OHS STEM Club Prepares For STEM Celebration Day

By Logan Gil, OHS Torch Reporter

The OHS STEM Club is currently getting everything organized and prepared for the STEM celebration days that are coming in the spring, even though it is quite a while away.

STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering Mathematics.  They usually meet up every other Friday to keep the organization of the celebration days going.

Mrs. Bowers and Mrs. Mohr are the instructors of the STEM Club.  They make sure everything goes according to all the plans.  They currently have 11 members and they are always recruiting. 

The STEM Celebration days are April 12-14^th.  It is a big science fair for all the elementary schools. 

Michelle Dial, OHS Sophomore, said, “We get all the kids grouped up by their grade and they do experiments involving what they are learning in class.”

Collin Schopp, OHS Senior, said “I really enjoy Stem and I highly encourage others to do it.”

For right now the main goal for the STEM Club is to just prepare for the spring.  They are working really hard so that the STEM Celebration is really enjoyable.

If you really like Science Technology Engineering or Mathematics, join the Stem Club.  Just make your way to Mrs. Bowers or Mrs. Mohr’s room.

OHS Chorus Hard at Work

By: Cody Cheeseman OHS Torch Reporter

From pieces such as Baba Yetu and Northern Lights to the basic fundamentals of music, Youth and Harmony, all the way to Madrigals, the OHS chorus class is hard at work.

In the choral department, students are learning a large array of music. Some pieces include Northern Lightt and Baba Yetu.

Doug Stribling, OHS Senior said, “I really enjoy these two pieces. They push my learning experience.”

Northern Lights is sung in Latin, while Baba Yetu is sung in Swahili. Both pieces are a challenge to learn.

Zac Banks OHS Senior said, “I joined chorus to train my voice.” The first major performance these students will put on will be at Youth and Harmony on Thursday, October 22nd. Youth and Harmony is a day long learning experience where students from schools around the McLean County get to come and build their skills with famous composers.

With time running down, the buzz is already in the air about Madrigals. The students, along with volunteers, set the gym up to mimic a castle as they take you back to a time where music was a major form of entertainment.

“My role in Madrigals is the jester, I get to do whatever I want and it really caters to who I am and I get to express myself in an appropriate way,” said OHS Senior Zac Banks.

JV Boys Basketball Season Almost Ready to Start Season

by Austin Wise

With the Olympia High School Junior Varsity boys basketball team season coming to a start in the upcoming weeks, the approximated 15 athletes anxiously wait for the season to start.

With a sub-par record of 10-12 last year, the JV boys look to rebound to an even better season. The goal is a positive record.

The head coach of this group of talented athletes is Matt Frahm. Mr. Frahm is in his 3rd year of coaching the JV basketball team.

With the team losing 7 players who moved on to Varsity ball, they look to positively add at least 7 new players from the sophomore and junior class.

With the first games starting in early November, the basketball players are setting goals for themselves. Many athletes had the same goal, to beat Central Catholic and University High School, both conference rivals.

With many different opinions and ideas off the season, one thing is known for sure. The Olympia JV boys basketball team is ready to come out and play.

OHS Speech Team Looks to Dominate

By OHS Torch Reporter, Thomas Hallstein

            The 2015-2016 OHS speech team will be starting up in a few weeks with hopes of their greatest season yet, due to the new players on the team.

            New coach and OHS Principal Mr. Ed Jodlowski and his speech team will start having practices towards the end of October into November, working to achieve their best season yet.

            “I’m excited for this year, the numbers of members we have is incredible,” said Coach Jodlowski.

            “This year’s team should perform well”, said OHS senior Collin Schopp.

In a speech meet, there are 14 different events. “I think my favorite would be acting,” said OHS senior David Bell.

            The team’s ultimate goal for this season is to beat conference rival powerhouse U-High. U-High has defeated Olympia for 3 years in a row.

            With the team’s depth and potential, they should play well this season, with hopes of it being their best season yet.

Olympia Spanish Classes Break Language Barriers

By OHS Torch reporter, Tristan Davis

Olympia’s Spanish program has been very successful as there has always been a full program every year. Olympia provides five Spanish classes for students to take: Spanish 1, 2, 3, 4, and AP Spanish for students that want to upgrade their knowledge in Spanish.

Mrs. Cahill and Mr. Hiero currently teach Olympia’s Spanish courses. Mrs. Cahill, who taught classes in Phoenix, Arizona for 4 years, now has taught at Olympia for 9 years. Mrs. Cahill was also Olympia’s cheerleading coach for 8 years.

Mr. Hiero has taught Spanish classes for 37 years, in between 4 different schools, with the last 32 years at Olympia. Hiero has also taught math, science, and French too--all of that being backed up with a M.A. in foreign languages from ISU.

Many Spanish related projects are conducted within the 5 classes. For example, students in the classes will take part in recipes projects, a family tree project, and a cooking project where they will create a Spanish heritage treat, frigo plantains.

Within the class, students are taught the common form of Spanish, U.S. and Mexico Spanish which can basically be used worldwide.

Field trips have not been a common thing in the past for Olympia’s Spanish class, but Mrs. Cahill said, “I would like for my Spanish class to visit a Spanish based museum or Mexican restaurant to experience the heritage.”

Previous students that have taken a Spanish classes under the teaching of Mr. Hiero and Mrs. Cahill all agreed upon that their knowledge in Spanish has excelled . Olympia Junior, Austin Wise said, “I learned a lot in Spanish, it taught me a lot.”

Spanish classes at Olympia are open both semesters and are always good for credits. Learning a different language has never hurt anyone and it will definitely open up language barriers.

The Girls Basketball Team Nearing Tip-off

By Karl Fasse, OHS Torch Reporter

Under the guidance of a new coach, the OHS girls basketball team is set to begin practice Monday, November 2nd; Coach and members of the team are excited to begin the season.

The new coach of the team is P.E. teacher, Mrs. Courtney Hoffman, who is in her first year at OHS. Coach Hoffman comes to Oly from Monticello High School where she was the head coach of the softball team for a number of years. Coach Hoffman is very excited about coaching the girls this season as she played basketball at Illinois College and loves the sport.

Coach Hoffman said, “I expect that we will learn and get better as a team and improve from previous years.”

The varsity team this year will likely consist of only two upperclassmen, juniors Katie Adams and Kendra Peifer. Both Katie and Kendra have been on the team since their freshman year and are both excited about the opportunity to step into the leadership role this year on a team with no seniors. The two are excited for the season and also have expectations of their own.

Katie said that her expectations are simple, “to win some games.” Katie went on to say that, “Ball is life.”

Kendra talked more on her personal expectations, she stated that she would like to become a better shooter.

Katie and Kendra agreed that the team goal should be to improve upon last season and win as many games as possible. The two are also really looking forward to the new coach and had nothing but positive things to say about Coach Hoffman.

The girls team is set to begin exhibition Monday, November 16th in the Clinton Turkey Tussle, where they face off against Tri-Valley in their first game of the tourney. Students are encouraged to come out and cheer on the girls team. These girls are working hard to turn this program around and need your support.

Science Class Racing Rat Traps at OHS

by OHS Torch Reporter, Lucas Smith

OHS Principle of Technology classes have built rat racers during class the last few weeks; under strict requirements students must build race cars then compete against one another in speed and distance.

The Rat Racer project is an extensive project used in class to show the steps of the Engineering and Design Process that students learn in the first weeks of school. This project teaches the students while letting them use the process first hand and experiment their ideas in groups.

Although the Rat Racer project is very extensive and challenging, students have the chance to put their creativity to the test. At the end of the project all students name their cars and put them to the test in a bracket style race where the winners advance.

OHS Senior Liam O’Rourke said, “Definitely getting our car to work was the way we wanted it to was the most challenging for me and my group.”

Drama struck the classroom project when students started racing one another for pink slips. Although no harm was done, a few groups cars were temporarily impounded by OHS Science teacher Mr. Rackauscus.

“My favorite part of this project is getting to really see how some of my students minds work, it's very interesting to see their ideas and problem-solving skills on paper and first hand when working with their prototypes”, OHS Science Teacher Mr. Rackauscus.

Students worked on their cars over the course of a couple weeks, making very small as well as very large adjustments to the cars to meet the requirements of the race. All adjustments made were important on race day in effort to earn the top spot on the bracket.

In the Second block Principle of Technologies class Senior Triston Ballinger and Juniors Nathan Schulz and Katie Adams took the gold in the Distance and Speed Races. Winning the Distance category in the 4th block class was Seniors Alex Switzer, Genna Vanwye, and Clay Bachman. Winning In the Speed category for 4th block were Seniors Collin Miller and Sara Rathbun.

German Class Welcomes Everyone!

By Bo Bauer, OHS Torch reporter

           

“Begrüßen alle Schüler” said Mrs. Rebecca Meissner, which means welcome all students; she invites any OHS students to join her exciting German class; where you learn all about German culture.

           

Mrs. Meissner has taught this class for 17 years. Even though she didn’t start out in majoring in German class, she has done a fantastic job teaching it.

There are many activities that go on in German class. The biggest part that students learn about is grammar and the culture, but there are tons of other exciting activities to do too. One of the most fun things that the students like to do is the occasional German food brought into class. Dancing is another part of German class that different students like doing, while listening to the song of the week.

           

            Two of Olympia’s brightest minds, Levi Litwiller and Dallas Spencer, have also taken all German class and both got the German Dept. Award and got shiny medals. They had a lot of fun in the class and worked very hard to get these medals.

            “I loved German class because of all the food, mostly the schnitzel,” said Dallas. This was one of the activities that Dallas loved to do in German class.

            “Having Mrs. Meissner tell me to not get an epidermal shot was one of the funniest moments that I can remember,” said Levi. This was his most fun memory being in German class.

These are just some memory’s made by students at Olympia. Mrs. Meissner is always ready to have more fun and make new memories with all students at Olympia.

Both Dallas and Levi agreed that German class was fun and would recommend it to anyone to take. Mrs. Meissner even agreed that the freshman do just as well as any sophomore, junior, even a senior if they were to take her class.

Timmons looks to Check his Mates

By OHS Torch Reporter, Cole Hammel

This fall Colby Timmons and the OHS Chess Team looks to have their opponents in checkmate as they begin the challenge of returning players to state.

Last year the Chess Team experienced a great amount of success with junior Colby Timmons  placing third on board two. Placing in Chess isn't new for Colby his sophomore year he placed second on board four.

Senior Colby Timmons said,”I don’t know where my success came from. It just came naturally to me. Chess is like a second nature to me.”

Colby and the chess team will be tested when state time comes around February,12-13 Colby and the team hope to have many places and hopeful champions.

Senior Colby Timmons was very humble when asked about his State Runner-up finish on board four and his third place finish on board two.

Colby said, “ I don’t really like to brag about my success in chess, but I’m very proud about my third place finish on board four. I think that's something that I can look back on and be proud of.”

The Chess Team is coached by Mr. Kent Hieronymus. Coach Hieronymus is going into his final year of teaching and possibly coaching.

“Get Your Torch Here!”

By: C.J. Barekman, Torch Reporter

The Torch has been Olympia’s number one student paper for years and they continue to please their students and staff with new themes and topics every year they publish it.

The Torch is a student newspaper written by the journalism class every year. It changes staff every semester. The Torch contains many big topics and is also filled with games, hidden items, and many other subtopic articles.

The Torch is read by many students at Olympia. Zach Banks said, “Yes, I love to read the Torch.” It only cost a dollar. Often, the Torch staff will hand out a piece of candy with each purchase.

There have been a few changes to the Torch this year and it will include a freshman section and new topics that have never been covered before. Zach Banks said, “I would like to see more juicy gossip in the Torch this year.”

Cody Cheeseman is “very excited” to write for The Torch this year. The Torch staff has to go out and collect information first hand from sources about topics they are covering. Then they meet up as a team and organize the whole thing.

The first edition of The Torch hits newsstands in November and its theme is sharks! What Cody had to say about it was, “Sharks! Shark bait ooh ha ha!”

The Torch has been successful in the past and it will only continue to this year. This year's Torch staff is really excited to bring you the Torch with such an interesting theme.

OHS Marching Band Completes Season

By: OHS Torch Reporter, Ashlyn Biddle

This past quarter, OHS Marching Band participated in several different marching band competitions around Illinois, such as the ISU competition, the Morton competition, and the Normal West competition.

The band teacher, Mr. Kyle Brubaker decided this year to have his marching band competition theme show called the Love Story. The Love Story theme is from West Side Story and the Romeo and Juliet Ballet musical and plays.

According to Mr. Brubaker, “The Love Story theme for our marching band competitions this past quarter had a good turnout.”

At the Normal West marching band competition that the OHS Marching Band participated in, they had received awards for 1st place in class and best winds section out of the whole competition. The students of OHS Marching Band were very happy of their accomplishments.

Another marching band competition that OHS Marching Band competed in was at Morton High School. The OHS Marching Band had received an award for third place in their class at this competition.

Michelle Dial, an OHS Marching Band student, said, “My favorite marching band competitions that our group competed in this year were at Morton High School and ISU because there were so many different bands there and they were very fun.”

The OHS Marching Band’s last competition that the students participated in, was at ISU in Normal. At this competition the OHS Marching Band received an award for eighth place in their class for the day.

Many students that were part of the OHS Marching Band are very excited for the new season to start in the summer of next year. Anyone can be a part of their group for next season, all you need to do is signup and join!

Dance Team Kicks off Great Season

By Lainey Whitaker, OHS Torch reporter

The OHS 2015-2016 dance team has started their season with a great performance at the homecoming assembly and is ready to jump into many more performances throughout the year.

The team started 2 weeks before the homecoming assembly on their dance they performed. They were all very confident and they would practice the dance at least 25 times during each practice. 

The OHS Dance team performs every home basketball game. They practice Tuesday through Thursdays and will have some other practices every now and then. 

According to junior  Victtoria Cira, “I am is looking forward to this new season,  having a new coach and having everyone bring new ideas to the team,  especially  on the new style of dance.”

This was their first year performing at the homecoming assembly and they got great feedback from the whole school and parents.

The girls are all excited to see what this year is going to hold with everyone being positive vibes to the team. According to Jamie Hamblin, the team is stepping up their game this year. 

As Summer Succeeds to Winter, so do Fall Sports

By Katie Bergeron, OHS Torch Reporter

At Olympia, sports are always ongoing, during the transition period between fall and winter, fall sports wind down; many are finishing up their seasons and going to regionals.

The fall sports and their final known records so far are: Varsity-Football 2-6, Varsity-Volleyball 18-9, Boys Soccer 6-9, Girls and boys golf, girls and boys cross country, girls swim, and Marching Band/ Color Guard.

AD Mr. Roney said, “Marching Band received a first place finish in normal West Invitational on Sept. 27th. Girls swim has also won three or four meets.”

Some standout players in different sports are;: senior C.J Barachman (golf) who advanced to sectionals, Freshman Olivia Forrest (swim) who had broken many fresh/soph records and one varsity record.

Another remarkable player is junior Shelby Siltman who has had an outstanding season this year in Cross Country. With a few first place finishes she is expected to go to state.

Siltman said, “This season is going a lot better than past ones. RIght now we are in post season, regionals. Personally I think I’ll go to state if I stay confident and run fast,”

Football’s last game is Friday Sept. 23rd, Soccer lost in their first round of regionals, golf is now over, swim goes until November, Marching band and Color Guard are over when football is, Volleyball begins regionals Monday Sept. 26th and is projected to go past the first round.

Roney said, “Every year we want to win, of course, but with our regional it’s tough. We are part of a hard conference, which has some pros and cons to it. We get great exposure during our seasons because of the exceptional teams, which is great for players who want to go on and play in college, but that means we rarely get Championships.”

Light, Camera, Action: It’s Time For Photography

By Taylor Stirsman OHS Torch Reporter

With a change in teachers comes a change in curriculum for many classes at OHS, and photography is no different.  From the looks of it, students are enjoying this change.

“I think the new teacher is really nice and cool. She does a really good job with coming up with fun lessons that are interactive and teach us how to work with cameras and incorporating elements of art into our work,” said OHS senior Hannah Schultz.

Mrs. Pitcher has an even split at school, allowing students to be taking photos both at home and during the class period, and then spending a few days a week editing those photos and working with Photoshop. Pitcher believes it is important for students to have class time working with the cameras because no amount of editing can help you if you can not take a decent picture to begin with

Pitcher said, “There are many job opportunities out there that this class can lead into. You could get a career in graphic design, designing posters and flyers for businesses or movies, or you could get a career in marketing, to name a few.”

In this class, students learn about the basic functions of a camera, photo composition, and how to use photoshop. These skills can come in handy for many things in life and can lead to many different career options.

Currents photography students, along with the teacher, would recommend this class to anyone considering taking it but aren’t sure if they would enjoy it or not. They say it is a fun class with many interesting projects and there is never a boring day in class.

“Originally I only took this class because I heard a lot of different people talk about how much they liked it, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do but I have a lot of fun in this class. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who needs a class to take,” said OHS students Hannah Schultz.

Boys Swim Team Prepares for Season

By: Alex Switzer, OHS Torch Reporter

Olympia Boys Swim Team hopes to follow up a great season last year as this season starts after Thanksgiving; many members have swam for multiple seasons and are very competitive.

The Olympia Boys Swim season starts mandatory practices after Thanksgiving. These 2 hour practices consist of conditioning exercises in the water and even some sprints out of the water. All this conditioning is needed to get the swimmers in shape and prepared for meets.

As the season progresses the practices switch to more speciality practices. There are many different events in swimming and every member practices primarily in his positions and how to improve.

Senior swimmer Brandon Etter said, “Last season I did very well, but I still have lots of work to do and achievements to accomplish in this season.” This is the overall attitude of the Boy’s Swim Team after a very good season.

Olympia has a very competitive rivalry in swimming with Lincoln High School. Most of the teams in Olympias conference cannot be matched in size due to Olympia's low numbers. Lincoln and Olympia have close to the same number of members, so it’s a very competitive match.

Swim Team Diver Hunter Schuerman owns the board as being the only diver on the team. Last season, he greatly improved and has become a very talented diver due to his practice routines. He is very disciplined and won't move on to his next dive until he is confident having the first dive down.

“I realized at the end of the season last year that I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to become a great diver. I’ve been practicing a lot and am very excited for this season to get underway,” said Junior diver Hunter Schuerman.

This year's Boys Swim Team would love to have as many members as possible make it to state. Also diver, Hunter Schuerman would like to land one of the most difficult dives, a 2 ½ front flip. To make all these goals possible, the Olympia Boys Swim Team would love to see the bleachers filled with fans for their meets.

Counselors at Olympia High School Do Their Thing

By Sara Marsiglio, OHS Torch Reporter

This year as OHS students visit their counselor, they might realize that the beloved Mrs. King is not there anymore.  OHS now welcomes new counselor, M r. Castillo.

The administration posted the open position for a high school counselor and had seven possible people for the position. "Mr. Castillo fit what the school was looking for," said Principal Jodlowski.

Mr. Jodlowski also said, “Mr. Castillo is doing a great job, he is technologically skilled and has helped update the website.”

Mrs. Steve, OHS counselor, has been partnering with Mr. Castillo throughout this school year so far. The two counselors have been working very well together, said Mrs. Steve.

“This is Mr. Castillo’s first year as a counselor but he has a lot more experience than one would think,” said Mrs. Steve.

Mr. Castillo said he was from a small town, so the transition was easy. He said his experience at Olympia has been great so far.

What advice would you give to freshmen as they enter high school?   Mr. Castillo responded, “Get involved as much as possible, also get to know your teachers.”

Senior Ellie Martin said, “Mr. Castillo has been meeting with all his seniors and checking up with them as we plan for our careers which is really nice and shows that he cares about the students.”

Olympia High School Holds Blood Drive

By OHS Torch Reporter, TJ Peters

On Friday, October 16, Olympia High School held its semi-annual Red Cross blood drive all day in the high school gym, where 59 people signed up to give blood.

Olympia’s Student Council helps the Red Cross put on a blood drive at the school twice a year. Friday was the first blood drive of the year for Olympia.

“Our goal was 39 units,” said Mrs Cooper, Student Council Advisor.

This drive had 59 people sign up to give blood. After the day was over, Olympia and the Red Cross received 47 units.

To donate blood, you must be 16 years of age and have your donor card or a picture ID. There are also addition height and weight requirements to donate.

“This year’s blood drive went well. We had a lot of people sign up and past our goal by 8 units,” said Cooper.

This Blood Drive  was the 13th Blood Drive in the last seven years. “Last year we did not meet our goal for units,” said Cooper.

Olympia will hold another Blood Drive later on this year. The date for that is to be determined, but will be held in March.

Three Tales of Terror Come To Olympia Theater Department

By Shannon Morr, OHS Torch Reporter

Olympia High School performed Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap over the weekend along with two other tales of terror, The Hitchhiker and The Bride as this year's fall plays.

“With three performance nights, the plays got better and better,” said sophomore Kristen Schuette who played Miss Casewell. “It was a really fun production and I got to perform it with my friends.”

The storyline of the world-famous drama The Mousetrap includes housekeepers Mollie and Giles (played by Bailey Stockhecke and Matthew Althoff) who have just opened their first guest house Monkswell Manor. With many interesting guests in the house, they find out a murderer is on the loose and they may be the targets.

Senior David Bell starred in The Hitchhiker as Ronald Adams, a man who has a creepy encounter while traveling across the county which changes his life forever. The Bride, a short play written by Mrs. Wade, was a ghost story of a newly-wed couple. It was student directed by Colin Rosenberger and Ethan Schopp.

David said, “There were tons of lines to memorize, but I felt natural in the role which made it easier.”

Director Mrs. Wendy Wade said, “I am very proud of the three performances. All three nights were very strong. The students always continue to amaze and impress me.”

Mrs. Wade said that the only thing that she would change would be the length of the production. The total time of the three plays together was around two hours and 40 minutes.

The next event for the Olympia drama students will participate in the IHSA contest play in March where they will continue using The Mousetrap. They will also be presenting Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as the spring musical.

Ag Class’s Pet Rabbit has Baby Bunnies

By OHS Torch Reporter, Sierra Priebe

                 On Wednesday night, five hairless and soon to be adorable baby rabbits were born to the Ag class’ pet rabbit down in the Ag shop.

                All five rabbits survived their first day.  This is good news because if they survive the first day, they will most likely make it into adulthood. The average rabbit litter is four to eight rabbits, hence this was a perfectly healthy litter size.

                Rabbits are born hairless, so the five rabbits have light pink skin with black spots. Typically the rabbit will grow white fur where it is pink and dark fur where it is black. Rabbits quickly grow fur, taking only two or three days to start becoming furrier and cuter.

                These particular rabbits are meat rabbits, meaning they are indeed bred to be eaten. Meat rabbits are fast growing, reaching their market weight of 12-14 pounds in a short time period.

                Ag teacher Mr. Hoffman said the Ag department is currently undecided about  what they are going to do with the baby rabbits. One of the possibilities is selling them to students for pets or projects which could include raising and showing the rabbit. Other considerations are selling them on the market and holding one or two back for breeding.

                Mr.  Hoffman said,  “I liked this project because it was an inexpensive way to give the students hands-on experience with reproduction and nutrition.”

                He also said that rabbits have a very quick gestation period. A typical rabbit is pregnant for only 31 days before giving birth. The short gestation period makes it possible for students to see the whole process, even with the classes changing second semester due to the block schedule.

                Typically larger animals, such as cows are associated with Ag classes, which have expensive care. With rabbits, students are getting the same experience without spending as much money.

Late Touchdown Gives Olympia First CornBelt Victory

by Justin Slager, OHS Torch reporter

The Olympia Spartans started off slow Friday night against IVC at Chillicothe trailing 21-0 in the first quarter; the Spartans overcame the slow start to stun the Grey Ghosts 25-24.

The Spartans (2-6, 1-6) won their first Cornbelt Conference game on Friday rallying from 21-0 in the first quarter to outscore the Grey Ghosts (1-7, 1-6) 25-3 over the next 3 quarters. The Spartans finished seventh in the CornBelt while snapping a 6-game skid.

The comeback started late in the first quarter when senior running back, Justin Slager, ran in for a score from 24-yards out making the game 21-7.  In the second quarter, a fake punt led to a touchdown pass from Justin Slager to Levi Nesien cutting the score to 21-13.

Senior Levi Nesien said, “It felt like the ball was in the air forever. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the end zone.”

The third quarter neither team was able to gain any momentum. As the fourth quarter started the Spartans scored again making the game 21-19 with just less than 10 minutes to play. The Grey Ghosts responded with a drive ending in field goal, 24-19.

Olympia got the ball back with 7:09 and began their push to finish the comeback. Alex Switzer senior wide receiver finished the drive pulling down a 16-yard strike from Quarterback Collin Miller. The throw and catch proved to be the winning play as the Spartans defense held for the win, 25-24.

“I was in shock at first when I looked at the Referee and he was signaling a touchdown,” said senior Alex Switzer.

The Spartans will finish off the season at home Friday, October 23^rd at 7 pm against the visiting Rantoul Eagles. The contest on Friday night is also senior night for the Spartans. 

OHS Yearbook Staff makes a Splash in This Year’s Distribution

By Taylor Rich, OHS Reporter

The Olympia High School 2014-2015 yearbook distribution went very well, and the staff is working hard to make the 2015-2016 yearbook just as good-- look for yearbook orders.

Last year’s yearbooks were distributed on Thursday, October 8^th, during homecoming week. According to Mr. Joel Brigham, “It’s never gone so smoothly.”

            Distribution day is the “one day [the yearbook staff has] to bask. They work year-round, and it’s exciting for the staff to see the outcome,” stated Brigham

Students were very pleased this year by the outcome and were very excited to see their own faces or the faces of their friends on a few pages. “There’s usually complaining about a name being spelled wrong, but no one was upset. Everyone liked the cover [as well],” said Brigham.

            If you have not yet received a yearbook or would still like to buy one, talk to the yearbook staff. There are a handful of extras left for $65.

            The Yearbook staff is now working on the 2015-2016 yearbook. They have a new template design and are working hard to get things done by a deadline.

There are also a few fundraisers the staff is working on. If you are interested, feel free to talk to the yearbook staff or Mr. Brigham. Yearbooks are expensive to print.   Each book costs $75, so the staff works hard fundraising to lower the selling price for students.

Pre-ordering for the next yearbook begins the week of October 26. Yearbooks will be $55. After two weeks, the cost will go up $10. You may order either at school or online at jostenyearbook.com.