BURLINGTON

By Madison Hawley

Scholar’s Bowl is a KSHSAA activity in which teams compete in their fields of knowledge. Questions come from various subjects including foreign language, social sciences, fine arts, language arts, sciences, math, and events from the last year. This can seem daunting, but students are often surprised by what they know.

   With all these subjects, team strategy comes into play. Seniors Madison Hawley and Tucker Wright act as team captains. They are given the ability to challenge judges calls if a procedural rule has been broken.

   The Scholars’ Bowl sponsor, Bryan Bruening

creates teams according to the students’ strengths. For example, Senior Tremaine Boyle excels in social sciences, Junior Chandler Wright is a fine arts master, and Sophomore Mathew Dekat is a wiz at mental math. These are just a few of the amazing students.

   November 1^st was Burlington’s home meet. Hosting a meet is extremely beneficial for the team. Burlington is usually able to have two teams playing, allowing double the normal amount of team members to play. In addition, other team members were able to work the meet, giving them insights into the rules and procedures important to the activity.

With all their hard work, both Burlington teams did exceptionally well at the home meet. One team finished second, only losing two rounds. The other Burlington team finished strong as well. All of this, however, is practice for regionals. Medaling at regionals will win the scholar’s bowl team a place at state.

   Mr. Bruening speaks about the home meet: “Last night showed our strengthening program.” The month of November holds five more meets for the team, as of this writing. With the growing program, the team looks forward to taking on league and regionals.

By Allie Harris

   Former English Teacher, Devra, Parker came up with the Just Junk writing competition for Junior English students. It is a mantle that has been passed on. Now, the project is still being taught, even after Parker’s retirement.

   Students are required to go home and grab any object, one that could be considered junk, and bring it in to class. Then, their classmates write a story about or based on that piece of junk. It is a competition to see who can create the best new purpose for some random piece of trash in narrative form.

The assignment is based on Trail of the Spanish Bit,

 a story entirely created by Don Coldsmith by looking at a piece of “junk” he found. It is an exercise in creating a narrative from one tiny backbone. English Teacher, Holly Weston, explained that her main purpose in assigning this project is forcing students to write a whole story with just one small thing as inspiration, just like Coldsmith did.

   It also serves one more purpose: being concise. Students are limited to one single page for these short stories, and they must include a full plot, conflict, theme, and at least one character, all about this object. They are not limited on font or size, but the papers do have to be double-spaced. Many students are used

to going over page limits when writing, so this project forces them to not be so long-winded.

   The winner this year is Junior Owen Yokum. “I saw the shoe, and knew that is what I wanted to write my paper about,” Owen says. His story was about a pair of shoes who meet their tragic end just after being bought.

   Just Junk is an exciting and unique project that challenges students while also teaching them an important lesson. Even disregarded items, ones called junk, can mean something if put in a new light. This is an opportunity for young writers to breath new life into these objects.

By: Teagan Harris

   A typical theater production consists of a few consistent aspects: auditions, rehearsals, and several performances. This fall’s show started out the same way, but a bump in the road lead to a change of plans. This year, the BHS theater department is putting on a “Haunted High School.”

   This haunted high school week came about for a few different reasons; time and personal reasons greatly affected the choices made on this. Holly Weston, director, says, “My pregnancy made it so I cannot put in all of the time and energy I have been able to in the past.”

She goes on to admit that there were other struggles with Michael Vander Linden, the other director, and her own personal lives. 

   Nonetheless, the two brainstormed a new idea that would still give students the ability to be a part of a show: one-acts and spooky events that would be held at the school. One-acts are short plays that the theater kids will put on much like any other play. The only difference is that there are two, and they are murder-mystery themed. 

   Along with that, there are four different events people will be able to attend. An escape room, a scavenger hunt, interactive “Clue,” and a maze are all going to be held in different parts of the school.

Attendees pay to get in, and the profits go toward the theater department. 

   Not only do the theater kids work and act in these different events, but Mr. Vander Linden’s Theater Productions class has also worked hard on putting them together. They set up rooms and built the sets used in the different areas. Their hard work has made putting on such a thing possible. 

   Like previously stated, any and all money made from these events go toward the theater department. The support received from the community keeps theater alive and thriving. 

by Sarah Gifford
   Welcome, one and all, to the new Chess and Checkers Club, or C & C. This new club is a fun way to learn current activities. It could also be a chance to sharpen up old skills. 
   What is C & C about? Trey Famon, the founder of this club could not have worded this better: “It’s just a good game to sit around and have fun. It also gets people off their phones.” This is a great opportunity to make new friends, and have a great time. 
 

   What are reasons to join the Chess and Checkers Club? Students can chill and chat with their friends. One can also get to learn the game more. 
   The club will either be held in Mrs. Humlicek’s aesthetically inclined  room, or the large space of the library. Like all the other clubs, C & C will meet once a month. Who knows, there might even be food. 

   Not only does chess help boost a persons IQ, but it also improves his/her focus.

 People write books about chess. Did you know that the second book printed in the English language was about chess (Markushin). That could be a really good way to understand chess and checkers moves. 
   Test the knowledge of your peers and friends. Take this into consideration and join the C & C Club. The leaders of the Chess and Checkers Club hope to see many newcomers.