Boys Volleyball

by: Keenan Stevens

Volleyball, a sport that when most people are asked about it, they think of girls playing, and that it’s a girls’ sport. Just like when you think of football, you think of a guy playing. But both sports can be played by both genders. Seven percent of people say that volleyball is designed for women because there are more men’s sports out there than women's sports. Other sources say, yes, more schools should have a boys volleyball team, which gives the school another shot at glory.

Boys volleyball has been becoming more popular over the years nationwide and is actually being well followed by the students and the school and other fans. I talked to Isaiah Ness from Kimberly High School who finished their Volleyball season at 10-4 in conference, I asked him if it feels any different being a boys volleyball player; he said “A little bit… You don't get as much attention as football or other big fall sports.” Then I asked him if anyone ever tries to tell him that it’s a girls sport, and he said. “I have had people tell me that, usually I just tell them to come watch and they gain more respect when they see guys 6 feet and taller jumping and getting their hand up to 11 feet high.”

Boys volleyball is very overlooked, but that doesn't stop the players from going out and competing and doing what they enjoy. Volleyball is a sport and whether it is  a boy or girl playing, the sport is played by people that love what they're doing so boys volleyball should also be accepted.

Winterfest Week--a Recap

by: Kylie Schultz

The week of March 13-17 was a week we like to call Winterfest. During this week we have all different kinds of activities during and after school. During the school days the students and faculty dress up as something different each day. It is a very fun and interesting time seeing what outfits people come up with for the week. On Monday there was a talent show that consisted of 7 acts. The people that performed in the talent show were Tristan O’Rourke who sang, Carrigan Hurst twirling, Kyra Hietpas and Janelle Fisher playing the piano and singing, Rheise Jackson singing, Olivia Hermsen playing the piano, Tyler Hietpas singing, and Logan Collison and Dalton Polomis rapping. It was also “pajama day” on Monday. The theme on Tuesday was “salad dressing day”. You could dress up as ranch (cowgirl/cowboy), thousand island (beach), or you can be as creative as you like. The theme on Wednesday was “what not to wear day” (crazy trends that never caught on.) The theme on Thursday was “jersey day”. On Friday there was a pep assembly during school. The theme on Friday was “Disney day.” On Friday there was a dance called Turnabout from 8-midnight. The theme of Turnabout was Disney. Turnabout is a special dance where the girls gets to ask the boys to the dance.

Basketball State

by: Mataan Omar

State is where it goes down. It is the best two teams in each division that play each other for the championship. Where the best passing, best shooting and best handles all come together in a hard fought battle for the sought after state championship title. One of the teams there that has made an impressive showing has been Xavier. Even though the Mustangs suffered a tough loss to the Hawks, they have won their semi final game against the once undefeated Ripon Tigers. With Hunter Plamann and Sam Ferris’s combined scores totaled 50 of Xavier’s 81 total. Another hard fought semi final battle was between Prescott (23-3) and Lake Mills (24-2) with Prescott coming out with a substantial win of 74-67. The last semifinal game that didn’t quite make the spotlight was a story of how sometimes not all underdogs can come out on top with Roncolli getting demolished by Destiny 71-54. With the following state games right around the corner, people wait anxiously to see who succeeds and who gets their hopes crushed in the most exciting stage of boys basketball. Xavier now has to take on Prescott to be crowned state champions.  

To the Moon and Back

by: Matt Reynebeau

Prom is right around the corner on April 29th.   This year, junior and senior students from Little Chute High School will be attending the dance at the Timber Rattlers stadium in Appleton. The theme for this year’s dance is “To the Moon and Back,” a theme made up of three colors, gold, black and blue. This year’s prom song is “Die A Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett. Prom court features Connor Mara, Will Berens, Soul Dorsey, Charlie Coenen, Gabe Dove, Mack Hooyman, Sawyer Huss, Taylor Grissman, Hannah Robinson, Olivia Hermsen, Olivia O’Connell, Olivia Kliner, Halie Hermsen and Abby Buchholz. Tickets will go on sale in the high school commons on April 3rd for $50 each person. Prom is a magical moment for many people around the country, so come and enjoy the dance in late April!

Spring Sports Preview

by: Connor Weigman

With winter gone and the snow melting, the sun peeking out, the rain falling, the flowers growing, temperature rising, and spring approaching, that means baseball, golf, track, and soccer are right around the corner.

This year’s baseball team consists of nine seniors: Leighton Meyers, Eric Hietpas,  Cory Diedrick, Carson Mara, Jacob Schmieder, Cole Wyngaard, Tyler Hietpas, Caleb Robinson, and Noah Manser. They are returning 7 of the 9 starters from last year’s team. The Mustangs finished with a 12-13 record last year. This year they are looking to win the conference and make it to state.

This year’s Golf team consists of Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshman. Junior Connor Mara will have to lead the team after making it to sectionals himself last year. He is looking to redeem himself and make it to state this year. The team seems to be coming together nicely. Last year they had a lot of sophomores and freshman on varsity so the experience should help them.

This year’s soccer team has only five seniors: Morgan Pluger, Nicole Sanderfoot, Ellie Mueller, Kendra Schumacher, and Kenia Gonzalez. They are looking to have a successful year after a not so good one last year. Kendra Schumacher led the team in goals last year and is hoping to do it again.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

This year’s track team is trying to repeat from the success that they had last year. They had a total of 31 athletes that went to state last year. Tess Keyzers broke the state record for shot put last year taking first at state. They are looking to win conference and send more athletes off to state and hopefully bring home some 1st place hardware.    

2017 Talent Show

by: Klaudia Lamers

“You can win a talent show and be so famous that you can’t walk down the street, but no-one knows you next Monday.”- J.J. Field

Our annual talent show has just taken place. When the talent show takes place we have tons of people who try out and make it into the talent show ready to show us their talents. Those talents are singing, dancing, and playing instruments. The two judges Mr. Klein and Mr.Kruger decide who will win the talent show. There were many good contestants but... The winning student was Carrigan Hurst coming in first place with her drill team dance piece. Then in second place was Dalton Polomis and Logan Collison rapping  “Diablo” by Mac Miller. Finally the third winner was Tyler Hietpas singing “Waving Through a Window” by Evan Hansen. The talent show ended in everyone wanting an encore.

DCON 2017

by: Kendra Schumacher

This past weekend the Little Chute Key Club took 26 students to DCON (district convention) at the KI Center in Green Bay. The weekend began Friday night when over 900 Key Clubbers from all over Wisconsin and Upper Michigan arrived at the hotel and began to decorate. The theme for DCON this year was Disney, so each division had decorated based on a different Disney movie.  Division 7, which includes Little Chute and Kimberly, was assigned the movie Monsters Inc. so we had tons of green, blue, and purple all around.  We also wore our green Monsters Inc. shirts that said “D7 is Scary Good at Service” on the front and “We Have a 2319” on the back.  Both Little Chute and Kimberly repped the shirts!  Next on the list was a funny keynote speaker who taught us E+R=O.  E+R=O mean an event plus your response equal the outcome.  This lesson can be used to help individuals make the best of their situations and get the most out of life.  Finally, we ended the night after an intense dance and cheer off.

Saturday was full of workshops, caucus events, and unity between fellow Key Clubbers.  Everyone at convention learned how to be a more effective member.  Between each of the workshops D7 was sure to be loud and proud and cheer until we couldn’t anymore.  The dinner that evening is a fancy formal where many awards were given out.  This year Lucas Franck received Distinguished Treasurer award, while Kendra Schumacher received Distinguished President which is quite the honor!!! Our very own Carrigan Hurst won the talent show again this year and got to perform her upbeat baton twirling routine in front of everyone.  The night ended once again with the dance where D7 won jerseys and cheering against our competitors, Marquette all boys school!

On Sunday morning we sadly had to clean up all of the decorations and pack our bags.  Closing ceremony was filled with heartfelt speeches from graduating district board members.  During this ceremony they also announced who had won district board positions for the upcoming year as well as who had won the weekend spirit awards.  Marquette, the all boys school, won “the jug” which is the award for the best club spirit while D7 won ‘the cow” which is given to the division with the most unity and spirit.  It was truly an honor to finally be awarded the cow after a weekend of cheer offs and making friends with Kimberly’s Key Club.  In all, the weekend was a blast and definitely one that won’t go forgotten.

Ms. Stangel

by: Clayton Franzke

Not many students know that our Library Media Director, Mrs. Stangel will be retiring at the end of the year. So as a last hurrah, we'll recap the time that Mrs. Stangel has been with us at LCASD. I asked her a few questions to find some things about her.

How were your first years like? “My first few years were a learning experience. It took me awhile to get the hang of everything. Anyone starting out in a new job should know that it is OK to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them. And I think I did.”

My second question was, When did you start teaching? “I started teaching in 1981 in Catholic schools. I was a fifth grade teacher. In 1985, I worked as an aide in the 1st grade at Little Chute Elementary School. In 1986, I was hired as the middle school Library Media Specialist. In 2002, I took on the high school library, and in 2011, I was put in charge of the elementary library, too.”

Most memorable moments at LCASD? “My most memorable moments include so many moments with students.  I especially enjoyed Battle of the Books at the middle school (formerly called Reading Olympics.) I am really going to miss helping students and getting to chat with them every day.”

Finally, any advice or last words for students? “Advice: Make the most of your high school years by giving your best effort. Try different things and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Make friends with people who are both like you, and also those who are different than you are. Be kind to everyone. No doubt there will be some disappointments and maybe even some hurt. Let this roll off of your back. High school flies by much more quickly than you realize and there will be so many more life experiences for you down the road. You have much to look forward to.”

So as me being a writer, Mrs. Stangel, we as LCASD students, teachers, janitors, and other professions, we thank you for being our Library Media Director, and I hope your retirement will be fun and relaxing.

Dance Team Heads to Disney

by: Madison VerBust

A week away in Orlando, Florida is just what the Little Chute Dance team needed. We flew down to Florida on March 2 and stayed for a week in a resort, Pop Century. Each day the team was scheduled to attend each of the Disney parks and enjoy their time there. To start off the week we first went to Epcot to look around, go on rides, and at night watch the light show over the pond. The next day we headed down to Magic Kingdom and got lots and lots of pictures in front of the magical castle. After a long day in the sun we all headed back to the resort for a team practice, with a surprise from our head coach, Beth DeBruin. She didn’t plan on coming down due to having her first baby a month ago, but everyone was so excited to see her there with us. Instead of practice, we had a team dinner at Rainforest Cafe and all enjoyed a great meal before our big day on Saturday. Getting up at 4:45 was a struggle, but we all managed to do it. Heading back and forth from competition to the resort tired us out, but nothing can drag us down from competing our best. The following day we all were anxious to see how we placed with our 3 routines. We weren’t expecting first, considering all of these amazing teams performing, but we knew we did our best. Coming in 4th for pom, 6th in kick, and 9th in jazz, we thought that was pretty good for being a D4 school. After all the stress of competing from 8:30 AM to 11:30 PM we got to enjoy more time with the team in more Disney parks. The Monday after the competition and awards was a great day to head down to Universal Studios for some rides. It was super sunny and hot so a good time to go on a ride and get some air, or even hit the water rides. Some of the girls looked like they took a shower, they got so soaked. Some girls headed back to the resort to catch some sun and relax. Tuesday, there was a decision to make, to go Animal Kingdom for some more rides or sit back at the resort and spend your time doing whatever you would like to do. It was about half and half, but by the end of the day the whole team was spending their last day getting tan to show off when we got back to Wisconsin. At about 7.00 pm we all headed back down to Magical Kingdom for the Wishes firework show. Either spending it getting dessert, shopping, or meeting as many characters as we could. We all had a great last full day in Disney with each other and wouldn’t want to change any of it. The following morning, Wednesday was a difficult time for everyone to get up, pack, and leave the warm state of Florida. We arrived to Milwaukee around 11:00 and had to drive back to the school. Most of us were bundled up in sweatshirts not wanting to get out and face that we were finally home. This Disney trip was so Magical, it will be a trip to remember.

Mustang Locker Room

by: Natalie O'Brien

It is now the month of March, and Mr. LaVigne enjoys having the Mustang Locker Room open during events such as sports happening after school, spirit week, or if there is a big sale happening. The Mustang Locker Room is also open during lunch, from 11:14-11:45, and after school from 3:25-3:45. He has students who enjoy running the Mustang Locker Room. The students really enjoy working the in the store because it is giving them a chance to meet new people while helping out with the business. Another large portion of sales come from the website. Mr. LaVigne welcomes the students, adults, and staff to the locker room showing them the cool items we are selling at our school. The kind of items they sell are shirts, pants, hats, sweatshirts, and chairs for the bleachers. Check out the link to purchase some new items!

http://lc3.littlechute.k12.wi.us/High%20School/Activities/FBLA/schoolstore.htm

If you want something that they do not have in the locker room, you can always contact Mr. LaVigne to make a special order. With spring coming around the corner soon,spring sports are going to start, and Mr. LaVigne and his students are selling new products and creating new apparel in his classroom. The days when his students make the apparel are on days when their custom order comes in, or when they are running low on merchandise in the store. Students works on the products during fourth block.  

Wrestling State Qualifiers

by: Logan Collison

Webster’s defines the word champion as “a person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, especially in sports”, but what does champion really mean? Although two of Little Chute High School’s wrestlers may have had disappointing ends to an amazing wrestling season, they are champions not just by definition, but in their actions, both on and off the mat.
Looking at senior Logan VanHandel first, he has been a part of wrestling since he could wrestle. I have seen him mature both as a wrestler and a person, which contributed to his state appearance his senior year. As a freshman he struggled with listening to authority, but this year he shined as one of the three captains on the team. He finished the regular season with a 22-10 record and took first place at the conference tournament and won his way to a state spot. He has worked with the middle and elementary school program putting in work before and after to make sure that Little Chute will have a successful wrestling program.

Our other state qualifier was sophomore Bryce Schumacher, who was wrestling before he

could walk. Bryce comes from a wrestling family, making it to state in middle school. But

this is his first time as a high schooler. Only being a sophomore, he shows promise to

become a very successful wrestler. Bryce’s season looked grim when on the first dual meet

of the year, he hurt his shoulder, which took him out for much of the year, making his state

appearance that much more impressive. His regular season record was 12-5, with a first

place finish at the conference meet in the 160 pound weight class, showing that even after

injury it is still possible to be successful. Even though their state run was cut short, these

two young men have shown what is capable for the Little Chute Mustang Wrestlers.