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VIKING PRESS

May/June 2015

Volume V Issue VII

Whitehall High School

Whats Inside:

Page 2 - Bon Voyage by Jasmine Broton

Page 3 - Plans for the Future by Leah Thompson

Page 4 - Leadership and Legacy by Julie Brown

Page 5 - Robo Sharks by Danielle Jurcich

Save the Date!

1st and 4th Hour

Exams: June 3

2nd and 5th Hour

Exams: June 4

3rd and 6th Hour

Exams: June 5

Last Day of

School: June 5

Recent Events:

Graduation

Ceremony

Baccalaureate

Senior Picnic

Choir and Band

Concerts Pictured: The sun sets as Whitehall High Schools

commencement ceremony continues. The ceremony

took place on Thursday, May 21.

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Bon Voyage

By: Jasmine Broton

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Every year, the students and faculty of Whitehall

High School are forced to bid farewell to several

beloved teachers as they move onto the

wonderful world of retirement. While they will be

missed from every corner of Whitehall, it is

important to celebrate everything they did for

the school, community, and individual lives.

First, one of this years retiring teachers is

none other than Michael Snell. A veteran in the

art of teaching, Mr. Snell has been teaching for

33 years, and has spent the past 18 teaching

high school biology at Whitehall. In addition to

teaching, Snell enjoys playing one of his many

instruments, including the guitar and the banjo,

as well as backpacking and visiting his daughter

in Alaska. In addition, the first thing Snell plans to

do when he officially retires is go hiking in

California, as well as spend time more with his

family. Although he may be excited for his

retirement, he also says he will miss interacting

with students. When asked what many years of

teaching has taught him, Snell said, Its

important to never take your current situation as

the end of all things. Life goes on.

Another retiring teacher is Christine

Mallory. Mallory teaches both English and art,

and has spent 21 years teaching at Whitehall. As

a teacher, she most enjoys introducing students

to new ideas, different cultures, and pushing

them to explore their own talents to light a fire

underneath them. When she retires, Mallory said

she will miss the staff and students of Whitehall

the most. After retirement, Mallory hopes to

continue painting her own pictures and playing

with her grandchildren, and she looks forward to

making her own schedule. Mallory says that years

of teaching have taught her, Every day is a new

beginning, and you should look for all of the

positive signs each day, and focus on those

gifts.

Also retiring this year is British/World

Literature and Advanced Placement English

teacher Eileen Stoffan. Stoffan started her

teaching career 24 years ago in Maryland, but

after five years decided to move to Michigan

and teach at North Muskegon, and then

Whitehall. She has taught all grades from fifth to

twelfth, teaching mostly English focused classes.

She says her favorite part of teaching is getting to

interact with the students of Whitehall, and she

will miss all the laughter and the opportunity to

stay current with pop culture. When she retires,

she hopes to golf, spend more time with her

family, and go into business management. Its

important to take education seriously, said

Stoffan. It will never be as easy in the real world

as in Whitehall.

Whitehalls final departing teacher for this

year is English teacher Virginia Mary Rogers. In

her part 26 years at Whitehall, Rogers has most

enjoyed interacting with the wonderful students

and staff of Whitehall. She will also miss the kids

and their energy. In her spare time, Rogers hopes

to continue rescuing cats, and plans to be a

volunteer teacher for Truenorth in Newaygo, a

program that helps people to find work. Rogers

says that the most valuable lesson she could

teach is, Learn everything you possibly can-it

makes life rich.

While the teachers who are retiring from

Whitehall High School will be missed dearly, the

Whitehall Newsletter staff personally wishes them

good luck on wherever life takes them next. As

said by Helen Keller, When one door of

happiness closes, another opens; but we so often

look at the closed door, we forget to seek which

one has opened for us.

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Plans for the

Future

By: Leah Thompson

(Continued on page 4) 3

Senior year is a memorable year in many ways.

It is a year of firsts, lasts, and once in a lifetime

moments. It may be the first time talking with

other fellow seniors, the last home football game,

or the moment when you take those final steps

to receive the long awaited diploma. During the

senior year, many people ask numerous

questions to the seniors. The most common

question they are asked is: What are your plans

after high school?

The Class of 2015 is headed for great

things this upcoming fall. As a class they

received over one million dollars in scholarships

and grants, and the money will help them in their

future education. The now graduated seniors will

be attending 20 different colleges and

universities, branches of the military, or going

directly into the work force.

Allison Henry will

attend Alma College this

fall. She plans to major in

Art Education and

minoring in English.

Henry said her favorite

senior year memory was

how amazing the

football season was this

year. Im looking

forward to starting my

own life and doing some grown up things. Im

excited to start earning an education towards

my future career, said Henry. The thing she will

miss most about high school is the people.

Everyone is very inspiring whether theyre an

athlete, musician, or teacher. I have learned a

lot from just everyone I met in high school.

Also

graduating with the

class of 2015 is

Cameron Chester.

Next fall, he will

attend Central

Michigan University

to pursue a degree in

elementary

education and

theater. My favorite

memory from senior

year was being in Peter Pan at the Frauenthal

Theatre, said Chester. He is going to miss his

friends the most, but he is looking forward to

getting to know a wider variety of new people

while at Central.

Hannah

Uithoven also has a

bright future ahead of

her. She will attend

Muskegon Community

College for two years

and then plans to

transfer to Grand

Valley State University.

She plans to major in

juvenile corrections. Her favorite memory from

senior year is either directing the student-led play

or that there was a picture of her and her prom

date in front of the army truck they rode in to

prom on MLive. When asked, Uithoven said, I

will miss the familiarity of high school. I have

gone to Whitehall my whole life, and it has come

to mean a lot to me, so I will miss the fact that I

will no longer be a Viking. She is most looking

forward to the new adventures that college will

bring. This next chapter of my life should be

pretty fun, so Im looking forward to a new

normal.

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Leadership and

Legacy

By: Julie Brown

National History Day, also known as NHD, is an

American academic competition focusing on

history for students in grades six-12. For Whitehall

High School, National History Day, is a day where

kids sixth-twelfth research specific topics and

showcase that topic in front of judges who vote

on whose research was the most thorough

It started as a local program in Cleveland,

Ohio, headed by David Van Tassell, a history

professor at Case Western Reserve University.

From the beginning of NHD, it grew from 129

students in 1974 to over 500,000 students in 48

states in 1991, and 700,000 students and 40,000

teachers in 2001, and is yet still growing. On

Whitehalls National History day team, there are

13 students. From the high school, there is

Kaylee Picard, Mackenzie Brandel, Maranda

Mikkelson, Lauren Geiger, and Aubrey Conkright.

Picard, Brandel, and Mikkelson successfully made

it to state. The middle school students included

Eva Bower, Morgan VanderLeest, Emma Hector,

Vanessa Christenson, Isabelle Uganski, Avery

Christenson, Luci Nieboer, and Jaden Mikkelson;

and Alison Chen from Ealy Elementary. Neiboer,

Mikkelson, Avery Christenson, and Uganski all

competed in state, with Uganski and Avery Chris-

tenson later competing at the national level,

which will be held in Maryland. Jan Klco is the

advisor of the Whitehall District Schools National

History day team.

Today more than half a million students

enter through local schools. They construct

entries as an individual or in a group in one of five

categories. Whitehalls two categories for this

year were Leadership and legacy. Students then

compete in a series of contests to proceed to the

National Contest. This years National History Day

District contest was held on March 21 at Grand

Valley State Universitys Kirkhof Center, where

they shared their passion for the subjects that

they researched and then presented.

The 2015 National History Day team did a

great job presenting and sharing their topics

which ranged from the Holocaust rescuers to

readers in conservation, and from Edison to Elvis.

Plans for the Future continued As the Class of 2015 moves on to new and

exciting endeavors, Whitehall High School bids

them farewell and wishes them the best in the

future. The Class of 2015 will be dearly missed by

all and will always be remembered.

Pictured: Maranda Mikkelson and Kaylee

Picard stand in front of their project for the

National History Day Competition.

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Robo Sharks

By: Danielle Jurcich

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Have you ever wondered what future engineers

do in their free time? They build robots! For the

last two years, the White Lake area has had a

robotics team that competes at invitational and

regional competitions. The teams number they

compete with is 4956, but they call themselves

the Robo Sharks. There is always lots of excite-

ment and hard work happening in the work

room, which fits their enthusiastic name. To

channel the energy of 20 high school age future

engineers, there are six advisors: Jeff Cook,

Cathy Cook, Jen Jura, Matt LeaTrea, Caleb

Mauer, and Dennis Shaffer. All are helpful

volunteers who are in the work room every

session and go to all of the competitions. The

organization that supports these competitions is

called FIRST which represents For Inspiration and

Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST

said that, The competitions combine the

excitement of sports

with the rigors of

science and

technology.

This year, the

game at their

competitions was

called Recycle Rush.

They had to stack tote

containers with their

robot in any fashion

they chose to

complete the task,

and then the team

had to put a recycle

bin on top of the other

containers. The Robo Sharks also had the option

to use their robot to put a pool noodle inside of

the recycle container for extra points. Every

member put in an effort towards the robot that

competed. There is the drive team, the people

who navigate the robot. Then there are the

people who get their hands dirty by actually

building the robot; and last but definitely not

least, the whiz kids of the team who program the

robot and wire it. Competing on any level would

not have been possible without these three

important parts.

The team was also much better in the

2015 season than the 2014 season, and they got

many more awards. One interesting award this

years team won was the Team Imagery Award

at the West Michigan District Conference. The

hard-working team made it all the way to the

semifinals in both competitions they attended,

finishing fourth at Kentwood and third at West

Michigan Christian. At WMC, the Robo Sharks

were only two points away from qualifying for

state. Junior, Lachlan Moore, who is also team

captain said, Next year we need to work on

time management and planning our design

earlier. We also need to train a new drive team

because two of the three members graduated

this year.

Many changes are going to happen

within the next year with new freshmen members

joining the team and the seniors leaving. This will

mean some fresh ideas, and also new trainees.

There is no doubt that the Robo Sharks will make

it to state in 2016, and they will be better than

ever.

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This newsletter is

produced by the

Viking Communication

Class of Whitehall High

School. Students in

grades nine through

twelve learn various

skills producing this

newsletter. Writing,

photography, layout,

interviewing, and

communication skills

are just some of the

advantages students

gain from

participating in this

class.

VALHALLA Editor: Leah Thompson

Writers:

Jasmine Broton,

Danielle Jurcich, &

Julie Brown

Photographers:

Sylvan Benton,

Noelle Loomis,

Brooke Bachelder,

Brittney Loudermilk,

& Emma Knowlton

Counselors Corner As you may know, the State of Michigan has selected the

Scholastic Aptitude Test, commonly referred to as the

SAT, for the college entrance exam portion of the

Michigan Merit Exam, beginning with the class of

2017. Up until now, the gold standard in Michigan was

the ACT (American College Test). Over the next couple

of years there will be learning curve as we transition from

one style of exam to the next.

What do we know about the SAT?

We know that your student will take the SAT in the

spring of their junior year of high school; date still to be

determined by the state.

We know that every college and university in

Michigan will accept the scores from the SAT, just like

they did the ACT. As we transition over to the SAT over the

next of couple years, we encourage your student to take

both the ACT and SAT, as they may be more successful

on one test or the other depending on their skill set.

Students can sign-up to take the ACT on their

own at www.actstudent.org; tests are given on Saturdays

at many locations locally. If your student qualifies for

free/reduced lunch, the counseling office can provide

ACT fee waivers to cover the cost of the test.

We know that the SAT is redesigned meaning that

its a new test altogether and everyone is learning it.

Please note, the new test will be launched in January of

2016, so any SAT test dates prior will still be the older

format.

We are planning to have the junior class take the

newly redesigned PSAT (practice SAT) in the fall to

prepare them for the new SAT in the spring.

The College Board is working with the Khan

Academy to provide free individual strategies and study

plans based on students PSAT score, or assessment.

There are many resources available for you and

your student to become familiar with the test. Please

take some time to visit the following websites:

The College Board

www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat/

student-parent

The Khan Academy

www.khanacademy.org/sat

We look forward to working with you and your student, as

we learn together the nuances of the redesigned SAT

exam. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any

questions or concerns you may have.

Mrs. Goodrich

Mr. Westerlund