Snow Day!!!!!

by: Adiel Trejomartinez

With spring break coming up close and winter storm Cindy coming in closer, we all have one question. What will we do with finals if school is cancelled? Many staff members and students are in panic as the term is ending, and there are finals that are needed to be taken yet. Many say we should have a regular finals day two schedule the day we return from spring break. With all this chaos going on lately from the power going out, to an unexpected snowstorm, to the usual last minute rush to get assignments in and grades up, life at LCHS is a bit chaotic. Now we add to the mix the potential reschedule of finals.What does our school principal Mr. Valentyn have to say about this chaotic week and new schedule change?  “I would say it has been a very strange week indeed! I can't remember anything like this happening in the last 10 years. We have had occasional emergency type things, but twice in a week has not happened.” This is a very strange occurring but hopefully we find a good solution to end this very interesting dilemma that occurred!  The current plan is to hold the exact same schedule we would have had on Thursday, March 24th, on Monday, April 4th, after our spring break.  So the first block will be an optional time to get caught up on tests, and Block 2 and 4 finals will take place before and after lunch.  Listen for an Alert Now from Mr. Valentyn for more information.

Nearing the Finish Line

by: Kristina Aguilera

As the school year of 2015-16 comes to a close, the senior class starts to prepare for many things. They have portfolios to finish, a senior dance and class trip to plan for, and a graduation ceremony that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Aly Myers and Jake Siebers proudly display their completed porfolios!

Over the course of their four years at LCHS, the students have to maintain a portfolio. Their portfolio is a collection of assignments, projects, and accomplishments that they have acquired over their high school career. The portfolio must be centered around the eight district outcomes and must be presented to two LCHS staff members, as well as one community member during exit interviews. Before all of that happens the portfolio must be presented to each senior student’s PAC advisor and checked off, to make sure it completes the requirements.

Every year the senior class goes on one last trip. The trip destination can be different each year because the destination is voted on by the senior class and happens in May. The destination for this year is currently undecided, but many cool and fun ideas are in the works. Throughout high school there are normally a total of nine dances that are offered to each class. This list includes a series of homecoming and turnabout dances as well as the junior prom. As of early March it was approved that there will be one more dance at LCHS. There will be a senior farewell dance. All of the grades are invited but the focus of the dance will be saying goodbye one last time to the seniors before graduation.

As of early February caps and gowns were ordered, and the senior class journey turns the corner to the final finish line. The seniors attended one of their last class meetings, where they hear words of wisdom from Mr. Pratt and Mr. Corrado and hear an inspirational story from Mr. Valentyn. The story we were told this time was centered around the idea of pushing a little bit further and finishing strong.   So seniors as you are nearing the end of your high school career and preparing to take the next steps into your future, always remember just push a little bit further, stay strong, and most importantly as Mr. Valentyn has always said, stay classy and be good to each other!

Easter Plans

by: Jacob Siebers

Easter is more than getting candy and a chocolate bunny. It’s about being with your family and celebrating the reason for the holiday. Many people celebrate in different ways, and I interviewed some of the students here at LCHS about their plans.

Angela Lowe: “Usually on Easter morning my brother and I wake up to a basket full of all sorts of different kinds of candy. Then we all go out to get breakfast and spend the day together.  My mom has to get me Sweet Tarts since I hate chocolate.”

Kaitlin Schuh: “Normally I wake up and look for my Easter basket. Once I find it, my mom and I make breakfast. Once we are done we get ready and go over to my grandma's for an Easter brunch with my whole family. This year I’m going to California to spend time with my brother. This is my nephew's first Easter, so we are going to visit the bunny at the mall.”

Kaitlyn Pynenberg: “The Easter bunny always hides an Easter basket for me, and I have to go around the house and try and find it. It’s always in a really hard spot so it takes me all morning to find it. Then we go to church and get a brunch after.”

Alex and Cole Fischer: “We are celebrating Easter with our grandma Fischer on the 26th. Then on Easter we are going to PCB and spending Easter in Florida.”

Kendra Huray: “When I wake up I’m going to find my basket and eat some candy. Then we are going to church with my whole family, and after that we are getting lunch.”

Spring Break Plans

by: Aly Myers

As the school year drags on, many students are excited for spring break. Little Chute High School’s spring break falls from March 25 to April 4 this year. I asked students around our school what they are planning to do for their spring break.

Chris Peeters is planning on going to Phoenix, Arizona for spring break. He is excited to go with his family and enjoy the warm weather. They are going to spend their time there golfing and sightseeing.

Senior Angela Lowe is going to New York City and Washington D.C. with her mom. She is very excited to see these new places, since she has never been there.

Ellie Mueller, a junior at our school, plans to be very busy on her spring break. She is going to play soccer and hang out with her friends while enjoying the spring weather. Additionally, Ellie is going to take several college tours, including UW-Madison and Marquette University.  

Junior Logan Collinson plans to tour UW-Oshkosh over spring break. He is also going to visit family in Illinois and go to a “really cool” museum down there. Finally Logan said he is pretty sure that he won’t be able to ride his moped in the nice weather, because it broke. RIP.

Gabe Dove, a sophomore at LCHS, says he is going to hang out with his friends for the first half of break. Towards the end of the week, Gabe will be traveling to St. Louis, Missouri with the baseball team to play several games and go sight seeing.

Sophomore Olivia Hermsen is planning many things for her week off of school. She is planning on going down to Milwaukee for a Buck’s game. Olivia will be going to track practice all week and hang out with her friends.

Sam Hietpas, a freshman, is going to Florida for spring break. He is traveling with his family and is excited to go to a hotel. When he is in Florida, his family is going to visit his grandma.

Freshman Karleigh Wolf is going to spend her spring break in Mexico with her family. She is going to spend her time there enjoying the weather, “chilling”, and hanging out on the beach.

Our DI Teams are "DI-efinitely" Heading to State!

by: Stevie Harlow

This past weekend the Destination Imagination teams had their Regional Competition in New Holstein. Little Chute High School’s four teams have been working on their challenges since early October all for this day, and it was all well worth it. The Ehlke team consisting of Dell Seefeldt, Abby Kramer, Jake Vanderwyst, Sadie Tourville, Stevie Harlow, Jacob Schmeider, and Jessica Missall competed in Challenge A ‘Pace of Change’ taking first place and qualifying to the state competition on April 16th at UW Stevens Point. Mindy Dove’s team with Gabe Dove, Janelle Fisher, Marki Hietpas, Justin Schuman, Destiny Fay, Kyra Wildenberg, and Tommy Mlodzik competed in Challenge C ‘Get a Clue’ and took second place also qualifying for the State Competition. This team also won the “Renaissance Award” which is given for extraordinary engineering and craftsmanship in regards to a 1920’s Rolls Royce car made entirely out of cardboard. The Improv team with Quin Stuyvenberg, Jessica Boesch, Kelsey Weidman, Bryce Van Camp, Jack Delvaux, and Jonah Hamman coached by our beloved Mr. Frankenberg took second and will be competing at State. And finally The Challenge E team, coached by Mr. Greuel with Jon Schertz, Brittney Wettstein, Ashley Smith, Randy Estevez, and Andy Schmidt, took first and will be moving on to state as well.

Including the elementary, middle, and high school teams,  Little Chute had 10 DI teams this year. All 10 received awards with 9 advancing to State. The teams now have five weeks to improve what they have before the state competition. If a team places in the top two they qualify for the Global Final competition in Knoxville, Tennessee. Little Chute has had at least one team go to Globals for the past decade, so everyone is giving it their all to keep the streak going. At the regional competition, the seniors also all received a special award. Since the Global Final competition will sometimes land over high school graduation, they have a special ceremony in Tennessee for all the graduates. They get to walk the stage and receive a special diploma. At the competition, DI gave all the seniors who competed a special tassel for them to wear at their graduation. The teams are working harder than ever to get ready for state. Competition takes place on Saturday, April 16th at UW Steven’s Point. Come watch and see all the amazing things these students have created! Competitions are full of excitement and energy the whole day; it will be a great TIME!

Introducing...

by: Kaitlin Schuh

Leaving your family for a few days can be hard, but imagine leaving them for nine months to travel across the world. Alessia Severgnini is a foreign exchange student from Italy who came to the United States on August 24. She has become a part of the Little Chute High School as a senior. Throughout her time here she has made some amazing friendships and unforgettable memories. It was an honor to be able to interview her about her time here in the United States.

Q: What’s the biggest difference between the United States and Italy?

A:  The US looks really different from Italy. Everything's bigger here. Almost everyone here lives in a house with a garden while in Italy the majority of the people live in apartments and the towns are much bigger even if there's the same number of people living there.

Q: So far what do you like the most here in the U.S.?

A: I really like the school spirit here. We don't have clubs or sports at school so it is nice to see how everyone is involved in school.

Q: What is one thing you don’t like about the U.S.?

A: Something that I don't like about the US is that if you don't have a car you can't go anywhere because there is no public transportation.

Q: What are some things you have done here that you’ve never done before?

A: Before coming here I had never been to a football game. No one plays football in Italy, everyone loves soccer. I really liked to see everyone cheering.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant here?

A: Buffalo Wild Wings

Q: If you ever got the chance to come back to the U.S., would you?

A: I would love to travel back here sometime, but I also want to see other places in the U.S.

Q: Back home in Italy what do you do in your free time?

A: In my free time in Italy I usually don't do much. I just go out with friends to the movie theater or maybe shopping so it's pretty boring there.

Aleissa will be returning back to Italy on the 7th of June. Over her time here in the United States, she definitely has made some memories and overall had a fantastic time here!

STYRPE Class

by:Katie Lamers

“Life can take you higher than drugs.” STRYPE stands for Students Teaching Reaching Youth Peer Educators. Each week the STRYPE students create lesson plans, with the help of Mrs. Scheeler, to teach the 7th and 5th graders.The lessons are based around making safe decisions and saying no to peer pressure, drugs, and alcohol.

The lessons got interesting when we brought out the pig lungs. The students were intrigued and grossed out by the thick tar covered pig lungs.It showed them the effects of tobacco use. We also showed them a jar of phlegm and tar that had them asking many questions.The St John’s students had a blast trying on the impairment goggles.One of the students performed a field sobriety test.They had to walk a straight line and try to catch an object from 10 feet away. Every student failed to complete the tests.

Throughout our weeks with the students we have gotten to know them. It has been interesting experiencing some of the things a teacher goes through in a day. It started off rocky with not knowing how to keep them interested and engaged. After awhile we learned how to make things fun and exciting.

St. Louis, Here They Come

by: Brady Weigman 

 The Little Chute Mustangs baseball team is making a trip to St. Louis, Missouri over spring break to play a couple of baseball games. The team will be leaving on March 31 and will be returning on April 3. This will be good for the team because they will have some tough competition to start off the season. The team will be hanging out the first day and will have meals planned for every day. Before they play the games the team will be getting a tour of the St.Louis Stadium where the Cardinals play. The Mustangs will be having a couple of practices in the area where they are staying. Another thing they will be doing is exploring St. Louis by visiting different places like the Hall of Fame and the Cardinals Museum. After this exciting day they will be playing a doubleheader the next day against Cuba and Rolla. Also there is going to be one sophomore and one freshmen that will be playing this weekend.  Freshman Jacob Lillge says,” I am excited for the St. Louis trip because it will be very fun with friends, and we will get to play some baseball.”  Sophomore Connor Weigman says,” I am excited for the St. Louis trip because I get to spend time with the baseball team in a hotel and get to play baseball with them.” After they are done with this awesome weekend playing baseball they will be leaving to go back to Little Chute, hopefully with 2 wins. 

Basketball Playoffs

by: Kaitlyn Pynenberg

The winter season comes to an end with the varsity boys and girls basketball team competing in the North-Eastern Conference playoffs.

The boys started the tournament ranked the number four seed. After having a bye the first week, the boys received an extra week of practice before taking on Fox Valley Lutheran. Getting the home court advantage against the Foxes paid off for the Mustangs on Friday, March 4th. The final score being 59-41 gave the Mustangs their first win of the tournament. After their big win, the boys then had to travel the very next day to take on one of their biggest rivals, the Xavier Hawks. Though the boys put up a tough fight, their season came to an end with a 69-61 loss to the Hawks.

The Lady Mustangs came into the tournament as the number nine seed. Unfortunately the girls had to make the three hour journey up to Northland Pines High School to play the Eagles. The Mustangs battled hard bringing the game into overtime. Even though the girls put up a good fight they ended up losing to Northland Pines 66-61. Both teams had a memorable career and fought their hardest throughout the NEC tournament. A special thank you goes to the Seniors of both teams: Parker Gloudemans, Chase Janssen, Paige Reynebeau, Kendra Huray, Kaitlyn Pynenberg, and Clare Hietpas. Best of luck to both teams in the future.

Senior Plans

by: Allison Romenesko

At this time seniors are starting to stress out about college and what their plans are for the future. Most students are starting to worry about completing their FAFSA forms and finishing up scholarships since they are due soon. Even though this time is stressful, it is also a very exciting. I interviewed a few seniors to see what their plans are for the future.

Aly Myers plans to go to the University of Minnesota. She plans to major in kinesiology to later go on to physical or occupational therapy. Aly said, “I am very excited to meet new people and live in a big city.”   

Allie Glaser plans to attend UW-Stevens Point. She is going to double major in dance and art production. Allie exclaimed, “I am very excited to be doing the thing that I love the most.” Maya Weyenberg plans to attend UW-Fox Valley for architecture and interior design. Maya explained, “I am not excited for college since I am going to miss all of my friends.”

Brady Weigman is planning to attend Fox Valley Technical College. He is undecided between going for physical education or elementary education. Brady claimed, “I am somewhat excited to take the next step and later on get a job.”

Seth Sherrer plans to attend Fox Valley Technical College for general studies. He said, “I am somewhat excited to experience something new but not excited to have to continue school.”

 Cole Fischer plans to attend Fox Valley Technical College for machining. Cole said, “I am not very excited for this big step in my life.”

LCHS Location is Both a Blessing and a Curse

by Abigail Buchholz and Hannah Robinson

---

    Little Chute High School is located at 1402 N Freedom Road in Little Chute, Wisconsin. This dot on the map is dangerously close to some of the most well-known fast food restaurants in the world including Culver’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Tom’s, and Burger King.  For most Mustang fans, this combination of restaurants makes for a recipe of fun and good times with friends, but also bad nutrition.

How often do members of this high school visit these establishments?  We talked to some of our classmates to get the inside scoop.  According to sophomore Eli Sanchez, it is more often than one might think.  “I go about three times each week,”  Sanchez says. “Unless I don’t have money.”

    Money seems to be the problem for many students. Until they  find themselves burdened   with   financial  issues, students burdened with financial issues, students often give in to the temptation to hang out with their friends at the nearest fast-food restaurant. This activity obviously costs money, and many at LCHS find it difficult to keep this addiction going. When money becomes a problem, Sanchez brings a cold lunch to eat at school.

    Which restaurants are the most popular, and what do students choose to eat there?  When asked about their favorite place to eat, many students responded with Culver’s.  Culver’s of Little Chute is fairly new to the area; it opened on August 25, 2014.  Culver’s is famous for its delicious butterburgers and creamy custard.  Healthy meals under 500 calories are also offered, including a chicken salad, garden fresco salad, and chicken sandwich.  But what do LCHS students eat when they choose to go to Culver’s for lunch?

Sophomores Taylor Grissman and Madelyn Hermus also responded with Culver’s when inquired of their favorite restaurant.  Both girls said that they usually get a Kids’ Meal, which comes with their choice of either a classic butterburger or chicken tenders and a side of french fries.  Kids’ meals also come with a free scoop of Culver’s signature custard. 

Culver’s offers a variety of toppings for their custard, including candies and fresh fruits. “I like to get chocolate custard with cookie dough,”  Hermus told us.  “My favorite topping is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups,”  Grissman shared. Another sophomore, Makayla Benson Smith, was asked about her so-called ‘addiction’ to Culver’s.  She declined to comment. Mack Hooyman, also an LCHS sophomore, enjoys going to Culver’s as well, though he does sometimes choose healthier options.  Sometimes he visits Subway instead. Subway is also close to the high school and offers healthier foods such as fresh bread, meats, and an array of vegetables to top their six-inch and foot-long sandwiches. Other high school students are taking advantage of the new Taco Bell. Sophomore Olivia O’Connell is a big fan of Taco Bell and finds it “cheaper than Culver’s, but still very good.” Her favorite items are the Crunchwrap Supreme and a Baja Blast. There are going to be unhealthy choices no matter where a student chooses to go for lunch.  That is not going to change, at least not any time soon.  What can change is how we educate our students on the importance of healthy eating habits and the impact this might have on the rest of their lives. While healthy choices are important, it is also safe to say that it is okay to have a treat every once in awhile.  Culver’s is a great restaurant with delicious food, but it is not meant to be a lunchtime destination every day of the week. Though it may seem that students are becoming more unhealthy because of the new restaurants around us, Mr. Valentyn says that this is not really the case.  When asked if he thought that LCHS students are becoming more unhealthy with establishments such as the new Taco Bell, he gave us some insight on the topic. “I think there are some unhealthy habits that get fostered, but I believe that there are more healthy options out there nowadays, Subway, etc., so I believe it’s gotten better over the years.”

Open Campus Lunch: Delicious or Suspicous

by: Abigail Buchholz and Hannah Robinson

---

    At 11:14 a.m., students at Little Chute High School hustle from their respective classrooms, fly down the stairs, and sprint to their vehicles in the parking lot.  What could possibly cause such hectic behavior?  The answer is open-campus lunch.

   Open-campus lunch is a 45 minute period at LCHS that allows students to leave the campus and either go home or out to a restaurant to eat lunch.  If a student is unable to leave school or simply does not wish to leave school, the commons area is open to students and also provides a variety of food choices for them.

    How did this privilege come to be? According to LCHS principal Mr. Valentyn open-campus lunch has been around since our school was founded in 1966. Valentyn also says that this advantage has never been taken away from students. Open-campus lunch was instilled in our school for a few reasons. Since Little Chute is the smallest school district in Wisconsin in regard to square miles, the school is not required to bus students.  Back in the 1960’s, students would walk home for lunch and then walk back to school. They did this because most students only lived a few minutes away from the school. The idea of going home for lunch stuck, and open-campus lunch has been at LCHS ever since.