The Accipiter January 2017

Volume 51 Issue 5 @sacbstudentnews

By Zoe Trager Staff Writer

January 20th, 2017, marked the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States of America, Donald John Trump. The reaction at St. Albert was mixed, with many people voic-ing both hope and concerns. “I’m so happy,” said sopho-more Harry Venteicher. “I’m looking forward to trickle down economics. People will get jobs - American jobs.” “I hope he will bring jobs back to America, bring factories to America, and build a wall,” said jun-ior Charlie Doll. “America is going to turn itself around and be a better country with him,” said freshman Olivia Bar-nes. “I hope he cuts down on illegal immigration.” Both keeping jobs in Amer-ica and border security were major points in Trump’s campaign prom-ises. In his inaugural speech, Trump said, “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, steal-ing our companies, and destroying our jobs.” Globalization was also im-portant to many students. “I like that he’s against globalization,” said sophomore Jared Gast. “We will no longer surren-der ourselves to the false song of globalization. America first,” said senior Christian Baer. Trump also referenced globalization in his inaugural speech, saying, “From this moment on, it's going to be America First.” Despite many being excited for the new president, some students were still hesitant about him. “I don’t think he’ll be good

for minorities and women based on what he has said in interviews,” said sophomore Maggie King. “His ideas on women’s rights really scare me,” said junior Madison Gerjevic. “I’m worried about Pence and the LGBT community,” said freshman Gabby Martin. “Pence wants to bring back conversion camps for gay people and punishments for women who have abortions.” Trump did not say anything specifically about abortion, women’s rights, or LGBT issues in his inaugu-ral speech. Pence has denied supporting conversion therapy. Pence also denied supporting punishment for abortions, although he did help pass a law crimi-nalizing abortions done outside of an approved clinic. Under this law, a woman has been sentenced to “feticide” for ordering abortion pills online that caused a miscarriage. Despite concern, many peo-ple still remain cautiously optimistic about the incoming president. “I do think he has a love for America and wants to do what’s best for this country,” said sophomore Lexi Moon. “I hope he makes the correct decisions by all Americans, as op-posed to himself or billionaires,” said senior Kevin Armbruster. With new leadership in the country, there is often backlash. There were over 600 protests held world-wide the day after the inauguration. Students such as junior Mad-die Gerjevic participated in the women’s march in Omaha. Teacher Virgie Oatman trav-elled to Washington, D.C., to march there. The women’s marches were in protest to comments Trump has made about women and rights Trump has threatened to take away.

Inauguration Day Brings Mixed Emotions

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Maddie Gerjevic participated in a women’s march in Omaha. Ger-jevic said she marched because “I believe in equal rights for every-one, despite our differences. I be-lieve in embracing a future of di-versity.” Picture provided by Maddie Gerjevic.

St. Albert Students Express Their Opinions on the New President

From left: Trump supporters jun-ior Koley O’Neill, senior Caleb Schneider, junior Charlie Doll and senior Brandon Behrens wore clothing supporting Trump on the day of the inauguration. Doll said he wants people to “give Trump a chance to make America great again.” Picture provided by Charlie Doll.

By William Evezic Staff Writer

In an effort to improve the Saint Albert’s lobby and “ease into the digital age,” as Principal Paul Hans would say, the SA Journalism staff has teamed up with the infor-mation technology department to add a news television to the front lobby.

The school’s informa-tion technology director Tyler Olderog said setting up the television was relatively easy.

“Keith (Wirtz, custo-dian) had to drill a hole in the board and mount a small brass bracket to hold it up,” Olderog said.

Olderog can currently

control the entire thing from his desk.

“The idea was thrown around for awhile,” he said, and now it’s finally become a reality.

SATV will be used to display events and news about athletic events, pep rallies, and other school events during the day. It will also show things such as fundraisers, academics, pictures, and possibly even rid-dles or jokes. It will be sup-plied information from the Saint Albert’s Journalism staff.

Journalism adviser Melinda Keenan said students began learning how to operate the software and load the pro-gramming last week during her

01 class. Much of the content will come from pictures and information already gathered for the yearbook and the Ac-cipiter. Other information will come from the school’s calen-dar and the weekly announce-ments. She also said SATV will post information for clubs and school organizations.

The TV is connected to the Internet, and its first use was to live stream the Inaugu-ration of President Donald J. Trump.

“The ball is starting to roll,” she said.

So with the school catching up with the ages with the new TV, make sure to keep an eye open for any events.

New SATV Adorns Front Lobby

NEWS

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Advanced Air Inc. CB Airport Birthright of Council Bluffs Council Bluffs Savings Bank Dennis O’Toole/ Sara Foran Tami Doll – Doll Family Edward Jones Investments, Gable Andrews Gabriel’s Corner CPC Great Outdoors Lawn & Landscape Hilderbrand Construction Inc. Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Corpus Christi Catholic Parish Dean T. Jennings PC Dickinson & Clark CPAs, P.C. Echo Electric Supply EPCO Ltd., Inc. Gallner & Pattermann, P.C. Greg Duncan State Farm Hutcheson Engineering Hy-Vee

James A. Watson McGinn, McGinn, Springer & Noethe Jim Hall/ Orsi Bakery Real Value Auto Rohling Law Snyder & Associates, Inc. Omni Dental St. Peter’s Catholic Church St. Albert Alumni Iowa Western Community College Kelly’s Carpet & Furniture LLC Mike Hoy Prairielands Chiropractic Clinic Rich Petry Smith Davis Insurance The Sommerville Family & Sommerville Resources Inc. Struyk Turf Peter A. Ziegler, D.D.S, M.S.

Our Sponsors These individuals and businesses financially support the publication of St. Albert’s yearbook.

Brighten Your Morning at Mass Alyson Lenz Staff Writer

The chapel was filled with peace, reverence and per-spective as senior Katie Hopping and I knelt down to pray while the other daily Mass participants filed in to begin the celebration.

St. Albert Chaplin, Father Bright, is now holding morning Masses in the high school chapel from 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thurs-days each week.

“It is important to attend daily Mass to thank God for being our Creator and Lord, to thank God for his many favors, to ask God to bestow his blessings on all men and to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against him,” Fr. Bright said.

Fr. Bright began celebrat-ing morning Masses on Jan. 5 to get the second semester and the New Year started off right.

“By attending morning Mass, I get a greater sense of the world and people around me,” Hopping said. “It brings my focus back to what really matters.”

Being one of the regular participants, Jeremy Hulshizer, St. Albert science and math instruc-tor, has realized that going to morning Mass is how he can fo-cus on what is really important. He prays that he can keep focus and can share Christ’s love with others throughout his day.

“It is easy to wake up, quickly get ready, feel stressed about how fast you are getting ready and how you may be late,” Hulshizer said. “Yes, you have to wake up 20 minutes earlier to go

to morning Mass, but the rever-ence of the Mass will give you a sense of peace to go with you throughout the day, instead of the common sense of urgency and feeling rushed out the door.”

At this point in the year, Fr. Bright, Mrs. Assmann, Mr. Hulshizer, Katie Hopping, and I regularly attend each morning Mass. All of us have expressed interest in inspiring more students and faculty members to join us before school.

“I think others should go to the morning Masses or at least try one out because it is a differ-ent and unexpected experience,” Hopping said, “It is a calming, yet different atmosphere that is easy to connect with for me.”

Fr. Bright had mentioned the Holy Mass can be celebrated by even two people, but the most

important thing is that a priest should be leading the celebration if at least one other person is par-ticipating.

“A Mass with many peo-ple and another with very few people are the same in terms of the graces that are received,” he said. “You only have to partici-pate actively and consciously.”

Even with this being said, Fr. Bright would like to encourage students to take their spiritual life more seriously. Whether that means going to the morning Masses, attending rec-onciliation with Fr. Bright on Wednesdays at 7:15 a.m., or par-ticipating in individual appoint-ments with him called, “Encounter with Fr. Bright.” St. Albert offers several opportuni-ties for students and faculty to

NEWS

Father Bright en-courages students to strengthen their faith lives by attending morning mass. Photo by Michaela Beezley

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Father Bright Joins Saint Albert Jordyn Blaha

Staff Writer Fr. Bright Appiagyei-

Boakye is one of the newest additions to the St. Albert staff.

Fr. Bright has been a priest for 7 years and 5 months, and he is excited to continue his journey as a priest here at St. Albert. He is the full-time chaplain for the school.

He said the reason he became a priest was to spread the word of God and to win more souls for Christ. He knew what he wanted to do at a young age, and he entered the

seminary to offer philosophy and become a priest. Fr. Bright said he wants to bring opportu-nities that will enhance the Catholic School learning ex-perience.

Father was born into a family of six (three boys and three girls) in a small town in Ghana, a country on the Afri-can west coast. Before coming to St. Albert, Father was in Ghana serving as a Christian religious studies tutor at Simms Senior High School, a rector of St. Paul’s Rectorate, and a vocations director for his

diocese. So far Fr. Bright said

he is enjoying his time at St. Albert.

“All those I have come in contact with are very wel-coming and caring,” he said. “I am so happy to be here.”

Father will be cele-brating Mass on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morn-ings, and reconciliation on Wednesdays at 7:15 to 7:45 a.m. and 1:20 to 2 p.m. Stu-dents wishing to meet with Father are able to make ap-pointments.

NEWS

grow in their faith lives. “Morning Mass is important to me be-

cause it is something that I found out about on my own terms,” Hopping said. “It is one way I can grow in my faith life every day.”

Before regularly attending daily masses, Hopping and I said to each other, no matter how tired or lazy we feel by getting out of bed at 6 a.m., we would still be in the high school chapel at 7:15 a.m. ready for mass to start.

Some may won-der how we find the willpower to keep going to Mass each morning, but we all have our own favorite part of the Mass that motivates us to get up the next day and go again.

“My favorite thing about the morning Mass is that I am connected with the original Last Supper every morning to start my day,

which has a lot of graces,” Fr. Bright said. Katie Hopping also shared that her favorite

part of morning Mass is the peacefulness throughout the chapel and how personal it is.

I attend morning mass because it gives me a good perspective to begin a new day. I feel my rela-tionship with God grow more and more every morn-

ing after attending mass. Another aspect of the Mass that keeps these people in-terested in going is the powerful homilies that Fr. Bright gives. Hearing Fr. Bright’s homilies encourages me to strengthen my faith life through-out the day by taking what he says and applying his message to dif-ferent situations that I face. “Fr. Bright makes his homilies very practical and help-

ful,” Hulshizer said. “It is often a nice thought to re-flect on throughout your day.”

Hopping also felt this way saying, “The thing that made me want to keep going is Fr. Bright’s homilies and the joy I feel after I leave.”

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my

blood remains in me, and I in them”

(John 6:56)

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Choir warms up for competition By Ruben Trevino

Staff Writer The St. Albert choir is

busy practicing for spring com-petition.

For the past four years, the choir has earned Level 1 Di-vision honors and the singers hope to do it again this year.

“Preparing for some-thing difficult is just that, diffi-cult,” said Director Deb Rami-rez.

The choir will be com-peting on May 5. They have not been given a location yet, but they do know it will be at a school in southwest Iowa. “We do this to help us improve ourselves and have a real life experience with choir,” Ramirez said. Winning Level 1 Divi-sion for four years straight shows that St. Albert can work hard and accomplish anything, she said. The competition takes place in front of a panel of quali-fied judges. The experience not only helps the large ensemble

but also soloists. The judges’ feedback is used to help the sing-ers grow as an ensemble and as individual soloists. “We participate in con-test for this feedback and to sim-ply challenge ourselves in a unique way,” Ramirez said. Receiving these critiques helps boost the confidence of students and helps them to de-cide if they want a career in music, she said. These experi-ences provided by the school

will help not only careers but also students’ individual lives on a lar-ger scale than just singing. Senior Katie Hopping wants to be one of those people who help choir students’ goals to become better singers and to aspire for singing career. “Going to contest with concert choir has made me a more confident person and has caused me to strive to be a better team-mate, while preparing for that day.” Hopping said.

news

Top, the Soundsations clap to the song “Rui,Rui,Chiu.” Above, the choir sings “Lullay Alleluia” during the Christmas concert.

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By Lorna Puhl Staff Writer

In room 109 in the middle school wing, nine technological gen-iuses gather to plot the demise of their enemies with their latest inven-tion. Meet CumberBot. Named after Benedict Cum-berbatch, this is the newest invention of St. Albert’s own robotics team. Featuring a robotic arm that can ro-tate on a 180-degree axis and a modified design by eighth-grader Emma Gardner and freshmen Justin Pope and Nick Hohneke, it is de-signed to pick up objects and press buttons. This is the first year St. Al-bert has had a high school robotics team. Consisting of five freshmen and four eighth graders, the team of engineers is led by advisers Andrea Barnes and Todd Tarbox. The team and their robot won three matches this year - placing third out of eight each time - and lost two matches. They made it to State qualifiers and received 12th place out of 18 participants. “Teamwork is very impor-tant,” said freshman Ellerie Tarbox. “We would’ve never been able to compete if our entire team didn’t work.” Tarbox has been on the ro-botics team for three years. “I like that I get to try and learn new things,” she said. “I’ve also made new friends I never would’ve if I didn’t do robotics.” While high school robotics might be new to the team, many of the members are already well-versed in this type of project. Having been in FIRST Lego League, many of the same principles are used for both

programs. The Robotics season begins as soon as the school year starts and ends after State. This season ended early, after the loss at State qualifiers. Had they made it to State, they could have been competing until March or April.

After school on Tues-days and Thursdays, the team meets in the old middle school literature room. On Tuesday, practice goes from 6 to 8 p.m., and on Thursday, practice starts right after school until 5:30 p.m. If anyone would like to join robotics, all it takes is an application and the ability to work and get along with other members in the group. Typi-cally, there is no requirement for the number of members on a team. Freshman Bryan Pope said he has seen teams with anywhere from four to 15 members. Junior Emma Barnes, whose sister and mother are a part of robotics, finds the dinner

table to be awkward at times. “They will just be talk-ing, and I will have no idea what they are saying,” she said. Her sister, freshman Abby Barnes, said that is part of the allure.

“I like how you get to spend time with your friends and still do something cool that not many people know about,” she said. After this year, the Robotics team has a new goal: “Designing a robot that’s universal on the field,” Hohneke said.

Robotics is a challeng-ing activity for those who ap-preciate solving problems and collaborating. It offers people the chance to work with tech-nology and get to understand how things operate through teamwork and perseverance. “It is all about the team effort,” Hohneke said.

Robotics Roll into High School

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From left, Zane Collett, Justin Pope, Noah Ruckman, Nick Honeke, Ellerie Tarbox, Abby Barnes and Anna Schewe. Sit-ting, Bryan Pope and Emma Gardner.

By Bryson Bowman Staff Writer

Does my child need a job?

This is a frequently asked question by parents worldwide. Some teens may be against it, thinking a job could end their social life. But a job could be beneficial for their future. Studies have shown a simple two-day-a-week job working three hours each day can make a substan-tial difference in a teen’s life. Money is the greatest pro – the driving force - in the eyes of almost anyone when it comes to a job. Aside from any future boost in work ethic, or better job opportuni-ties, most teens want money. Children cost money, and money doesn’t grow on trees. A child providing a portion of what they need for themselves can save money the parents would have to spend other-wise.

Cons will also be af-filiated with a job. Jobs can interfere with a teen’s every-day routine, compete with ex-tra-curricular activities and take time away from studying. But often the thought of some extra pocket change gets a teen willing to pursue a job.

“I’m most definitely stressed with school work, sports, and my job,” said sen-ior Caleb Schnider, who

works a couple hours a week at Mount Crescent Ski Area. In the previous edition of the Accipiter, sophomore Zoe Trager wrote about teens being overwhelmed with school, activities and jobs. Of-ten a job can add that extra bit of time that pushes a teen over the limit of what they can han-dle.

“I don't have a job, and I don't want a job,” said fresh-man Alex Reyes. “Basketball is my job, and I won't be able to fit in anything else in my schedule. I don't know how kids do it.”

Jobs can be a burden for a busy teen. You must con-sider the pros and cons before you make a final decision be-cause of the problems a job can potentially bring to a teen’s everyday life.

Senior Brandon Behrens said he has no prob-lem with his job.

“I work for the city. I also do wrestling and school, and I’m never really cluttered or stressed with any of it,” Behrens said.

Studies by Middle Earth, a Bridgewater, New Jer-sey-based teen advocacy group, compared the work eth-ics of adults who had jobs as teens and adults who didn’t. The studies show adults are better workers if they had jobs as teens.

With proper time man-agement, teens could fit a job into their schedule, with the motivation to want to work and maybe just to get that first pay-check.

“Having a job can be a lot of work especially with school and stuff,” said junior Khloe Niesen, who works at HyVee. “But I need money really bad to buy things, so it's definitely worth it.”

Cash is a Reason for Teen Stress

NEWS

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By Jackson Dunning and Kyle Barnes

Staff Writers Are you in the mood for something sweet, but don’t want to spend big bucks? We’ve done the re-search, crunched the numbers, and came up with our own list of the top three desserts that Coun-cil Bluffs has to offer that won’t break the bank. Whether you’re feeding a crowd of hungry friends, breaking a New Year’s resolution, or just have a hanker-ing for something to go with that glass of milk, we’ve got you covered. Up first on the list is a chocolate chip cookie from Cel-lar 19. Yes, that’s right, that sand-wich place. These gooey treats sell for $1 per cookie. They are thick, rich, and moist morsels mixed with semi sweet chocolate chunks. Buy one or even a bag to take home and pop in the micro-wave for ultimate cookie affec-tion; that is if they make it home. Next up is the glazed, fried, croissant from Family Fare (say hello to Family Fare em-ployees Koley O’Neill and Con-nor “Lenny” Lenihan when you stop in), which sells for an af-fordable 89 cents per croissant.

The buttery pillows are deep fried fresh every morning. The Family

Fare bakery works hard to produce the most consistent croissants in the city. Like biting into a cloud, these flaky, sweet rolls melt inside one’s mouth. The mix of butter and dough

creates a rich flavor and leaves consumers wanting more with each bite they take of the deca-dent breakfast treat. The crois-sant is perfect for any time of the day, as the treat is crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and covered in a gooey, sugary glaze.

Lastly is the red velvet glazed doughnut from Mad Ox Bakery. These soft, succulent rings sell for $1 a piece. This lo-cal bakery prides itself on a won-derfully prepared, dense, hand-made doughnut. They have a mild chocolate flavor that beautifully contrasts with the sweet cream cheese icing that lies atop the pas-try. These donuts make perfect handheld desserts for lunches, meetings , and more.

We hope you’ll give some of these local establish-ments a chance when you’ve got a pocket of extra change and a sweet tooth. These savings really are too sweet to

pass up and will have you coming back for more, we guarantee it.

$weet $avings

FOOD

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Exquisite confections at competitive prices Pictured to the left is the red vel-vet glazed doughnut from Mad Ox Bakery in Council Bluffs. Mad Ox Bakery offers a wide range of sweet treats at reasonable prices

By Charles Doll Staff Writer

Have you ever craved beautifully hand-crafted chicken tenders that melt in your mouth?

Then Raising Cane’s is the place for you. Recently, junior Koley O’Neill and I vis-

ited Cane’s, which opened its Council Bluffs lo-cation on Oct. 11. Before last fall, students would have to meet at the St. Albert parking lot to car-pool the 20-minute commute to the Omaha loca-tion on Dodge Street. It was made frequent by students from all the community schools to get the delectable Cane’s Chicken.

When O’Neill and I got there, we were greeted by the manager who opened the door for us, and said Canes’ signature catch phrase. “Welcome to Canes!”

Raising Cane’s doesn't have much vari-ety on its menu. But what it lacks in variation, the restaurant makes up in flavor-packed food. Their menu consists of tenders, Texas toast, coleslaw, and fries.

The only variety offered is the different types of meal-deals. You can get the three finger combo with three chicken fingers, fries, Cane’s sauce, Texas toast and a 22-ounce drink for $6.38. Their most popular order, the Box Combo, comes with four chicken fingers, fries, Cane’s sauce, toast, coleslaw and a 22-ounce drink for $6.98. And for the very hungry, the Caniac combo comes with six chicken fingers, fries, two Cane’s sauces, toast, coleslaw and a 32-ounce drink for $9.98.

If you prefer a sandwich, Cane’s offers only one. It comes with three tenders on a Kaiser bun topped with lettuce. It also comes with fries and a 22-ounce drink for $5.98.

There is also a Kids Combo with two tenders, fries, Cane’s sauce and a 12-ounce drink for $4.58.

Planning a party? Raising Canes offers tailgate options: 25 tenders for $27.49, 50 tenders for $48.99, 75 tenders for $69.99, and 100 ten-ders for $84.99. This is perfect for grad parties and tailgates.

O’Neill and I both got the box combo

with Texas toast and fries. The service was quick and friendly. After a one-to-two minute wait, we got our food, filled up our drinks, and proceeded to quickly devour the warm, succulent tenders, dipping each one into the Cane’s secret sauce, which I suspect is some sort of combination of Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise.

“I’d describe Canes’ sauce as peppery and I love it!” said junior Joe Liston, who also has visited the new restaurant.

Afterwards O’Neill and I discussed our food. We both loved what we got just as usual. There is no decline in customer service and chicken quality com-pared to the Omaha location. We give it a 10 out of 10. We would strongly recommend you give Cane’s your money.

A Study in Cane’s

FOOD

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Junior Koley O'Neill enjoys his Box Combo at the Raising Cane’s location on Broadway. Photo by Charles Doll

By Bailey White Staff Writer

St. Albert fans, sports reporters and many others thought 2017 would just be a rebuilding year for girls’ bas-ketball - except for the Saintes.

After losing their top two scorers at the end of last season, it was unclear how the youthful team would perform. Everyone thought that the re-turning players would do al-right, and the team wouldn’t be anything special. They have since proven everyone wrong.

The Saintes, com-prised of just 13 girls and only one senior, are off to a very strong start at 12-4. They have exceeded many expectations as they are tied for first in the Hawkeye-10 conference. Af-ter losing their two leading scorers, Alyssa Carley and Paige Beacom, who are both playing college basketball this year, it was very important that the remaining players step up to fill those roles.

The team dynamics are a lot different this year because the leading scorer usually varies every night. With only 13 players, every-one has to work hard in prac-tice to prepare for games. In the tough Hawkeye-10 confer-ence, the Saintes have to be ready to compete each night.

Emma Shaw, a junior transfer from Woodbine, also helped with this transition to new team dynamics. The 5-foot-10 addition creates a force in the post, which the Saintes were lacking.

Although the Saintes are not rated, they have beaten Interstate-35 Community Schools and Kuemper - two rated teams. They also had a very strong game against Harlan where they tied the school record for 11 three-pointers made.

Senior Sydney Fields said her favorite memory from this season so far was beating Kuemper. The Saintes hung on to a one-point victory with Ka-lyn Wettengel hitting a free throw with five seconds left and then getting a partial block on Kuemper’s launch from be-hind the arc.

It has already been an

exciting season, but the Saintes are not done yet.

“Obviously our goal is to get to State, but we also just want to have the best possible season with each other that we can,” Fields said.

Sophomore Teagan Blackburn agrees.

“My goal is to get to State but also just to focus one game at a time and get better every game,” she said.

As the Saintes begin to close out the regular-season, they begin to think about mak-ing a run in the postseason and hopefully continuing to prove people wrong.

“I just hope that we reach our full potential at the end of the season,” Blackburn said, “and to do that we all need to push each other every day.”

Saintes Start Surprises Many

SPORTS

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The Saintes are off to a strong start, surprising many fans and critics as many young players are stepping up.

‘Put me in coach ...

instant reaction was that I was proud of what our team got to take home.” What makes the championship so amazing is that just six months before the competition St. Albert almost didn’t have a dance team. The coaches had quit. The girls had walked away. Moral had bottomed out.

But there emerged a few dancers who fought to keep the team alive. The decades of dance team perform-ances and competitions at St. Albert were not going to die with our class. And in April, the school began interview-ing potential coaches.

“I was happy we were getting a new coach,” said sophomore Savannah Campbell, “but also nervous be-cause she could be mean.”

She wasn’t. She was just the tough, talented, dedicated coach we needed. Lacey Corzine, a former dancer at Underwood High School and Northwest Missouri State University, took charge. Corzine, a teacher at Kirn Middle School, began work in late April - already a late start to the sea-son. Tryouts were announced in May, and the girls who wanted to dance another year tried to recruit. St. Al-bert had to add more numbers because the team would be disqualified from State if it didn’t have at least six danc-ers. But even if we successfully recruited six, there were still worries. Would judges discriminate against our small

Lauren Cornelius Editor

I squeezed the hands of my fellow St. Albert High School dancers as we lis-tened silently to the announcer to hear if our routine had placed.

More than 1,000 people in the Wells Fargo Arena - including about 135 high school dance teams - hushed to hear who won the nation’s largest dance team competi-tion.

“Third Place, Westwood.” The silence was broken by the cus-

tomary two-clap applause. “Second Place, Graettinger-Terril/

Ruthven-Ayrshire.” Again, clap clap. In the split second before first place

was announced, the team’s hope faded a lit-tle. I thought, “That’s okay, we can live with just a Division I rating.”

But then, “First Place, Council Bluffs St. Albert.”

Seniors Alyson Lenz, Katie Hopping and I let go of our grips and threw our arms around each other. The other four dance team members joined in the embrace, screaming. The team earned the divisional championship trophy for their novelty routine. Our joy made even sweeter by knowing we beat all odds to win it. “The feeling I felt when the St. Al-bert Dance Team was announced for first place was indescribable,” Hopping said. “It was a very jittery feeling. I was still nervous even after our name was called. I think my

SPORTS

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The Saintes perform their baseball-themed Novelty in Hy-Vee Hall at the Iowa State Dance Team Championships.

The tiny troupe that fought to keep dance alive at St.

Albert ended up mastering a baseball-themed routine that dominated at State.

The end of the football season meant the beginning of practice for State Solos and Nov-elty performances. All six girls danced solos in Newton, Iowa, on Nov. 5th. Prepping for State Solos involves costume fixes, perfect makeup, stretching, reviewing the dance, and getting sweaty palms before walking on the gym floor. Then when the music starts, all nervousness goes away and the dance takes over. “Something that I love about State Solos is you truly show off your personality,” Hop-ping said. “You can’t hide behind anyone. The judges can always tell what’s behind your smile.” Lenz received 6th place and Hopping received 10th place in the Class I Solo competition. “Receiving 10th made my heart skip a beat,” Hopping said. “And I will hold that feeling close as long as I live.” While prepping for State, the team made the decision that they needed a seventh dancer. Senior Sara Meyerring, a St. Al-bert cheerleader, was recruited so there would be more people on the floor and act as a backup if someone got hurt. The team pushed hard to get ready for State Team competi-tion. This meant having two-hour practices after school everyday. When basketball season started, we were evicted from the gym and forced to dance in the cafete-

ball and basketball games. We also learn to get along and bond.

During the summer, Coach Corzine had the team over for a bonfire. Each senior sur-prised a sophomores with a gift. We became each other's “Sainte sister” as a way for the team to become closer and motivate each other.

“I think it’s nice because we all get to be close,” said sophomore Trinity Marlow. “But it’s hard sometimes because we’re like a family and families fight sometimes or get mad at each other.”

Because we are together for so long, it seems like every little thing someone does can get on our nerves. Someone forgets to bring a tie to put up their hair at practice, we get annoyed. Some-one forgets to do a motion in the dance that was already cleaned, we get annoyed. Someone wants to borrow a bobby pin before a game starts, we get one out of our bag but we still get annoyed. In the end, even with all these an-noyances, we still act like a team and we still care for each other.

team when competing against bigger schools? And what would happen if one girl got injured? All hopes for State would be dashed. On May 14, only six girls - returning from the previ-ous year - showed up.

“I was a little panicked, hoping that everyone would stay interested throughout tryouts,” Corzine said.

But she felt comforted knowing we were all returners with lots of experience to help her build the team.

Once practices started, there was no holding back. Even with the fear of injury looming, we still gave full effort for the new coach and each other. We learned State pom during 6 a.m. summertime practices, and con-ditioning helped build stamina to perform it. It all paid off in De-cember when the team earned second place in Class IV Pom.

While dance is an art form, it is also a sport like no other. The team is together year-round, learning routines we will perform the whole year at foot-

I can be centerfield’

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The ISDTA Championship show will air Feb. 6 from 8-10 p.m. and Feb. 12 from 1-3 p.m. on Iowa Public Television.

We performed Pom first, then ate snacks while waiting and watching more performances. Then we got ready to perform our baseball-themed Novelty.

Overcoming our nerves, the performance was flawless. But we still had to wait hours for the judges’ scores. At 9 p.m. we were introduced by the announcer and walked onto the arena floor, standing among the other com-petitors who danced that day. They announced the awards for every category. It took more than an hour to hand out trophies, and only a minute to announce our State win. But it will be a moment that will last a lifetime for this team who wouldn’t let dance die.

“Class I Novelty. Council Bluffs St. Albert.”

We got 1st place in Nov-elty and 2nd Place in Pom.

“The last time our team took home a first place Novelty was my freshman year,” Hopping said. “I was extremely overjoyed that I got to have that same feel-ing all over again.”

us of our trip. Then we went back to the hotel and watched Netflix in an attempt to calm our nerves and fall asleep.

The day of State competi-tion was long. It began early, watching some of the other danc-ers perform at the Wells Fargo Arena.

“I felt super nervous and a little intimidated while watching other performances.” said sopho-more Athena Arculeo.

ria. Practicing in a smaller space was a disadvantage, but we made it work.

We invited outsiders to watch our performance with fresh eyes. St. Albert alumni Rikki Ann Carlson and Katie Hammond, both former dancers, and the former Woodbine dance team coach and current St. Al-bert speech coach Andrea Harper critiqued our dances and give us input.

“I thought it was really helpful,” Lenz said. “We got fresh feedback from other ex-perienced coaches who had never seen our dances before but had gone to State several times in the past. We heard critiques from them that were different than Lacey’s, which helped us focus on other things we needed to clean, sharpen up, or change before going to State.”

The night before the competition the team checked into a Des Moines hotel, with the girls in two adjoining rooms. We dined at a restaurant and opened gifts that would always remind

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The Saintes perform their pom routine in Wells Fargo Arena, earning a second place Class IV trophy.

The Saintes take home 1st place in Novelty and second place in Pom. Photos by Keith Cornelius and Julie Marlow.

Blue fever By Blake Rallis Sports Columnist

Maurice Watson Jr.’s season-ending ACL tear was a big blow for the Creighton basketball team, which was creating all sorts of buzz. The Blue Jays have lost back-to-back conference games to unranked Marquette and Georgetown. The Blue Jays are sit-ting with a 19-3 record as of now. Despite the injury, the Blue Jays still have hope of making a run in the NCAA Tournament. The Jays have key wins over Wisconsin, who was no. 9 in the nation at the time, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Arizona State, no. 12 Butler, and no. 22 Xavier. Creighton’s three losses came to reigning NCAA Champions and cur-rently no. 1 ranked Villanova and upset losses to unranked Marquette and Georgetown. The Blue Jays had a record of 20-15 last season and missed the NCAA Tour-nament. It was definitely a down year in Omaha; not only for the team, but for fans recovering from the loss of now Chicago Bull, Doug McDermott. One could argue for the case that Creighton’s 7-foot, redshirt freshman phe-nom Justin Patton is the most

valuable player to the Blue Jay roster. Some peo-ple may not know that Patton is an Omaha native. Patton gradu-ated from Omaha North High School and now is being talked about as a top-ten NBA Draft Pick. Patton averages 14.0 points per game, making 71.4 percent of his shots. That field goal percentage is fourth best in the nation. Watson, a senior point guard, suffered a torn ACL playing no. 22 Xavier on Jan. 16. He also was an upcoming NBA prospect. “Mo” averaged 12.9 points and a whopping 8.5 assists per game. Those assists led the nation before his injury.

Creighton basketball has been a big part of junior Luke Gronstal’s life. He’s been a fan for almost as long as he could remember. The Gronstal’s have been Creighton basketball sea-son ticket holders for seven years and counting. “I think that they are a very good team and have poten-tial to make a run in the NCAA Tournament,” Gronstal said. “With the injury to Maurice Watson Jr., they’re going to have to find someone to step up.” Creighton basketball no doubt has the country’s atten-tion and will continue to make noise the rest of the season and into the NCAA Tournament. Keep an eye on the Blue Jays and sit back and watch them put on a show.

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Left, senior point guard, Maurice “Mo” Watson Jr. roars. Right, freshman post and Omaha native Justin Patton dunks.

One Family Impacts Basketball Teams

Ryan Hughes Staff Writer

As the buzzer sounded last February marking Abra-ham Lincoln’s victory over Sioux City East 72-65 in the 4A Substate 1 finals, basket-ball fans went crazy chanting, “On to State!”

Despite graduating every starter from last year’s squad, the Lynx are off to a hot start this year while being ranked top 10 in the state with only one loss. But how are they able to keep generating talent and keep up the pace they’re going at when they have lost so many players?

Transfers. Abraham Lincoln’s

current seven-man rotation includes five transfers, three of which were not members of the team last year, including Blake Elam of Lewis Central, Preston Fant of Omaha South, and Trot Houghton of Omaha Northwest.

The Saintes will be facing a team who has also benefited from transfers. Ar-guably Lewis Central’s best player, Natalie Rigatuso is a junior transfer from Millard South. She was at Millard South for only one year, trans-ferring from Millard West after her freshman year.

The Saintes play Lewis Central at home this Friday. The Falcons square off with the Lynx on Feb. 9 here at the Palace.

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Left, junior Garret Reisz. Right, juniors Emma Shaw and Sydney McLaren, who was a transfer last year, and freshman Isabella Shaw.

Opponents also helped by transfers

Ryan Hughes Staff Writer

The decision by one family to send their children to St. Albert High School has changed the makeup of both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. Brother and sister Garret and Ava Reisz, and their cousins Isa-bella and Emma Shaw, who are sisters, came to St. Albert at the start of the school year. Garret, a junior, transferred from Woodbine. He recently be-came eligible to play in varsity basketball games. “It’s a fun team to be around,” Garret said of the Fal-cons. Garret joins a team that ad-vanced to State last year, ending up in the State Championship game but falling just short to South O’Brien. The Falcons graduated

two starters and this year are 6-9 playing every game against teams in a larger class. On the girls’ basketball team are Emma, a junior, and “Izzy,” a freshman. Their cousin Ava, is also a freshman.

Emma also transferred from Woodbine.

“The academics are a lot more challenging,” Ava said.

Emma, along with last year’s transfer junior Sydney McLaren, are part of the reason why the Saintes are off to such a hot start being 12-4 with some key wins against Carroll Kuemper and Harlan.

Ava and Izzy also suit up for varsity, filling out the 13-member team. “The basketball team is way better than Woodbine’s,” Izzy laughed.

By Reed Miller Staff Writer

The Lombardi Trophy was named after Vince Lombardi, the former American football player, coach and executive in the National Football League. The winner of the Super Bowl gets to receive this 7-pound, sterling silver thing of beauty. This year, the big game comes down to the New England Patriots vs. the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are led by their Pro Bowl quarterbacks. The Patriots have been dominant all season, even when Tom Brady was suspended the first four games of the season. They took care of the Texans in the second round 34-16, and beat the Steelers in the semifinals 36-17. This will be their ninth Super Bowl, which is the

most of any team in the NFL. St. Albert freshman Ryan Hughes thinks the Patriots will pull it off for their fifth Super Bowl vic-tory in franchise history. “I want the Falcons to win,” he said, “but I think the Patri-ots will because of their experi-ence.” On the other hand, the Fal-cons have only been in the Super Bowl one time – in 1999 - when they lost to the Denver Broncos 34-19. Inexperience hasn’t shown on them yet, but they still have one more game left to prove. The Falcons also had a bye in the first round and had to play the defensive-powered Seattle Sea-hawks, dominating 36-20. They then won decisively against the red hot Green Bay Packers 44-21. The Packers were a high powered offen-

sive team, but the Falcons came to play and shut them down. Some say they have the best offense in the NFL, but we’ll have to wait and see if they can put up those numbers in the Super Bowl against a solid Patriots defense. St. Albert junior Charlie Doll put his money on the Falcons. “You already know the Fal-cons are gonna win,” he said. “I bet the final score will be 24-23.” The Super Bowl is the most watched event on television with about 114 million people tuning in. But people don’t just watch it for the game. Many watch it for the commercials. One 30-second adver-tisement during the Super Bowl this year will cost about $5 million. Some people are looking forward to the companies who’ve had good commer-cials in the past.

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The Road to the Super Bowl

“Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” - Vince Lombardi

New Year, New Word Search

T O A S T U Q A F E J P E J N N F P A Y D J P S A P P Z T Q V O K X U T X M Y Q G N A X W O G W T X O V C K K N S J B M F A S U V Z U X Q F L N G C P R I R V B Y L T R U K D L P S M I D N I G H T O Q U A Q M Y E A T C Q Y J Q O Y O E Q B D Y D L P X E M E P A S E P R N P C G U Y G K E W V C E K F T B S Q U B G K Z R R V K N Y G C M T K L I D T E F O M F N G V P K L W A N Y A P E C X M E Q W Y A K O T W R D N A E T J J F X C T Y L E O W K T H L Q P Y P A T B S M I E F W P L I R E R Y I B Y L J S D N E I R F G D B D I U E F U E H Q M U F F X N M W L J D C H B S R E K A M E S I O N R N T P J S O L Y T J E U B H I R R K D Q X V I V K M I L N I Q T V J B E F L O N S V K X J A O B W D X C C P F Z B E O S J I Y C P U A B E Y S C N Z T J W P L W V G A W E Q P H H H H V J G E C W Z M S Q O L I N R A L W U I U G W P P C J D F V S Y J S Z S Q J Y U J O M W S Q B Y Z G Y L O U W F T A E R E I I C M R R N E A N V J Y R M N Q I J L F U S N E V G C X D L C V A G J G Q R F G I D L N U E K Y D U E D E X G T Z B A K P R I S M V O E B V A R T U L R I S A G V N R G E S V A R R H D B Z G O B K B P D Y J U D I K O M O A C C H I T N D A R L M G N O N I X U Z R Y P E R R N W F H E Z Y D A P A O P V Z U T H B F H O T X F D K A X H J C Z K H V T O V P G R V Q H J L Z A Y O S D C P G Q K R L B I H M I R F C X E J C T H I P E L W P E Z K T K C Z T Q A S D X A G D L F P T Y Z U X L U U T H B P R H N K Y A F B D F J O X F W V X X U F L Q Y A V H L E P Q Y Z G I S A P H Z D W X C Z Q T M I J Q T B S A O B W Q T P G L O P R I E A H H E M O P B Q B S H O R X U D C F I M M J M S N D F M B A H O A S Q L U K W D Y P M W H I M M W N E V S N P H P H M G I N O T R C H R X S Q B R A D M A L W Q R I Z O E N N I T M A E I H X R W C O W A Q D Q H G H M I U Z P N W X X I V N U X V Q C C D K B O V H W E K Q Z Q U

BALLDROP CELEBRATION CONFETTI EXPECTATIONS FIREWORKS FRIENDS HAPPY HOLIDAY JANUARY MIDNIGHT NEW NEWYEARS NOISEMAKERS PARADES PARTY RESOLUTION SNOW TIMESSQUARE

TOAST

ENTERTAINMENT

Do you have any New Year’s

resolutions?

Nah m8 Don’t trip into anymore lockers

Learn to enjoy life as it comes

No, I’m just going to ruin them

anyway

What in your opinion was the

worst thing about 2016?

The death of my hero Harambe

One word to describe 2016.

Redonkulas Legendary Memorable Rough

What was the best thing of

2016?

Harambe memes

dyingThe Warriors blew

a 3-1 leadLeo Dicaprio’s

Oscar or making it to State volleyball

The election of Donald J. Trump

What are you looking forward

to in 2017?

One year closer to graduation (and

death)

Making hashbrowns with Adam Gubbles

Volleyball and looking for

collegesThe memes

By Veronica

Svajgl

Getting the answers to the questions you are afraid to ask... New Year Edition

Camden AndersonShannon Casson Sydney McLaren

Dabbing Getting my napkins taken at

lunch

Jack Socha

Trump winning the presidency

By Katie Hopping Staff Writer

The second Chiau-Chu Lee, aka “Jewel,” walked through the doors of St. Al-bert Catholic, she instantly felt the kindness of everyone around her.

“Everybody is being really nice to me,” Lee said.

Jewel’s first impres-sion of the SA halls was that it was a “really good school.”

She also noticed that there weren’t any students skipping classes.

Lee has traveled from Taiwan to attend St. Albert as a junior foreign exchange stu-dent. She has noticed that the school hours differ from her high school in Taiwan, Dong Shan. Although Jewel likes her current home in Iowa, there are also many things she

misses about her home in Tai-wan.

“I miss my family, friends, and food.” Lee said.

Religion teacher Tom Heithoff has expressed interest in Jewel’s native country. He has come to be her favorite teacher at St. Albert.

“The first day I went to school he knew I was an ex-

change student and he was really nice,” Lee said.

Heithoff has asked Jewel multiple questions about her culture and country, which made Lee feel welcomed.

Lee’s main challenge in her transition is “having to speak English all the time.”

She hopes to join soc-cer in the spring.

SA School Discovers a Jewel

ENTERTAINMENT

Page 20

Veronica Svajgl is facing the opposite way, Ryan Hughes disappears, markers change position, Jordyn Blaha faces the opposite way, Shannon Casson changes position, triangle appears, Nick Lee switches sides.

Spot the Difference

St. Albert’s newest foreign exchange stu-dent, Jewel Lee. Photo by Katie Hopping

Yearbook reminders for seniors!

1. 2.

3.

In February you will be asked to give yearbook a quote to ac-company your yearbook picture. So start thinking about it!

On March 1, your yearbook pictures are due. If you have not taken your pictures yet, get going! If you have your pictures, get one to us! Professional photographers should email the one you choose to keenanm@saintalbertschools.org. If someone else took it, then it’s your responsibility to email it to that address.

On April 1, Jostens will disconnect the service for making Recognition Ads in the back of the book. Your parents have until that date to log into Jostens and build an ad that will recognize your accomplishments and bright future. Below are instructions to get started.

Getting started on Recognition Ads Go to Jostens through the SA website. Click “resources,” then “yearbook” and choose the “high school yearbook.” On the left side of the Jostens page will be a menu. Click “Yearbook Recognition Ads” and follow the directions. Ad prices run from $30 for a one-picture, one-sentence ad to $240 for an entire page.