Ohio Weather

We are in the middle of winter here in Ohio, and the weather can be bitterly cold. You walk outside and your car windshield has a thick layer of frost, and four inches of snow covers your entire car. The wind stings your face and makes walking across the street one of your least favorite things to do.

However, you may wake up one winter morning, step outside and feel that the air is not so cold; that the snow has melted away and your car isn’t frozen over. Ohio winters can be below ten degrees for an entire week but it also brings fifty to even sixty degree weather. We are in the middle of January, and this morning it was fifty degrees. You would think that this weather might stick around for a little bit, and be nice and sunny for a week or two. Not in Ohio: tomorrow will probably bring twenty degree weather, harsh winds, and snow flurries. January may be a relatively warm month this year just like last year, but then February will come and the weather will be so much worse. We had a whole week off of school last February because the temperature was less than five degrees. You would think that February would be a warmer month than January because it is closer to spring, but in Ohio nothing is what it should be when it comes to weather.

When the snow falls enough to cover the roads, it’s as though no one knows what to do. The snow plows wait until there are several accidents and all the schools to close down before they start their engines. No one seems to be able to drive in the snow either. When there is snow on the road, you slow down, but a lot of Ohio residents drive like they would as if the roads were clear. This causes car accidents and injuries all because people can’t drive slowly. I am originally from Chicago, were 8 inches of snow isn’t nearly enough to close the schools down. Here, 8 inches of snow will close the schools down for 3 days and car accidents would be everywhere. In conclusion, weather in Ohio is very unpredictable. You just have to hope that you will wake up tomorrow morning to nice weather instead of the freezing cold.

Senior Rivalries

At the beginning of the year, the class of 2008 went on their last class retreat ever. They went to a camp close to Cincinnati, and there were many things to do to keep them busy. On every retreat, there is some kind of competition between the boys and the girls. For the class of 2008, it seems to be volleyball every year. The girl’s volleyball team gets together and takes on the boys, who don’t have a single player that has ever played organized volleyball. The Girls have the technique, fundamentals and organized plays that they run for each other. The boys hit awkward shots, run into each other, but most importantly argue. Judging by this you would think that the girls had a complete advantage, but that was not the case.

The volleyball court was made of dead grass mixed with dirt and rocks. The lines were made by people’s shoes and sandals, and the teachers were the line judges. The guys formed their fake plays before the game, such as “red velvet” and “Tonka truck.” The game was close at first, but then the girls started to pull away. The girls were doing their set plays and they weren’t making a single mistake. The girls were like a perfect machine moving and working together, while the guys were confused and shocked.

The score was 21 to 15 and the guys were beginning to get a sick feeling in their stomach. They have never lost to the girls on the retreat and they felt their perfect record slipping away. It was gut check time for the guys, and they started to get extremely focused and emotional. After every point won, the boys would go crazy by yelling, chest pumping, and talking trash to the girl’s team. The girls could hardly believe that the boys might actually come back and beat them again.

The score was 24- 22, in favor of the girls, and the boys’ team was down to their chance. Before the ball was served, Tyler Joseph was yelling at his teammate Nick Thomas because of Nick’s poor play through out the game. When Tyler was not paying attention, the girls served to the boy’s side. The ball hit the ground, and the girls thought they had finally beaten the boys. Then their celebration was stopped as they saw the entire boys’ team get in Mr. Crary’s face arguing the call. The ball was served before they were ready so the point was overturned and the game lived on.
The boys then scored four points in a row, and knocked off the girls for the fourth year in a row. The girls couldn’t believe that they had been beaten at their own game again; but they needed to keep their heads, because they didn’t get beaten by the boys because the boys are more talented, but because the guys are better at yelling at the judges. This, in the boys’ eyes, is a recipe for success.

You may be wondering why I am telling you this now, since the retreat was four months ago. The senior trip is coming up soon; and now you know how competitions can get between the girls and the guys. In the end its only fun and the seniors laugh about how competitive it can get. Clash of the classes is coming up,, and the girls and the guys, will be on the same side for a change. We will be competing for bragging rights against the underclassmen. I can only imagine how competitive we will get when that time comes.

Halfway Through

The seniors of Worthington Christians are almost half way done with their last year, so I decided to stop and look back at the beginning of the year, and ask students about their experiences so far.

I asked Billy Seib how his senior year has been and he had an interesting response: “this year has been a lot harder than I thought it would be.” What Billy said is very true with many seniors. A lot of us expected this year to move quickly and easily right up to graduation. That has not been the case: the classes the seniors take, such as World Views, English, and Gov Econ, are much harder than we anticipated. The term “senioritis” means that students have checked out mentally and are ready to be done with high school. This can be a serious problem with some students because they can let their grades slip in major classes such as senior English. I myself have a problem with senioritis, and I find it hard to focus sometimes because I just want to be done with high school and to graduate. You just have to buckle down and get your work done, and if you do that then you will enjoy your senior year.

Senior year is not all bad, however; many students are enjoying their last year here in Worthington Christian. Amanda Keusal has some very positive words towards senior year: “If you’re going to be in high school be a senior.” I partially agree with Amanda on that point because this year has been the most active year in high school, whether it has been the classes we have to take, the college applications, or the anticipation for graduation. Those things are all pretty good but they are also very stressful and it takes up a lot of your time. College applications can take a lot of work, and you anxiously wait for a letter to see whether you have been accepted. At the half way point, 34 seniors have been accepted to at least one college. For the remaining students who do not have a college written in blue marker next to their name, it makes them nervous.
Seniors are also starting to think about not seeing many of their classmates ever again. In the past, you leave for three months and come back and see everyone again. Now, when the summer hits, we are going to move on to many different schools so that we can go on and accomplish things in life. It is strange to think of never seeing some of your good friends again because those people have been around you for so many years.

We still have half a year left, and I hope that we can all manage our distractions and graduate. College is the next thing on our plate but for now we need to enjoy the people around us and have fun with the remaining six months of high school.

Open Lunch

Seniors at WCS have endured the same lunches for 4 years straight. Don’t get me wrong: they were good for the first two and a half years but now they are getting a little old. They are also going up in price every year even though the quality of the lunches stays the same. Consequently, I believe that seniors should be allowed to have open lunch in order to drive somewhere and get something to eat.

Eating off-campus would enable the students to be more selective for lunch than eating the typical bland lunches that the school has for sale. I know that a reason for not having it might be for liability reasons for possible car accidents for example but if the student signs a waiver form to accept all responsibility, then the school cannot be liable. I understand that the school might lose some profit if the seniors are allowed to have open lunch, but it would not take that big of a hit. Not all seniors buy lunch anyway, because they are sick of the menu, or just pack from home. Also, the under- classmen will still bring in a lot of profit in the lunch lines.

When the only thing to look forward to for lunch is pizza on Mondays, then a change needs to be made in our schools policies about open lunch. When it’s finals day, the students are allowed to leave after they are done with their tests, and they usually come back on time for the next class. If students show up late, then their punishment will be the same as if they showed up to class late currently. The threat of detention will hurry seniors into getting back on time and not going out to far to grab something to eat. For the most part, seniors are mature enough to go out during the day and come back on time safely, and if they do not do that, then the waiver form will protect the school from any law- suits parents may make if a student is injured. By making open lunch a possibility it will make seniors happier around the campus because they won’t have to eat the same thing every week. I am not trying to insult the lunch ladies food, I’m just saying that after almost 4 years of experience, the food gets a little boring and gross. Even though there are many different combinations every week, when you have been here this long everything is over made.

In conclusion, I don’t see any harm in letting 17-18 year old seniors have an option to go out and eat where ever they want as long as they are back on time. Sign a form with a parent’s signature to erase liability from the school, and there is no real problem. I know the school may think it’s a lot safer to keep the students on the campus, but if the school cannot get blamed for it, then the students should be allowed to leave.

Boys' Basketball Preview

The Worthington Christian Warriors basketball team is coming off a pretty successful season in 2006-2007. They managed to reach the regional finals but unfortunately lost to Harvest Prep. The Warriors lost seniors Brooks Price, Ethan Houts, and David Gauch but we still have a lot of our main players returning. The starting five maybe but not for certain Brian Hecker, Tyler Joseph, Zach Joseph,, Brady Beals, and a fight for the fifth spot between Josh Sinclair, Bobby Condon, and Nick Thomas. Coach Weakley has a very good offensive team this year that will be able to run and gun opponents out of the gym. The only concern that I can see is depth and the lack of size.

The team has four seniors being Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas, Josh Sinclair, and Bobby Condon. So they have a good seven players that are experienced at the varsity level. Coach might have to rely on some younger players to fill in some minutes so some of the starters can stay fresh. We are always conditioned pretty well because that’s necessary when you have a run and gun team like we do. When the fast break isn’t open however the Warriors have many 3- point shooters and Brian Hecker down low so they can score very easily against most defenders.
The Warriors always have a pretty tough schedule playing in the CCL because every team will play us close. The first home game this year is against Desales which is turning into a little rivalry after we split games with them last year. They didn’t believe that we had a chance we came in to there gym with there great starting five. We won in the upset but later lost at home to them later in the year. Watterson, St. Charles, Ready, and Hartley are all pretty good as well and they can beat us at any time. Since we play most conference teams twice it will be interesting whether or not the warriors will be able to beat these teams twice. Tyler and Zach are very clutch 3- point shooters and that will keep us close in all our games this year. Brady does the little things whether it’s playing good defense, diving for loose balls and making baskets at key points. Bobby, Josh and Nick are also going to be key for a good season. Nick will have to be a factor down low whether it’s on offense or defense. He will use his height advantage for collecting rebounds and collecting easy points near the basket. Bobby will have to use his athletic ability to run the fast break and finish either with a basket or a foul. Josh who decided to play at last second will be another three point threat for the team and he also adds some height which is needed.

Coach Weakley has a pretty talented team in 2007-2008 and I believe that he will coach them to a very successful season. Hopefully this year we will get through regional’s and get to states but that’s far away from now. I’m sure he is only concerned with one game at a time.