ROCKET SPORTS March 11, 2016Page 4

Senior night was held on February 23, along with one other game before the sub-state tournament. Dur-ing the tournament both boys and girls ended up in the championship game. The ladies fell to the Wel-lington Crusaders while the boys were victorious and head to the State Tourna-ment.

The matchup against the El Dorado Wildcats left the boys with a win on senior night. At the end of the first half, the boys led the Wildcats by four points, 23-19. In the third

Senior Gavin Smith and junior Noah Baden both won first place at the state swimming tournament for the third year in a row. The state tournament took place on February 19 and 20 at the Hummer Sports Com-plex in Topeka.

The team took home an overall third place being the highest they have ever placed as a team. The state qualifiers were senior Aus-tin Farber for the 200-yard

The wrestling team only had one wrestler continue on to the State competi-tion. Sophomore Matt Atkinson represented Rose Hill on February 26-27 at Salina. “”When I first was going to state I felt pretty energetic and excited. It felt like an achievement, a very big achievement ” said Atkinson

To prepare for state, Atkinson went to double practices with the high school and club wrestling. He trained with Assistant Coach Tony Ponce. Atkin-son wrestled in his weight class of 120 but lost his first match to his first opponent who ended up being a state finalist, and lost his second match to an opponent who “presented tactical prob-lems for Matt’s style of wrestling” said Head Coach Darian Eshelman.

The wrestling season end-ed their season with a 0-7 record. “It was a challeng-ing season for our team, mainly due to injuries. With all the open weight classes in our line up we did not win any competitions”, said Eshelman. With each open weight class it is con-sidered as a forfeit, which gives the opposing team six points to their score. “I am proud of the effort and hard work of our team this year. I am proud of the loy-alty our wrestlers showed to each other”, said Eshelman.

Swimmers return to state for third consecutive year

freestyle, sophomore David Steinhilpert in the 100-yard butterfly and a 400-yard freestyle relay made up of senior Bryce Barnett, senior Ethan Aberg, sopho-more Braden Bischler, and Steinhilpert.

The state placers are Far-ber in the100-yard freestyle placing fifth, and a 200-yard medley relay made up of Farber, Steinhilpert, Baden, and Smith placed fourth.

Smith was the first per-son from this program to become a State Champion Swimmer two years ago. He will be graduating with five state first place wins under

his belt, two of which he earned this season. On Saturday he ended his high school season by being named champion in the 100-yard butterfly for the third year and 50-yard freestyle cham-pion for the second year. Smith also was named the Swimmer of the Meet.

“It’s a little bit bitter sweet…I was a little dis-appointed with my final times. I slowed down a lot compared to league…I haven’t decided if I’m going to do swim in col-lege”, said Smith. “The competition was

very good this year. Maze moved down to 5A and they had some very good breaststrokers. I’m hoping to get the record in both of my events next year,” said Baden. This year Baden is the defending champion of the 100-yard breaststroke for the third year running and the 500-yard freestyle for the second year running.

Atkinson competes at state wrestling

and fourth quarters, the boys pulled out a total of 36 points to further their lead. The final score was 59-51 with seniors Brett Bonar, Parker Austin, and junior Griffin McBride leading with points.

The Lady Rockets started their game against the Lady Wildcats with a lead at the end of the first half, 23-19. During the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to score 15 points, shorten-ing the Lady Rockets lead to only one. The ladies finished the game with a victory, 43-42.

On February 25, the boys started their game off trail-ing the Augusta Orioles by one point at the end of the first quarter, 14-15.

By the end of the first half they had continued to fall behind, 29-34. The game ended with a Rocket loss, 58-65.

The Lady Rockets man-aged to create a 21-point lead against the Lady Orioles by the end of the first half, 30-9. They con-tinued to lead the rest of the night and ended the game 64-45. Leading scores for the night included juniors Anna Van Driel, Kayna Simoneau, and Kylie Woods. This win left regu-lar season record 12-9.

March 3 was the first game in the sub-state tournament. The girls faced off against the Winfield Vikings. By the end of the first half, the ladies led the

Lady Vikings 27-5. They kept their lead for the rest of their night and advanced to the championship game, 46-19.

The following day, the boys faced off against the Mulvane Wildcats. At the end of the first half, the boys led the Wild-cats by two points, 28-26. Continuing to push, the Rockets scored a total of 35 points in the second half. They defeated the Wildcats 63-50 and advanced to the championship game.

On March 5, both boys and girls teams faced the Wellington Crusaders in the sub-state championship game. By the end of the first half, the ladies were trailing the Lady Crusad-

ers, 14-23. In the second half, the ladies were able to score 19 points. The ladies fell short 13 points in the fourth quarter, 33-46.

Later that evening, the boys were able to put 27 points on the board throughout the first half of their game. They ended the first half 27-17. By the end of the second half they had furthered their lead, end-ing the game 53-46. Bonar (27), Austin (9), and Mc-Bride (7) were top scorers for the night.

With this win the boys advance to the State Tournament, playing the McPherson Bullpups on March 10. Next issue will hold a recap of the season and the boy’s trip to state.

Boy’s basketball prepares for State Tournament

Ashlee LaschReporter Senior

Lauren DiazReporter Junior

Brandy VaughnSports EditorJunior

Senior Gavin Smith is coming off of the starting board into a dive. This season he was named the champion in the 100-yard butterfly for the third year and 50-yard freestyle champion for the second year. Picture by Bev Leete and James Patterson.

Junior Noah Baden is standing by the pool ready to compete in his next event. He took home two first place metals in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 500 yard freestyle as well as two forth place metals in two different 200-yard medley relays. Baden hopes to beat the school record in two events during his senior year. Photo by Bev Leete and James Patterson.

Senior Ethan Aberg, junior Noah Baden, senior Bryce Barnet, senior Austin Farber, senior Gavin Smith, senior Dylan Sinclair and sophomore Braden Bischler are standing with their coach Jared Gasco at the end of the state meet. Gasco is holding the third place over all trophy which his team won at state. Photograph by Bev Leete and James Patterson.

The Rocketairs and five-band member preformed for the Kan-sas Music Educators Association (KMEA). On Friday February 26 at Century II in the Mary Jane Teal Theatre the performances took place.

Choir Director Brian Stranghon-er sent in an audition tape in May of 2015 of the Rocketairs singing. The tape that was sent in was made in March during a performance at Wichita State. This tape compelled Stranghoner audition for KMEA.

He took his Douglas choir, the Madrigals to KMEA four years ago. Once a choir group is picked they are not eligible to go apply for the following year. Groups are only able to try out once every other year if they so choose.

The Rocketairs started preparing their music in January. The theme of music that Stranghoner picked was newer music that has been made within the last five years.

“[Rocketairs] practiced outside of class. We were working the same song for two or three months,” said Senior Kole Wright, “We were a bit apprehensive at first because [Stranghoner] built it up so much over the course of the year. When it was time to preform we had practiced the music so much that no one was really nervous.”

Stranghoner had multiple choir

Music Department participates in KMEA

directors come into listen to the Rocketairs before they preformed to get pointers on how they could improve. He invited Dr. Harri-son Boughton, Dr. Julie Yu from K-State, Dr. Mark Bartell from Friends University, Dr. Hannah Walt from Wichita State.

Every year KMEA releases song excerpts for each instrument to use as a tryout piece when players want to audition for the district and state band. Musicians must play their instruments excerpt as well as doing a scale, chromatic scale and sight-reading live in front of judges. If a musician makes it at the district level they then must go through the same process to make it into the state band and possibly the Orchestra.

Seniors Mackenzie Webster, Ashley Clifton, sophomore Ca-vanaugh Newman and Makayla Webster all made it into the 4A state band while Senior Cole Eply made it into the orchestra. “The or-chestra takes the best players from each instrument,” said Clifton, “ Cole is one of the top players in the state is what it means.”

The only student that preformed in with both groups was Newman. He had to preform with the Rock-etairs and immediately following he preformed with the band. New-man said, “There are differences between band and choir. In choir it is a group singing together but in band it is just me playing my part.”

Lauren DiazReporter Junior

Residential carpentry students build newadditions for local parks

Gabby FarrisEditor-in-ChiefLayout EditorSenior

The residential carpentry class has been working on the picnic tables since January. As of now there eight tables. Hill said, “We do have enough to build some for the public, if wanted.” Photo by Gabby Farris.

@RockItNewsRock-It News

Photo by Rainy Adler Photo by Leslie Black

Photo by Rainy photographers Bev Leete and James Patterson

Volume 15 Issue 12 710 S Rose Hill Road, Rose Hill, KS 67133 February 26, 2016

THE ROCK-IT NEWS

Rose Hill High School

From left to right (back row) senior Mackenzie Webster, sophomore Makayla Webster, senior Cole Epley, (front row) senior Ashley Clifton, and Cavana-ugh Newman are band members that preformed along with the Rocketairs on February 26. Photo by Gabby Farris.

Career and Technical Education teacher Ryan Hill was contacted early January by Rose Hill’s Recre-ation Commission Superintendent Troy Moree who was seeking a group to build picnic tables for all of the local parks. In total, the students managed to produce eight tables.

“Troy Moree contacted us… He thought this would be project that our kids could do. I concurred… I thought it was a good project for the residential carpentry students to do,” said Hill. The class consists of eight students including sopho-mores Luke Culbertson, Seth Hale, Broc Heiskell, Chase Thrush, ju-niors Keaton Buhler, Dalton Voth, seniors Gage Hollis, and Hunter Bowen.

“The organization [of the project]

was mainly student based,” said Hill. Thrush, who is also in draft-ing CAD, was able to use the skills he has learned in his other class to electronically layout the design of the tables.

Not only were the students di-rectly involved with the design and construction of the project, but the tables were built to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements making all of the tables handicap accessible.

The city went through the high school for several reasons. “Rose Hill paid for the materials but we were able to give them a much better deal than any other avenues, because Jeremy Polk (regional plant manager) at Morton Buildings who is a father of a student of mine was able to donate the materials,” said Hill. “I really want to develop more of community partnership while giving the city a cheaper product alternative and give my students real world experience.”

ROCKET OPINION March 11, 2016Page 2

“Pain isn’t always obvious”Suicide has been a grow-

ing problem for our genera-tion ever since the major-ity of us reached middle school. Suicide has become a leading cause of death, not just for us, but genera-tions before us. Everyone is at risk of suicide at some point in his or her life. When it comes to suicide, it does not discriminate.

As most of us know, suicide occurs when one feels hopeless, in pain, or believes that there is not a reason to live. Truth be told, we all feel these emotions or a part of them during our lives.

Despite whatever way you believe we ended up on this earth, we all were put here for a reason. Life’s ups

As the year begins to wrap up for the last three months of classes, the hustle and bustle of completing homework, finalizing projects, and taking tests can become extremely stressful. Stress can lead to several different health prob-lems, including depression/anxiety, headaches/migraines, and even heart disease. This article will suggest the top ten ways to reduce your stress levels to relax your mind and body.

WRITE: It could be of use to you to write down the things that cause you stress. Take fifteen to twenty min-utes a day to think about how much stress they make you feel, and then brainstorm ways

The Rock-It News

The Rock-It News is the official publication of Rose Hill High School, located at 710 N. Rose Hill Rd, Rose Hill, KS. The paper is produced by the Digital Media Design and Production

class. The newspaper is published bi-weekly from September to May. Contact Journalism Sponsor Butch Gilbert at cgilbert@usd394.com for adver-

tising information.2015-2016 Newspaper Staff

Gabby Farris • Editor-in-Chief• Layout Editor

• SeniorBrandy Vaughn• Sports Editor

• Junior•Assistant Layout Editor

Katelyn Koch• Reporter

• SophomoreSammi Waddell

•Reporter• Cartoonist•Reporter• Junior

Lizzie Lazar•Reporter•Senior

Lauren Diaz•Reporter

•Advertisement Manager•Junior

Ashlee Lasch•Reporter•Senior

Kaylee Rogers•Reporter

•SophomoreButch Gilbert

• Sponsor

“Pain isn’t always obvious”and downs are just a part of that; they help lead us to find that reason.

There are so many ways you can reach out for help when you are deal-ing with depression or suicidal thoughts. Hotlines are available for you to call to have someone to talk to. Support groups are set up all over and websites where you can talk to others who have gone or are going through similar things you are.

Even if you feel all alone, I promise there are oth-ers going through similar things willing to help you. Seeking help may be the hardest part of overcoming suicide but it is also the first thing that needs to be done.

We all have to be willing to help someone else in his or her time of need. Warn-ing signs of suicide range from reckless behavior to changes in sleep. On the

website suicideisprevental-be.org you can learn about the signs of suicide for teens and older adults.

In Wichita, there is a sui-cide support group called Survivors of Suicide. They meet twice a month at the Comcare-Crisis Interven-tion Services building in Wichita.

There are plenty more lo-cal groups available to help. Our school even has a sup-port group, La Groupé that helps others get through the hardest times in high school. The high school also has counselors that you can visit with at anytime.

There are multiple ho-tlines you can call if your seeking help. 1-800-SUI-CIDE (1-800-784-2433) and 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) are just a few but there are more out there.

If you have the slightest feeling that somebody may be considering suicide, just sit and listen to them. Of-fering support and helping them talk to a professional could save their life.

Understanding that suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem is such an impor-tant concept. It may make things easier right now, but one considering suicide needs to look at the bigger picture. You are leaving be-hind friends, your parents, your siblings, even your pets, and others that care about you. And do not say that nobody will miss you, because somebody’s life will be changed forever if you decide to end your life.

If you personally know someone is talking about suicide, tell someone who can directly help him or her. Do not wait until it is too late. Cartoon by junior Sammi Waddell

to overcome it.LET YOUR FEELINGS

OUT: Do not hold in your stress! This will only snow-ball into a deeper sense of anxiety and depression. Talk to your friends and listen to what they have to say. If you would prefer not to talk to a human, there are always your pets. They will always listen and understand (for the most part).

DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY: This includes hob-bies such as painting, garden-ing, video games, or playing guitar or various other instru-ments. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, take time out of your day to decompress and relax.

FOCUS YOUR MIND ON THE PRESENT: Do not dwell on the past, because you cannot go back in time to change it. Focus and relax your mind by pondering and

guiding it to present thoughts, directing your attention to things that are happening here and now. A way to do this is to simply close your eyes and just concentrate on your breathing patterns.

EXERCISE: Regular exercise is one of the most effective ways of managing stress. Everyday activities such as yard work or household chores take your mind off of what is stressing you. Walking, jogging, and running are also great kick-starters to relieve stress.

GO OUT: When someone is stressed, they often barri-cade themselves in their own ‘cocoon’ and refuse to let any-one in. Instead of doing this, ask a friend if they want to go see a new movie that you have taken interest to.

HAVE A CHOCOLATE-COVERED STRAWBER-RY: The vitamin C in the

berries creates more anti-oxidants that will destroy any harmful free radicals. When the berries are dipped in dark chocolate, something even cooler happens. The chocolate actually destroys the hor-mones that cause stress, such as cortisol.

DRINK CHAMOMILE TEA: One of the compounds in this herbal brew actually acts as a mild tranquilizer, reducing anxiety levels. If you are not a tea person, there are several chamomile supple-ments that have the same effect.

LISTEN TO MUSIC: Do not listen to music with lyr-ics. Depending on the song, the lyrics could potentially add more depression to your mood. Instead of lyrical mu-sic, listen to classical music. Calm music has a positive ef-fect on the brain and body, it can lower blood pressure, and

reduce the earlier mentioned hormone cortisol. For those of you who do not necessarily like classical music, try listen-ing to the sounds of nature like thunderstorms, ocean waves, or the rainforest. Yes, it sounds cheesy, but just take a gander at it and you might be surprised.

LAUGH IT OFF: Laughter improves mood and decreases levels of stress-inducing hormones. Laughing tricks your brain into making you happy. However, bursting into a fit of giggles at your desk may not be the most societally “appropriate” way to deal with stress. Watch some classic Monty Python skits like “The Holy Grail.” Those Brits are so hilarious that you will soon be cracking up. Or watch Jay Roach’s “Austin Powers” series, or Perry An-delin Blake’s “The Master of Disguise.”

Top Ten: ways to relieve stressSammi WaddellReporterJunior

Brandy VaughnSports EditorJunior

ROCKET FEATURESMarch 11, 2016 Page 3

The forensics team com-peted in four tournaments over the past two weeks that allow students to per-form a piece of literature. If students place second of first, then they will qualify for the state forensics tour-nament.

The first of these compe-titions took place on Janu-ary 29 in Neodesha. Of all the performances only the one act placed. A one act is one act of a play or one that lasts a maximum of thirty minutes. They took first making the one act a state qualifier. The one act fea-tured the entire cast from the spring play A Streetcar Named Desire. “ We pre-formed it twice in compe-tition and I think it went really well both times. It’s a super mature and adult show and its difficult for even adults to perform. So

Every month there are two winners for the Senior Citizenship award, one boy and one girl. For the month of February seniors Parker Austin and Casie Linot won this award. The award is based on the students’ academic ability, school spirit and how involved they are in the school.

“I was very surprised, I honestly didn’t think that I was ever gonna get it, but I did”, said Linot. Linot plays basketball, softball and

Lee Ann Youse has been teaching science courses at Rose Hill High School for nearly 20 years.

Youse teaches several different physical science courses, including physics, conceptual physical science, and physical science, as well as eight years of electronics. Her original major was in biology and zoology, and Youse has taught four years of biology science through-out her career.

Youse had been teaching electronics and physics at Butler County Community College, and the depart-ment knew that Rose Hill was looking for a physics teacher. Youse’s many years spent teaching at the high school suggests that she has fallen in love with her career and the courses she has been teaching.

PREVENTIONIS THE FIRST STEPTO HEALTHY TEETH AND GUMS

Rose HillGeneral & Cosmetic Dentistry, PA

(316) 776-2144Jessica M. Niederee, D.M.D.

Mark P. Troilo, D.D.S.www.rosehilldental.com

Forensics members continue to qualify for state competition

I think that a lot of judges are either scared away by that or impressed by it,” said senior Logan Kressly.

The second tournament took place on February 6 in Burden. Senior Kole Wright performed a seri-ous solo taking first, oration taking first again, and an improvised duet. An ora-tion is a persuasive speech given and an improvised duet is when students are given to characters, a senior, and a scene that they must come up with dialogue. Senior Logan Kressly performed a serious solo, placing sixth. “I performed the serious solo twice and the first time I took it out I was dramatic interpretation champion,” said Kressly. Junior Claudia Sprague performed an informative and placed sixth. An infor-mative speech given about a topic in front of judges. Seniors Ashley Cifton and Jacob Whitesell performed an improvised duet. The two of them placed first,

making them state qualifi-ers. Tiger Pollock presented a poetry piece and placed seventh.

The third competition was held on February 15 in Hillsboro. Wright performed a serious solo, an oration piece, and an impromptu piece. His seri-ous solo and oration took first, making both of those state qualifiers. Kressly also perform a serious solo and took first, making his solo a state qualifier as well. Sprague competed in an in-formative and took fourth. Junior Lauren Diaz pre-sented a serious solo that took second place, making her a state qualifier.

During the last tourna-ment on February 20 in Wellington only two people form the team placed. Wright performed a serious solo and an impromptu. He took fifth in both events. Diaz also performed a seri-ous solo. She took second place and is a qualifier for the state competition.

As well as a teacher, Youse coaches TSA and BEST robotics. “Being a sponsor for the TSA and BEST is the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Youse. “I really have a different relationship with all the kids, not just the robotics students.”

“I really like the personal-ity of the kids here,” said Youse. “I really feel like we are making a difference in kids’ lives by what we teach and how we teach. When I came here I was simply teaching a course because I enjoyed the course. Now the course is just an extra. What I’m really teaching is mentoring the students. That’s how I’ve gotten from where I really didn’t want to teach to where I can’t imagine retiring and quit-ting.”

“I’m going to die in this room,” said Youse. “I’m not planning on retiring. I’m literally planning to stay until I can’t.”

This is rocket science

Austin & Linot win senior citizenship award for February

manages the cross-country team. She works at subway and is not involved in any clubs.

Linot has been attending to Rose Hill schools her entire life. “My hobbies are chillin with my friends and doing stupid stuff we prob-ably shouldn’t,” said Linot. Her favorite teacher is busi-ness teacher Sidney Shel-man because “she’s probably taught me the most that I’ve learned in this entire building, and she’s also my best friend”, said Linot. Af-ter high school Casie plans on going to Butler Com-munity College.

“To be honest I was like, sweet I get to park closer. It’s the greatest thing, I don’t have to walk as far, I’m lazy,” said Austin. He is not in any clubs, but partic-ipates in soccer, basketball and golf. “It’s hard for me to find clubs because I’m always busy after school,” said Austin.

His hobbies include sports, drawing, watching movies and playing videos games. Austin’s favor-ite teacher is Jerry Treat because “his classes actually are really informative, and he lets you go do hands on stuff,” said Austin.

Katelyn Koch ReporterSophomore

Sammi WaddellReporterJunior

Ashlee LaschReporter Senior