March 20th Edition

Archery: Aim Small

By: Bailey Harder

      The Mercer County Archery Team participated in the state archery tournament at the Louisville Convention Center on March 11^th. In order to qualify for nationals, they had to score above a 3200. Overall, the high school team score was 3266, qualifying them for the national competition.

    The archery team was placed into the third tier because they were able to score above the qualifying score, meaning they will get third pick for their times at Nationals, which will be held in April. Savannah Gagnon, a junior at MCSH and a member of the archery team scored 248 out of 300. “State was very exciting and there were so many people,” Savannah says. “I think we did pretty well for it being our very first time at state. I can’t wait to compete at nationals.” Congratulations to Levi Baker, Morgan Clark, Bryce Flach, Savannah Gagnon, Josh Gerbino, Britney Hughes, Savannah Johnson, Drew Meaux, Amber Miller, Macy Roberts, Cody Robinson, Isaac Rogers, Tyler Schroeder, Logan Shewmaker, Noah Thorton, Drew Tschanz, and Seth Voris for qualifying for state and good luck to those competing at nationals in April.

Artist Profile: Roberto “Robreezy” Gutierrez

By Gabe Tuggle

      As his popularity rises to an all time high, young rap artist Roberto “Robreezy” Gutierrez makes all attempts possible in remaining humble. With the recent release of his new mix tape, some begin to wonder just who is this new rapper? Overall, he is confident and hopeful of his work. According to Roberto himself, “I’m improving, time by time.” His outlook and opinion on the future is a bright one. Many see him making it big one day as he is always content and making do with what he has.

      The inspiration for such a young music artist, however, is “music itself”, said Roberto. His natural “chillness” and cool head is what makes him stand out. Many students of Mercer County Senior High see him as a unique individual and the name “Robreezy” echoes throughout the school. Some may inquire, just how long has he been interested in making music? According to the man himself, “ever since I was twelve” and he plans to follow his dreams of becoming a famous rap artist.

      Making music is a passion of his and he enjoys it nonetheless. When looking at the other faces of Mercer County Senior High, there aren’t many with the same prospects as Roberto. He is a prime example of one who dreams big and shoots for the stars. It isn’t everyday that talent like this can be found in an average high school, with many seeing it as unique, entertaining and interesting as he pursues his future in the music industry.

Rallying Pep Across the District

By Kasey Halcomb

      The pep rally on Tuesday, March 10 at MCSH was definitely one to remember. The whole district came out to support the Lady titans as they were preparing to go to the state Sweet Sixteen tournament. Everyone got hype as all grade levels got hype and yelled chants to get the girls hyped up for their game. According to Morgan Karr, the pep rally was really hype and she had fun at it.  When asked how she felt when everyone got up and started cheering as loud as they could she said that, "It felt hype, the atmosphere was crazy." Lastly, Morgan was asked if this was one of the better pep rallies we've had and she replied with, "Yes, it was an awesome pep rally!"

Honor Buds: A NHS Project

By Ashley Hall

      Most of the clubs in our school conduct programs dealing with elementary school. National Honors Society has a program called ‘Honor Buds’. Honor Buds is ran by English teacher, Ms. Milburn. Honor Buds is a program developed by the NHS to provide student mentors for intermediate-aged schoolchildren in need of either academic or social support. Once a week, each participating NHS member meets with his or her assigned MCIS student either first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon to give one-on-one tutoring in an area of need, generally math or English. The benefit for the younger students is obvious: they receive individually focused help each week in an academic area in which they struggle. In addition, of course, they have the opportunity to develop a relationship with an older student who can serve as an advisor and a role-model and the hope is, that this positive interaction with a high-achieving honor student will encourage these youngsters to want to be a part of the National Honor Society themselves when they reach high school. 

      For the mentors, the benefits are no less valuable; the chance to make a difference in the life of a child who may have academic or even personal issues that are holding that child back, is a life-altering experience for many of these honor students. They are learning how important it is to become personally involved in the lives of others in order to truly affect change and it is my hope that this experience will not only help to develop their character now, but will inspire them to commit to being a part of the solution as they transition into their adult lives. A highschool mentor, junior Drew Meaux, stated “This is a great experience for me to have and I’m glad Ive received the opportunity to change a life of a younger individual.

Lady Titans Season Wrap-up

By Austin Sparrow

      This year was a great season for Mercer County Basketball in a whole, but truly special our Lady Titans. They won the 46th District tournament along with the 12th Region tournament. The Lady Titans got to represent our school and region of Kentucky at Diddle Arena in Western Kentucky. The Lady Titans had to face the tournament favorite, Elizabethtown, in the first round. It seemed as if every person in Mercer County was there to support our Lady Titans and be a part of their great season. The Titans were lead by Seniors Catheryne Cluanch, Hedi Huffman, and Kandace Gash. Mercer had not been to the state tournament since 2003, so these three senior had no experience in the state tournament, but have played basketball all their lives. Senior Catheryne Claunch believes the team will be back soon and is “ready to make some serious noise in state next year.” The 2015 Mercer County Lady Titans will be a special team and remembered for eternity by the 2015 District Champions and 12th Region Champion banners hanging in the gymnasium.

March Madness

By Audrey Johnson

      As the SEC tournament just came to an end this past Sunday putting Kentucky 34-0 and obviously the SEC champions and advancing them to the NCAA tournament.  March Madness causing many conflicts and arguments about who will win or who will make it further. But we all know Kentucky is going to win, right?  Many teachers get into just as much as students do. Mrs. Dailey teaches a sports marketing class were she is allowing her students to fill out a bracket. When reviewing all of these brackets not one single student had chosen another team besides Kentucky! Deron Bartleson, a senior and student in sports broadcasting says “Mrs. Dailey hates Duke.  She also says anyone who puts Duke getting past the first round is ridiculous.  I can tell she just absolutely hates Duke.” Out of fourteen brackets 6 students picked Duke to go all the way to the final game. I bet Mrs. Dailey hates that! March Madness officially starts Thursday March 19th, 2015. Kentucky will play Thursday night at 9:45. Let’s make it 35-0! The person to have the most right games in Sports Broadcasting will receive some type of reward from Mrs. Dailey; let’s hope it’s not someone who chose Duke in the final game!  

Teacher Profile: Lou Collins

By Ashley Hall

      Ms. Lou Collins, a business teacher at MCSHS, attended high school at Morgan County. She worked at Commercial Bank during the summer while going to college. She started with her basic information at Union College and then transferred to Eastern Kentucky University to get her teaching certificate. When being asked why she decided to be a teacher she said, “I love being a teacher and it ran in the family.” Also being asked the question, ‘Do you like teaching at MCSHS?’ she replied, “Yes I love working here. I love the kids and the atmosphere and I always have good relationships with all my kids.” When asking Lauren Barnes’ opinion of Ms.Collins she said, “I love her and going to her class every day. She doesn’t make teaching boring and she actually cares about us learning and the value of education. I’m in her Personal Finance class and it has taught me things about the real world that part of high school doesn’t prepare me for.”

March 6th Edition

Students Take On Snowpocalypse(s)

Dealing with snow days, and the desire for the snow to stop.

By Emily Crace

      With the recent amounts of inclement weather, snow days are inevitable. The Mercer County School District now sits at 11 snow days, a figure not close to last year, but enough to cause a number of cases of cabin fever among the Mercer youth. Most students are looking forward to the warmer weather that will--hopefully--come with spring.

      Junior Delaney Claunch said, "The first couple of snow days are okay, but they get old after a while. I'm really looking forward to spring." Claunch does try to enjoy the snow days when they come, though. "I usually watch TV or Netflix and catch up on sleep. Or I force someone to play in the snow with me."

     Claunch isn’t alone in her snow fatigue. Senior Hannah Logue feels the same way. After getting around 11 inches of snow in this second wave of winter weather, Logue is looking forward to sunshine and spring. In dealing with the boredom that comes with the current days off school, Hannah said, "I sleep extra, eat a lot, and watch Law and Order."

     With spring in our sights, it's almost unbearable to be dealing with so much snow. But if students can relax on these snow days or find ways to be productive, then warmer weather will be here before we know it. Or so we can hope.

Engineering at Mercer County Senior High School: “Building a new kind of learning”

By Aalayah Purnell

     Over the past year,  Mrs.Brandenburg's engineering classes and engineering club have intrigued many students and making them desire to tread into the once mysterious waters of engineering.

     The engineering curriculum at Mercer is tops in execution and design. There are four engineering classes offered throughout high school. Beginning your freshmen year you can take Intro to Engineering, which teaches students about 3D design, mainly how to assemble mechanical parts. Your sophomore year is Principals of Engineering which teaches students about programming in relation to engineering. Your junior year Civil Engineering is offered which begins the design of housing which begins at the blueprint all the way to to the digital replica. Your senior year is Digital Electronics where you learn how to design and build circuits and making your own.

     The engineering club recently participated in a Vex Robotics competition where they entered 3 of their own robots. One of the entries was designed by Jae Blankenship, Jackie Cheng, Austin Arnold, and Ruben Bacon. They said they designed their robot 18 x 18 x 18 and had the ability to pick up sky rises and cubes. Throughout six rounds they placed 28th out of 75. For it to be their first vex competition and the first one for our school as well they accomplished a ton this year. 

     Proud of what was accomplished at the competition, Bacon, a sophomore, said, “We kicked butt until the last two rounds.” The engineering club is now preparing for their next competition hoping out come out on top.

     Overall the students who take Mrs.Brandenburg's classes rave about how much they enjoy them and her. It’s not uncommon to hear students sing praises. Senior Tyler Dixon said, “If you want a teacher that is always there when you need her and always willing to help you learn go to Mrs.Brandenburg.”

National Spanish Honors Society Convention

By Gabe Tuggle

     The best of the best in a foreign language recently represented our school as a state level.

Last weekend, seven Mercer County Senior High students attended the state Spanish Honors Society convention in Erlanger, KY.  Students proudly representing the school were Katie Swope, Sara Mullins, Kelsey Rogers, Savannah Gagnon, Gabe Tuggle, Blake Quinton and Andrew Dunbar, who were guided by club sponsor Mrs. Shelly Loyall.

     The convention was meant to hone in on students’ knowledge of the Spanish language and challenge them in various ways that they were not expecting. Attendees participated in activities such as salsa dancing, conversation, and singing, to name a few. Upon arrival on Friday and checking into the hotel, students watched campaign speeches and were split into multiple groups for four hours. During this time, everyone took turns going to different workshops and exercising their knowledge of Spanish while making friends with fellow members. According to Quinton, the convention “seriously challenged my Spanish skills”, especially in the conversation section, where students were expected to speak the language for all of thirty minutes. Many saw it as a good opportunity to bond and get to know their Spanish Honors Society counterparts from other counties. When it was all said and done, however, there had been enough Hispanic food eaten to feed an army. No lesson taught or worksheet in Spanish class can challenge students in the way that the convention did. From speaking the language consistently to learning about the history of Hispanic countries, everyone agrees that plenty was learned those two days in Erlanger.

Selection for Success: A Guide to Making A Big Decision

Senior Staff Writer Austin Sparrow shares his tips for choosing a college

By Austin Sparrow

     Making a college choice can be the most stressful choice you make all of high school. The United States offers over ten thousand colleges and finding the right one for you can be hard. When figuring out which colleges you want to look at, I suggest you make a list of things you are looking for in a college. I suggest your list consist of school size, location, financial support, and other things that you are interested in. after making your list of things to look for in a college you should find a list of colleges in Kentucky and the surrounding states and mark off the ones you are not interested in attending. After you have your list, set up a campus tour to all the campus’s you’d like to look at and then mark out the colleges you didn’t enjoy or get a great vibe from. Some things you should consider on a campus tour is the size of campus and if you would enjoy walking it every day, the attitude of the students there and mainly if you could see yourself living there for four years. After your campus tour, I would encourage you to narrow your list town to two or three schools and take an overnight visit, attend some classes, and eat the cafeteria food. This will help you get a better grip on life as a college student at those universities or colleges and ultimately help you make a decision in the end.

Senior Spotlight: Dakota Baldwin

By Kasey Halcomb    

     Like many seniors across the country, Mercer County Senior High School Senior Dakota Baldwin is extremely excited about the end of his high school career and graduation, even though Baldwin had an active time playing football and working with drama.

When asked how he felt about his senior year he said he was “very hype” because he is ready to start his adult life.

     Baldwin plans on attending college after high school. He is going to go to Western Kentucky University because of their architecture program. Baldwin believes WKU offers some of the best classes suited for him at a very affordable tuition. He is also very excited to be venturing out on his own. He’s never lived away from his home in Mercer so he has mixed feelings about leaving. He plans on visiting back to Mercer as much as he can and he wants to keep in touch with some of his closest friends. Mainly he’s ready to start a new chapter in his life and he can’t wait to do so.

Teens Against Tobacco Use: An Insight

By Gage Redimarker

     At Mercer County Senior High, we have a strong and inspiring sponsor of our TATU (Teens Against Tobacco) club, Melody Pike. Mrs. Pike makes it a priority to be proactive and show support in any way possible for the fight against tobacco, and on February 17 the club traveled to Frankfort for Smoke Free Kentucky Day.

     When asked what inspired her to be a member of TATU and to participate in Smoke Free Kentucky Day, Senior Jeannie Hood replied, “My brother has picked up on cigarettes, and the fact he’s harming himself like that… I don’t approve of it at all.” Hood also mentioned that her ultimate goal would be to outlaw the sale of tobacco and hopefully inspire others to drop the dangerous habits.

     Additionally, Pike mentioned, “EVERYONE has a right to breathe air,” and she was certainly displeased when Kentucky received another F grade by the American Lung Association, which is based off of smoke-free legislation, regulation of spending on tobacco, etc. Her efforts, along with members of TATU across the region, are making an impact on Kentucky’s legislation and hopefully the grade received by the American Lung Association. At the Capitol during the Smoke Free Kentucky Day, Kentucky Senator Julie Raque Adams and Representative Susan Westrom introduced a new bill – House Bill 145. The legislation places a ban on secondhand smoke in all indoor workplaces in Kentucky, and would be the first of its’ kind. Students from both Mercer County and Burgin were able to meet with Representative Kim King, although King voted against passing the bill, it passed through the House with a vote of 51-46, and TATU’s mission was complete.