Second Place

The roller derby at the DNN in North Platte

By Elleigh Fisher

Did you go to the last roller derby home game? If you didn’t, you should have. The game was a big win for our home team. Our team, the Heartland Hellcats won the roller derby on Saturday March 18th with an astonishing 195 points. The Hellcats beat Denver’s Wreckin Roller Rebels by 38 points. The score was 195 to 157.The roller derby also had a great turn out, about 475 people showed up.

The team did an amazing job with a badly injured player. Her name was Angela Soelberg, a teacher at Adams Middle School. She had fallen during a game and broke part of her ankle. She is now recovering with a boot, but will not be able to play for a while. The hellcats have done very well without her though.

The team puts a lot of effort into the games they play. They try their very hardest and never give up. It is a hard game to learn and play exceptionally well. The point of the game is to try to get past the other team players as many times as possible in a round. The person with the most points at the end of the second period wins.

I also encourage you to bring a soft cushion and attend early because the bleacher fill up very fast. If you get hungry or thirsty don’t worry there is concessions there to attend as needed for you. It also gets kinda loud between the cheering and the roller skates screeching so be aware of that when you pack what you need. But it is very fun to watch, I couldn’t take my eyes of what was going on. I also encourage you to make posters to cheer on the team you are going for. There is a lot of people who bring posters to cheer of their team.

So the next time there is a game you are able to attend to, I encourage you to go. It will be a great experience for you, I promise.

Third Place

 Dan Helberg finds working with kids enjoyable

By Annetta von Kampen

 Dan Helberg could have become an auctioneer or a real estate agent. Instead, he is doing what he loves by being the principal at Adams Middle School. Helberg is new to this position at the school. Last year, he was the assistant principal at Adams, which was his first year with the North Platte Public School District.

After Vikki Carlson, principal of Adams last year, took the job with the teaching learning department at the NPPSD central office,  Helberg was asked by Dr. Hansen, the superintendent, if he was interesting in a promotion to become the head principal at the school. He accepted the offer, and enjoys his new position very much. His favorite parts of his job are the kids he gets to be around all day and the teachers he gets to work with. Those are two of the main aspects of his profession that keep him smiling while he’s at work.

Helberg is currently very comfortable with his job, but says that someday he might want to become a superintendent. To do so, he would need to go back to college to complete the thirty six hours of classes required to be able to become a superintendent of a school system. Helberg is waiting until he knows that he has the time to complete those hours of school before he decides to advance in his career in that form. Until then, he is going to enjoy his current job stance.

 Helberg has high hopes for the school.  His main goals to accomplish by the end of this school year are to finish implementing new curriculum systems for the school and to improve overall NeSA test scores. Helberg hopes that the quality of education in Adams is high and shows in the student body’s standardized test scores.

If  Helberg hadn’t chose to go into the education career field, he most likely would have been an auctioneer or real estate agent. His grandfather and father were both auctioneers, and he feels like it would be something interesting to do if he ever got tired of education.

Some advice Helberg has for students who are thinking about going into a career in education is to develop “people skills.” He finds that that is one of his biggest strengths, and that it has helped him to strive in his career. He also finds that listening is a crucial skill to implement in his career field. He said, “ A lot of people wait to talk, and I think it helps if you just really listen and take some time to hear somebody out.”  Helberg finds that to have success in the path of education, those are two very important skills to learn.

Overall, Mr. Helberg is a very successful principal. He is working in an occupation that he loves, and is doing a magnificent job at it.

Running up stories

The ‘heart’ of Adams

By Hallie Sexson

 Adam Middle School works together like a body and a body is very complex. The body is organized into many parts, in which some get taken for granted. The body first gets organized into the organ system, which in the school’s case, is the staff. They work together to keep the school (body) moving and working perfectly. Next, the body is organized into the organ, and this will be the part I will be talking about the most. We have many faculty in our school, all of them act as organs. Each with specific jobs, all important. The most important “organ,” in our school, I like to think is the one most taken for granted. The janitors. I feel they work as the heart, because the body is unable to function without it. The heart is always working along with the janitors. Day and night they are endlessly working, making sure the heart/body continue to function properly. I decided to write about the janitors at our school, because I really appreciate what they do for our school. So, thank you Betty and Jim for all your hard work!

Male teachers get students ready for the NESA

By Hallie Sexson

On Tuesday, March 21, the students at Adams Middle School start to gather in the gym to watch another boring pep rally. But, little did they know, a pretty interesting surprise awaits. The pep rally starts with a fun interactive game, that got all the students excited. Then, as the students sit in their seats, waiting for another boring lecture about the NESA test coming later in the week, several male teachers burst in the doors! Walking in, the male teachers march to their desired spots dressed in tutus and matching t-shirts with each unique nicknames. I asked one of the many students attending Adams to ask their opinion on the rally.

Student tune-ups

By Mathew Kurz

Students can all be so different, but, they can all be the same. Everyone has problems, but some should be fixed. I asked three teachers what they think their students should do better or more of. “I think students should try harder to have better grammar and spelling and that the should be more respectful of other students values,” said Ms. Daniel, an English teacher. Very close to that, Mrs. Frey said, “They should respect other students more and push in their chairs in more.” “Then shockingly, Mrs. Brownawell said, “The should be more respectful, do less arguing, get better grades, and pay more attention.” Well, there was a lot about respect. Then I hope, and teachers do, that students will get more respectful.

Oregon Ducks Headed to the Final Four in the First Time in 78 Years!

By Jewels Zeiler

Former Omaha Creighton basketball coach, Dana Altman is taking his team the Oregon Ducks to the Final Four. Dana started his coaching career in 1980. His coaching career stretched from 1980 to present. Altman started coaching for the Omaha Creighton Nebraska men’s basketball team in 1994 and remained there for sixteen years before signing with the Oregon Ducks in 2010. Dana is also known for pulling off some of the biggest upsets in school history and his ability to win close ball games.

Dana agreed to a 7-year contract with Oregon on April 24, 2010. This contract was worth $2 million per year. On april 26, 2010 the University Of Oregon made it official with a press conference. Ever since Dana has signed over to the University of Oregon, they have been one of the top basketball schools in the pac 12.  Dana led the Ducks to their first success in the NCAA Tournament. Under Altman’s coaching the Ducks won their first NCAA Tournament bid in 2013.  The Ducks earned their first seed in the NCAA Tournament on March 13, 2016. March 25, 2017 is when Altman led his Ducks to the Final Four, this will be Dana’s first appearance there.

The Oregon Ducks beat Iona, Rhode Island, Michigan and the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks. They beat Kansas 74-60 on saturday night  March 25, 2017. Tyler Dorsey and Jordan Bell led their team the Oregon Ducks to victory by coming up with big play after big play. Dorsey shot a three, and Bell got the offensive rebound with only 2:49 left in the game. Oregon’s matchup gave Kansas a lot of problems. The Jayhawks also had a lot to do with their loss due to poor shot selection. “ I just come into the game with my mind set and do my job” said Bell. One thing that every team in the Final Four must remember is what Oregon does best in every game, rebound. “ I’m extremely happy for my team because we worked so hard for this” said Dorsey.

The Final Four will be taking place in Phoenix, Arizona on April 1, 2, and 3 of 2017. The first team that Oregon has to play is North Carolina. The predicted team to win is North Carolina, but the Ducks are not intimidated by North Carolina, but North Carolina seems to have very high confidence because of their ability to play basketball when the game is on the line. I’m going to be rooting for the coach that hails from Nebraska and so should you!