There are so many great sports here at Montezuma and with many students involved in a multitude of our athletic programs, it is intriguing to think of what the students deem as their favorite sport. After polling the student body, it was a little surprising to see what people chose, but on the other hand it’s not as surprising for some of the choices that people picked. 44.2% of students chose football as their favorite fall sport. Shortly behind football, 38% of students chose girl’s basketball as their favorite winter sport. To make it interesting, the fall musical was also included as a choice, because, let’s be honest, there are many moments in the musical that require some athleticism.7.5% of students chose this as their favorite fall “sport”. In reflecting on the results, I wasn’t very surprised that football was the front runner, although, I thought volleyball could have given it a run for its money. Freshman Aliya Arvidson felt similarly as she responded with volleyball as her favorite fall pick. She shares that she chose volleyball, because “it’s my favorite sport to watch and to play.” Aliya also veered away from the mainstream responses and chose speech and drama as her favorite winter activity. “Speech and drama is so fun to watch, and it’s very interesting to see what people can come up with,” she says. No matter what, your favorite, it’s not contest that Montezuma students are never shy to share their talents in the many activities in both fall and winter. 

By: Aislyn Hutchcraft 

Syria, a country that is currently in turmoil, is facing a major threat from their neighbor, Turkey. Earlier this month, the United States stated it’s withdrawal from Syria due the invasion of Turkey just weeks earlier. This has caused massive outrage by both the American people and the Kurds in Syria, feeling abandonment in a time of great need. Many Kurds and other Americans took this withdrawal as a betrayal to the Kurds as they had helped the US defeat ISIS in Syria when the US forces were fighting them. This left many people in Syria in harm's way with much less protection now that Turkey has become an even more severe threat. Turkey sees the Kurds as terrorists while the United States sees them as freedom fighters trying to stop Syria and ISIS. With this conflict going on, there are a lot of opinions about the matter and I have become more and more interested in this issue.

    With the US leaving Syria, this will cause an influential change in the Middle East, specifically with Turkey and Russia. The United States had major influence in that region of the Middle East, but because of the withdrawal from the area, it will be replaced with Turkish and Russian influences. Many are worried that with the United States troops pulling out, Russia will fill that hole as Syria is an ally of Russia. This will drastically put the Russians in more control of that area and increase their influence as well. I feel somewhat neutral about this situation due to many factors. I believe it was right to steer clear of Turkey as we, the United States, don’t have much to do with them, and leave Syria as we don’t need to constantly have our noses in every Middle Eastern country just for oil or “support”. I personally believe we have done our time in the Middle East, especially Syria, due to only being there to support the Kurds and their fight against ISIS and that we shouldn't have to defend every nation from every other nation. In light of this however, it would have been beneficial perhaps to have done a bit more before leaving Syria to give them a greater chance against ISIS remnants and the Turkey Invasion.

By: Dillon Nash 

Fall is the start of my busy season at the goat ranch. Tindle Kids Boer Goats had many does bred and will be delivering in the upcoming months. I have a total of ten does who are set to kid from December to March. In order to tell if your goat is bred, you can do a simple ultrasound. That ultrasound can reveal many things. One important thing that the vet can see is how many babies the doe is going to have. Gestation for a goat is 150 days or five months. At just 25 days, if a goat is bred, the vet can see a honeycomb shape start to form on the ultrasound machine. Then at thirty days, the vet is able to tell how many babies a goat will have. On the machine, the honeycomb will change and become circles with prominent shadows. Each circle is a new baby. The bad part about knowing if your goat is bred at thirty days is that the ultrasound could show that your doe is pregnant with triplets, but you end up with only twins because if the mother does not get enough food, she will absorb however many babies needed to stay alive. Not only do I have ten does who are expecting, but I have two more does being bred as well. They are getting bred to a heavy muscled buck who has made several winning wethers. It’s going to be an exciting time at the ranch in the next few months for sure! For further updates, stay tuned.

By: Gavin Tindle

Luiza Marques is a foreign exchange student at Montezuma High School during this fall semester. She is from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and moved to Monte earlier in August and is living with Jim and Meryell Hicks during her time here. Luiza didn’t hesitate in getting involved and joined the cheer and dance teams for their fall season. Luiza is currently enrolled as a sophomore and is taking many fun and interesting classes. 

Luiza shares about her experience being so far away from home, “It’s like spending time alone, away from your family. I thought flying by myself would be the worst part but I met a really nice guy on the plane and we are still friends to this day.” She is enjoying her time away from her family and school in Brazil and is excited for the opportunity of being able to explore the different cultures in America. The thing Luiza misses the most about Brazil is Carnival because she got to hang out with her friends and just have fun and not be stressed out. 

    Luiza’s favorite memory from living in Montezuma was the first football game, because she got to experience what it is like to cheer at a sport she has never seen. In Brazil, they don’t have football or cheer so it was a completely different and unique experience. Luiza said “I don’t like most sports, but I love basketball because it’s easy to follow along.” Luzia has also enjoyed the snow, because it is warm in Brazil all the time and never really snows. She shares, “I was excited the first time I saw it, but then I realized how cold it was and became a little less excited.” 

When asked what she will miss the most about her time at Montezuma, she responded that “all the amazing friends she has made here” will be missed the most. She would like to say thank you to everyone for being so welcoming to her during her time here. Luiza will be leaving Montezuma at then of the semester to travel to the East coast for time with her family before heading back home to Brazil.

By: Kaleah Shoemaker

As the yearbook staff continues to create this year’s book, we officially have our theme: “On the Road Again”. A theme inspired by our adventures both in and outside of school, we were inspired by students sharing their personal stories of camping, adventuring, and all things travel. 

We are looking to hear all of your stories so if you have a great “road trip” story to tell, be sure to stop into Ms. Van Gorp’s room, send her an email or talk to a yearbook staff member.

 Here’s an example of my own! One time I went camping with my grandma, her husband and my cousin. We were sitting on one of the beds in the camper, singing “Happy Birthday” to one of my grandma’s friends and in the middle of singing, the bed broke! My grandma and her husband were the most surprised, because they happened to be the ones sitting on the bed. We all had a pretty good laugh!

By: Maddy Carl

Senior year of high school is a pivotal point in everyone’s life when one is expected to finish high school off strong while also figuring out their future. This is a tall task for a teenager. Senior stress is a real thing, and it affects people in different ways. Some seniors go into senior year having already applied and been accepted to college, and they know exactly what they want to do. Then you have some seniors who go into the second semester of their senior year still having no idea what they want to do, where they want to be, and who they are as a person. 

Personally, I am a senior who does not have anything set in stone for my future. I am so wrapped up in high school sports, classes, and work that I have not had the time to clear my head to make important decisions about my future. Between volleyball, national FFA preparation, musical practices, college classes, and work, I have barely had time to go on college visits. My classmate Hunter Van Dee is in the same situation as he is not sure what his future plans are yet. When I asked him what he plans to do after high school, he responded with, ¨I honestly don’t know. I have different options right now, I just can’t decide on one yet.” Hunter and I have different things to stress about currently, however we relate in not knowing what we want our futures to look like. 

Overall, senior stress is real, and for any underclassmen excited to get to senior year, be ready for what is coming. Senior year is so fun and exciting, but it will also puts on a lot of pressure. 

By: Maddy McKeag

As the first semester of freshman year concludes, myself and fellow classmates reflect on the first few months of our freshman year. In a survey, I asked my compatriots about the good and the bad about how their freshman year so far. Freshman Rayna Hammen shared in the survey that her “good” of the first semester is getting more options for classes to take and being in activities with high schoolers. “In junior high, we don’t get a lot of options and we have to be in the same classroom and in high school, we have a lot of different classes with a lot of different people and we get to make a lot of new friends with the high schooler’s,” she shares. 

Peter Roberts said the “good” is having more freedom to choose different classes to take.  The not so great thing is the workload. There’s definitely a lot more homework and projects and if you don’t stay on top of it, you can get behind easily. Students are really enjoying their freshman year from sports to classes. 

 By: Annita Denny

For most of us, the beginning of November calls for some tears. Having to say goodbye to your favorite fall sport brings heartbreak even though for ¾ of high schoolers, it is not really the end. It is hard to accept change, especially when that means not all of the members of your fall family will be returning next year. We always look back on the last few weeks of our fall sports and remember how we played the last game, or how we finished the last race, but I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit when it comes to the dedication put in before the end. We put our jobs and social lives on hold to push ourselves to be the best athletes we can be through blood, sweat, and tears, and closing this door is very saddening, but when we look back and reflect on the end of our fall sports, we need to consider how much time we put in and make the best of our last moments. 

On the other side of the school, the stress of the beginning of November is not just limited to the conclusion of fall sports, in fact, it is a chaotic and exciting time for students involved in the musical. While practices during weekdays after school preoccupy our athletes, Saturdays from 10:00-4:00 take up the time of all the musical cast members as they prepare their roles for the big performances. The students balance work, home-life, school, sports, and musical practices to the best of their ability for over three months, and November is finally the time to see it all come together for a beautiful final product. 

This year’s musical is Cinderella, and opening night was Saturday, November 9. As the set, props, and people come together, the nerves start to become harder to shake away. Saturday practices drag on and it is hard to convince yourself to get up and go, especially after hard sports practices and tough games the night before. But there’s always something that keeps everyone going and that is knowing the excitement and fun that lies ahead for the final performances.

Senior Rachel Teumer is saying goodbye to the busy musical season as she will soon graduate in the spring. She says, “since it is my senior year, it is sad to watch this part of my life start to come to an end, but I’m not at all sad to see morning practices and Saturday rehearsals come to an end.” She has been involved in every musical at Montezuma since she moved here six years ago. 

This year’s shining star, Haley Roorda, is playing the role of Cinderella, said that even though rehearsals eat up her weekend, and she’s putting a lot of hours into the musical. “It is just a testament to how hard Montezuma students are willing to work, and I cannot wait until it all finally comes together,” she shares. 

Overall, many members of the cast are excited and very nervous to see their last three months unfold for an audience once the curtain opens. For me, as a member of the cast, I think the best thing to see from the stage is the people who support us, so I’m looking forward to seeing several members of our great community there on opening night as well as the rest of our performances!

By: Beka Teumer