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Saydelphic The Newspaper of Saydel High School March 4, 2014 VOLUME 54 ISSUE 3

Saydel High School

5601 NE 7th Street

Des Moines, Iowa 50313

www.saydel.k12.ia.us

Saydel High School

@SaydelHS

How would you describe your wrestling experience at State?

“I liked it, it was definitely more intense in the atmosphere there than earlier in

the season. It was a good experience but I hope I do better next year.“

- Austin Moen

What has been most memorable about wrestling?

“The most memorable thing about wrestling was competing with my brother and

wrestling with him in practice. Going to all the meets and the

hype and the adrenaline rush before all the matches.“

- Grant Sherman

As a senior, what did it mean to you to qualify for State?

“It meant the world to me because I've worked my whole life for this one thing. I

wanted to go with my brother. If I wouldn't have made it, I would have been so

disappointed and angry at myself.”

-Jacob Sherman

Congratulations For Making it to State!

PromPromProm

When: Saturday, April 26

8 PM—11 PM

Where: Science Center of Iowa

Theme: STARSTRUCK

After Prom: Incredible Pizza

12 AM-4:30 AM

PS: We are looking for people to help decorate for prom. We have a small time frame to set

up, so if you are willing to help out, it would be much appreciated. Please contact Cheryl

Smith.

You may be thinking to yourself: should I go to prom this year?

Well, the answer is yes, you should. For one, you get to dance

the night away with all of your friends and classmates and have

a great time! Secondly, you get to find out who the prom king

and queen are and see all the wonderful decorations your class

officers have come up with. You'll have a fun night and enjoy

yourselves!

by Cassie Lee

Spring Break 2014

What are you doing this Spring Break?

Just when everyone starts to get sick of the cold, snow, and ice it seems spring break is on the horizon.

Throughout the month of March many families, students, and teachers take a week of vacation to recharge

and warm up; except this year may be a little different.

In the past, many have flocked to the southern states in hopes of some sunny weather. This year, how-

ever, will be a bit colder than what people might be expecting. According to the AccuWeather website,

states like Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi are expecting an almost ten degree difference from last year.

They say the recent “Polar Vortex” and ice storms they have been experiencing are to blame.

While the weather may be a bit colder than we’d like, it won’t stop students from sleeping in. A poll

done by the Huffington Post shows that nearly 40% of students use their spring break to play video games or

sleep in. What will you be doing this spring break? Will you be heading south in hopes of warm weather or

will you be enjoying some rest and relaxation? See the survey results below to know what your classmates

will be doing over spring break.

by Riley Hayes

Andrea Seals -

“I am going to visit

my grandparents

over Spring

Break.”

Joe Voshell -

“I am going to

New York City

with the band

during Spring

Break.”

27% 25%

6%

21% 21%

*53 students responded to this survey

by Randa Patrick

A nineteen-hour bus ride while the rest of the

Saydel students are in class is how the band and choir

will be spending their final days before Spring Break.

Every four years, the band and choir have the privi-

lege to take a trip over Spring Break. This year’s trip,

as well as the last one that was taken in 2010, will be

to New York City. Although students will not be per-

forming while in New York, they will be able to experi-

ence a Broadway musical, shop in Manhattan, ride the

subway, and attend a concert at Carnegie Hall. “I’ve

never been to New York, so I’m a little nervous, but

I’m most excited to go to Tiffany’s and buy some ear-

rings that I’ve been wanting,” says freshman Molle

Sassman.

Among all the excitement and anticipation,

many preparations have been made. Students spent

all summer and fall fundraising for this trip. Every

summer, students are in charge of cleaning the New-

ton Speedway and the Iowa State Fair Grandstands.

Some of the money earned there was set aside to

help fund the trip. The students also sold Butter Braids

to help meet each of their payments. The rest, they

had to earn on their own. “I put in some extra hours

at work and took on a few babysitting jobs to help

cover what I owed on the trip. My family lives in New

York, so I’ve been there a couple times, but I wouldn’t

pass up another opportunity to go. I absolutely love

the city,” says senior MaKayla Handeland.

With all of the good that’s going to happen,

there are bound to be a few mishaps and issues along

the way. To help reduce all possible risks, the coordi-

nators of the trip have banned energy drinks from be-

ing consumed. “We would rather have the students

sleeping well at night than being hyped up for a while,

then crashing and being cranky later,” shared Mr. Mi-

chael Puffett. The parent chaperones going will also

take away students cell phones at night to promote

sleeping rather than texting. “I use my phone as my

alarm clock, so I’ll have to use something else to be

sure that I wake up early enough to get ready each

morning,” said Molle. The itineraries are packed from

day one until the night they leave, so it’ll be important

to get enough sleep and wake up on time.

Both students and chaperones alike are excit-

ed for all of the adventures they’ll have in New York.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to see Radio

City Music Hall. I’ve always wanted to go there,”

shares MaKayla Handeland. Students will also get to

take a ferry to Ellis Island and see the Statue of Liber-

ty, as well as take a dinner cruise. Both Mr. Michael

Puffett and band instructor Mr. Eric Layden are both

looking forward to the exact same thing: “The Philhar-

monic Orchestra will be at Carnegie Hall while we’re

there, and the students will have the opportunity to

see them. That’s something the students who went

the last time never saw,” they both shared.

“I hope that they are able to comprehend

what a great opportunity this trip is for them! Unless

they travel in college, they will never again be able to

take a trip like this with all of their friends and peers.

Going on this trip will hopefully strengthen the bond

between these students, which will improve their

friendships and make the band and choir stronger

groups!” Mr. Layden expressed.

The band and choir students will leave on

Wednesday, March 12, and be on their way back on

Monday, March 17.

The word “speech” leads to a common misunderstanding; most people hear ‘speech’ and think it is communications class.

However, it is actually just a smaller format of acting. Some choose to do speech because they had no confidence in their singing

ability, such as senior Paige Schmidt: “Freshman year I really wanted to do drama, but I

didn’t want to sing; I had zero confidence in my singing ability. I came to speech, because

Olivia was in it and told me it was basically different acting categories but without singing.”

Paige enjoys speech very much and recommends it for “anyone who has a flare for drama,

who likes to film or write, who wants to wave invisible coffee cups in the air, or sacrifice

their friends to the llama gods.”

Most of those examples are from Paige’s favorite category, improvisation. Improv-

isation is making up a story on the spot. At contest, your team gets three scenarios, and as

a team you pick one scenario and you have two minutes to plan out what you are going to

do in five minutes or less. In improvisation, your only props are five chairs. This year’s improv-

isation group was made up of junior Max

Kayser, and seniors Cody Gilleland, Olivia

Hockey, and Paige Schmidt. They did an

amazing job at Districts, and made it to

State. State is the second round in speech competitions. Although they did not

make it to All-State, they did a phenomenal job at contest and practices.

Improvisation isn’t the only category in speech. There are many other categories

such as short film, musical theater, coral reading, and radio. This year’s radio

group made it to State with an amazing radio broadcast. For this year’s radio

group, Saydel had freshman Angela Pitt and senior Caleb Primrose record them-

selves telling about some events that have happened throughout 2013 and Janu-

ary 2014. Although they also did not make it to State, their broadcast was very

fun to listen to with all of its sound effects.

Finally, the last category that our school was involved in this year was short film. Short film con-

sisted of freshmen Angela Pitt and Andrea Seals, sophomores Caitie Fagen and Sam Bullock,

juniors Adam Sparks and Jose Carrera, and seniors Olivia Hockey and Caleb Primrose. Short film

tends to be our school’s largest group. Most students start out in short film because they don’t

want to perform in front of anyone. As junior Adam Spark states, “My favorite category used to

be musical theater, but this year it is short film, because I did the script for it this year, and it

was just a very fun experience.”

The short film team gets together around the fall with some ideas for an interesting film. They all collaborate and choose

an idea they like best. Then one or a few people make a script for the team to act out on

camera. This year’s theme was ‘no continuity’, or a whole bunch of random scripts that

don’t make sense put into a film. That film can be up to five minutes long, but no longer.

This year’s film did not make it past Districts, but it is a fun four minutes and fifty seconds

to watch. If you are interested in seeing the short film, it will be playing at this year’s Varie-

ty Night.

Speech isn’t an extracurricular communications class, but it is a very interesting

and fun acting competition. Andrea says, “I would recommend everybody to join speech,

anyone who is outgoing and likes new things.” Adam Sparks says he’d recommend speech

to “Jack Lande because Mrs. Newton is always saying he needs to be a part of it since he is

very funny.“ If you think you would enjoy any form of acting, speech is for you.

But speech doesn’t stop in high school. When you go on to college, you can have the option of participating in ‘college speech’, otherwise known as forensics. Seniors Olivia Hockey and Paige Schmidt both say they are very likely to participate in speech in college. Olivia Hockey states, “Oh yeah, I didn’t know college speech was a thing until this year. Whatever university I go to, I hope they have forensics available. I haven’t gotten through all of the categories, there is still a bunch I could do, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Probably short film though.”

During an improvisation skit, junior

Max Kayser and Senior Cody Gille-

land have an interview on what life

is like as conjoined twins.

During an improvisation skit, jun-

ior Max Kayser tries to teach his

granddaughter, senior Olivia

Hockey, how to put a worm on

her fishing hook.

Junior Adam Sparks turns to the

camera with a sad mask on, after

filming one of short film’s skits, ‘Sad

Mask.’

by Sam Bullock

Grade 9th 10th 11th 12th

Do you read for

pleasure?

70 surveyed: Yes-23 No-28 Sometimes-19

82 surveyed Yes-23 No-35 Sometimes-24

88 surveyed Yes-27 No– 29 Sometimes-32

43 surveyed Yes-16 No-23 Sometimes– 4

What genre do you

prefer?

1st-Mystery 2nd-Horror 3rd-Fiction

1st-Romance 2nd Mystery 3rd-Fiction

1st-Fiction 2nd-Fantasy 3rd-Mystery

1st-Science Fiction 2nd-Horror 3rd-Suspense

Favorite author? Jane Austen, Stephen King, Dean Koontz

Nicholas Sparks, John Green, Steven Knight

Dr. Seuss, James Patterson, Veronica Roth

Steven King, Jodi Picoult, John Green

Book that may

have inspired you.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Divergent

Of Mice & Men

Pride & Prejudice

Last book you read. Hunger Games, Hatchet, Willow

All-Night Party, Slam, 13 Reasons

Hunger Games, Great Gatsby, Of Mice & Men

Night Fall, Black Hawk Down, Bone Walk

Book you read over

and over.

The Hobbit

Willow

Twilight Series

Pride & Prejudice

How you choose a

book to read.

Cover, less than 100 pages, pictures

Read back, friend suggests, teacher makes me.

Author (read other books), teen list of good books, sound- ed like a good book

Read the back, read the last page, have access with my Kindle

When do I read? At school At night On weekends When ever I can fit

it in to my schedule

Why do I read? Entertain myself Broaden my mind Because I can Keep

my mind sharp

The Saydel student body has participated in a survey to assist the district in determining what type of read-

ers we have within the district. Students will acknowledge the 2nd Annual Read Across America Monday,

March 3, 2014, by taking a moment out of their day to read. Students, parents, staff, and community

members are encouraged to donate a book in exchange for a “Crazy Reading Dollar” that can be used on

Monday, March 10, 2014, to purchase a slightly used book from all the donations. The following infor-

mation was obtained through student surveys:

* Only (5) participants out of 283 students surveyed decided not to respond!

by Mrs. Brenda Brown’s reading class, student council, ESL students, and iJAG

Brett Hersom has been an edu-

cator for 17 years. He wanted

to coach and mold young

minds. His favorite childhood

book was Green Eggs & Ham

by Dr. Seuss, but his favorite

adult book was Reach for the

Summit by Pat Summitt; he

thought it was very motivation-

al. He stated that he actually

was not reading anything cur-

rently, but he enjoys books

about wars and will be picking

one up soon. He believes that

reading lets one explore new

things and experience things

they may not have without

reading. Reading allows for

learning, no matter what the

age. His final thought; “Read

about what interests you.”

Mike Yeoman has been an

educator for 9 years. He want-

ed access to education and

the opportunities that educa-

tion has to offer. His favorite

childhood book was Char-

lotte's Web because it allowed

him to spend time with his

family and he liked the charac-

ters. His favorite book of all

time is 1984 because it makes

him feel as though there are

others in the world who think

the same way. He indicated

that reading is something that

you can do your entire life,

gives opportunities to connect

with other readers, and be

able to share your opinions.

His final thought: “Reading is

an activity that fills time while

making you smarter.”

43 Staff members were interviewed.

Only 5 of those interviewed indicated they did not read for pleasure; that means 89% of our staff are pleasure readers.

Some of the most popular childhood books: Where the Red Fern Grows, The Easter Egg Artist, Boxcar Children series, Little

House on the Prairie series, Nurse Nancy, Old Yeller, The Outsiders, and Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Mysteries.

Examples of the most popular adult books: Tuesdays with Morrie, Twilight series, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Stand, The

Hunger Games, Bridges of Madison County, The Da Vinci Code, Grapes of Wrath, and A Child Called It.

Reasons to read: it’s entertaining, mystical, educational, relieves boredom, keeps you away from TV, keeps you out of trou-

ble, makes one sleep better, broadens vocabulary, increases intelligence, provides conversation starters, and opens doors to

one’s future!

Marcy Davidson has been an

educator for 37 years. Both

her parents are educators.

She has always had a desire to

teach art. Her earliest memory

of books is the one her third

grade teacher read to the

class: Island of the Blue Dol-

phins. She indicated that she

has read so many books she

can not pick just one as a fa-

vorite. Currently she is reading

The Best Kept Secret. Her fa-

vorite genre is fiction and the

one thing she would like to tell

students is to listen to books

on tape in your car if you do

not have time to read. Her

final thought; “I haven’t al-

ways liked to read, but, I wish I

would have—I’ve learned so

much more because of

books.”

by Mrs. Brenda Brown’s reading class, student council, ESL students, and iJAG

What is the deal with the Flappy Bird? You may find yourself wondering the same questions that we did. It took only

moments for the game to be known through the halls of Saydel and only a week later for the game to be removed completely from app stores. So what caused such an abrupt discontinuation?

Did you hear about the Chicago teenager arrested for killing his broth-er over Flappy Bird? If you did, you probably heard something along the lines of a 16 year-old boy stabbing his 17 year-old brother over a higher score of 17 and about how he was charged with first degree murder and detained in the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center while awaiting his trial. You may also have heard that the boy, Gary, supposedly told investigators, “Anyone who has played that game would know why I did it." However, this was a hoax exposed by Zachary Stieber in Epoch Times. The story came from a site called Huzlers.com, where they make up stories. This caused the confusion for many of those who did not know about Huzlers.com. The story that was believed by so many was liked over 14,000 times on Facebook.

If you’ve heard the hoax, and you’ve played the game, you’ve probably heard the stories about Flappy Bird being removed from the app stores. This story, however, is not a hoax. Dong Nguyen made Flappy Bird in on-ly a few nights, unlike many other apps, such as Angry Birds, which had hundreds of programmers. The game was making $50,000 a day just from advertising. The game was currently the most popular free app of both the App Store and Android Play Store. On February 8, it was announced that the developer was taking the game down at midnight on Sunday. The game was based off of Nintendo’s Mario Bros; rumor also said that Nintendo had sent Nguyen a warning letter that would lead to a lawsuit. Nguyen announced on Twitter,“22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down, it is not anything related to legal issues.” He added, “I just cannot keep it anymore.” He also apologized to Flappy Bird players. He had also written, “I cannot take this anymore.” It appears Flappy Bird's death will be just as spontaneous as its rise to the top.

So what happened to the man behind it all? (If you were too busy playing Flappy Bird, you probably didn’t hear the inside scoop.) Eli Langer tweeted, “The creator of popular mobile app ‘Flappy Bird’ is receiving death threats and suicide notes for deciding to remove the game from the app stores on Sunday.”

Now that the game is gone, you may have noticed or heard that the phones that still have the app down-loaded on them are worth ‘big bucks’ on eBay. However, if you look at the phones listed for thousandths of dol-lars such as the famous $99,900 iPhone, you can see that there are not in fact any bids on the items— your phone is not going to sell for more than it’s worth. For those of you who are still searching for some action on this addic-tive game every day, new knock-off games are being made such as Flappy Pig, Flappy Parrot, Happy Bird, Clumsy Bird, Floppy Bird, Squishy Birds, Flapping Birds, Fatty Bird, and many, many more. Everyone is trying to get a piece of the action form this deceased bird.

Highest Score Achieved-205

by Nicole Axtell

Saydel’s High Scorer–Chris Jones

You may remember earlier in the school year taking an assessment on the computer. This is called

the MAP Test. It is a computerized assessment to help determine student knowledge in the areas of math

and reading. What makes the MAP test unique and unlike any other tests you may have previously taken is

that the questions that one may receive are given based on his/her responses. What this means is if a stu-

dent gets a question right, he/she may in turn get a slightly more difficult question. On the other hand, if

students get a question wrong, they will get simpler questions. This allows you to get a more personalized

test based on the things that you know and understand. Another positive about MAP tests is that there are

instant results; no waiting for a couple months to find out how you did. Students know results right away.

You might say, “Well what’s the point? Why do I even have to take this test?” There are several rea-

sons. First, this test allows teachers to see the common strengths and weaknesses throughout all of the

students and allows them to make educational decisions for the classroom. Mr. Joshua Heyer adds, “District

-level personnel can begin to track student achievement and determine if our students are making academ-

ic gains. This is always good to do before our school takes the Iowa Assessment test in April.” This brings us

to our second point. The MAP test can prepare students tremendously for other tests that they may plan

on taking in the future, for example, the Iowa Assessments. Also as high school students, we know that the

ACT’s are coming up and it can be very stressful. But this test can be great practice and help take some of

that stress away. “Preparation-wise—the test gives students an accurate score of their ability in the content

being tested. MAP representatives have done extensive research and found that MAP scores have a strong

correlation with ACT scores. This means that if you take the MAP test (which is free) you could find out an

approximate ACT score,” explains Mr. Heyer.

All in all, the MAP Test is pretty cool and unlike any other standardized tests. Not only does it help

teachers and staff adjust their learning based on what the students know, but it also helps students get

practice and preparation for future tests.

by Courtney Hill

TAP At Saydel

by Nick Dolan

results for TAP, and one of them is unpublished. TAP lists

18 more research papers on its website; however, 11 of

them were released by the National Institute for Excellence

in Teaching (NIET), which owns TAP. None of them are

identified as being peer-reviewed.

The master teachers don’t know for sure whether

TAP has been a success or not, and we won’t until next

year. “Because we're in the first year of implementation,

we haven't taken enough tests to see growth. We don't

have any student data yet. It’s anecdotal,” Mrs. Fenton

said. Their goal is that next year, “proficient” students will

see a 5% increase in reading scores on the Iowa Assess-

ment, formerly the ITEDs. “We’re optimistic about what

we’ll see with that data. Sometimes you see what’s called

an implementation dip, where you see a small decrease

before the large increases. We’re still hoping that we’ll

meet our goal.”

“Doors aren't

shut anymore.

It's more of a

community,

and we'll learn

and improve

together.”

Dia Fenton

If you’ve gone to class at all this year,

chances are you’ve seen Mrs. Dia Fenton,

Mr. Joshua Heyer, or another teacher

sitting silently in the corner of a room

with a clipboard. These teachers are eval-

uating other teachers as part of TAP, the

Teacher Advancement Program

(although “TAP” technically stands for

nothing anymore), which made Mrs. Fen-

ton and Mr. Heyer “Master Teachers” at

the start of this year. “TAP focuses on

accountability in instruction, and it lets us

look at data to make sure students are

growing, and how we can help them

grow,” said Mrs. Fenton. “There’s more

opportunity for professional develop-

ment under TAP if you’re a teacher.

There is also a small financial reward for

good teaching.” TAP was founded in 1999

by billionaire Lowell Milken and has now

spread to schools across the country.

Saydel is ahead of the curve in the way

it’s implementing TAP. “We’re one of

only two schools in Iowa that has imple-

mented the career ladder that we have,”

Mrs. Fenton said. The biggest change in

the ‘career ladder’ is the creation of the

Master and Mentor Teacher positions.

“Master Teachers spend all day support-

ing other teachers and facilitating profes-

sional development. Mentor teachers

spend part of the day doing that.”

How does this program affect you, the

students? Mrs. Fenton says, “We asked

students and they think there is a clearer

idea of what students are supposed to be

learning in class than before. Some say

they've been held to a higher standard.

We're hoping that teachers are becoming

more strategic about their teaching

methods.”

Not everyone supports TAP, howev-

er. A common criticism is that there is a

lack of evidence of TAP’s effectiveness. In

its latest research summary, TAP cites

only three independent studies showing

positive

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