PHS MEDIA NEWS

On Friday, October 25, the PHS Media Department will be traveling to the annual SISPA Fall Press Day at IUS. The students will attend two workshops and find out if their work from the previous school year received any awards. 

“I like the SISPA Fall Press competition because it allows students to submit the hard work they have completed and use any awards given to them as résumé builders for future references,” said Media Advisor Heather Nichols.

Story by Kinley Block

Starting next grading period, the junior high nutrition and finance class will begin cooking for the first time this year.

During the first nine weeks, students learn how to handle finances, such as writing checks, doing taxes and dealing with payments. In the second nine weeks, students learn different cooking techniques and ingredients and apply those skills by cooking different foods. 

For their first dish, they will be making cinnamon roll bites.

“I think it will be fun just learning how to cook,” said eighth grader Kayson Simpson.

Story by Michael Hannon

On Friday, September 27, Town Clerk Treasurer Amy Morris visited PHS to talk to the advanced speech and AP government classes about the town council election forum. Speech teacher Carol Fullington and government teacher Neil Dittmer’s classes are working together to put on the event.

The position Morris holds requires her to work closely with the town council. During her visit, she gave the students basic information about the town council, and the students could have their questions answered.

“I thought Amy was very informative and professional about describing the responsibilities of the town council. I really appreciated the time she took out of her day to help us learn more about the topic to inform our students and our greater community,” said Fullington.

The forum will be held in the Ruth Uyesugi Auditorium on October 24 at 6 p.m.

Story by Elizabeth Workman

Paoli High School is in search of a head varsity wrestling coach for the upcoming wrestling season. The coach would be responsible for all aspects of the high school program and many aspects of the junior high wrestling program. The selected candidate will be visible in PHS and the community and must support all academic, co-curricular and extracurricular programs at PHS. 

Candidates that have applied for the position should have passion for students and their success, strong organizational skills, a strong worth ethic, ability to lead staff and develop assistant coaches and also be motivated and enthusiastic. 

Anyone who wishes to apply for this head position are asked to email Athletic Director Darek Newkirk at newkirkd@paoli.k12.in.us or Principal Dr. Sherry Wise at wises@paoli.k12.in.us. Deadline for applications is today.

Story by Lili Seals

On Wednesday, October 9, speech and English teacher Carol Fullington will be traveling with her dual credit public speaking class and AP language and composition class to Indiana University in Bloomington for a field trip.

Students will leave Paoli High School at 8:50 a.m. and will not return until 3:10 p.m. During the field trip, students will meet with an admissions counselor about what they look for in applications, take a formal campus tour and learn to use a research library and its resources. In order for students to be eligible, they must be enrolled in one of the two participating classes and have passing grades in all of their classes.

“I expect my students will learn more about what college admissions offices look for on applications. I expect my students to learn what types of questions they should be asking when they start visiting colleges of interest. I also expect students will learn to effectively use the academic resources available to them to further their success in college,” said Fullington.

Story by Amanda Bowles

PHS will participate in their 5th annual Service Day on October 10. Service Day is a day set aside each year for the school to take the time to give back to the community in both small and large ways. 

This year, there are 32 different Service Day groups. From helping out at the Humane Society to cleaning up the trails of Patoka Lake, the groups all aid the community in different ways.

“All the staff works to make the day a success. Our administration work to help us deal with things like supplies and transportation, which is so helpful. I can only speak to my experience, but I feel like most people really enjoy it and understand the purpose of Service Day,” said Service Day Coordinator Heather Nichols.

Story by Makiya Russelburg

In speech teacher Carol Fullington’s dual credit public speaking class, students were individually interviewed for a mock Hagan scholarship in order to practice and gain experience for future interviews. 

“Interviewing is an essential skill in life. Whether applying for colleges, scholarships, jobs or even interviews by the media. Learning to be properly prepared can make the difference between getting the job or not. Learning to dress appropriately for a formal situation, anticipating the essential questions or the brand of character they are looking for are all necessary. Writing a resume and cover letter in preparation is also a necessary skill,” said Fullington.  

Students completed their interviews September 16 through 20. During their interview period, students were evaluated by a panel in one of two conference rooms, the boardroom of the superintendent’s office or the Champions Conference room. The panel judges consisted of community members Janet Perry, Carol Hudelson, Cliff Brannon, Imojean Dedrick, Greg Walker, Brandi Kerley, Larry Hollan, Aaron Hannon and Amanda Crews.

The students’  final grade was based on the average of scores from the rubrics filled out by the interview panel.  

“I expected my students to take this interview seriously. They needed to do their research on the scholarship, consider their answers to critical interview questions, and learn to work through their nerves to give thoughtful, genuine responses,” said Fullington.

Story by Amanda Bowles

For the seniors of PHS, the last year of high school is meant to be memorable and exciting. In order to make the most of their senior year, the class hosts and participates in many events and activities.

Senior chocolate bar sales started off the students’ senior year with a success, making around $4,000 to put towards graduation expenses, student incentives and post-prom activities. The senior class will also be organizing post-prom and designing senior shirts. Seniors will also have the opportunity to go on the class trip. Details for the Senior Trip are not arranged yet, but signup will begin after Spring Break. 

In preparation for graduation day, the Herff Jones representative will be at PHS to distribute information on graduation supplies on October 1. Orders will be taken on October 8 from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Caps and gowns will be delivered on April 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For more information, contact class sponsors Carol Fullington or Melissa Higgins at fullingtonc@paoli.k12.in.us or higginsm@paoli.k12.in.us.

Story by Gracie Walls

This year, PHS is continuing the Blessing Box community project. The Blessing Box is where nonperishable food items and personal hygiene items are placed for those in need. 

“The goal of the Blessing Box is to prevent the need for food and personal items in our community. Many homes struggle to provide enough so we are helping to prevent that struggle for many families,” said Coordinator Catherine Henderson. 

Over the span of 18 months, the project has expanded to three different locations within the community and is continuing to grow. The Blessing Boxes can be found outside of Reflections on the Paoli Square, Eastview Baptist Church on highway 56 and First Pentecostal Church by the iron bridge on South Gospel Street. 

Anyone can donate to the Blessing Box, just as anyone is welcome to take items from the box. As of now, Throop Elementary staff and students, 4-H club members, local Girl Scout members, community businesses and citizens have contributed to the donations. 

“Thank you to everyone who has helped donate items, money or supported the boxes in anyway,” said Henderson.

Story by Makiya Russelburg

For over fifteen years, Paoli High School has held a flagpole prayer, and the tradition was continued in the morning of Wednesday, September 25. ‘See You at the Pole’ is a student-organized and led prayer movement for schools, students, communities and nations. All students are welcome to attend this flagpole prayer, and an average of 40 students attend the event yearly. Students from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) are in charge of leading the event.

“Simply gathering students around the flagpole is a visual reminder of what their prayer focus is,” said FCA Sponsor Chris Lindley.    

Along with PHS, many other schools around the world have this tradition.

“See You At The Pole’ is done all across the country on the 4th Wednesday of September. It is also done internationally by different nations across the world,” said Lindley.

Story by Corinne Magner

Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) is an organization that helps prepare students for future jobs. JAG members and coordinator Katie Cook will meet with other schools’ JAG programs to address multiple topics on Wednesday, September 26.

“This year the students that will be attending this conference from our school will be juniors  Samantha Shields and Conner Taylor and seniors Kyana Newlin, Avrey Richards, Isiah Beavers and Myranda Hickman. They will meet up with different schools and start planning to be up to date on events,” said Cook.

There are seven schools in Paoli’s region that will be attending the meeting, which are Mitchell, Eastern Greene, Owen Valley, Edgewood, Washington, Brown County and Bedford North Lawrence high schools.  

“We will have guest speakers and learn about developing as leaders, taking initiative, planning and following through,” said Cook. 

This year, the meeting will be held at Spring Mill Inn. Part of the meeting will also be focused on communication skills and team building skills for all members, while the other part will be planning for the upcoming years of JAG. 

“We will also form a plan for the school year and a timeline for implementing each activity,” said Cook.  

If students are interested in planning and preparing for their future, JAG would be a potential organization to look into for next year.

Story by Corinne Magner and Hayley Taylor