Appleton Christmas Parade

by Mckenzie Wallenkamp

This year's 48th Annual Appleton Christmas parade was on the night of November 20th. This is one of the largest nighttime parades in Wisconsin. They have bands, floats, local school dance and cheer teams, and local organizations such as Boys and Girls Club. Even though the weather was freezing and the wind was blowing, many people stayed throughout the whole parade which lasted about an hour and a half. All of the kids were cuddled up with their parents watching the parade and waiting for Santa. They all watched the floats go by, listened to the marching bands play and watched the ballet school dancers dance down the street. I’m sure the highlight of the whole parade was the hot air balloon float that blasted fire up and warmed the crowd.

Meet Your Class Officers

by Tyler Zinda

On Thursday, October 25th, at 7:25 AM, the class officers met for the first time this school year. The class officers are a group of people who discuss school issues as well as figuring out how to solve them. They also schedule prom and put the event together with a group of others to help.

When Senior President David Peeters was asked what will be discussed at this meeting he said, “It’s top secret.” He then went on to say “We will also talk about current school issues, upcoming events, and anything the students want them to talk about.”

There are a total of 12 class officers, which translates to three from each grade. There is a President, Vice-President, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The senior class consists of President David Peeters, Vice-President Connor Christopherson, and Secretary/Treasurer Max Wollersheim. The junior class is President Jonah Olson, Vice-President Nate Hietpas, Secretary/Treasurer Adam Kilgas. The sophomore class officers are President Courtney Hietpas, Vice-President Isaiah Engle, and Secretary/Treasurer Morgan Trzebiatowski. Your brand new Freshman class officers are President Timothy Buchholz, Vice-President Cameron Hudziak, and Secretary/Treasurer Hunter Janssen.

When asked what being a class officer means to him, Vice President Nate Hietpas said “To me it means I can represent my peers in the Junior class in a positive manner. It is a true honor to have received the recognition among my classmates to be voted Vice President.”

When asked about the plans for prom, Junior Class President Jonah Olson said, “We have a new DJ that is being tried out from Fortune Entertainment, it will be a really good time. Like, a really, really, really, really good time. 2020 woohoo!”

The New Little Chute High School

by Caitlynn Steiner

In 2018 Little Chute High School took a huge step in repairing the facility. Conditions were bad and even dangerous for the students. The roof was way past its life expectancy, the heating and cooling systems were failing, the kitchen was inadequate for proper meal preparation, and there just wasn't enough room in the school students to do after school activities. The total renovation cost for the new school was $17.8M, and was not to exceed. Miron, the construction company that did the new renovations, finished the project in just a little under a year! The look is amazing.

In addition to fixing the roof, ventilation and kitchen, the company added more spaces to improve the education and comfortability of the school. These additions include a new media center to update and consolidate the two existing libraries, renovation for the creation of STEM electronics and CAD labs, flexible learning environments for small group instruction (collaboration spaces), better current offices for FLEX Academy classrooms, expansion of the workout rooms and relocation of multi-purpose/wrestling rooms, the new district office, and a reconfiguration of the parking lot to improve safety.

From a student's perspective, I think the new renovations are excellent for feeling more comfortable at school, especially in the collaboration spaces and library. Students like to spend their free-time in the comfy chairs that have been added to the spaces. The design of the new school also gets us students ready to the feel of college. That was the main goal of the design according to District Administrator Botz. In an article he says, ¨This project will truly revolutionize how our professional educators facilitate for all of our students.¨ Which means the restoration of the school will make teaching easier for the teachers as well as learning for the students. The reno will definitely make a positive impact on the student's learning and education.

Autumn Concert

by Adam Hafkey

Monday, October fifteenth was the autumn concert. This was the first concert of the 2018-2019 school year. The choir has been getting ready for this since the beginning of the school year. Since this was a Halloween concert, choir members had to wear costumes. I asked two people some questions about the concert. I asked them why they wanted to join choir, what was one of their favorite parts of this concert and what was one of their favorite songs they sang in the concert. The answer I got from both of them was their favorite song they sang was “Time Warp”. Marki Hietpas said her favorite part of this concert was the song “Time Warp” because the movie it comes from is one of her favorites. Logan Enger said his favorite part was his solo during the “Zombie Jamboree”. Logan Enger states, “Choir is one of the few things that Logan enjoys to do since he gets to sing.” Also Marki Hietpas answered, "I am in choir to improve my skills as a musician, and so I can learn how to use my voice as it develops. I'm also in choir for the team and family aspect. Being in choir allows me to lead the group and develop new skills to be a leader.” This is the last year for all the seniors for choir. They love singing. They are all skilled to be performing to the big audiences that show up to all the concerts.

Senior Awards Banquet

by Hannah Robinson

For all students at Little Chute High School, the end of the school year is crazy busy. This is especially true for seniors. From finishing portfolios to senior exit interviews, along with field trip after field trip and early finals, the class of 2018 has had a lot of their plates these last few weeks. To add to that list, this past week was the Senior Awards Banquet. At this annual event, scholarships and other awards are given to the outstanding seniors who earned them.
The Senior Awards Banquet, as always, was held at Liberty Hall in Kimberly. When the seniors and their guests entered the building, they were checked in by the future executive board of National Honor Society. Entering the large dining hall, those in attendance found their seats and talked amongst themselves. Dinner was served after a few minutes. The meal was delicious; it included chicken, dressing, potatoes, vegetables, and other mouth-watering foods. Thank you to those at Liberty Hall for the fantastic meal.
When everyone had finished eating, the ceremony began with introductions from guidance counselor Mr. Pratt and National Honor Society president Olivia Kliner. After that, the night followed the program that guests were given at the door. Scholarships and awards of all kinds were given to the seniors, recognizing them for their academic success, athletic achievement, and extracurricular involvement throughout their four years at Little Chute High School. There was a great variety of awards as well. Some focused on academics and effort while others centered specifically on theater and choir. There were many academic awards given out to celebrate accomplishments in that area as well. On behalf of the seniors, teachers, and staff, I would also like to thank all those who presented the scholarships and awards, not only for their monetary donations but also for the time and care they put into this event each and every year. Retired LCHS principal Mr. Dan Valentyn was even in attendance to present his “Stay Classy” award.
After scholarship and award winners were announced, current principal Mr. Tony Bird recognized the LCHS and LCCPA top ten and valedictorians. This year’s valedictorians from LCHS include Hannah Robinson, Olivia Hermsen, and Olivia Kliner. Representing LCCPA as valedictorian is Emma Wyngaard.
Congratulations to all seniors on your accomplishments I’m sure that our parents, teachers, and peers are excited to see what we will achieve next in our lives. After the ceremony concluded, the seniors posted for some group and individual pictures to capture the memories of the night and celebrate their awards. Below are two pictures from the night. The first one includes Olivia Gloudemans, Olivia Scheeler, and Charlie Coenen. In the next photo, future St. Norbert Knights Abby Kramer, Charlie Hietpas, Lexi Halase, and Hannah Robinson smile big for the camera.

NEC Track and Field Conference Recap

by Olivia Hermsen

On Saturday, May 12th, the Little Chute Track and Field athletes headed to Wrightstown to compete in the North Eastern Conference track meet. The day began with a strong start from the boy’s field events with Bryce Schumacher clinching first place in pole vault. Not only did Bryce win the event, but he also broke the school record with a vault of 13 feet and 9 inches. Other notable field event performances included Noah Mueller placing first in high jump and Adam Hietpas taking second place in long jump. On the girl’s side, Hannah Roth clinched a second place finish in pole vault with a vault of 8 feet and 6 inches. Olivia Hermsen finished with second place finishes in both long jump and triple jump as well as bringing home the NEC Conference Field Event Athlete of the Year award.
Running events also went well for both the girls and boys team. The girls’ 4x200 team consisting of Olivia Hermsen, Hannah Vanden Berg, Jules Joosten, and Alyssa Hutcherson crossed the finish line clinching a first place title. The boys’ 4x200 and 4x100 relay team also competed well by ending both races with a second place finish. Those relay teams both consisted of Carter Pynenberg, Noah Mueller, Bryce Schumacher, and Adam Hietpas. Continuing with impressive relays, the girls’ 4x100 team of Cassi Janssen, Hannah Vanden Berg, Jules Joosten, and Aleeshea Nowacki took second place. Individually, Alyssa Hutcherson took second place in the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. Matthew Sanderfoot ran a dominant 800 meter race which landed him a first place finish. The last event of the meet was the 4x400 relay which the Mustangs excelled in. The girls’ team of Elisha Wilson, Hannah Vanden Berg, Jules Joosten, and Lindsey Grams snagged a third place finish. Following them, the boys’ team of Connor Christopherson, Noah Mueller, Matthew Sanderfoot, and Mack Hooyman ended the event with an impressive second place finish.
All together, 16 boys and girls took home either 1st, 2nd, or Honorable Mention conference honors. Seven athletes were crowned as Conference champions. Overall, the boys and girls team both ended the meet by placing third out of nine teams at the conference meet.

The Last Concert of the Year

by Mckenzye Wymer
Monday night was the last high school band and choir concert for the year. These students have been working since the beginning of March getting ready for this. The high school symphonic band is presenting two pieces. The first piece the symphonic band had played was called ´In the Forest of the Kings’ composed by Pierre LaPlante. This gorgeous piece consists of three different songs each complimenting the last. The last piece is called ´Jump in the Line´ which was originally composed by Harry Belafonte. This piece is completely different than the last one, being more upbeat then Ín the Forest of the Kings´. The seniors that are in band are Abigail Kramer, Mckenzye Wymer, Melina Bakken, Paige Fuchs, and Stephanie Serrato. These seniors were recognized during the concert and given a blue rose.

Mustang Softball is Back

By Megan Lonigro

The Little Chute Softball team is back from last year with a few new additions. The Mustangs have 10 returning softball players who are as follows: Lizzy Lehrer, Aubrie Hermsen, Olivia O´Connell, Jordan Lonigro, Katie Joten, Megan Lonigro, Brooke Jansen, Mary Hammen, Libby Vandenberg, and Makenna Lamers. Adding to the team this year, Halie Hermsen and Jana Van Vooren have decided to play their senior year as well as Kyra Lefeber, a new freshman. The team is very closely bonded and is ready to get on their field and start to compete against other teams.
According to Halie Hermsen, she is excited for being with the team and getting to know the game on a whole different level. ¨I would go to the majority of the games anyway because of Aubrie [Halie´s sister] so I figured why not play and be with all my friends. Watching the team in the past, everyone is super close in and out of school and I'm super excited to be a part of that,¨ says Halie. Halie Hermsen is an outfielder for the Mustangs and can´t wait until the games start.
Jana VanVooren is playing first base for the team this year. She played softball at a younger age and has thought about going out for the past two years and finally decided to go out her last year. ¨I think the season is going to fly by. My goal is to have fun, play hard, and support each other,¨ Jana states. She is most excited to be with the people she loves to hang out with and work together to accomplish one goal.
Captains last season and this season are seniors Olivia O´Connell and Megan Lonigro. These two girls were chosen as leaders of the team by their coaches and teammates. According to Olivia O´Connell, she believes her job as a captain is to be a positive role model and to be someone's motivation if they are having a rough time. In order for the team to succeed, the captains are looked to in order to make sure everyone is positive and be a point of communication for good and bad situations. When being asked her goal for the team for this season, she replied, ¨I agree with [Coach] Long that at least one win against each conference team is possible.¨ Both captains want to remember our last season of softball and make it as fun and successful as possible.
With seven games canceled already due to unfortunate weather, the Mustangs are excited to get on their field and play some games. The team has been practicing inside and working hard to be ready for a game anytime. The next scheduled home games for Mustang Softball is a doubleheader on Friday, April 20th versus Denmark. Come out and support!

Updated Construction at LCHS
By: Natalie O’Brien


Since October, Miron Construction has made a tremendous amount of progress at LCHS. From tearing down walls to building new ones, the construction crew has been working hard since day one. Back in September, the weight room was available for gym classes; now, it has been moved down into pupil services. The men are remodeling the weight room by expanding the area, where they are combining the weight room and wrestling room into one space. While they are working on that section in the school, the men are also working on the new addition: the library. This library will be much bigger, include new furniture, and contain areas where you can have a fun time playing with new gadgets when done with homework. This space will also offer a new section of books, where each genre, such as romance, drama, histopian, and many more will be labeled. This piece of the building will be connected to the middle school. While the school is under construction, rooms will be shifted. The office will be below the new library and pupil services will be moved to their new location behind the office. The wrestling room will become the dance room, and the new wrestling room will be downstairs. The math hallway will become the English rooms and the math department will be moved into the old library. Little Chute Careers Pathways Academy will be taking the English rooms after this year. This renovation should be done in September. As a student, seeing the incredible amount of work Miron Construction has done this far is truly remarkable.

Best Study Techniques

Exam Anxiety? Try these Psychologist-Proven Study Techniques

Imagine you’re taking a test in your hardest class. You ate a big breakfast that morning, got plenty of sleep the night before, and studied for several hours straight in preparation for the exam. As the teacher begins handing out the tests, you feel extremely confident. There is no doubt in your mind that you won’t get an A. However, all this confidence fades when you pick up your pencil and begin. Your mind draws a blank on material you thought you knew, there are questions that you don’t remember studying, and, worst of all, you don’t even know where to begin with your answers to the essay questions. Chances are we’ve all been in a situation similar to this one. Thankfully, there’s a solution. While different study techniques work for different people, some have been proven by psychologists to help each and every individual earn a better score on his or her exam.
Many high schoolers tend to use massed practice. This is when a student crams all studying for an exam into one study session, usually the night before the exam. This is often due to procrastination in studying. As you might have experienced yourself, massed practice produces negative results. If you use this technique, you will most likely be very tired the next day. Also, psychologists have proven that cramming all studying into one big session is not effective in remembering material. Therefore, distributed practice would be a much better technique to incorporate into your studying. Distributed practice is spacing studying out over time rather than all in one day. This technique has proven to result in better scores on exams, and another positive is that it doesn't take any more time than crammed practice. Distributed practice is most effective when a student begins studying at the beginning of the semester and incorporates it throughout. While you may argue that cramming seems to work for you, it does not help with long-term retention of information. Distributed practice, on the other hand, will help you remember the material for much longer. This is very useful for finals, which often incorporates information from the beginning of the term.
Another technique students often use when studying is rereading text, which includes notes and the texbook. This may come as a surprise to you, but many psychological studies have shown that rereading text does not increase learning. A better alternative to this technique would be to test yourself when reading through notes and the book; ask yourself questions that make you think deeply about the material. This forces your mind to process the information at a more intense level and will result in better remembering of the material. Some textbooks provide questions at the end of each chapter; if yours does not, attempt to form your own questions.
While they hate to admit it, high school students can be lazy. This is especially true in classes that require listening to lectures and writing large amounts of notes. To fix this problem, some students resort to typing the notes. While this is a quicker, easier way to record larger amounts of information, it has proven to be less effective than copying the notes by hand. Writing notes out allows the brain to process information more deeply and focus more on what it is you are recording. Also, students tend to keep track of too much information when typing notes. We sometimes have a habit of recording every word we hear, thinking that that will help us study for the test. In reality, keeping track of the most important information will benefit you on a test. Writing notes will help you do just that. Since most of write slower than we type, this forces us to process the information more deeply and decide what is important enough to write down and what isn’t.
Think ahead to your next test. You may feel anxious, but don’t worry! That’s only because you want to do well. Hopefully this article has inspired you to try these three studying tips and tricks, because psychologists have proven their effectiveness. Begin studying in advance and do so a bit each night, quiz yourself on the notes rather than rereading them, and write your notes instead of typing them, and I guarantee you will not only do better on your exam, but remember the information for a longer period of time.

Ace the ACT

by Hannah Robinson

It is one of the most critical tests you will ever take.  It is a big factor in determining the outcome of college and scholarship applications.  This test is what we all know as the ACT.  In Wisconsin, all high school juniors are required to take this assessment.  Because this is not an optional test, every one of you will find yourself taking it at one point or another.  And, while the ACT can seem very intimidating, especially due to its incredible importance and daunting length of over three and a half hours, there are many ways that you can prepare.  Continue reading to hear some of the best tips and tricks from Little Chute High School seniors who have already gone through the ACT process.

“Wake up early in the morning so you’re wide awake when you’re taking the test,” Abigail Buchholz shares.  “Also, eat a big, hearty breakfast because otherwise you’re going to be starving during the test.  That will probably make your score go down.”  It is obviously not a good idea to go into testing day tired.  Luckily, this is something that can easily be controlled.  Make sure you get at least 8-10 hours of sleep the night before to ensure that you do not get droopy-eyed during the test.  Also, Abby suggests getting up a bit early on testing day so that you have enough time to “wake up” before actually beginning the ACT.  Another critical point Abby makes in her advice is that you must eat a good breakfast on the day of your test.  If you eat a small breakfast or no breakfast at all, your grumbling stomach will no doubt make it very difficult for you to concentrate on anything but your hunger, and your scores will reflect that.  However, with enough sleep and a sufficient breakfast, you will be physically ready for your test.

“Go into the test open-minded and confident,” Lexi Halase suggests. “Don’t go in with a closed-off and pessimistic attitude.”  While the ACT is a measurement of skill and knowledge, the results will change depending on your attitude while taking it.  If you make sure to have a positive attitude throughout the test, you will most likely have better results over all.  This “I can do it” approach will allow to you to take on the challenging questions more confidently and, as a result, will produce better scores.  On the other hand, if you go into the test thinking that you aren’t going to do well, then your scores are going to show that.  This is relevant not only before the test, but throughout the entire assessment.  If you do not know how to do a question, don’t sweat it!  Do your best, skip the question, and go back to it if you have time.  The key to having confidence is to be prepared, and the best way to do this is simply to practice, practice, practice! “Utilize the ACT after school and lunch prep sessions with teachers.  They help you understand what’s actually going to be on the ACT and the teachers help you find resources. For example, for English, Mrs. Vandeyacht found videos to us understand grammar better.”  Throughout your junior year, you will be offered many opportunities to sign up for ACT preparatory sessions in all four subject areas of the test.  These sessions occur either during lunch or after school and you will be able to sign up for however many you think you need to do well on the test.  Breanna Fritsch suggests that you take advantage of these sessions which have proven to be very beneficial in her ACT experience.  They only last about a half hour each, and the teacher whose room you sign up for will help you in any way they can by providing you with additional resources and giving you tips on the subject.  Sign up for as many as practice sessions as you can because they will help you in ways that simply practicing on your own cannot.“If you can’t come up with an answer to a question in a minute and a half, you have to move on so you have more time to answer the rest of the questions instead of focusing on just one,” Libby Vandenberg reveals.  Learning to manage your time on the ACT is crucial.  Because we are rarely timed on standard high school tests, time management is something that we must practice to improve on.  The more you practice, the better you will understand how long you should spend on each question of the four subjects of the test.  Obviously, this will vary by person depending on his or her level skill in the subject and the difficulty of the problem.  However, as a general rule, Libby suggests that if you cannot find the answer to a problem after about a minute and a half or so, it’s probably best to move on the next question.  Come back to it later if you have time.  If you do this, though, be sure to skip the bubble for that question so that you don’t mix up all of your answers.  Don’t freak out if you don’t know a question; it’s one of many!  Rather than wasting time trying to figure out the answer to it, continue with the rest of the test so that you can get points for other questions that you do know.  The best way to improve your time management skills is to time yourself when practicing.  Doing so will allow you to keep track of how much time you have remaining on each test, which will also be the case on actual testing day.  The test proctors will tell the beginning and ending times for each test section, and there will be a clock in the room.  Use this to your advantage!  When practicing at home, see what question you are at certain times into the test.  For example, in the math section, you have 60 minutes to complete 60 questions.  That rounds out to one minute per question.  Therefore, when you practice with the time, do your best to keep that pace so that even when you are halfway through the test, you still have half an hour remaining.  For many, time is their worst enemy on the ACT; however, with lots of patience and practice, you will find the method that works best for you. As a high school senior myself, I have taken the ACT a total of four times and, as a result, have learned some tips along the way as well.  The first step for me was to set a goal score.  Keeping this number in my mind as I practiced and scored at-home practice tests, I was able to numerically judge how well I was doing and see if I was on track to reach this score on the actual test.  Thankfully, my hard work paid off and I achieved the score I wanted.  However, this simply encouraged me to set a higher score for myself.  I highly suggest to anyone who will be taking the ACT to set a goal score for themselves because it truly did help me keep track of my progress.It will also prove very beneficial to you to schedule specific times to practice for the test.  While you will obviously have other commitments such as work and school, you must find time to practice because this is the best way to improve your score.  This “scheduling” can be as specific as making a hard copy schedule with exact times for practice or as broad as making sure to set aside half an hour each day for practice.  On the topic of practicing, it is vital that you begin practicing months or at least weeks before your test.  Cramming your study time within the last week is very stressful and not very effective in getting you the score that you want.  This can be avoided, though; it just requires dedication and self-motivation.  ACT practice books can be found at your local library, online, or in select stores.

While the ACT is very important, don’t fret if you aren’t able to achieve the score you want on the first try.  You are always able to take the test again, and these tips will help you better prepare for the next time.  Be sure to get lots of sleep, eat a good breakfast, take advantage of school study sessions, pace yourself, and practice as much as possible.  If you keep all of this in mind and maintain a positive attitude throughout, you can ace your ACT!

Click the link below for some helpful, official ACT help and resources.

http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act-educator/resources.html

Environmental Club

By: Lexington Halase

The Little Chute High School Environmental Club has had a strong start the 2017-2018

school year with 35 members! The club is led by advisor, Mr. Rankin, and their club board

Stephanie Serrato, President, Nicole Plutz, Fundraising Coordinator, and Melina Bakken,

Secretary and Media Coordinator. These three board members and their advisor help lead

meetings, plan events, organize fundraisers, and keep track of profits and attendance.

The club’s members have been working very hard during the first few months of the school

year. In October, the club had a Halloween Fundraiser where students could purchase

miniature pumpkins, gourds, and bags of candy to celebrate the spooky season. With having

the products donated by the Rankin family and not having to pay much out of pocket

for supplies, the club made a total of $107.25! This total will go into the club fund in order to

help pay for the end of the year camping trip in May, which is a fun time for the club members

to celebrate a successful year and enjoy the great outdoors! Aside from this fundraiser, the

club has also been working on collecting old ink cartridges and recycling them back to

companies for a profit. While there isn’t a total amount of money received available yet, it

is expected for the club to make quite a bit of money off of these recycled cartridges.

With the fundraisers going on, the club has also found time every Friday during terms two

and three to take out recycling for teachers. This ensures that the materials needed to be

recycled get recycled and don’t end up being thrown out. Plus, it helps keep rooms tidier.

Along with this, our club’s board and advisor are working with the school board in order to

start a lunchroom recycling program for the elementary school to help all of the young

students learn about recycling early on in life and preventing the build-up of recyclables in

the trash system. The club has been very busy working on all of these current and past

projects!

With the success of the club’s projects early on in the year, there are more plans in the

making for fundraisers and events in the future! There is a bake sale planned for the month of

January, a Valentine’s Day fundraiser, and a flower sale for Mother’s Day. Along with these planned

fundraisers, the club also participates in events planned for Earth Week, which will be April 16

through April 20 of 2018. Events include highway cleanup, sidewalk chalking, and a movie night!

For more information about future events and what the club is all about, stayed tuned on the

Environmental Club section of the Rankin Station website:

https://sites.google.com/a/littlechute.k12.wi.us/the-rankin-station/earth-club