The Dodger

Leaving Home is Hard To Do

Carolina — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:06:43 +0000

—Matthew Goedeken Class of 2013

Man, time flies. It feels as if I have just blinked and my entire senior year went by. It is crazy to think I won’t be here after this year. With all of the memories and friends I have made over the years, it’s hard to think that I won’t see them everyday.

I’ve been going to school and playing sports with these same people since Kindergarten and even preschool, and now that I look back at it, the time really did fly.

Freshmen, CHERISH YOUR TIME IN HIGH SCHOOL. You may be thinking you hate it now, but when you get to where I am and you are looking back at your time in high school you will realize that you are going to miss it. There are so many things that I wanted to do in high school that I didn’t get to do. If I could go back and redo high school, there would be so much I would change.

I do have some “tips” for you underclassmen out there. For those in sports, go hard every day in weights and practice. You will feel better being sore from a workout than you will feel later on about missing one. Besides, the harder you work, the bigger outcome you will get! It may not come instantaneously, but trust me, you will see a difference sooner rather than later.

And for everyone, keep your grades up. Looking back over my time in high school, I wish I wasn’t such a procrastinator. It really hurt my grades at times and dropped me down. Get stuff done and do it right. JUNIORS, NEXT YEAR DO NOT GET SENIORITIS!!!!!!!! It is so easy to get and very hard to get rid of. The smallest tasks become so hard for you to do. Actually I don’t really know if you can break it.

The hardest thing to think about is not having my parents with me next year. It means I will actually have to get off my butt to make supper. Hopefully my roommate will be a cook or something. That would be ideal. And no matter how much someone “hates” living in Dodge City, you will miss it.

So here I go. I’m leaving home. Even though I keep telling everyone, including myself, that I can’t wait to get the heck out of Dodge, it is a scary thought. Going to a school where I will not know anyone is just not normal, especially since I grew up knowing almost everyone in my class. But, it’s something we will all have to deal with and growing up is just a part of life. A scary part, but neverless, an unavoidable one.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the teachers I have had in high school. You guys have shaped me into the person I am today!

I will leave with one thing to remember, underclassmen. Do your best in everything you do.

Laundry 101

JoyceN — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:32:01 +0000

A lot of kids don’t get their first taste of doing laundry until a week (or two… or three…) into college. Go into it unprepared, and you can end up with a load of white clothes that come out pink. Yeah, it can get pretty bad. Below are a few easy steps to help you successfully navigate your first laundry experience.
These directions are focused more on ease than absolute perfection. So, if you want to spend a lot of time on your laundry, you should probably search out more detailed instructions. You can also consult your clothes’ tags for detailed instructions—remember that some fabrics need to be dry-cleaned or hand-washed. Also, don’t over-load your washer or dryer, as your clothes won’t get as clean or dry as fast.
•   Gather What You Need
Quarters or laundry room cash card, detergent, softener (if you want), dryer anti-static sheets, and of course, your            laundry
•   Separate Your Laundry by Color
To keep colors from bleeding into each other, I recommend having three separate loads:
Whites & Light Colors: white or very very light colored clothing
Colors: any rich or bright colors (including jeans)
Reds: red or dark pink ONLY!
Some people do five loads—whites, light colors, bright colors, dark colors, and reds—but the above system should work okay if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on it. Just make sure you keep your reds separate! They can RUIN a load of laundry in no time!
•   Start the Washer & Add Detergent
Pay to start the washer, and select the cycle and temperature settings (but don’t put your clothes in yet):
Whites & Light Colors: if you have delicates, put it on delicate setting, otherwise use normal; “warm/cold” temperature setting
Colors: normal or permanent press setting; “cold/cold” temperature setting
Reds: same as colors
When the water starts, add your detergent.
•   Add Clothing to Wash
Add your clothing and shut the lid. Check the timer to be sure you get back quickly (so no one steals your laundry!). Take a break until your laundry is done washing.
•   Dry Clothes
Put clothes in the dryer with an anti-static sheet (if desired).Dry delicates on low, and other fabrics on medium. Hang dry            anything very delicate (like bras and certain sweaters).

Honors Banquet Recognizes Achievements

JoyceN — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:26:31 +0000

Once again the school year is coming to an end, this year’s honors banquet recognized many of DCHS students for their academic achievements. Dodge City High School hosted the 22nd Annual Honors Banquet on Monday, May 6 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Members from the National Honor Society and Scholars Bowl were also recognized along with the top 1% of the graduating class. There were a variety of achievements this year such as the State of Kansas Scholars, KSHSAA Annual Citizenship Award, K.S.U Outstanding Math and Science Scholars and much more.
Many of the students receiving awards that night were honored with more than just one.
“I was honored three times at the banquet, for NHS, my GPA, and for a Washburn University Scholarship,” said Ciera Lampe 12.
The experience is once in a lifetime. You get noticed for all your achievements. It may be one of the last times you will get to see a lot of the kids you grew up with besides at graduation.
“The experience was great to be part of,” said Evelyn Sanchez, 12. “Seeing my friends who I grew up with get awards made me realize how close to moving on to a new chapter in life.”
The Honors Banquet was all about recognizing everyone for their hard work through the school year. That is why the school chooses to host it every year. They do not want anyone’s hard work to go unrecognized.
“We have the Honors Banquet each year because we want to recognize primarily seniors for their four years of high school academic accomplishments,” said Deborah Lloyd, DCHS counselor who organized the banquet.
It took a lot of hard work and without the sponsors and volunteers, the Honors Banquet would not be possible. The sponsors were Tom Allen, Tim and Linda Kirby, Jim Coffin, Dave Wetmore, and Ann Torrie.
“We also could not have this banquet without the help of Jennifer and all her volunteers at the Knights of Columbus. We so appreciate all of these people and businesses,” said Lloyd.

Looking Back at 2012-2013

JoyceN — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:02:14 +0000

Karina: Dear People of earth, People of Dodge. Today, May 16, 2013 we are here to talk to you about all of the things that have made 2012-2013 amazing. Things like trends, not so good trends, moments we all loved and the moments we kinda sorta really, maybe a lot disliked. Let’s start off with the beginning of the school year.
Carolina:We all remember how overjoyed we were on the first day of school!!! Not!… We were all happy to have that half day. Definitely agreed that it was so meaningful and worth it to be here!
Karina: Okay, Miss Negativity, we can all agree that the best time of the beginning of the school year would be Friday night football games. It’s the only event that you want to get there early and stay late. From the hot dogs to the pizza and the popcorn, mingling with friends, and watching an amazing team give everything they have and do a great job on the field was awesome. Whoo!! Yeah! Shout out to the football team for bring home the hatchet this year!
Karina: We can’t forget about the people who helped make the Friday night game experience worthwhile. Like those who work at the concession stand, the people in the press box, the ones videotaping the game to bring you those amazing highlights the next week on the Demon Zone, our amazing Band, Cheerleaders, Drill Team, Coaches, and the ones who take the energy meter to overload. The fans. Yes you, Turn to your neighbor, and tell them that they’re amazing too.
Pep rallies always helped get the school energized and pumped up for the day! During pep rallies your eyes will experience things that you may never be able to unsee. Like freshmen in morphsuits; people getting their heads shaved; people racing to eat doughnut holes from a string, and the strained angry veins popping out of your peers’ faces when doing class races.
Karina: Well, we got our moment during one of the pep rallies in the football season, when Blaik Middleton said “SHOUTOUT TO THE SOPHOMORES!!!!” We were pretty happy that day.
We had many other sport highlights this year like the boys basketball team getting that 4-Peat!!!! Get ready and hold onto your socks, because this usually gets the student body fired up. They also beat Garden City Buffalos badly each time we faced them. Beat them by 15 points both times in the regular season.
We also had four wrestlers go to state this year! Dane Edwards, Santiago Garcia, Jaden McRoberts, and Clay Weil. Dane has gone to state four year in a row and this year he won the state champion!
Okay, so enough about sports. There were some other pretty good things that happened this school year like Floorshow, the school plays, and the musical.
“VOTE FOR CALE! VOTE FOR CALE!”
Remember when all we heard in the hallways was “Vote for Cale?” Well, Cale Morrow, who stars as the lead in all of the school plays took a trip to New York in the fall for a YE competiton where he did quite well.
Toggling off to Kansas’s bizaare bi-polar weather. Since when does Dodge City have enough snow to cancel school. This year we had an unusual amount of snow days, (WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING) which was good. We all needed that well-deserved break, but it kinda slowed down our momentum. Coming back to school that Monday was like walking in with ten pound cinderblocks tied to our ankles.
Then we have the marvelous spring break, where we had some nice weather in Dodge, and on the other side of the world, six of our students faced some brutal weather in France.
A lot of other marvelous things happened this school year, but there’s never enough time to report it all. Now that it’≠≠s summer time all we’re ready for is the pool and the sun. Hello partying and goodbye studying.

JoyceN — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:20:23 +0000

Jaden McRoberts, 10, placed fifth at the state wrestling tournament.

JoyceN — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:17:48 +0000

Clay Weil, 09, placed fourth at the state wrestling tournament.

Dane Edwards 138 State Champion

Karina — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:39:37 +0000

Twelve years, 12 years of sweat, dedication and patience. Dane Edwards the 6A 138 State champ.

Edwards started his wrestling career way before high school and fell in love with it at first sight.

“I’ve been wrestling since I was five I started wrestling with the Dodge City Wranglers, and in my first practice I fell in love with the sport,” said Edwards.

When you want to get good at something you need to put in all your hard work and leave everything you’ve got on the field, or in this case on the mats and Dane did just that at state.

“When I won, I felt like I was on top of the world life couldn’t have gotten any better. The feeling was amazing and words can’t even describe how awesome the feeling was. It will always stay with me.”

Another key component is having the motivation and support in order to push you to do your best. In this case for Dane, winning that state title meant a lot more than just another trophy or another plaque to add to a collection.

“My motivation has been my grandma. She has Lou Gehrig’s disease. She’s given up so much, and I wanted to give back to her. I won my state my state title for her.”

Now that his high school wrestling career is almost over, there are a lot of memories and good times wrapped up in these four years. Edwards was the team captain for two years and has been to state three times during his high school career.

“It’s sad knowing that the season is basically over, but I’m glad because I’ve accomplished a lot. My biggest accomplishment was being Preseason All American and coming into pre – season as number one.”

JoyceN — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:54:08 +0000

Zach Norton signs letter of intent to play golf at Dodge City Community College.

JoyceN — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:53:05 +0000

Zach Kirby signs letter of intent to play golf at Dodge City Community College.

JoyceN — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:52:17 +0000

Summer Wilson signs letter of intent to run track at Fort Hays State University.