Cougar Call
Volume 2, Issue 3
Homecoming
Miss Cougar Matti Smith and Homecoming Queen Bridgette Phillips
Homecoming is always a fun time of excitement and anticipation. The Homecoming Court of 2015 included ninth grade representatives Sydney Davis, Lawton Harris, and Maddie Morton. Tenth grade representatives were Grayson Bradley and Kylie Garner; eleventh grade included Ashley Johnston and Grace Roberts. When asked what she was most nervous about, Grayson Bradley replied, “Wearing a white dress on the football field.” Ashley Johnston described dress shopping in three words: stressful, fun, and beautiful. The senior representatives were Miss Cougar Matti Smith, Alicia Peek, Bridgette Phillips, and Haley Tyler. Matti Smith was touched by the love and appreciation from this year’s football team for voting her Miss Cougar. When asked what she will miss most about Homecoming, senior Haley Tyler responded, “I will miss being able to dress up.” First graders Carly Maddox and Jake Adamson were the senior mascots. Bridgette Phillips was voted Homecoming Queen by her high school peers. The girls did a fantastic job representing their grades for Homecoming.
Spirit Week
'Merica Monday
Nerd VS. Jock Tuesday
Nerd- Amelia Dodson
Costume Wednesday
Piglet- Cassidy Cook
Tiger- Deacon Robinson
Senior Citizen Thursday
Extreme Spirit Friday
First Ever 1AA Fastpitch Softball Region Championship
On September 22, 2015 the Piedmont Lady Cougars made school history winning the first ever PAC fast-pitch team region championship. The Lady Cougars faced Flint River and defeated them 7-1, making the Lady Cougars 1AA 2015 Region Champs! The Flint River team had defeated the Lady Cougars in last year's region championship game.
Maddie Morton pitched 4.1 innings, and allowed only two hits, and one unearned run. She also had three strike-outs. . Neely Bradford ended the game for the Cougars, and had five strike-outs and the two and two-third hit-less innings she pitched.
Offensively, the Lady Cougars did great slowing the game down, although they were excited to be ahead in the game 2-0 in the first inning, they took each at-bat one pitch at a time. Madison Johnson was three for four at the plate Tuesday with an RBI while Cassidy Cook was two for three with two runs. Bradford was one for three with a run and a walk and Madison Burnham was one for two with an RBI.
“Even though the final score ended up 7-1, it was still a close game,” Funt said. “I am proud of the team. I feel like they have become a true team and good things happen when you do.”
It was a special time for the senior girls on the team, as they made history for Piedmont in their last games for the PAC softball team. Haley Tyler (senior) says “It was such a special moment for me, because after five years of hard work, it has finally paid off. It was an honor to be able to spend the experience with every girl on this team, because they are all so special to me. The bondage we have made since the first practice over the summer is incredible, and I think that had a huge contribution to the way we played that led us up to winning. It’s definitely a great way to end the beginning of my senior year!”
Amelia Dodson (senior) said “We have worked four years to finally achieve this goal, and it was well worth the work and wait. Being a senior of the team, it really means a lot because that is an accomplishment I have worked toward since I was a freshman!”
Matti Smith (senior) stated “It was cool to make history, but it was even cooler to the group of girls that I did. This team has improved so much throughout the year, and working together has really brought us to the goals we have achieved. Now, it is time to take another step and win a ring!” Taylor Swart (senior) stated “It was phenomenal. Being able to experience this with girls I have played with since I was a freshman made it even more special to me. It was a complete team effort and I couldn’t be more proud of us! Now we are ready to take on the next challenge!”
The softball team is very proud of their accomplishment and hope to continue the streak into the State Championship games.
BY: Haley Tyler
An Ending Too Soon for the Lady Cougars
On Thursday, October 8th, the Lady Cougars face Thomas Jefferson Academy. After having three Senior Night games canceled due to rain, the scheduled game for Thomas Jefferson was a last minute thing. The Lady Cougars had an awesome game after they tied the game up in the 7th inning resulting into having to go into a double international tie breaker. Before the first tie breaker, the score was 4-4. During the beginning of the tie breaker, Thomas Jefferson put a run on the board, but Piedmont was not far behind them and tied the game up 5-5 making the team go into another overtime. The Lady Cougars pulled out a win after Thomas Jefferson scored another run in the overtime. The winning score was 8-7, and this made out for a great senior night for the senior girls. The ceremony was held after the game, along with snacks and refreshments.
On the other hand, for state playoffs, the Lady Cougars hosted Brentwood here at home for the second round of playoffs. The first game started at 1:00. Although the weather was rather difficult with scattered storms, the Lady Cougars pulled through with a win. The score was 5-4. The game was extremely close, and the team knew this would be tough competition, but they came out in the first game ready to play.
The second game was played around 3:15 after the rain delays in the first game. Brentwood came out with a fight in the beginning of the second game, and jumped ahead early. The Cougars struggled offensively against their off speed pitcher, and couldn’t back up the runs that Brentwood put across the plate. The ending result of the second game was a loss against Piedmont with the resulting score being 6-1. The Lady Cougars knew they couldn’t get the job done with having just one run on the score board.
The third game was an “if” game, and had to be played because of the split between won games. The lady cougars came put being loud, with their heads up, hoping to win the game to advance them to final four. Sadly, the results of the game didn’t go as planned. The Lady Cougars were defeated by Brentwood in the third game with the end of the game having the score of 8-2.
As it wasn’t the way the seniors or the team wanted to end, the effort that was given throughout the year was phenomenal. Coach Funt stated “I am proud of the girls for their work and their effort throughout the year, and winning the first ever GISA 1AA Region Championship for the school. They have handled the adversity well with coming together as a team and dealing with the weather at the end of the season.” he continued saying “We need to continue to work on speed, agility, and strength and believing in each other. I will miss this years’ group of seniors greatly and I am proud of the effort and leadership they brought to the team. Good luck to them, the ladies competing in other sports, and I am already looking forward to the next season!”
Congratulations to the Lady Cougars in all of their accomplishments, we are proud of the team, but we are sad to see it end so early.
BY: Haley Tyler
Friday Night Lights
On October the 2nd, the Piedmont Varsity Cougars faced off against the Briarwood Buccaneers for Senior Night. After four quarters of a cold and rainy game, the Cougars won 53-18. On October the 9th, the Cougars battled against Georgia Christian on Homecoming. At the half, the Cougars led 34-0. After two more quarters of football, the final score to the Homecoming game was Piedmont 34 and Georgia Christian 7.
BY: Joseph Anderson
Tyler Mills With the Interception
Competition Cheer Continues to Improve
The Cougar competition cheerleaders acquired second place in their recent competition at Gatewood Academy. Prior to that competition, the cheerleaders placed first in the competition that was held at Putnam County. The cheerleaders were very nervous because they wanted to do as well as they did the week before, so they listened to music to help calm their nerves, and they ate a very light breakfast. The competition started at 9:30 and ended at 1:00. Even though one of their stunts fell and other teams had falls and standing tucks, Sydney Reardon suggests that they received second place because “We performed it (the routine) well, and we entertained the judges and the crowd.” They performed in the GISA division against four private school teams, Gatewood Academy, Bethlehem Christian Academy, Loganville Christian Academy, and John Milledge Academy.
BY: Savannah Mote
The Clay Crushing Cougars
On Saturday the 26th, the Piedmont Clay Crushing Cougars shot in a competition at Tom Lowe Shooting Range. Although the weather was cold and rainy, Piedmont placed 5th out of 15. For the team, Joseph Anderson shot skeet high score with 68 out of 75, tied for 2nd overall high score on trap with 60 out of 75, and overall high score with 128 out of 150. Anne Marie Hildebrant shot trap high score with 64 out of 75 and second overall high score with 126 out of 150. Mitch Marsh shot 2nd overall high score on skeet with 66 out of 75 and third overall high score with 118 out of 150. Andrew Chapko tied for 2nd overall trap score with 60 out of 75. Eli Waits shot 3rd overall skeet score with 65 out of 75. For the competition, Joseph Anderson shot in the top 10 and tied for 8th place.
BY: Joseph Anderson
Senior Mascots
In case you didn’t know yet, the senior class mascots are Carly Maddox and Jake Adamson, age 6. Many only know the PAC first graders as the senior’s mascots but they are two very distinct individuals.
“What do you like to do?”
“I like to play with my kitties. My favorite kitty is Tina and she is only my kitty. Her real name is Nina but I call her Tina,” Carly said. “I like to skateboard and play guitar and harmonica.” Jake said.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Carly said, “I want to be a vet.”
“And I want to be a policeman.” Jake added.
Carly also said that she cheers and Jake wants to sign up for football. Carly also stated: “My favorite color is pink because it’s my favorite color,” while Jake explained, “Green is my favorite color, I don’t know why.”
These kids are very excited to help out with the senior events and love being the mascots of the senior class. When asked about their favorite seniors Jake responded, “My favorite senior is the #7 football player.” “My favorite is the one who took us out of class,” said Carly. Both love coming to school and love Piedmont Academy. Carly’s favorite part of school is having recess and Jake’s is riding the bus.
“My best friend is Taylor Jo in our class.” “And, my best friend is Coby.” As our interview came to an end I had asked Carly and Jake if they liked being in Senior Night. “Yes we both did. We really liked giving the roses to them (the seniors),” Carly said. Both mascots did an awesome job at both Senior Night and Homecoming, and our senior class thanks them for doing this important job!
BY: Sydney Reardon
Does Piedmont Have a Cheating Problem?
Academic cheating, according to Delta College, is defined as “any deliberate attempt to falsify or otherwise tamper with data, information, or records.” Between 75 and 98 percent of college students have admitted to cheating at some point during their high school career. Only twenty percent said the same thing in the 1940s. If cheating is so wrong, why do so many students do it?
Academic cheating has often been blamed on the impossibly high requirements enforced in today’s education system. Testing is at an all-time high, and up to twenty percent of students experience severe test anxiety. Grades are now considered more important than actually learning the curriculum and a failing test grade can seriously jeopardize a student’s Grade Point Average. The competition to get into high-ranking universities has made students desperate for that sacred “A.”
With the rising educational standards, cheating has become more common than we would like to admit. Most students are unwilling to rat out a friend, so most cheating goes unnoticed. Cheating is losing it negative persona. Who’s Who Among American High School Students conducted a poll in 1998 and found that over half of high schoolers didn’t think cheating was a big deal and that 80% cheated to get to the top of their class. Most were not caught. It’s the classic bandwagon scenario. Everyone else is doing it, so it must not be that bad.
Students often feel justified in cheating. If they want a good grade, they cheat. Those who don’t cheat, get a lower grade than those who do. At that point, academic honesty is seen as a disadvantage.
Cheating may not hold the stigma it used to, but the inherent dishonesty is still there. When students cheat, they are lying about what they know. They are telling the teacher they understand something, even if they don’t. Cheating does not allow academically honest students to reach their full potential, and overall, harms everyone involved. Students who cheat do not learn the material, and do not seek help. Academic standards may be tough, but cheating is never a good solution.
BY: Sarah Holland
More Than Conquerors
In the spirit of October and Halloween, I decided to talk about a big subject known as fear. We have all experienced fear at one point in our lives (for example: spiders and all things that crawl). On a more serious note, I bet everyone has been afraid of what the future will bring, or scared of being judged by their peers. Fear is a part of life, but the good news is that it does not come from God. 2 Timothy 1:7 states, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love, and of a sound mind.” God does not take any part in causing fear. He is our protector, a solid rock to rely on. A verse that helps me in times of timidity is Deuteronomy 31:8. It says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Remember that God is in control of your life, and He is always there even when you don’t feel Him. God has a plan and a purpose for you. Understand that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, meaning the battle is already won by Jesus (Romans 8:37). God is with you every step of the way as a source of comfort and refuge.
“I’m not afraid of tomorrow because I know God is already there.” –Anonymous
BY: Mikayla Rigsby
Paws at a Glance
10/15
· Middle school football VS. Covenant- Home- @ 6:00
· Picture retakes
10/16
· Report cards
· Superlative pictures- @9:00
10/17
· Varsity Softball State Championship
· Cheer competition @ Ola High School
· Elementary football VS. Loganville – away- @ 11:00
· GA Best Robotics knockoff day
10/19
· Grandparent Bazaar setup
10/21
· 4th and 5th grade chapel
10/22
· Bazaar opens
· Powder puff game @ 6:30
10/23
· STUDENT HOLIDAY
· Varsity Football VS. Bethlehem Temple- away- @7:30
10/24
· Elementary football VS. Creekside- away- @10:00
· Shotgun meet at Southriver
· GA Best Robotics competition day
10/27
· FFA leaves for National Convention in Louisville, KY
10/28
· PSAT (10th & 11th grade)
10/30
· Varsity football VS. Flintriver- Home- REGION CHAMPIONSHIP- @7:30
· Shot gun sell Chik-fil-a biscuits @ break
10/31
· Shotgun @ Old Hudson Plantation
· Cheer competition @ Loganville
BY: Haley Tyler