Plainville FCCLA members participate in STAR events

Twenty-four PHS FCCLA members participated in District B STAR Events at Phillipsburg High School February 6.

Members competed in various categories against eight other chapters in District B. They received bronze, silver and gold star ratings for their projects. Individuals placing first in their event qualified for the State FCCLA STAR Events in April which will take place in Wichita.

The results follow:

Chapter Showcase-manual: Seniors Rhiannon Becker and Renee Post - gold star rating, qualified for state

Parliamentary Procedure: Seniors Stacy Dreher, Kayla Fisher, Jolene Eilers and Heather Plante and juniors Alexandra Garvin, Carissa Fredrickson and Abby Stagner - silver star rating, qualified for state

Job Interview: Junior Naomi Thompson - gold star rating, qualified for state

National Programs in Action: Seniors Katrina Jones and Danielle Kenney - gold star rating, qualified for state

Illustrated Talk: Sophomores Makenzi Rempe and Jordyn Wilkens - bronze star rating

Chapter Service Project: Sophomore Jordan Finnesy and freshmen Toni Monroe and Paige Lowry - silver star rating

National Programs in Action - Junior Division: Freshmen Kelcee Meitler and Charlie Meitler - gold star rating, qualified for state

Focus on Children - Junior Division: Freshmen Lynn Cook, Kami Monroe and Chantel Plante - silver star rating, qualified for state

Job Interview - Junior Division: Freshman Kelsey Bjornstad - bronze star rating

Illustrated Talk - Junior Division: Freshman April Hockett - bronze star rating

Senior Jennifer Bland and juniors Danielle Moos and Colleen Veatch also attended and helped with the events. Sponsors and judges included Vicki Becker, Eileen Plante, Steve Dreher, Patti Stout, Jenna Stout and advisor Shari Tucker.

"It was such a great experience and I'm already excited to go to state!" Dreher said.

Forensics team competes in Hays

Four members of the PHS forensics team participated in the Hays High School invitational forensics meet February 17.

The students were senior Chris Peavey, junior Jamie Marcotte, freshman Heather Schonthaler and freshman Chantel Plante.

Plante and Schonthaler competed in Improvised Duet Acting (IDA) and Duet Acting. Marcotte and Peavey also participated in IDA, and each performed a prose reading.

The PHS team earned several first place ratings throughout the three-round tournament, but none of the competitors made it to finals due to the size of the 22 school tournament.

"I was impressed," Peavey said. "We're improving as a team, and I'm especially proud of the fact that several people were trying events for the first time."

NHS admits twelve new members

The National Honor Society inducted 12 new members. The current members included seniors Libby Hrabe, Shanna Fellhoelter, Heather Plante and Rhiannon Becker. Those new members include seniors Christopher Fogle, Abby Morris and Lacey Brin; juniors Alexandra Garvin, Leslie Tipton, Carissa Fredrickson and Naomi Thompson; sophomores Michelle Reishus, Makenzi Rempe, Aryn Garvin, Jessica Casey and Amanda Fogle.

These new members were voted on by the Plainville High School teachers. The students had to have at least a 3.5 grade point average to even be considered. The teachers looked at four areas scholarship, leadership, service and character. The induction ceremony took place Monday, February 4 in the high school auditorium.

Buresh receives a lifetime achievement award

One of PHS's own, Stuco sponsor, Steve Buresh, has been awarded a lifetime achievement award. The Director of Student Councils, Karen Ruder, for the KSHSAA has awarded Steve Buresh with the Certificate of Appreciation and the Bronze Lifetime Achievement Award for the National Association of Student Councils.

Steve Buresh has given 15 years of service as the student council sponsor of Plainville High School. Ruder thanked Buresh for his leadership and tireless efforts in making a difference in the lives of so many young people. His efforts have made a valuable contribution to the students and his colleagues throughout his 15 years. Buresh has always shown perseverance and dedication to his responsibilities.

February Boosters

The Cardinal Boosters for the month of February are juniors Naomi Thompson and Adam Siefers.

Thompson has been involved in volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, FCCLA and band. In her spare time you can find her hanging out with her friends. Her favorite food is any kind of pasta. Her favorite song is "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly, and her favorite movie is Sleepless in Seattle. Thompson's most memorable moment while attending PHS was sitting in Carissa's car in the middle of Main Street last year while Carissa tried to talk her into going to Winter Glacade.

Siefers has been involved in basketball. In his spare time, he likes to play video games, talk on MSN Messenger, watch TV and cruise around Plainville. His favorite food is soft tacos. His favorite song is "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed, and his favorite movie is The Fast and the Furious. His most memorable moment while attending PHS was the first time he played in a varsity basketball game at Phillipsburg last year. He was put in with a minute left and made a three-pointer at about NBA Range.

Valentine's Day could get worse, but I'm not sure how

by Chris Peavey

Okay, I'm going to come right out and say it. I hate Valentine's Day. I mean, I passionately hate valentine's Day. I VEHEMENTLY hate Valentine's Day. (Ask your teachers what "Vehemently" means. If they don't know, make fun of them.) I mean, this is a very potent hatred. I detest Valentine's Day with the disgust I normally only have for Bill Clinton, N'Sync, small children, people who answer the phone with"Y'llo!", and any given movie featuring some pop singer trying to prove their "acting chops." I favor chopping that acting into small pieces and spreading it all over the world so it can never be reassembled, but hey, personal preference.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Valentine's Day. I'd like to address the remainder of this column to those of you with "significant others"and plans to shower gifts on them. I'm sure you feel this is a valid expression of your undying love and affection It's how you give a tangible symbol of your deep-seated romance, and of how it will easily last forever. In that being, I have one thing to say.

ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?!

Seriously, have any of you ever even thought for on nanosecond about what you're doing? Valentine's Day is obviously a ploy by greeting card companies and candy factories to milk you out of money! After an exhaustive three minutes' research, I have actually uncovered the details of this horrible plot's birth! The year is...sometime a while back. Joe Hallmark and Tom Hershey (names have been changed to protect the innocent, even though I can't think of any off the top of my head) meet in a darkened alley in New York to play how they'll build a holiday around loons (the editor wishes to apologizes to any loons who might find this offensive) trying to buy the affections of other loons. Suddenly, Frank Bigoldhonkingdiamond bursts onto the scene to demand his piece of the action.

And don't get me started on the florists! The florists are even deeper into this conspiracy! Call me paranoid, Scully, but I know that we're being toyed with. How often have "I Love You" bouquets been sent on V-day? More often that I can count, that's how many! Not that I bothered to count, mind you./

Maybe I've been embittered by my own personal V-day experience. I simply don't have a good track record on the day of Cupid. (Little know fact: the actual phonetic spelling of "cupid" is "stupid.") Let me outline a typical V-day for your humble correspondent. I awake in the morning and rush to the mailbox, only to find...nothing! Remember that old cartoon where Charlie Brown hears an echo in his mailbox looking for letters? Been there. Then I make it to school and all I find on my locker is...nothing! Oh yeah, I'm feelin' the love now~ I open my locker with trembling hands, hoping for some kind of letter of love will be inside. On the top shelf sits...nothing! (Tell me if you see a pattern here.) And then comes the coup de grace, the yearly cupcake fiasco. Every year I receive about four cupcakes. Good thing? Of course not, you silly thing! They're all those lovely yellow ones! Yep, the "I like you enough to spend 75 cents on a cupcake, but I'd never in a million years let you buy me dinner at a restaurant, so don't even try it loser" yellow cupcakes. Hey, friends are great, but a guy can only be told he's a "friend" so long before the word affects him like Kryptonite to Superman!

So, to repeat my opening, I hate Valentine's Day. So don't worry if you saw that patented "Peavey's Bemused Scowl" on V-day. It's just my allergic reaction to this whole evil conspiracy.

And if "Stupid" is reading this, keep those arrows to yourself, buddy.

Junior Ryan Williams recovering well from surgery

Recently junior Ryan Williams underwent a serious surgery to remove a cystic hygroma on his upper right side of his chest.

No symptoms appeared until the mass grew into a triangular spot where the collarbone, sternum and upper rib meet. This small hollow spot caused the mass to grow outward. As the mass, grew it began pushing on nerves, which started giving him pain in his right arm.

"I first started to feel like something was wrong when my middle finger started to "spaz" or tremble from side to side almost all the time. I also noticed that my arm had a throbbing pain in it every once in a while," Williams said.

The doctor believes that he could have had this as an infant, and it either grew slowly over the years or waited until this time to start growing rapidly.

"Strength-wise, I know in Athletic Development when I would be benching or some other lift, sharp pains would shoot through my chest to my shoulder when I would struggle with the weight. At first, I just thought that I was lifting too much weight, but now that I was lifting too mush weight, but now that I think about it, that was probably caused by the 'mass' in me. My concentration in everything was fine until we started to go to the doctors. It really shook me up when we would go to one doctor, and he would send me to another one because it was too serious for him," Williams said.

With all of the symptoms showing up and several visits to the doctor, he was referred to the KU Med. Center's chief pediatric surgeon, Dr. Sonnino. He had a CT scan, an ultrasound, and an MRI done. These all showed that a large portion of the mass was in his chest right up against his heart, by his right lung, through the right portion of his chest toward the right shoulder and under the right arm.

"It was scary. The doctor kept stressing to us how major this surgery was going to be. It was only natural to be scared, but we tried real hard to remain strong for Ryan. It was so important to think positive. It's just hard to have your child have to face something like that," Williams' mother, Sharon, said.

"I had thoughts cross my mind almost every ten seconds from the time I found out that this was a major surgery until the time they put me under. That doesn't mean I was scared half to death all the time, I just thought about how this was going to affect me and others around me. I really wasn't scared of the surgery because I trusted my doctor and I knew I would come out of it. Plus, the banner that was signed by the school, all the cards, gifts, and prayers I received kept my spirits up. That was a big factor. The stuff I was worried about was the post-surgery stuff, like when would I come home? Would I be able to play sports again? Would I be myself?" R. Williams said.

For the first part of the procedure, he was laid on his side to make the first incision. They spread his ribs approximately eight inches apart, and cut through the middle of his muscles, deflated his right lung, and basically dug around all over in his chest to get to every part of the mass. They even had to scrape it off of his ribs. They had to leave a small portion of it behind, as it was in too dangerous of a spot to remove. It was in between two ribs, right up against a main artery. After closing that incision and inserting his chest tube they laid him on his back to make the second incision in his upper right chest to remove that portion of the mass. To do this, they had to detach his pectoral muscle from the collarbone, lay it back, remove the mass, and then reattach the muscle to the bone. The surgery lasted ten and a half hours. He then spent seven days in ICU and two more days in a regular room before being dismissed to go home.

While Ryan was in surgery, his family sat in the waiting room for the entire day, from about 7:30 a.m. until they brought Ryan out of recovery that evening.

"We didn't want to venture from that room just in case we were needed. We were so lucky to have family there to sit and wait with us during that long day. Every one and a half hours, a nurse would come out and give us an update on how Ryan was doing and what was taking place. As soon as she would leave, we would all check our watches to see when we could expect the next update. It was these periodic updates, having family there with us, and knowing there were so many people all over praying for Ryan that got us through that long day,"S. Williams said.

Ryan made it out of surgery and is doing very well. At this point, he isn't sure if he will be able to participate in track this year, but it all depends on how the healing process goes. Next year, he will be able to play sports for sure.

He had a follow-up visit at the KU Med Center two weeks ago. They did another CT scan that showed good results. He goes back in another six months for another scan and checkup. He has plenty of healing to do and strength to build up. The doctor said it would take anywhere from six months to one year for recovery from this surgery.

"This will definitely have a lasting effect on me. The way that everyone showed their concern had a huge impact on me. I didn't know that many people cared. As far as life, I have a lot more respect for it because I know how fast it can be taken away. The same goes for my family and friends. I don't think it really ever occurred to me as clear as it is now, how much they mean to me. I will never take my health for granted again, because I know how fast it can all go down the drain," R. Williams said.

PHS music students perform at Youth for Music in Concordia

Several students from PHS's band and choir performed at the annual Youth for Music concert in Concordia February 3.

The band students were senior Rhiannon Becker, senior Libby Hrabe, senior Matt Renk, senior Kayla Fisher, senior Chris Fogle, junior Naomi Thompson, sophomore Jessica Casey, sophomore Makenzi Rempe and sophomore Amanda Fogle. The choir students were senior Janell Darnell, senior Heather Ulrich, senior Chris Peavey, sophomore Michelle Reishus and freshman Stephanie Tarbet.

Both groups attended practice sessions in Concordia February 2. The band practiced in the Brown Grand Theater and the choir practiced at Cloud County Community College. The rehearsals lasted all day Saturday. The groups returned on Sunday for a last run-through if the material before the concert at 2 p.m. The band performed first, followed by the Freshman-Sophomore Choir, and the Junior-Senior Choir concluded the concert.

A review of Charlie's Angels by Chris Peavey

I recently was "lucky" enough to catch Charlie's Angels on my satellite dish a few weeks back. I didn't have high hopes for this movie, but I was still disappointed. This is one of those rare films that causes actual physical pain. You can feel IQ points slipping away as you view it. I am convinced that this movie will cause tumors in lab rats.

The film follows the escapades of three private investigators, Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Natalie (Cameron Diaz), and Alex (Lucy Liu), as they try to find some stolen software. I think. The plot barely has a cameo in this one. The angels are helped by Bosley (Bill Murray), a total moron whose only real purpose is to get captured as part of a stupid plot device. That, and to wear one of those sumo suits we use on Cardinal Day to have a fight with criminal mastermind Tim Curry. Trust me, I couldn't make this stuff up. Curry had more dignity in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." And that says something. Rounding out the cameos are Matt LeBlanc, Luke Wilson, and LL Cool J. There could've been more that I missed, because that was one point in the viewing when I was distracted by a bug crawling on the TV screen.

Regardless, don't attached to get attached to the characters. We never see much of them. We know that Natalie's a ditz. We know that Dylan's tough. And, get this, Alex CAN'T COOK! See, it's funny!

Next is the fact that the film is here for on e reason: to show how pretty it's stars are. Now I may be a dating loser, but I'm not dead. I know that our stars are attractive women. But you can only watch pretty women take part in a bad fight choreography so long. Speaking of choreography, this is more of that great wire work fighting You know, the style where someone get kicked in the chin and does three flips before landing on his feet to keep fighting. And none of our heroes carry guns! It seems to me that if I were a member of an "elite crime fighting unit" (Direct quote from the movie) I'd carry heat. And it isn't that our heroes are averse to killing, on no! There's one point where they rig a heat-seeking missle to blow up a terrorists helicopter! The angels are also maddeningly incompetent, at one point chasing an assassin down a blind alley. Naturally, none of them are armed.

I could go on about the ridiculous gadgets the girls use, the insipid "Natalie in love" subplot (Don't you need a plot to have a subplot?) and the way the angels can work with any given piece of equipment without having ever seen it before. But it'd be a waste of ink. Bottom line, this movie is only good for two things: offending you friends and...well I can't think of anything else.

What will you be doing for Spring Break?

Hey everybody, spring break starts March 15.

Students were randomly asked what they would do if they could do anything at all this coming spring break. This is what a few of them had to say.

"I would go to Florida." senior Luke Wise

"I would hack across the U.S." senior Jason Lindsey

"I would go to the moon with Katie Weigel" sophomore Tyler Marotte

"I would go to Vegas and get kicked out of all the casinos." senior Jolene Eilers

"I would go sky diving." junior Leslie Tipton

"I would just go out of the state somewhere." senior Mandy Kraushaar

"I would go to Jamaica." sophomore Amy Normandin

"I would go to Maui." Steve Buresh

"I would go to Colorado Springs." senior Valerie Frasier

"I would go to Augusta, Ga. and play golf on the Augusta National Golf Course." Jeremy Krob.

Valentine's Day Wish List

The Cardinal Booster staff surveyed several PHS students and asked them what they would like to receive on Valentine's Day . Below are some of their replies:

"Anything would be great as long as it's from my Valentine!" - senior Stacy Dreher

"Candy and a big kiss." - freshman Kelsey Bjornstad

"A bunch of flowers and a happy ending to a long story!" - Heather Hrabe

"A bunch of roses and a day to spend with a special someone!" - sophomore Michelle Reishus

"A dozen long stem roses." - senior Audrey Bjornstad

"Nothing - my boyfriend is enough for me!" - freshman Megan Becker

"Just to be with the best guy, my boyfriend." - senior Libby Hrabe

"The Valentine that I would love is to have Paul Walker ask me for a date, but I would settle for a meeting a stud-muffin, sweetheart guy." - senior Janell Darnell

"For Willie Ruder and Luke Wise to give me a FREE copy of their movie!" - senior Katie Weigel

What does it mean?

The Cardinal Booster staff asked some pHS students if they knew the meaning of the word "zobo." Below are some of their replies:

"I think it is Bozo the clown's cousin." - senior Heather Ulrich

"Some kind of cattle heard that is a cross breed with all zoo animals and cows." - senior Tony Dopita

"Some kinda of instrument." - Carissa Fredrickson

"I think zobo means a zebra that has red hair like Bozo." - sophomore Makenzi Rempe

"I think a zobo is the only type of plant that will grow in Antarctica." - senior Kayla Fisher

"A zebra playing a very large oboe." - freshman Heather Schonthaler

"It is the Teletubbie's lost brother" - junior Naomi Thomspon

"A hobo that hangs out in the zoo." - senior Chris Fogle

"A type of nonalcoholic liquor." - senior Emerson Owings

"I think a zobo means a 25th century robo monkey." - sophomore Amanda Fogle

"A cross bread between a zebra and a boa constrictor." - senior Cody Pfaff

A "zobo" is actually what you get when you mate a zebra and a yak.

Senior athletes: what's your most memorable moment?

We asked the senior wrestlers and senior boys and girls basketball players how they felt about this being their last year and what their most memorable moment from wrestling/basketball was. Here are their responses:

LIBBY HRABE - It's one of the few things that I will miss most about high school. I would have to say that my most memorable moment was when we played Kensington on Winter Glacade night. We won the game, an it was an all around great night!

CODY PFAFF - I don't really think about this being my last year. My most memorable moment would have to be placing 4th at the MCL Tournament this year.

LACEY BRIN - It's about time to be over...four years was plenty of it! My most memorable moment was scoring 20 points against Stockton this year.

SHANNA FELLHOELTER - Well, honestly I am kind of relieved because after four years, it gets kind of tiring. My most memorable moment was this year, when Norma told the referee to "get out of the huddle so I can talk to my girls!" It was great!

TONY DOPITA - I'm actually a little disappointed that this is my last year. I'm not ready for it to be over yet. I wish I had at least one more season or a chance to play in college, but that's not going to happen. My most memorable moments would be all the games we played against Stockton, especially the most recent one when I put up 25 points.

HEATHER PLANTE - I really don't know how I feel about this being my last year. My most memorable moment would have to be beating Ellis during the first round of the MCL tournament this year.

LUKE WISE - Hopefully it's not my last year to wrestle. I would really like to wrestle in college My most memorable moment is taking first at state wrestling this year!

DANIELLE KENNEY - no comment available.

MATT RENK - I'm sad about this being my last year. I did have a lot of fun this year. My most memorable moments would be all of the times we have played Stockton in the past two years.

KAYLA FISHER - I know I will miss basketball next year, but I am ready for track! My most memorable moment was when we were doing a drill, and I went to dribble around Norma. I took too big of a step and biffed it!

TJ STAAB - I will be satisfied with the season if I win state. (He did!) My most memorable experience from wrestling is being a tri-champ for MCL duals this year.

TANNER NELSON - Thank goodness it is over with! My most memorable wrestling times were the freshmen JV tournaments.

Winter Glacade royalty named

Seniors Libby Hrabe and Tony Dopita were crowned during the Winter Glacade ceremony at half time of the boys' game against Kensington, Tuesday, February 5.

Other candidates included Audrey Bjornstad, Stacy Dreher, Shanna Fellhoelter, Heather Plante, T.J. Staab, Luke Wise, Cody Pfaff and Jason Lindsey. Nicholas Hixon and Colleen Hamilton were the junior escorts. They were escorted in by last year's Winter Glacade royalty, Jared Ganoung and Ashley Grover.

The dance took play February 10. The theme was "Never look back." The song was "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. Music Video to Go was supposed to provide the music but due to the ice and snow they were unable to make it. At the last minute Steve Buresh was able to contact Complete Music, who was more than willing to help us out.

PHS Big Mouths

Here is the talk of the school if you haven't already heard.

The word is:

Plainville High School wrestlers worked hard for 2nd at Regionals. Congratulations to the 7 who made it to the state and the four who placed at state.

Jason Lindsey needs to stay away from strange women who don't talk much, but on the positive side, atleast he smells good now. Not that he stunk before.

Mr. Ditter is seeing this from a different perspective.

Mr. Shirley is riding in style.

If you are wondering what Mr. Weber's interior decorating looks like, ask PHS's three burglars.

Who is Naomi Thompson's secret admirer?

Who is this Angie girl that all the Athletic Development classes are talking about?

Cards take a tough loss to Eastern Heights

Plainville took a tough loss against Eastern Heights 65-77, February 12.

The Cards started off slow allowing Eastern Heights to jump to a big lead. At the end of the first half the Cards were down 21-40. The second half looked a little better for the Cards. They came out with a lot of intensity and only allowed Eastern Heights to score 14 points in the third quarter. The fourth quarter the Cardinals continued to fight, but came up short with a score of 65-77.

"We need to be able to begin a game with the same focus and intensity that we end it with," Steve Buresh said.
Scoring for the Plainville Cardinals was Josh Hrabe 4, Joel Hrabe 6, MJ Klein 16, Matt Renk 18. The leading scorer for the Plainville Cardinals was Tony Dopita with 21 points.

Cardinal wrestling team takes second at regionals

The Plainville Cardinal wrestling team brought home a plaque for being the regional runner-up at the 3-2-1A Beloit Regional Tournament February 15-16. The team finished second with 154.5 points, only behind regional champion Ellsworth.

Results are as follows:

Paul Owings (103) won by a pin during the first round, lost by a pin in his second match and lost by a decision (0-7) in the third match.
Adam Meyers (112) won by a pin in the first round, lost by a decision (2-5) in his second match, won by a pin in his third match, won by a default in his fourth match, won by a decision (4-3) in his fifth match and won by a decision (4-3) to finish third place and qualify for the State Tournament.

Mark Axelson (119) lost by a pin in the first round, and lost by a pin in his second match.

Jake Weigel (125) lost by a pin in the first round, and last by a decision (2-8) in his second match.
Catlin Zahorsky (130) won by a decision (6-2) during this first round, lost by a pin in his second match, won by a major decision (11-3) in his third match, and then lost a close match in double overtime.

Luke Wise (135) won by a pin in the first round, won by a pin in the second round, won by a major decision (1503) in his third match, and won by a decision (6-4) in the finals to place first and qualify for State.
Tanner Nelson (140) lost by a major decision (21-10) during the first round, won by a in in the second round, and lost by a pin in his third match.

Jason Rath (145) won by a pin in the first round, won by a pin in the second round, lost by a decision (3-5) in his third match, won by a pin in his fourth match, and lost be a decision (3-4) in consolation finals. Rath placed fourth and qualified for State.

Scott Wise (152) won by a pin in his first match, won by a decision (5-3) in his second match, and won by a decision (6-5) in the finals. Wise placed first and qualified for State

Cody Pfaff (16) lost in the first round by a pin, won by a pin in his second match and lost be a decision (2-9) in his third match.

Alex Smetana (171) lost by a major decision (0-11) during the first round, won by a pin in his second match, won by a pin in his third match, won by a decision (6-5) in his fourth match, and won in overtime (2-1) to place third and qualify for State.

Willie Ruder (189) won by a pin in the first round, lost by a major decision (0-10) in his second match, and lost by a decision (10-12) in his third match.

T.J. Staab (215) won by a pin in his first match, won by a pin in his second match, and won by a pin in the finals to place first and qualify for State.

A.J. Garcia (275) won by a pin during the first round, lot by a pin in the second round, won by a pin in his third match, won by a decision (8-4) in his fourth match, and lost by a pin in the consolation finals. Garcia placed fourth and qualified for state.