jackpot. The second day they played Community School and had a win against them.
The Rimrock Raiders then got to play in the championship game against Jackpot and battled hard for first or second place and came out with a second place trophy and title that all the boys were very proud of. Coach Hall had also said that he “loves hanging out with the boys and watching them grow as the season goes on”. We hope that our Raider Boys can do just that and keep growing and keep getting better as the season progresses and be able to have yet another victory this season.
Enjoy some photos from the season below:
The team with the 2nd Place Trophy from the Jackpot Tournament
Ian Burbank
Cheerleading Comes to Rimrock
A sport has been added back to the Rimrock athletic program, which is very exciting news for those that don’t participate in any sport during the winter or have always wanted to participate in cheerleading. Cheerleading is a great way to become a school leader and exercise someone’s social skills and team building skills. There is a total of 8 girls on the squad, one senior, four juniors, one sophomore, and two freshman. With such a variety of girls we’re able to bond as peers and come closer as friends. I asked junior Holley Bretas a few questions on cheerleading and she had great responses. The first question I asked her was how do you think the introduction of a cheer squad at Rimrock will affect the school spirit at games and pep assemblies? Her response was, “I think it’s going to encourage people to be a little bit more active in the games/sports events and get everybody hyped, which in turn, supports the athletes.”
The next question I asked her was what type of feeling do you get from participating in cheer? She replied with, “I get really excited and really start to yell. I almost lost my voice last game because we were cheering so loudly.”
The final question asked was what type of skills do you think you’ll get from participating in cheerleading? Holley’s answer was, “I think participating in cheerleading would help people to find ways to get excited about going to school at Rimrock, finding happiness and being positive. Cheer could help people really practice putting yourself and others in a better position.”
Enjoy Photos from the Cheer Season Below:
Enjoy Some Photos from the High School Girls' Basketball Season Below:
An Interview with Mr. Schoen
1. What FFA activities have you guys done so far this year?
"We have done dairy judging, foods, soils green hand knowledge and mechanics."
2. What opportunities does FFA provide?
"The main opportunities are leadership skills and hands on opportunities."
3. Why is it good for people to join FFA?
"It gives them an opportunity to meet other people and a competitive edge when they leave high school."
4. Who is eligible to join FFA?
"Anybody that is involved in one semester of AG, 8th grade and up."
5. What future activities do you guys have planned?
"We have leadership workshop, creed, speaking, parliamentary, livestock and the state leadership contest."
6. What standards does the FFA have?\
"Members are expected wear official dress, act formally, follow the rules and code of ethics."
7. How has the Rimrock FFA changed since you started teaching here?
"We have become more active in more competitions and we are in the uphill swing of being on an active path for leadership."
8. How do think the FFA will change in the future?
"We are going to see less rules, kids will see more contests, and more technical elements that are more city related."
An Interview with Ms. Volk
Christmas is coming! At Rimrock we had a concert on December 6th and here are some interview questions the I asked Ms. Volk, our music teacher. 1. What did the bands do at the performance? "The beginning band played a bunch of short pieces from their method book. Jr. High band played three pieces: Christmas March, Medley of Christmas Songs, Calypso Holiday, and Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer. High School band played: Sleigh Ride, Still Still Still, and Carols of Christmas. 2. What makes this concert different from last year? "Instead of having choir and two bands, we had three different bands and no choir." 3. How do you like Christmas so far? “Very busy. I do a lot of outside performances besides the school performances.” 4. Was the performance what you were expecting? “I try not to anticipate how they're going to do so, no, it was not what I was expecting. What will happen will happen and so I try not to have concrete expectations. I am very happy with how it went.” 5. How do you feel like the students performed? “I was really excited for this concert. They were really prepared and they had a lot of fun with the music. I think it went pretty well. They put forth their best effort and they put a lot of passion into their music. And I think that's more important than getting all the notes right." Enjoy some photos from the concert below:
TECNOLOGÍA EN LA ESCUELA
La tecnología en las escuelas puede ser de algún modo buena para los estudiantes porque puede servir de aprendizaje y te ayudarán a adaptarte a los nuevos avances tecnológicos, pero también puede ser una distracción para los alumnos porque pueden ponerse a jugar juegos o a estar en otras páginas de internet que sean una distracción y será más difícil poder poner atención al maestro y cuando pasen al colegio se encontrarán con dificultades en el aprendizaje en forma analogica.En mi opinion yo pienso que la tecnología puede servir para la educación pero también no deberíamos de perder la enseñanza en papel y leer libros.
Opiniones de las entrevistas
Melvin Varela: Yo pienso que es una distracción porque más de alguno nos ponemos a hacer algo que no deberíamos.
Luis Araujo: Es buena porque nos ayuda a aprender mejor.
TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY MRS. BURK:
Technology in school can be a good thing for students because it assists our learning and helps us adapt to new technological advances. However, technology can also be a distraction for students because they can play games or be on other websites that make it difficult to pay attention to the teacher. Therefore, when students go on to college, they will be met with difficulties when it comes to analogy. In my opinion, technology can serve education in a good way, but we shouldn't lose teaching with paper and reading books.
Opinions from student interviews:
Melvin Varela: "I think it is a distraction more than anything else because we can do things that we shouldn't."
Luis Araujo: "It is good because it helps us learn better."
Freshmen Make Rube Goldberg Machines
By: Asa Frederick
A Rube Goldberg is a complicated machine that does a simple task you can only touch it once and that's it. The guy who started the whole thing is Rube Goldberg, and he lived from 1883 and to 1970. The only reason he came up with Rube Goldbergs was because he made cartoons and he put the Rube Goldbergs in his cartoons.
In the 9th grade, we are building Rube Goldbergs. Our class is split into two groups, and one side of the class wants to break a TV at the end of their Rube Goldberg. The other side of the class is going to put a bath bomb in water. Each person has to do six steps by themselves so you can have a group of 4 and have 24 steps.
Luis Araujo said his favorite part of the Rube Goldberg is when we’re all done with the project and get to see it all go down. My impression of this project is that you can't just say this is easy because it’s not at all. It’s really hard trying to get everyone to stay together and to get the next one to work after the last. I learned that doing this can be really stressful at times but when you get it done, it is so worth watching it all go down.
The thing that went well was when I finally got it up and done and watched it and fixed the mistakes...that was worth it. Seeing all the things that went wrong made me so mad, then I had to fix them and make sure it worked again. Then, setting it up and up again was a pain. Yes, I would 100% recommend doing this again as a project; it is fun and it's like a team bonding experience because we had to work as a team.
Presión Social
By: Melvin Varela
La presión social se define como aquella influencia que ejercen las demás personas sobre nuestras actitudes, valores o también hasta con nuestros pensamientos, a un alumno que está teniendo presión social en la escuela suele ser cuando cambia su forma de vestir o su forma de ser para que sean aceptados en un grupo porque sus compañeros lo están presionando y algunas de las consecuencias de la presión social suele ser cuando empiezas a fumar, tomar,y hacer dietas excesivas eso no debemos de tomarle mucha importancia a las casas malas que digan los demás sobre nosotros.
Opiniones de los alumnos
Klever varela: es malo porque hacen que las personas hagan algo sin querer hacerlo.
Luis araujo: puede ser buena y puede ser mala porque te pueden presionar para algo bueno y te pueden presionar para algo malo.
Translation provided by Mrs. Burk:
Social pressure is the influence that others have over our actions, values, and thoughts. A student that is experiencing social pressure in school may change their way of dressing or even who they are in order to be accepted by a group of fellow students due to the social pressure to do so. The consequences of social pressure can be smoking, drinking, and extreme dieting. We should not put too much importance on these bad habits just because others say things about us.
Opinions from others:
Klever Varela: I think social pressure is bad because people end up doing things that they don't want to do.
Luis Araujo: Social pressure can be good and it can be bad because we can be pressured to do good things and we can be pressured to do bad things.
8th Graders Bring Rome to Campus
By: Abigail Meyers
Mr. Smith's 8th grade class had a Roman day history project where the students made something from Rome. All the students worked as individuals except for three students. The three students were Cooper Raymond, Jack Meyers, and Layth Jenkins. Together, they made an aqueduct for their project. Layth said that his project turned out amazing. Aden Aquiso and Eli Aquiso each made their own pan flute. Maklay Moore made a model of Mount Olympus. Dallyn Hipwell made the Temple of Apollo at Corinth. Moss Macmillan made a beautiful lora. Taylor Gasper made a German cheese cake called libem and learned that not all Roman food is good. Cristal Araujo made chicken and bread. Conley Larsen built a Roman testudo. The students said that they had fun with this project and they learned a lot about Roman culture and their food.
Enjoy some photos from the exhibit below:
Jimena Hurtado, Layth Jenkins, Roper White, Jack Meyers and Cooper Raymond
Lights Sure to Put a Twinkle in Your Eye
Photo Credit: Heidi Pearson
There are lots of fun Christmas traditions and activities that families enjoy during the cold, winter holidays. One of the many popular christmas traditions among families is to visit beautiful light displays. A new attraction off the Eagle exit in the Boise area, is a humongous display put on by the Scentsy Company. KTVB says that over 450 trees were wrapped in over 43 miles of colorful lights. This is the third year that they have put on this display for the community. I asked fellow students, who attended the Scentsy Commons display, what their opinions were.
Pimsiree Sungkeeree said that she thoroughly enjoyed the light tunnel because it looks really good in pictures. She also said that it would not be fun to have to set it all up and take everything down. Leif Pearson said that his favorite part was rolling down the hill after walking through the tunnel. Laura Gasper was not very impressed. She thought that there would be more lights and she also didn’t like the fact that it was cold outside. She suggests that you choose a night with nice weather to visit the lights.
Be sure to check it out before the end of the New Year!
Coyote Trapping
Photo Submitted By: Timothy Jewett
If you have not purchased a trapping license before 2011, then you will have to take a trapping education course to get affiliated with new laws and methods. The reason for the trapping course is because during and after 2011 Idaho gained a huge increase in trappers that did not have much experience and just had bad moments with the public that do not like trapping. So to keep trapping open for everyone, without more laws making it harder for trappers, it was suggested to teach the influx on ways to avoid getting in trouble. Overall, it’s just a nice course to catch up on new laws and tips for better trapping.
For trapping coyotes in warmer areas where there is not much snow or areas where there could be a risk of catching a pet two, coil #2 or #3’s will be your best bet, but if in colder regions, then go with four coils. For warmer areas or environments close to people or where there are a lot of people that visit your trapping area, it’s best to use two coils so that if you happen to catch a pet it won’t hurt them. Also, the ground won’t be as frozen so you won’t need to have the extra coils to break through the ice. Coyotes tend to like open areas and do not generally like to be confined to small areas. So when setting, make sure that they will not feel cramped. If they do, they will go around your set. Look for trails that lead to food sources, trails like that will have a higher chance of catching multiple coyotes rather that just one.
In colder territory, go with four coils because the extra coils will give more strength to break through frozen ground, snow, or ice. Be careful of change in weather because of the moisture getting on footholds which can lead to freezing the trap and cause immobilization.
Driver's Ed Class
Photo Credit: Dakota Jayo
We are starting up Driver's Ed classes in January and the driver teacher is Maegan Ausley. There are only 42 seats for all the kids in Owyhee County to take the class. There are three different times when kids can take the class for Driver's Ed, January 14, 2019 . There are some kids I interviewed to see what they thought about about this class.
First I interviewed Luis Araujo, what he thought was the most exciting part about Driver's Ed and he said, “...the driving part I think is going to be the most exciting part.” When do you get to take Driver's Ed? “I get to take it in January...the first class.” How do you think you're going to do in Driver's Ed? “I know I am going to do amazing.” What is your biggest fear? “My biggest fear is the driving part even though I am excited for it.”
Next, I interviewed Asa Frederick. I asked him, what are you most excited about for Driver's Ed class? “I am not excited for any of it.” When do you get to start Driver's Ed? “I get to start whenever I want to start.” How do you think you're going to do in Driver's Ed? “I feel like I am going to pass it.” What is your biggest fear about Driver's Ed? “The test is going to be my biggest fear.”
Good luck, Raider Drivers!
Owyhee County Christmas
Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the United States. Christmas is a holiday about giving and spending time with your family. People often decorate their houses the day after Thanksgiving. Some people make gingerbread houses and decorate their houses with beaming bright lights, while others don’t hardly celebrate Christmas at all. According to Timothy Jewett, his Christmas traditions are “eating and opening presents.”
A lot of families have simple Christmas traditions. Some of these traditions include making a family ornament every year, going crazy on Christmas movie marathons, or even cutting down a pine tree themselves so they can enjoy the smell of a real Christmas tree.
Some people like Jacque Schkade go to the mountains every year, cut down a tree, and take the top off and use that as their Christmas tree. Then, the day after Christmas, they pour kerosene all over the tree and light it up in flames. Some people have more normal traditions like kissing under the mistletoe, and have fancy Christmas dinners.
As you can see, Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year filled with many great traditions. It is celebrated by millions of people every year world wide. But Christmas isn’t all about traditions and getting presents; but rather the spirit of giving and making memories with the people you love and admire.