The Chief Online

May 2015

Dear Students and Staff of PTHS, It seems like a few days ago I was writing to you and welcoming you back to school. Now, sadly, it is time to say goodbye and say thank you to all for making my senior year the best year yet. Thank you to our faculty and staff for always making sure PTHS was a safe environment to learn in. Thank you also to the student body for participating in all of the extracurricular activities and making PTHS an even better place. Here is a little bit of advice that I have learned from my years at PTHS: To the seniors, our time at PTHS has finally come to an end, quicker than we thought it would. Good luck to all of you next year and I hope you all find your passion and pursue it. Whether it be college, the military, or the working world, good luck in the future and I wish you all the best! It has been a great four years with all of you! To the juniors, enjoy the next year because trust me, it flies by. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself next year because it will only help you in the future. Choosing a college or future career can be difficult and stressful, but in the end make sure you are happy with your choice and choose to pursue something you are passionate about. To the sophomores, congrats on finally being upperclassmen next year! Your senior year is coming quickly, so I encourage you to start thinking of your future and what interests you. PTHS offers many classes and opportunities to aid you in your decision making process, so take advantage of them! To the freshmen, your first year of high school is finally over, and the next three years will be gone before you know it, so take the time to join a few clubs, take some harder classes, and just be yourself. High school is a place where you can define yourself so take that chance and run with it. These past four years has gone by so fast and I encourage every one of you to take the time to cherish the memories you make in high school. Thank you for giving me a great senior year as being your Student Council President and making the best of my high school career! Sincerely, Jordan Grieff

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2015!

Inside this Issue:

Inside this issue:

1

FFA 2

Upperclass Acts 3

Retirees 4

Prom 5

Movie Review 6

Music Dept. 7

Poetry 8 Student Survey 9 Ask Trippy 10 Farwell, PTHS 11

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Goodbye from the President of the Student Body

Cultural Exchange

By Baylee Ritter As I sit here writing this article, my phone beeps its usual alert notifying me that I received a text. This message was from none other than my Turkish friends wishing me a good day at school! I think that I can speak for everyone who either hosted a student or just experienced having them in your classes, that our Turkish visitors have forever impacted this school and community. Not only were their eyes opened to what “real America” looks like, our eyes were opened to their cultures and customs as well. From presenting at the Clean Water Celebration in Peoria, to going out farming with the FFA students, their students received a full range of experiences here in Pontiac. A favorite was the different museums and the downtown area of Pontiac. They also said that they liked the halls of PTHS better than their own school saying that everyone here has more of a fun relationship with each other which makes for a better learning environment. I think that overall everyone had an amazing week, filled with memories and hopefully now friends, which will last a lifetime.

FFA in May

By Amy Wyant The last couple of weeks for the Pontiac FFA have been a little crazy! We survived our Wacky Wednesday consisting of several CDE contests and section officer elections. With that said, we want to congratulate Aaron Newsome for making Section 9 FFA Vice President! We also had several students travel to Moline with Mr. Faber and Mr. Bane to speak at the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board Meeting on the CASE Curriculum. We also had an excellent turnout for our annual FFA Banquet and we want to send a special thanks to all the members, friends and family in the community that support or FFA! Speaking of support, we also had our Pontiac FFA Alumni give out several scholarships to our members this year and we truly appreciate their support towards our future careers.

In late April, we put away our official dress and got out our dancing shoes when we invited the students from Turkey and our friends from Evenglow Lodge to come to our chapter meeting to do some dancing and karaoke! After the Turkey students showed off their dancing skills and taught us some of their culture we decided to show them a little American agriculture and took them on tours at Interglobe Genetics and showed them some of our farming methods. All in all, we had an incredibly crazy yet satisfying month and look forward to May when we are inviting all the incoming freshmen enrolled in Ag classes to come to our last chapter meeting of the year and elect in our new officers. We hope to see all of our members there to say a final goodbye to our seniors and give a great big welcome to our future members!

FFA information can be found HERE

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Upper Class Acts

Kiana Encinia Nicknames: Meeks Roll Models: Susanna Legner Activities @ PTHS: School plays, Special Olympics, bowling, shopping in the community. Fondest Memory of High School So Far: People in class 3 Major Areas of Interest: Church, racing, Christian concerts Plans After High School: Work at Pontiac Healthcare and Rehab Center Favorite Movie: The Lego Movie Most Inspirational Song: “He Knows” by Jeremy Camp Most Positive Moment: Graduation 2015 Favorite Teacher: Mrs. Shelton Pet Peeves: People bossing me around. What My Friends Will Remember About me: My smile and being happy. How Would You Spend $1,000,000? Give it to Mom and Dad If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 items would you want with you? Flashlight, blanket and water Last Words of Advice: “Be respectful and truthful.”

Garrett Lyons Nicknames: G-Unit, Gary Roll Models: Rick “Papa” Lyons Activities @ PTHS: Tennis, NHS, NTHS, Project UNIFY Fondest Memory of High School So Far: Weekend shenanigans 3 Major Areas of Interest: Sports, Women, Fantasy Football Plans After High School: Attend SIU in Carbondale to study Mechanical Engineering Favorite Movie: 300 Most Inspirational Song: "I Don’t Get Tired" by Kevin Gates Most Positive Moment: Being a part of the only undefeated tennis team. Favorite Teacher/Class: Mr. Woith/ Engineering and Architecture Design 2 Pet Peeves: When people walk out the “entrance” door, or walk in the “exit” door. What My Friends Will Remember About me: My goofy antics. How Would You Spend $1,000,000? Buy a new Corvette, and then blow the rest on expensive, flashy things. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 items would you want with you? Swim suit, sun-tan lotion, Shakira Last Words of Advise: "Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer…"

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Mr. Schmink Retires By Jessica Ping Thirty years is a long time to do anything, but teaching high school students? Twenty- two of those being here at PTHS? That’s a huge feat for anyone. Mr. Schmink has inspired many throughout his time here to be the best musicians possible. It’s truly sad that we as a school are losing such an influential role model for our students. At the beginning of his teaching career, Mr. Schmink says his goal as an educator was “to continue a terrific music program, providing experiences for students in music that would allow them to be successful, challenged, and would serve our school and community as best we could, yet still be within the best interest of the students involved.” “Fun, productive, enriching, humbling, and very rewarding,” are just a few of the words Mr. Schmink uses to describe his time here, concluding by saying, “It has been a JOY!” When asked about his funniest recollection of his career, Mr. Schmink says the following, “It

involves a fun group of guys that decided it would be good to paint up their chests with Pontiac colors and display them across a marching band field at a competition in Effingham. They thought they were going to be late to the party and they came running around the end of the field as we are standing beside the home bleachers watching the final band perform. Mr. Schickel, Mr. Cheek and I howled at this flash of guys running to the visitors’ bleachers to display the PONTIAC name! They were Grand Champions that night and it was a proud moment for sure. This was the first of many future painting parties at final performances of the marching season.” Mr. Schmink currently has no plans involving music during his early retirement days because he will be too busy golfing, spending time with his family, and cheering on his favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. However, he does expect to get involved with some sort of music activity in the future. Those of you who will still be at PTHS next year and are worried about never seeing this great man ever again, no worries; Mr. Schmink plans to still attend school events, stating, “You know, orange and blue are my favorite colors!” Mr. Schmink has a quick piece of advice for everyone as we all continue along our own personal paths, “Stay positive, dig in, and have fun.” From the entire staff of The Chief, we would like to wish Mr. Schmink a very joyful retirement.

Saying Good-Bye to Mr. Hatfield

By Cassidy Murphy This year as we say goodbye to some of our faculty, one of those leaving us is Mr. Hatfield as he wraps up his 23

rd year at PTHS. When asked what in

those years his favorite memory was, he said winning the state championship for football in 1993 topped the list. He was the defensive and offensive line coach at the time, which was his second year at PTHS. Throughout his career, these walls have seen a lot of change, and for Mr. Hatfield the biggest change was the amount of technology involved in the school now. When asked what he’ll miss the most about our school, he said the faculty and staff he has worked with over the years and the cinnamon rolls in the cafeteria are at the top of his list. In his retirement, Mr. Hatfield hopes to teach at a private Christian School in Bloomington, travel with his wife, and possibly become a forwarding agent for missionary trips. We will miss you, Mr. Hatfield, and hope you enjoy your retirement!

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Prom 2015: Masquerade

By Cassidy Murphy For most upperclassmen, prom is one of the highlights of the entire year, and this year was no exception. On May 16

th, PTHS’s own Masquerade Ball was held at the

Pontiac’s Elks Lodge. The night was filled with catchy pop songs and slower ballads with the dance floor filled with beautiful dresses and handsome tuxes. This year, taking the crown for King and Queen were Cody Hatzer and Baylee Ritter. The lords of the night were Michael Hones, Jack Hoving, Neil Lambert, Kevin Lewis, and Bryan Worby, while the ladies were Olivia Bammann, Katie Kuska, Abby Muir, Jess Ping, and Sam Quinn. The junior court consisted of Colton Bauknecht, Tyler Carley, Seth Cunningham, Meghan Heller, Britni Hones and Jenna Leonard. It was a memorable evening and a great end of the school year for all who attended.

Goodbye, Mrs. Gerrish

By Jeanette Wooldridge Mrs. Chris Gerrish, a Classroom Assistant in the Life Skills Program who started at PTHS in 1994, is retiring. In honor of her service, we asked her a few questions for The Chief.

JW: What are your plans after you retire? CG: I plan to spend more time with family, friends and our granddaughter, with another grandchild due in late September. Also, travel and enjoy our vacation home in Arizona. JW: What are your fondest memories at PTHS? CG: All the student’s achievements and graduation day, our awesome Peer Partners, and all the great activities, field trips and assemblies we are privileged to experience at PTHS. JW: What will you miss most? CG: Our students: their excitement to learn new things every day, their smiles and laughter. My colleagues: their friendship and dedication to education. My colleague and close friend, Dawn Mack, whom I have worked with in classroom 103 for the past twenty years. Her passion, enthusiasm and hard work she puts into every lesson and unit she teaches made every day exciting, fun and educational. JW: How do you want to be remembered? CG: I would like to be remembered as dependable, caring and having a good sense of humor. Thank you, Mrs. Gerrish!

NETBOOK CHECK-IN DURING FINALS MAY 27-29

Netbook check-in will be held from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Wednesday, May 27 through Friday, May 29. Students will bring their netbooks to the Technology Help Desk, Room 109a. Please turn in your netbook as soon as you are done with it to avoid long lines. All files and programs on the netbook will be deleted, please save important files to your H drive. Seniors must turn in netbooks as soon as they are done, starting May 18. See the website for more information, including a FAQ and costs for missing items.

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Movie Review: Age of Ultron

By Cassidy Murphy Calling all Marvel fans! The much anticipated sequel to

The Avengers has finally hit the theaters and is doing quite well, as it should. With the Avengers assembling once again, their new battle is against Ultron, a robotic artificial intelligence, who is seeking to destroy the human race. The story beings with the introduction of the twins (which, if you saw Captain America: The Winter Solider, and stayed past the preview like all good Marvel fans, you already knew that the twins would be in the movie). Pietro Maximoff has superhuman speed and Wanda, his sister, can manipulate minds. The two are being experimented on by Hydra, along with the scepter belonging to Loki in the last film. The Avengers recover the scepter and soon Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) realize that it has artificial intelligence which could help them in Stark’s dream of a global defense program. The two create “Ultron” who quickly defies its programming, destroying J.A.R.V.I.S. (Stark’s artificial intelligence) and beginning the plot to end the human race. Stark and Banner along with the rest of the Avengers: Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), fight to end Ultron. So, if you want to see if the Avenger’s are able to succeed and stick together as a team, be sure to check out the movie. The movie is very comicbook-esque in its humor and set up. It’s also fun to see cameos and special appearances from other celebrities, especially Marvel creator, Stan Lee. A must-see for any superhero fan!

Book Review: The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer

Review By Dena Boatman Ever since she was young, people were always saying that Gaby was going to be a teen mom. Her sister and her mother were, so why won’t she? In her senior year of high school she decided to see what would happen if she lived up to people’s expectations of her. She decides to fake a pregnancy with only her parents and boyfriend knowing the truth. As soon as she starts this experiment, Gaby gets treated differently by people. Girls go up to her, saying that they can see her baby bump and they can see how much weight she’s gained. Teachers start treating her with less respect. Even her friends turn their backs on her. Gaby realizes that being pregnant isn’t really that great. The Pregnancy Project shows the hardships that pregnant teens have to go through. Throughout her experiment, Gaby received so much ridicule. Nobody deserves the treatment that she was getting from the people she thought were her friends. This book shows the way you shouldn’t treat people.

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Music Department

Update

By Jessica Ping

As the year is wrapping up, the Music Department is still going strong with both rehearsals and performances! On May 3rd, the Concert and Symphonic Bands put on a wonderful performance. Each band performed a piece with a soloist singer and the Symphonic Band’s closing song, “America the Beautiful,” celebrated our nation with the help of a group of choir students singing along. At the close of the concert, a surprise was held for Mr. Schmink. Many speakers from the course of Mr. Schmink’s career spoke his success as an educator over the years. The festivities included an instrumental duet by Mr. Schmink on baritone and his friend from college (a professor at Northwestern University) on tuba, finishing with a spectacular finale featuring many PTHS band alumni and the current band students. What a great way to send such an influential musician off into retirement.

On Tuesday, May 5th, the Music Department held their annual music awards banquet at PTHS. All of the choir and band students attended with their families to eat a delicious meal provided by the PTHS cafeteria staff and to receive a special award. Each student was recognized for their hard work and determination to be the best musician possible. The night was completed with a slideshow of all the seniors’ baby photos compared to a current photo, a perfect laugh out loud way to end a spectacular four years with the Music Department.

PTHS MUSIC STUDENTS RECOGNIZED AT ANNUAL

AWARDS BANQUET

The 49th annual Music Awards Banquet was held at Pontiac High School on Tuesday, May 5th in the auditorium, sponsored by the PTHS Music Boosters. Dinner was served by Peg Meier and the PTHS Cafeteria staff. Outstanding musicians and seniors were honored and recognized for their outstanding contributions to the Music Department.

PTHS Music Department Chair, Keith Schmink, welcomed the guests and made a special presentation honoring PTHS cafeteria manager, Peg Meier, for her twenty-four years of service to the department and school. Superintendent, Jon Kilgore, recognized the outstanding contributions made by parents for their child’s education in music. Ms. Sarah Bowling of the Pontiac Women’s Club presented a scholarship to junior, Logan Mies, for his participation at the University of Wisconsin Summer Music Camp this coming summer.

PTHS Music Booster President, Candice Vilt, presented summer camp scholarships to students on behalf of the Music Boosters and thanked the parents for their help with many activities of the Boosters throughout the year.

The featured guest speaker for the evening was Mr. Barry Houser, Director of the Marching Illini at the University of Illinois-Champaign. Tradition, pride, loyalty, excellence. Student musicians were then recognized for their years of contribution to the music department by chorus director Joseph Durbin and band directors Keith Schmink and Scot Schickel.

PHOTO: Members of the PTHS Symphonic Band perform earlier this year at the Western Illinois University Band Showcase in Macomb.

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Student Poetry Showcase

Sonnet By Makenna Phernetton

I saw you standing there by the gray creek I came here because I heard you’ve felt weak

Your dark brown hair blowing in the sweet breeze And I know you’re fighting Suicide’s squeeze And I know you’ve dug yourself a deep hole. But, dear, listen to the thunder’s drum role And notice the clouds are crying for you Even in Heaven they can hear the blues.

And your heart aches from the pain of your past

But, baby, smile because this won’t last This feeling is only temporary

Know that this will end momentarily So wipe your tears and stand tall as a king

And fly away on life’s beautiful wings.

“The Fruit Bowl” By Cheyenne Tulley

The world is a fruit bowl

a variety of complex individuals: sweet and tart,

seeds inside or out.

Reds, purples, oranges, blues, greens, and yellows—painted like a picture some newly picked, others ripened perfectly, and a

few rotten ones too.

A handful of diversity: a few thrive in humidity, others prefer the shade

and many differences in between.

The world is a fruit bowl, a variety of complex individuals:

go ahead, pick and choose you prefer one, and they prefer the other.

“little by how” by Cheyenne Tulley

through ups and downs and waves of wonder sparking a flame and booming like thunder

ins and outs and to and fro gleaming like a star with its tail aglow

it starts out slow, then flourishes quick

hand in hand, heart to heart no one ever questions the start

ins and outs and to and fro

we all wonder, where does it go? as simple as that, it’s gone in a flash

who’s to wonder, little’s to know, where it started (and where did it go?)

who with what and am by how

near, far, wide, and low shining like silver and floating like a cloud something for no one, nothing for anything

in sickness and health, till death do us part

seemingly steadfast, heart to heart hand in hand, till one blow

who’s to wonder, little’s to know (where did it go?)

through the plunders like a ship steadfast and resolute it will keep

sail burdened with wind, however strong till the end, till the sleep

you don’t find it—it finds you

who’s choice to hold on little’s choice to let go

hand in hand, through in through for the few for the few is it you?

Poem By Destiney Riley

The sun lights up the sky so bright her time will come when day turns night

night sky be but nothing unless accompanied by a sweet moon’s light

Only at dusk, only at dawn do they meet

each other’s light they will greet limited time spent together

cherished as if to never meet again

Moon so lonely in the bitter night sky nothing to comfort one but one’s own light

weeping with only blue in mind lonely moon will never shine as bright

Sun so accustomed to a deepening blue sky

curious of the stars so high holding her head up as if to pretend

the sun and moon will once be together again

The sun does not quite shine right next to the night stars

the moon is not suited right in a sheet of blue in their own skies they must remain for now

admiring from afar

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Pop Culture Update

By Jessica Ping

Everyone from America has a story and a historical legacy. Some people are from Ireland, others from Germany, but everyone has a family tree no matter where you come from. How would you like to travel to the land of your ancestors? Kim Kardashian and her entire family entourage are descendents from Armenia. Recently, they all took a very publicized trip to the beautiful country. The family toured the sites, met government heads and took many selfies along the way to document their journey.

Zayn Malik leaving One Direction is old news. Naughty Boy causing drama on Twitter is the headlines of yesteryear. However, Wednesday’s online Twitter fight between Naughty Boy, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik has everyone asking what really went down between the ex-boyband member and his brothers from another mother. Naughty Boy posted a heavily filtered photo Wednesday morning of himself and Zayn in the studio. Louis, one of the four remaining One Direction members, tweeted, “Remember when you were 12 and you used to think those Mac filters for your pictures were cool? haha! Some people still do HA!” Co-worker, best friend, and brother Zayn Malik replied with a vengeance using some crude language but basically telling Louis to stop tweeting about his life. Ouch. Naughty Boy and Louis continued the battle and fought over whose career was more legitimate and spectacular, with Louis obviously coming out on top as the master of all wisdom. Many fans who had stuck by Zayn’s side even after his split from the band have now turned against him. Zayn tried to make it all better by tweeting that he still loves all of his fans the next day, but it was too late. Only time will tell if the fans will truly ever forgive Zayn for backstabbing his long-time friend.

PTHS Students Recongnized for Journalism

On April 5, eight students competed in the IHSA Journalism Sectional at Illinois State University. Several students placed in five categories: Suchi Patel and Wren Woodburn, 3rd place in Yearbook Theme Development

Naomi Madrigal, 3rd place in Advertising

Wren Woodburn, 4th place in Feature Writing

Jessica Ping, 5th place in Broadcast News

Elizabeth Meiner, 6th place in Yearbook Copy Writing

The top three places qualified for the IHSA Journalism Final at Eastern Illinois University on May 1.

Operation Endangered Species - The Alligator Snapping Turtle Project

State Farm Advisory Board

Click HERE for the Live Turtle Cam!

Student

Survey Plans After Graduation?

Attend Heartland

Community College for two years then transfer to ISU

– Olivia Bammann

Attend Western IL University for a master’s degree in Meteorology

– Matt English

Attend SIU Carbondale to study Mechanical

Engineering – Garrett Lyons

Air Force – Tyler Trainor

Attend Northern Illinois

University to study Nursing – Kayla Kohlmeier

Navy Special Warfare – Lance Kaminski

Attend LLC Community College and transfer to OSU after two years – Anna Landstrom

Double Major in Education and Computer Science to teach History/International

Relations – Jordan Triplett

Attend Heartland

Community College for Computer Programming

and Web Design – Brittany Clauss

Getting my first tattoo

– Meghan Williamson

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Ask Trippy Hey everyone! Wow this year has gone by fast; I can’t believe we’re all graduating already. I’d like to offer a bit of advice to each class as we reach the end of the year and some of us move on to the next step in life, so here goes nothing. To the Seniors, it’s been fun having you all in class over the years. Good luck in the future and make the most of college because you only go to college for the first time once. Keep up with your studies but have fun as well; it’s a brand new world out there so take it by storm and leave your mark. Juniors, it’ll be over before you know it so try not to completely check out until May. The teachers like to pile on projects at the end of the year and it’s a struggle if you’ve already checked out beforehand. Take nothing for granted as you begin to figure out what life after high school holds for you and don’t slack off just because it’s your Senior Year. Get everything you can out of high school before you leave, but most of all, enjoy your last year; you enter the real world soon. Sophomores, don’t freak out over the ACT next year; it’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. You’ll be figuring out your future soon and colleges will be pestering you all the time. Don’t stress if you’re not sure what you want to do after high school right away; it’ll come to you when you’re truly ready and no amount of stress will change that. Freshman, congratulations on surviving all the “freshie” jokes! You made it and now you’re moving up the totem pole. Incoming Freshman will look to you for guidance because they’ll be intimidated by the hulking seniors so just keep in mind that you are someone’s role model. Now that you somewhat know the school, join a club or two and try new experiences. It may seem like you have a long time to go yet but high school goes fast; one blink and you’re graduating! Incoming Freshman, the high school isn’t as scary as you might think. Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers or fellow classmates for help, especially those seniors…their bark is worse than their bite, I promise. Find your niche and don’t be afraid to be who you truly are. Live in the moment everyday and don’t be afraid to take off-the-wall classes or join interesting clubs. Make the most of your four years and break the mold; don’t let anyone dictate who you can be or what your limitations are. My last bit of advice to everyone is to live in your three foot world. Don’t focus on things that you can’t change; only focus on the things that directly affect you. Also, appreciate all of your teachers; they work so hard to help you learn new things and be the best people you can possibly be. I wish everyone the best of luck in the coming years and a big thank you to all of my teachers for teaching me everything you could and helping me be who I am today. Goodbye guys! Yours for the last time, Trippy

Have a question for Trippy? Sorry, she graduating! Thanks, Jordan Triplett.

Operation Graduation

Friday, May 22 11:30 PM -5:00 AM Pontiac Rec Center

Senior admission Free, Guests $5 Pool open 3:00-4:00

Music Review:

Tori Kelly By Grecia Araujo-Torres Tori Kelly is a new artist that has recently made an impact in the music industry. At the age of only 14, Tori Kelly slowly began to gain an audience by simply posting covers of popular songs in YouTube. Now, at the age of 22, Tori Kelly shows how time and patience can be successful. In 2012, she released her first EP, “Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly”, which consisted of songs written and recorded only by her in her bedroom. In just a short moment after it was released, her depute EP made it to iTunes top 10 pop albums. Since then, Tori Kelly has released other EP’s such as “Foreword” and “Unbreakable Smile”. In addition to releasing other EP’s, she has even had one of her songs featured in the film adaptation of “The Giver”. Her latest hits include “Nobody Love” and “Unbreakable Smile”. Check out her YouTube channel for more! https://www.youtube.com/user/ToriKelly

The Chief Staff

Jessica Ping, Editor-in-Chief Grecia Araujo-Torres

Dena Boatman Alexis Hall

Kamryn Moore Cassidy Murphy

Baylee Ritter Adam Shelton Jordan Triplett

Jeanette Wooldridge Amy Wyant

Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor

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Farewell, PTHS

“Just put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking across the floor. Just put one foot in front of the other and soon you will be walking out that door,” is a lyric from the movie, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. As a freshman, everyone tells you that before you know it, you’ll be graduated and on your way to college. Well, they were halfway correct. High school is like a traffic jam, sometimes you are speeding along, happy as a lark having a great time, when all of a sudden something causes you to come to a complete halt. The halted moments can be either a catastrophic event or a beautiful disaster, neither of which show their true importance until later in life, but both being super important into the development of the self. High school is a time like no other in an adolescent’s life. It’s a time to learn, develop, love, explore, and ultimately find oneself along the way. There will never be a time in your life like your high school experience; you only get one chance to make it unforgettable. Live for the moment, don’t stress about that math test next week too much, and just have fun, no matter the situation. So..

Dear Freshmen: Congrats, you’ve made it to the end of your first year. Continue to strive to do your best and become positive role models for next year’s freshmen class. You only have three more years to make something out of your high school career, use them wisely.

Dear Sophomores: Welcome to the world of upperclassmen, it’s not all as grand as it sounds. Along with the title comes extra responsibility and homework. However, junior year is a great time and prom is rather nifty too. Tick tock, just two more years on the clock, make them great.

Dear Juniors: Senior year is going to be great, I promise. However, stay on top of your plans for the future; procrastination is manageable if you don’t fall too far behind. You only have one more year to go folks, make it count.

Dear Seniors: It’s been a great journey with you all. I wish you all the best in any future endeavors you have planned. Our time is up, I hope everyone leaves without regrets and that you made the most of your time here at PTHS.

Here’s to a great and safe summer. Jessica Ping, Editor of The Chief

Have a Great Summer! SINCERELY, THE STAFF OF THE CHIEF

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