Cold Weather

By Allie Craig 

                Cold weather. Like anything else, there are several people who have different opinions on it. Goddard High School students are no different. Some students like it, and some students dislike it.

                Some students have reasons to express why they dislike the cold.

                “I hate cold weather, except when it snows; then I like to go sledding,” freshman Anita Taylor said.

              Other students have contempt for the cold; due to health reasons.

“I don’t like it because it makes my joints hurt,” sophomore Emma Hislop said.
Senior Armando Valenciana likes the cold weather sometimes.

             “I sorta like it, but it’s the time when everyone gets sick,” Valenciana said.

              Even though some students despise cold weather, there are some who like it. Junior Janelle Wetta likes the snow that comes along with cold weather.

             “It needs to snow. It’s not a true Christmas without snow,” Wetta said.

Freshman Chandler Hansen also likes cold weather.

             “I like cold weather because I get to wear jeans, boots, sweaters, scarves, and other cute cold weather clothes,” Hansen said.

              Even though there are reasons to like cold weather, and reasons to dislike it, it comes every year to Goddard. The winter wouldn’t be the same without a few snowflakes and some cold and cloudy days to curl up with a good book and drink some hot chocolate.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Decks the Halls



Senior Rena Brainard and junior Bailey Pankratz rehearse for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which showed on December 13, 14, and 15.

              This year is the start of a tradition, one made by the Goddard High School theatre department. Mrs. Jamie Oettle, the director of the theatre department, chose The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for the winter play.

Oettle  previously taught at Goddard, and from then she put on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for the first time in 2005. During her first year back, she is reintroducing the play.

“I chose it to try to build to program back up, partly by getting kids interested at a younger age and by having a bigger audience because of the little kids,” said Oettle.

The majority of the actors in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever are between ages three and middle school. Multiple high school actors performing this year also played parts when they were in elementary school.

“I think it’s great for them to come back because it lets them see it from a different perspective,” said Oettle.

The returning child actors are junior Bailey Pankratz, sophomores Amanda Brooks and Sydnie Randolph, and freshman Malori Bridwell.

“It’s weird as a high schooler because I have to take care of the little kids, and they had to take care of me,” said Bridwell.

Oettle chose this play for many reasons. For one, it was because it has a deeper, biblical message about Christmas. Secondly, it tells about how stereotypes can cause people to misjudge people. Lastly, because characters change from the beginning to the end.

“Anytime a director can get a character [to] change in a play, it’s always a good choice,” said Oettle.

 

Young Golf Team Struggles to Find Swing

By C.J. Hall

The Girls Golf teams are considered to have a rough season ahead of them. The only returning varsity players are senior Shelby Hooper and sophomore Taylor Schlyer. The lack of returning varsity players challenges the team and pushes them to achieve something good.

"The girls might look up to me more since I am the only senior," senior Shelby Hooper said.

This year is a rebuilding year for the team. This puts new expectations and goals in place for them.

"My expectation for the team is for them to get better at practice and get lower scores," Girls Golf coach Ms. Rita Smith said.

Along with a set of team goals, the girls also have their own personal goals.

"My goal is to get a college scholarship and go to State," Hooper said.

The team’s other returner, sophomore Taylor Schlyer, wants to see personal improvement in specific areas of her golf game.

"I want to get better at putting because I have bad eyes and cannot see the putting line," Schlyer said.

New freshmen players this year are Haley Bloom, Bethany Cocklin, Tiahna Hernandez, and Dakota O’Dette. There are only 6 sophomores and juniors. The 4 sophomores: Lauren Wedel, Riley Stearns, Morgan Shobe, and Taylor Schlyer and the 2 juniors: Amber Freemen and Tori Watkins have already had some chemistry together. Smith sees a bright future for Girls Golf.

"The loss of many varsity players resulted in the loss of team skill, but added things like better team chemistry," Smith said.

Soccer Makes Comeback

By Karina Medrano

This year’s soccer team is making a comeback with Mr. Ryan Rooney as its coach again. They have trained to be able to win for the Lions.

"The soccer team is doing good, inconsistent, but so far it’s been really good," said Mr. Rooney.

He said that last year he had trouble with the players needing to step up and be leaders, but this year, a lot of players want a leadership role in the team. Although it has been a rough start, he has confidence that they will get through all the hardships. He has high hopes for the team.

"If only the offense could score more goals," Mr. Rooney said.

Mr. Rooney also said that mental toughness was also a weak point but it will strengthen in due time.

Some have said that everyone is cooperating and that they all have fun, are laid back, and have alot of fun.

Cross Country Lacks Seniority

By Mandy Brooks

 

The Goddard High School Cross Country teams are finding themselves challenged with a startling lack of seniority. Young runners are being looked at to achieve more, push themselves harder, and be role models for the freshman this year and the underclassman to come.

"I think there’s going to be a lot of runners that find out they can do more than they ever expected," assistant coach Ms. Marylee Ramsay said.

Ms. Ramsay also said that she expects her runners to push themselves out of their comfort zones in order to grow as runners. The runners use goal setting in order to achieve the things that they wish to accomplish. Not only have they set individual goals, but they have set team goals as well.

"My goal for this season to go to state as a team," sophomore Austin Winder said.

By setting goals, the runners know what to work towards-along with what their coaches expect out of them.

With the lack of seniority, it is considered hard for the runners to have someone to look up to. Although senior Mackenzie May has run for four years in high school, he isn’t the only inspiration for these young runners.

"I look up to Kacey Duncan and Kendra Young because they’re really fast, really good, and have a lot of endurance," sophomore Alicia Dirks said.

"I looked up to Lincoln Lemon last year, because he always seemed to do well in Cross Country," Winder said.

Not only do the runners have these current and previous Cross Country stars to look up to, they can also look to Ms. Ramsay for encouragement and tips for success.

"I started coaching in 2000, so I’ve been coaching for 12 years," Ramsay said.

Head coach Mr. Mel Hussey is also in his second year as the returning coach for these runners. Ms. Ramsay has said that although the two coaches have had different personalities, the transition from coach to coach has been fairly easy due to the fact that they both have similar coaching styles.