Indoor Soccer Season Comes to an End

By Jesse Furman

Olympia Seniors played their last indoor soccer game and the year came to an end with a hard loss against Lincoln.

Olympia finished this six week season with a record of 3-3, worse than last seasons record of 5-1. Lincoln defeated Olympia this last week with a 4-2 score which led them to a 3-3 record, same as Olympia.

Caleb Yeazle, Senior, said, “ This last game made me pretty mad because the refs were horrible and wouldn’t call any fouls on the other team,  but the would call everything on us.”

Andres Alberts, Junior, said, “We did not do as well as we did the last two seasons but it was still a lot of fun to play. I can’t wait to play outdoor soccer in a couple weeks.

This is the final season of this year's indoor soccer until next fall. Morton soccer club only holds three seasons with 6 games a season depending on how many teams.

Outdoor soccer starts in two weeks from last Sunday. This is played at the Eastside center in Peoria with many more teams than indoor soccer.

Indoor soccer you play with 7 on 7 and outdoor it goes up to 11 on 11. The field goes back to the normal size with a normal size goal.

Blake Dehn, Senior, said, “ I like indoor better because i don’t have to run as much. I still think outdoor is fun because it goes back to real soccer rules instead of the goofy indoor rules.”

Emotional Performance Leaves Audience in Awe

By Jon Crawford

“This group interpretation is based of a true story, a story of a boy named Benjamin who was born with congenital hemophilia and then contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion,” announced OHS principal Ed Jodlowski before the Group Interpretation performance by members of the OHS Speech team.

Benjamin had a hobby of coloring. He liked to draw and “go into his own world,” As the story progressed, the colors in his pictures begin to change with his mood.

As Benjamin goes through life, he progressively gets worse. When he gets a cut or scratch, he is unable to stop bleeding because he doesn’t have the right stuff in his blood to help it clot.

The doctors told Benjamin's parents there was nothing to worry about. After a couple more visits, their viewpoints on the whole situation started to change and they started to realize that Benjamin's health situation was more serious when they thought.

Freshman Ethan Schopp, the actor playing the role of Benjamin, said, “This performance was very emotional since it was based on a true story. Even though it had a sad ending, he had a calm death and I believe this is suppose to represent hope.”

Benjamin grows up but not like a normal kid. When people start to find out that he had AIDS, they don’t want to come around him in fear of also getting infected. Benjamin could no longer play with his friends.

Benjamin sees himself as a yellow boat because it is the one that doesn’t go home but rather sails to the sun. Benjamin says at the end, “I see red. I hear blue. I feel purple. I taste green.” The last drawing, the captain decides that it is time to set sail for the sun.

In 1987, Benjamin died at the age of 8 due to AIDS- related complications. His drawings represent hope.

New Athletic Director Comes to OHS

By Sara Rathbun OHS Torch reporter

After numerous interviews, OHS administration will add a new face to the staff in the 2017 school year; Mr. Mike Castleman will attain the athletic director  position in the fall.

The process of selecting an athletic director that fit our school needs started with six candidates that eventually were eventually narrowed down to two final picks. Mr. Olsen and Dr. Wise then made the executive decision on March 15.

The personality traits they were looking for were being organized, personable, and being able to make decisions quickly. There were many qualified candidates, but Castleman stuck out to the administration as being an excellent fit.

Current athletic director, Mr. Ron Smith, said,” Mr. Castleman is very personable with everyone he talks to. This position needs--someone who is able to relate to staff, students, and coaches.”

Mr. Castleman had to undergo several interviews before he could be offered the position. The committee for deciding this position consisted of administrators, teachers,a student, coaches, and teachers.

The student who represented the student body, Bekah Bauersfeld, said,” He has lots of experience being a previous athlete and coach that I think will help him in this position with relating to students.”

Mr. Castleman has formally been a coach, teacher, and athletic director; all in which have been in small size schools. This experience in all different roles in the education system make him a good fit for our small school.

OHS Principal, Mr. Ed Jodlowski, said,” Mr. Castleman is used to balancing many activities such as musical events, athletics, and numerous other activities in a small school being a previous teacher, coach, and AD; therefore he knows what to expect coming to OHS.”

OHS Softball Gears up for a Grand Slam Season

By Genna VanWye OHS Torch reporter

The Olympia High School Softball Team kicked off their season Thursday with a 3-1 win over Williamsville High School, at home; the team will play over 30 games this season.

The girls are ranked 13th in state in the IHSA pre- season rankings. With a tough schedule ahead, the team is happy to see they’ve been recognized by coaches in the state.

The team finished last season 20-11. With eight returning varsity players five of which are returning starters, the team is pushing for an even better season.

Madi Wille, Junior and returning starter said, “I think this season will be awesome, we already won our first game. I’m sad that it’s Genna’s last year though.”

The team did lose several key players last year, including five seniors. With a current line up of one senior, six juniors, and two sophomores the team is filling big shoes.

Junior Ashley Miller said, “We have a really close team and a lot of talent; that’s gonna help us win games.”

The softball team at Olympia is always competitive. The last two years the team failed to make it out of regionals. This season will be a different story said pitcher, Ashley Miller.

OHS softball begins their season with a packed spring break week, taking on some tough competition. The girls play Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Olympia FFA Members Explore U of I ACES

By Ellie Schmidgall, OHS Torch reporter

On Friday, March 11th, fourteen agriculture students involved in the Olympia FFA went down to Champaign, Illinois for a tour of University of Illinois’s college of ACES.

The University of Illinois has an extensive college of ACES, or agricultural, consumer, and environmental sciences. The day began 8:15 am when the students and Mr. Hoffman departed from the school.

The day was spent touring the campus, farms, and city of Urbana-Champaign. The ACES department had booths set up to answer any questions about the programs they offer. Fraternities and sororities also had booths set up for anyone that wanted information on what they had to offer.

There was also a section designated to clubs within ACES such as hoofs and horns, rodeo, dairy, and poultry. These booths had different activities where students could interact with animals.

Senior FFA member and secretary, Carson Goff, said, “I pretty much know where I’m going to college, but it was really cool to see what U of I had to offer. Who knows where the future might take me, maybe I’ll actually attend one day.”

U of I ACES offers more than 10 agricultural majors. Animal Science, Agricultural Engineering, and Crop Sciences are just a few examples of majors offered. There are also over 15 minors to choose from.

There is a study abroad program where students are given the opportunity to attend school in another country. The program has been around for over 10 years and has been very successful in the past.

Junior FFA member, Luke Litwiller, said, “The college of ACES offered a very educational and fun experience for our whole group. I will definitely think about attending in the future.”

All in all, the FFA members enjoyed their experiences at the University of Illinois. The ACES program is well known over the United States for being a top agricultural program.

Subway Sandwiches Coming Soon to Oly Cafeteria

by Abigail Jackson, OHS Torch reporter

For many students at OHS, cafeteria food doesn’t always seem to be their top choice, but the cafeteria staff is bringing in new sandwich options to regain the student’s attention.

The cafeteria is going to be having two trial runs of two types of sandwiches from  Mackinaw’s Subway on March 21 and April 28.  The Subway sandwiches will be 6 inches, wrapped like the gondolas, and will be included as part of a lunch.

This includes the BMT which has Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest Ham on it and the ham and provolone sandwich. Both sandwiches will be served on Subway’s honey wheat bread with no vegetables on it; students can choose what vegetables they want from the salad bar.

OHS cafeteria director Mrs. Idelman said the cafeteria has seen a drop in the number of students buying the Avanti’s Gondola sandwiches and an increase in the number of lunches being brought from home. Mrs. Idelman hopes that students will buy the sandwiches from Subway and that the cafeteria will see a decrease in the large number of students that bring their lunch to school now.

“I think kids aren’t buying the Avanti’s sandwiches as much anymore because of the bread that Avanti’s was so gracious to work with us to make so it would meet the sodium and nutrition requirements as well as lots of misinformation on the dietary and nutrition guidelines along with lots of negative press,” said Mrs. Idelman.

Mrs. Idelman explained that there’s a bill currently waiting to be voted on by the Senate that will modify what the public schools can and can’t serve. This bill will include leniency on whole grains and lessen the restraints the amount of sodium in the food served from the cafeteria. If the bill gets passed, then the cafeteria will be able to serve the Avanti’s sandwiches with non-whole grain bread again.

“It will probably because it would be better than what they have now. I think that’ll be a good change,” said senior Bailey Stockehke about the Subway sandwiches coming to the school.

Mrs. Idelman said that they’re going to alternate the weeks that the Avanti’s sandwiches and Subway sandwiches are sold.

Get Some Health Tips From Nurse Pfeffer

           

 By Kiersten Robbins, OHS Torch reporter

            There are many everyday things we do that spreads germs and causes students and teachers to become sick; OHMS Nurse Melissa Pfeffer is all about ways that will promote people’s good health.

            According to Nurse Pfeffer, only one-half of middle school and high school students wash their hands. Out of that half, only 33 percent of girls use soap when hand washing and only 8 percent of boys use soap when hand washing.

            Hand washing is the main factor that spreads germs around places. While hand washing, students should sing the Happy Birthday song twice as a length for how long hands should be washed. Also Nurse Melissa recommends disinfecting common items like cell phones and tv remotes, daily.

            “All three desks in the office have germ-x on them for students to use and I also Lysol the door handles often to stop the spread of germs,” said Mrs. Lynch, OHS secretary.

            “Please don’t hack on the kid in front of you in class when coughing. I don’t know how many people complain of wet hair,” said Nurse Pfeffer who is a huge promoter of covering your mouth when sneezing and coughing.

            If a student is running a temperature, that student should stay home until the fever is down without using fever reducers. A student also needs to stay home 24 hours after vomiting to help stop the spread of illness.

            Good hygiene, getting plenty of sleep at night, and eating healthy are simple steps to take to create a healthy life. According to Nurse Pfeffer, teenagers should shut down all technology items one hour before sleep so the brain can shut down and rest in a proper way.

            Staying healthy is a major factor on good attendance at OHS. Faculty is doing everything to help keep the students healthy and to keep the spread of germs to a minimum.

Fire Science Puts Their Kids to the Test

By Jake Short, OHS Torch Staff

           Fire Science students at Bloomington Area Career Center tested their skills Sunday, March 13 in the drill tower in Normal doing various activities simulating that of a real fire scene.

           The BACC class was accompanied by the EMT class both getting the opportunity to test their skills in activities creating a simulation of a national Modified Combat Challenge.  Thousands of firefighters around the United States take the modified combat challenge and these students are fortunate to have the opportunity to experience what professionals experience.

           AC Isaacs, Fire Science teacher, said, “I enjoy seeing the students face this challenge because after they accomplish the course their happiness makes everything they pushed through worth it.”

           Students are pushed to the limit to achieve walking through the finish line and the BACC

Fire Science students were some of the top competitors. Guy Goodman got the best score out of the participants with a time of 3 minutes and 25 seconds, while Mason Moore came in second, tailing Guy with 3 minutes and 33 seconds.

           “I am very pleased with everyone's effort Sunday, my class did well but room for improvement is still there no matter how long they have been in the profession,” said Fire Science teacher AC Isaacs.

           Guy Goodman, Normal Community junior, said, “The course was very fun to do, but the rain made even simple activities difficult. Rope slipped out from my gloves and the keiser sled was difficult to hit with the hammer.”

“The Modified Combat Challenge was difficult due to wearing the SCBA (Self-contained breathing apparatus) and rain made the simple task difficult making it an actual challenge,” said Mason Moore, Olympia junior.

Students of the Fire Science class will be able to participate in another Modified Combat Challenge next month in April. They will continue to practice their skills nd battle the challenge once again to improve their times.

OHS to Host College Night on March 28

By Jeris Eilts, OHS Torch Reporter

All classes have something they can be looking forward to as the year winds down; seniors have graduation and college planning, while freshman through juniors have a college night featuring four different colleges in the auditorium March 28.

Seniors, if you have not talked to your college about deadlines, you need to do that! Most deadlines are May 1--lots of payments are due then as well.

“If you haven’t thought about college or don’t know where you’re going to go, then you should make an appointment with one of us and get that figured out,” said Mrs. Steve, OHS guidance counselor.

Seniors are getting anxious about graduation day and are ready to hit the road to college. Seniors, make sure you look at the board outside of the counseling office for scholarship opportunities.

Freshman through Juniors, there is going to be a college fair on March 29 from 6:00-7:30 which is the Monday right after spring break. There are going to be four different colleges here.

Mrs. Steve said, “This is going to give the students a chance to look at what the difference is between a big university and a small one, and a small community college compared to a four-year university.”

The colleges that will be here are Eureka College, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Heartland Community College. This gives students a good variety of college options.

Parents are more than welcome to come! Anyone who has questions on this can contact Mrs. Steve or Mr. Castillo in the counseling office.

Basketball Team Holds End of Season Banquet

By OHS Torch Reporter Collin Miller

            The 2015-2016 Boys Basketball season has been one for the memories, from getting third in the holiday classic to taking U-High into over time the season was full of excitement.

            With the loss in regionals to Athens High school on Wednesday, February 24th Olympia played their final game of the season and for the seniors it was the last one ever.

            Head Coach Doug Yoder announced the date of the banquet to be the following Thursday at 6. “I think the food is the best part, yes obviously we are there for basketball but the food is always great,” said Sophomore Blake Blessing.

            After the meal, freshmen coach Kurt Morr started off with a wonderful opening note about his team and his experience with them this year. It was followed by Junior Varsity Coach Matt Frahm and his appreciation speech to his players.

            The banquet then got a little emotional when Head Coach Doug Yoder was announcing the seniors. He had coached them since they were freshmen and this was really his first group to coach.

            Tears were shed by Coach Yoder when he was giving out the season awards. The awards given were: Most Rebounds, Spartan Pride, Most Points Scored and MVP.

            Senior Blake Dehn received Most Rebounds, Karl Fasse earned the Spartan pride while Thomas Hallstein won the Most Points scored and Justin with the MVP.

            “I thank my teammates for voting for me and I couldn't have done it without them, I’m going to miss it that's for sure,” said Senior Justin Slager.

            With the Strong Senior class not going to be there next year, the Spartans will be looking for some new leadership as they approach the 2016-2017 season.

Child Care takes a Field Trip

By Tricia Petersen, OHS torch reporter

            A few weeks ago Mrs. Goff’s child care class took off for a field trip to the YWCA, Hammit School, and Little Jewels Learning Center in Bloomington IL.

Students learned a lot about what different schools and grade levels are taught.

            “ We learned about how the Hammit school system works,” said Senior Justin Slager.

            In Child care class they are learning about different career choices in the child care field and how to take care of someone that relies on you. This trip helped them see the different careers all in one day.

“I think we took this trip to show us the different sides of education and the different backgrounds people come from,” said Justin.

“We took this trip to give students the opportunity to see careers in child care and health professions, to tour a real college campus and compare local child care facilities,” said Mrs. Goff.

Usually this trip consists of a visit to the hospital in the baby ward, but the last two times this trip was taken that has not been an option. After talking to Mrs. Goff, it sounds like that decision was the best.

“Due to the mumps and flu, the hospitals are limiting the number of visitors, so we toured Hammit school and learned about the impact of state funding cuts in the social service field,” said Mrs. Goff.

Even with the inability to go to the hospital, students learned a lot more about the child care and teaching field and they had fun while doing it.  

OHS Key Club to Host Easter Egg Hunt

By Ellie Martin, OHS Torch reporter

On Saturday, March 26th the OHS Key Club will host the Minier Easter egg hunt at Olympia West Elementary School; hundreds of eggs will be hid for participating children.

Key Club is an organization that strives to provide service to local community’s. Each year they organize several projects that serve the communities within the Olympia district. One of these projects is their annual Easter egg hunt for local families.

Preparation for the event has been in progress for the past month. Key Club members have donated enough candy to fill hundreds of eggs and have spent advisory time filling them.

Key Club president Bekah Bauersfeld said, “We think it’s important to connect the high schoolers and the community members; the Easter egg hunt is the perfect opportunity.

Member Kristen Schutte said, “Volunteering last year was really fun! At first we filled the eggs at school and then on the day of the hunt we drove to Oly West and placed the eggs all over. I loved seeing all the kids running around collecting the eggs in about five minutes, they were so cute!”  

At the event, the location will be split into two sections. The playground area will be dedicated for toddlers and small children. Eggs hidden in the large grass area is specified for older children. Once the participants finish, there will be table space provided to sort the Easter eggs.

After the hunt, Key Club members will be around to assist children with their eggs.The volunteers will also spend time cleaning the area and collecting the eggs.

The Minier Easter egg hunt is one of Key Clubs last big events. In April, they will finish their service work for the year. The organization will be fundraising for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life and will attend the event on April 29th.

Olympia Ag Classes Preparing Greenhouse for Plant Sale

By Clay Bachman, OHS Torch Reporter

            In May, the Olympia Agriculture department is putting on a plant sale for everyone around to come buy plants grown in the greenhouse by students in Agriculture classes.

            The past couple of month’s students and faculty have been planting many types of plants in the greenhouse. Everyone has been working hard to have beautiful plants to sell at the plant sale.

            Olympia Ag teacher Bryce Hoffman said, “We have been planting seeds, transplanting plugs to learn about growth development, all for the spring plant sale.”

            This has also been a good experience for students in understanding the growth and development of plants. It helps students learn more about a horticulture side of things and also do hands on work with these plants.

            According to Olympia Ag Student Thomas Hallstein, “I’ve honestly learned a lot about how plants grow and develop and some of things I didn’t know amazed me.”

            There is an estimate of around 30 varieties of flowers that have been planted. 5-6 varieties of tomatoes and 3-4 varieties of pepper have been planted over this time period.

            This plant sale helps raise money for the Ag and Science department. The money received will help to buy equipment or any other class materials to help make our classes better.

            As the plant sale approaches students and faculty is making sure these plants are fully ready to go. So come on out to the plant sale and support the school and get some beautifully looking plants.

AFTER PROM PLANNING MEETING TONIGHT AT 7 IN HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY

 Olympia High School After Prom will be on April 30 from 11:30 pm and will end at 4:30 am. Parents are desperately needed to help make this a great safe and fun event for students. There is an After Prom meeting  tonight at 6pm in the OHS Library. 

Any interested parents should attend.  Underclass parents are encouraged to attend to prepare future after prom events!  Donations are still being accepted; Monetary, prize baskets, or door prize donations are also in need to make the event amazing. Contact Angie Davis at OHS 379-5911 x9322.

OHS Students Visit Helping Hands

By Ellie Martin, OHS Torch reporter

On Wednesday, March 9, NHS officers helped Mrs. Shaw’s Life Skills class donate boxed foods to Helping Hands food pantry in Stanford; donated items came from NHS’s canned food drive in February.

Throughout the month of February, the classes of OHS were competing to see who could donate the most canned food in hopes for a week of double lunch. Canned foods gave each class one point, however, if another class chose to put boxed foods in their container they would lose a point.

By the end of the month, Olympia classes collected around seven boxes of nonperishable food items for Helping Hands. On Wednesday, the donations were loaded and taken to the food pantry by the Life Skills class and NHS officers Bekah Bauersfeld and Ellie Martin.

While there, OHS students were able to help sort, bag, and take inventory on donations within the facility. They were also able to tour and understand what Helping Hands has to offer and its impact.

Helping Hands assists the community by allowing residents of Allen Township to come once a month and receive needed food. Non-food items are also available to residents throughout the rest of the month.

Officer Bekah Bauersfeld said, “It was really fun getting to interact and see what the Life Skills class does every month at Helping Hands. I loved seeing them have fun helping others in the community.”

Having OHS students go assist Helping Hands is beneficial in many ways. Not only does it help the community residents and the volunteers at the pantry, but also all the students involved.

Hannah Baker said, “I really like going to the food pantry because it’s so much fun and I like to help people!”

Olympia High School Hosts First FFA Career Development Event

By Collin Loeffler, OHS Torch reporter

            On Wednesday, March 2nd, the Olympia FFA chapter hosted two career development events, job interview and food science, after school at Olympia high school for the first time.

            A career development event, or CDE, is a judging contest where high school students are quizzed on a particular subject such as dairy foods, livestock, record books, etc. Students from other FFA chapters compete to see who has the most knowledge on each subject.

            Olympia High School has never hosted a CDE until March 2nd. Students from six schools came to Olympia to compete in job interview and food science.

            Students competing in job interview have to submit a resume, complete job applications, and participate in mock interviews. Students participating in food science have to have an understanding of food product knowledge and food safety issues.

            FFA president, Ellie Schmidgall, said, “It was really cool that we had the opportunity to host a CDE. Going and participating in career development events have always been one of my favorite parts of FFA.”

            The competition needed the help of many Olympia FFA members. Helpers had to escort each participate to a specific room and supervise them while they completed their applications.

            Junior FFA member, Ashley Miller, said, “I hope that our chapter will get more respect from other chapters now that we’ve hosted an event. Before now it has just been other schools in our chapter hosting them.”

            Olympia’s cafeteria, library, and multiple classrooms were used for this competition. Olympia FFA members Karl Fasse, Genna Vanwye, and Brock Gottschalk participated in the job interview CDE.

Outdoor adventure Club looks to take on some more trips

By Blake Dehn, OHS Torch reporter

Outdoor adventure club is striving to get more people involved to go on more fun trips throughout the area, for discounted prices, while making memories with friends and having fun.

Last month the club took a trip to the Cascade Mountains to go skiing. Many students went and all enjoyed it.

Ohs Senior Tristan Davis said, “ I had a blast and enjoyed skiing with my friends all day.”

According to Mr Klokkenga, they plan on trying and go to Matheson State Park, Starved Rock, paintballing, rock climbing at Upper Limits. It’s all a working progress and they are hoping to get a lot of people to go on these trips.

The outdoor adventure club membership is on the rise and every year gains more and more students. They are trying to get these trips going, but are not sure what they can do.

Ohs Senior Alex Switzer said, “ Every trip I went on was good last year and can’t wait for the trips this year.” He went on the ski trip both years.

The outdoor adventure club was created to give people that don’t play sports to get an opportunity to participate in something. They hope to expand and to keep the club going after this year since there are a lot of seniors that participated in the club.

Ohs senior and president of the club Collin Miller said, “ It a fun club and I made some good memories and everyone should join it because it’s a blast.”