Cougar Call
Volume 2, Issue 11
Literary
Congratulations to Piedmont’s Literary Team! They continued their winning streak on March 16th at Valdosta State University for the AA State Championship where a grand total of twenty schools competed. Sponsored by social studies teacher Kirstie Lewis, the team worked for countless hours speaking, spelling, and interpreting. English teacher Leslie White coordinated the writing events; music teacher April Allen and athletic trainer Mary Catherine Sikes organized the musical events. Coming in first place were Humorous Oral Interpretation -Will Tillman, Spelling - Kevin Davis, U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking - Chris McClain, and International Extemporaneous Speaking - Danny Ramsdell. The Duo Oral Interpretation by Danny Ramsdell and Will Tillman won second place. Morgan Leach won third place with her personal essay, and Ivy English won 5th place with her argumentative essay. The girl’s trio, with Gracie Brittain, Sara Hammonds, and Anne Marie Hildebrant won sixth place. The Cougar Call staff would like to congratulate the team for their hard work and success. The team has won the State AA meet for two years in a row!
By: Sarah HollandEaster Jokes
Q: What do you call a rabbit with fleas?
A: Bugs Bunny!
Q: Why was the little girl sad after the race?
A: Because an egg beater!
Q: How do bunnies stay healthy?
A: Eggercise
Q: Why did the Easter egg hide?
A: He was a little chicken
Q: What did the rabbit say to the carrot?
A: It's been nice gnawing you!
Q: Why did the Easter Bunny Cross the road?
A: Because the chicken had his Easter Eggs!
Devotional: A Crazy Love Story
Spring is my absolute favorite time of year when the world starts to wake up from the cold days of winter. The abundance of flowers, birds, and sunlight bring me so much happiness; however, I could do without the pollen. All joking aside, spring is a season of new life and abundance. I like to think that Jesus is similar to spring; He brought light and hope into a cold and lost world. Ever since the beginning, God has pursued us. He wanted to get closer and closer to His people, but sin and shame created a barrier. God in the flesh, Jesus, came to Earth to show His children the greatest act of love. He took our punishment, sin, and guilt and nailed them to the cross. Jesus died an excruciating death that He did not deserve, but placed it on Himself because of His astounding love for us. Where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:29). Just like how the cold and sadness of winter did not last forever, Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the grave and defeated death. Sin no longer has a hold on us! “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”-1 Corinthians 15:54-55. It’s a crazy love story. I fail Jesus every day, but His love for me never changes. I want to spend the rest of my life proclaiming what gives me hope and where my strength comes from. This Easter, remember how Jesus is like the season of spring; He is always constant and filled with joy, abundant life, and amazing grace. We are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us so dearly.
By: Mikayla Rigsby
Is Prom Worth the Trouble?
Winter Sports Banquet
Awards presented at the Winter Sports Banquet include:
Varsity Boys Basketball - Scholar Athlete - Chris Cain Teammate of the Year - Chris Coogler All Region - Mack Brady, Chandler Burrell, Zach Wilson
Varsity Girls Basketball - Coaches Lindsay Tyler, Michael Wilson; Scholar Athlete and Teammate of the Year - Haley Tyler; All Region, and All State - Amelia Dodson; All Region - Madison McCart
Varsity Wrestling - Coach Alvin Hawkes
Scholar Athlete - Ian Boyd
Teammate of the Year - Nolan Cleary; Region Champ in Weight Class and Region Champ in Weight Class - Logan Conner
By: Judy Nelson
Golf
The 2016 Golf Team has finally started practice! The team consists of two seniors, two juniors, a freshman, and an eighth grader. The seniors of the team are Chandler Burrell and Tanner Casey, the juniors are Zach Sanders and Preston Tyler, the freshman is Sam Younker and the eighth grader is Browning Benton. Head Coach, Michael Wilson, said that the major goals for the season are to win region and compete for a state title as a team and for individuals. Wilson said “I am excited to watch this group improve and to see how successful the team can be. To get to state, the team needs o focus on what they do, play their best, and enjoy the game. Tanner Casey will help the team out the most,” Wilson stated, “He is an excellent golfer. He has a great chance to do very well this year, because he understands the game and does a great job of helping the others and offering his advice.” The team has time to practice before having any matches, and we hope that they will achieve their goals and accomplish big things!
By: Haley Tyler
2016 Varsity golf team - left to right - Sam Younkers, Browning Benton, Zach Sanders, Tanner Casey, Chandler Burrell, Logan Conner, and Preston Tyler
All of the 'Racket' Continues
The Piedmont Academy tennis team played Briarwood on March 21st and had a fantastic day! Kylie Garner and Haley Tyler won in doubles 8-5 in eight pro-set, and Grayson Bradley and Emma Kate Edmonds won 6-0 in a six game pro-set of doubles. All of the singles participants , Anne Marie Hildebrant, Gracie Hunt and Mattie Smith, played 10 games and each girl lost 2-8. “All of the players are working and trying to correct their weaknesses. The players’ serves are becoming more consistent, and they plan to continue to work on placement of the ball and strengthening the forehand,” said Coach Elizabeth Davis.
By: Lauren Bernard
The Cougars Stay Busy on the Diamond
The Varsity baseball Cougars defeated the Brentwood Eagles at Brentwood on March 10th for their first region game. Brock Carter started the game for the Cougars and allowed only 1 run, so the Cougars could come out on top with a score of 11-1. The next game was played here at home against Gatewood on March the 15th. The Cougars lost the game 10-1 after 7 tough innings. The Cougars had their next region game away at Monsignor Donovan on March the 17th. Nathan Miller started off the game and only gave up one run in the 18-1 blowout. The Cougars then came back home for their next game against Flint River on March 19th. Brock Carter started the game and led the team to an 8-1 win. The next game was against John Milledge here at home on March 21st. after 7 tough innings the Cougars lost 18-1. The third region game of the season was played at home against Windsor. Brock Carter started the game for the Cougars on the mound and only gave up one run in the 9-1 win. Coach Dan Funt said, “We are 3-0 in region. The tough part of the schedule is over. These guys have been challenged. We’ve seen what needs to be improved. We’re looking for improvement in some of the guys, and I think we’ll finish the season strong.”
Soccer
The middle school girls’ team has been very busy the last 2 weeks. The team, unfortunately, has lost the games they played. On the first game of the season, the girls played John Milledge. Although they lost 3-1, Hannah Tyler scored the first goal of the season. The team also played Watkinsville, a home-schooled team, twice and was defeated the first time 3-0 and defeated the second time 5-0. Head coach, Zach Norris, said “We definitely need to work on passing and being more aggressive, but there is a lot of room for improvement throughout the season!”
The Varsity girls’ soccer team has had several games. They won 3-2 against John Milledge with Haley Tyler scoring 2 goals and Amelia Dodson scoring one goal. The team is confident that they will continue to improve and work together. Team practices include a lot of conditioning to stay in shape and also a lot of passing and dribbling drills.
The boys have also played several games. They unfortunately lost 7-1 against region opponent John Milledge. During that game Chris Cain scored the only goal, not to mention it was off of the back of his head. Joseph Anderson says “We need to improve on passing the ball, but we do really well working as a team."
By: Haley Tyler and Savannah Mote
Piedmont Track: A Race to the Finish Line
Track season is off with a big start! The track team’s head coach is Rick Ringer with assistant coach Traci Brady. When asked about his opinions on the season, Coach Ringer stated, “I do not know everyone’s full potential yet on the team because I have not seen a lot of them as this is my first year coaching this group. We will just have to see during the practices and meets. I do have high expectations because they are all successful at other sports and could have a lot of potential.” The team recently headed to Briarwood Academy on March 9th and Brentwood Academy on March 16th for their first meets.
Results for March 16th meet
Boys’ Heats:
Browning Benton- 3rd in 300 m hurdles and 3rd in 110 m hurdles
Mack Brady- 5th overall in 1600 m dash and 4th overall in long jump
Owen Brady- 4th in 200 m dash
Corbin Burell- 5th in 400 m dash
Parker Clark- 3rd in 300 m hurdles and 5th overall in triple jump
Michael Edwards- 2nd in 100 m dash
Noah Quick- 3rd in 100 m dash
JT Webb- 6th in 200 m dash
Boys’ Relay- 5th in 4x100 relay
Girls’ Heats:
Cassidy Cook- 1st in 100 m dash
Sydney Davis- 4th in 200 m dash
Alexis Dodson- 5th in 100 m dash
Gracie Hunt- 1st in 100 m dash and 5th overall in 400 m dash
Anna Knox- 4th in 200 m dash and 2nd in 100 m dash
Taylor Patterson- 2nd in 400 m dash
Bailyn Whitaker- 2nd in 100 m hurdles and 4th overall in high jump
Caitlyn Young- 2nd in 200 m dash and 5th in 100 m dash
By: Joseph Anderson and Mikayla Rigsby
Editorial: Should Summer Reading be Mandatory?
Should we really have mandatory summer reading? We spend 180 days in school working and studying hard to graduate and get into college, and we finally get a few months off to ourselves. Months that should be stress free and time to take a break and relax. We should not have to do school work during out vacations. As soon as we get back to school we have to stress and work hard for another 180 days. We need time to relax and have fun, not spend our summer reading.
Everyone has different preferences on reading. If a student is forced to do summer reading, he/she will only wait until the last week of summer to read the book, stressing and thinking that the assignment is absolutely pointless.
Teachers say that the reason they give us a summer reading is partially because one way to increase vocabulary is to read, and reading helps students score better on big tests such as the SAT. Another reason is so students won’t go brain dead during the summer.
Although both of these reasons may be true, PAC students read all the time. In school we read a total of 12 literary books counting Accelerated Reader choices. We just need a few months off to not focus on school and focus on other personal activities. It’s not like students don’t learn anything during the summer. Last year I visited a museum in Washington D.C., and I learned much that we haven’t even talked about in school.
Summer reading is not fun, and students need a break from school for a little while because when school comes back around, we have to drop everything, focus, work hard, and stress over our classes.
Teacher Spotlight
This issue's Teacher of the Month is Mrs. Elizabeth Davis. Next year will be Mrs. Davis’s 25th year of teaching at Piedmont. When asked "What brought you to Piedmont?" she answered with “I have loved this school since my parents enrolled me in 1976. I continue to love this school to this day." Mrs. Davis attended Piedmont Academy from 1976-1986. She cheered all of her years at PAC,and for 18 years she was on the dance and gymnastic teams. She was a member of the Y-Club and Key Club, and held various class offices. After graduation, she attended Georgia College and State University, and majored in middle grades. She earned her Master's degree in education. Mrs. Davis was inspired to teach by her family, because of a strong legacy of teaching on both sides of her family. “I still think it is pretty cool that Mrs. Wen Yearwood was my first Piedmont teach in the third grade!” To this day Mrs. Davis still bleeds blue. She is now the head tennis coach. Mrs. Davis said she enjoys taking care of her chickens, painting, reading… Oh! And traveling! Her favorite color she says is “any “color” shoes. She enjoys watching football because it is fun to watch, and she also enjoys wrestling. She likes watching Floyd Mayweather’s skill- although she doesn’t approve of some of his choices - but she loves to watch him perform! Mrs. Davis is a mother of two, and both of herchildren attend Piedmont as well. She has a son, Ben Davis, who is a senior, and a daughter, Sydney Davis, who is a freshman this year!
We thank Mrs. Davis for her dedication to PAC and for her efforts to make learning fun for her students!
BY: Haley Tyler
Senior Letters
Monday:
Am I supposed to know what I’m doing with my life? Recently, I have been asked by multiple people what I plan to choose as my major for college. The closer I get to graduating high school, the more uncertain I am of my previous plans. I am excited about going to college, for sure, but I still don’t know what I’m going to study. At least I have a couple of years with core classes. Hopefully by then, I’ll know what I wanna be when I grow up!
Tuesday:
Allergy season has arrived! The pollen count is rising and so is my personal record of the most sneezes in one minute. I have taken multiple trips to the local pharmacy to stock up on Claritin. The only plus with this weather is the flowers. Some are already starting to bloom. Stock up on tissues, and good luck!!
Wednesday:
Update: I want a nap. I have taken at least a three hour nap every day for the past two weeks. I don’t understand how it’s humanly possible for me to still be tired in the mornings. I hit the snooze button at a minimum of three times every morning, and I’m usually late to everything. The weekend could not come any faster.
Thursday:
Spring Break WHERE ARE YOU?? Only one more week until spring break! The thought of that is the only thing that is getting me through school until then. While every other school is out and enjoying the beach, we are still stuck in school.. But that’s okay, because the week we are on Spring Break, everyone else will be having to be in school doing school work. While everyone is going to the beach it seems like, I will be enjoying precious time with my bed and the pool! After a whole week without school, senioritis will DEFINITELY be taking a toll when we all return.
Friday:
It’s FINALLY Prom day!!! After all of the waiting, having to see your dress hanging up every day, the stress of making a hair and nail appointment, finding the perfect date, making sure his tux and vest matches your dress, and picking out the perfect flowers the day has finally come!. Every girls’ dream is to have that “perfect” senior prom.. Will this be that prom we always dreamed of? I sure hope so! After all of the money spent, if it isn’t, I will be VERY disappointed. It’s about that time to “dance the night away!”Paws At A Glance
3/24
- Tennis vs. Brentwood- @ 3:30
- Varsity girls soccer @ Westfield- @ 6:00
- Varsity Boys soccer @ Westfield- @ 7:30
- Middle school girls @ Westfield- @ 5:00
- Middle school boys @ Gryphon- home- @ 4:00
3/25
- Prom
3/26
- Varsity girls soccer @ Lake Oconee- @ 10:00
- Varsity boys soccer @ Lake Oconee- @ 11:30
3/28
- Varsity boys baseball vs. LCA- home- @ 4:30
- Tennis vs. Briarwood- home- @ 3:30
3/29
- Varsity boys baseball vs. Mon Don- home- @ 4:30
- Varsity girls soccer vs. Westminster- home- @ 5:00
- Varsity boys soccer vs. Westminster- home- @ 6:30
3/30
- College Road Trip
3/31
- Varsity girls soccer @ Mon Don- @ 5:00
- Varsity boys soccer @ Mon Don- @ 6:30
- College Road Trip
- Golf vs. Peachtree Academy- away- @ 4:00
4/1
- Dismiss @ 12:30
- Parent teacher conferences
4/4- 4/8
- Spring Break
4/11
- Varsity boys baseball vs. JMA @ GA College- @ 7:00
- Middle school boys baseball @ JMA- @ 4:00
- Tennis Region Tourney @ Brentwood
4/12
- Varsity boys baseball @ Windsor @ 6:00
- Varsity boys baseball @ Windsor- @ 5:00
- Varsity girls soccer @ JMA- @ 5:00
- Varsity girls soccer @ JMA- @ 6:30
- Golf vs. Flint River- home- @ 3:30
4/13
- 1st-3rd grade chapel- @ 1:30
- Track @ Gatewood- @ 4:00
- 4th and 5th grade to Old Capitol- Milledgeville
- K4 and K5 to Charlie Eilliot
- Achievement Testing (6th-9th)
4/14
- Varsity boys baseball vs. Briarwood- home- @4:30
- Middle school boys baseball @ Brentwood- @ 4:00
- Middle school girls soccer @ Creekside- @ 6:00
- Golf Region
- Spring Pictures
- Achievement Testing (6th-9th)
4/15
- FFA Officer interviews
- Grandparents' Day Program
4/16
- Middle school boys baseball vs. Gatewood- home- @ 11:00
- Varsity boys baseball vs. Gatewood- home- @ 1:00
4/17
- Awards Banquet @ 1:00
4/18
- Varsity boys baseball @ CFCA- @ 4:30
- Tennis State Tourney
4/19
- Lend-A-Paw Day
- Varsity girls soccer vs. Gatewood- home- @ 5:30
- Varsity boys soccer vs. Gatewood- home- @ 7:00
- Middle school girls soccer vs. Gatewood- home- @ 4:00
- Shotgun Team
4/20
- Mid Quarter
- Fine Arts Dress Down
- 4th and 5th Chapel @ 1:30
- Track Region @ Brentwood
- Achievement Testing (3rd-5th)