The Cardinal Chronicle: Volume 1, Issue 2

Cardinal Students · posted February 15, 2024

Archery Article
Written By: Lauryn Hartley

Dear reader, my name is Lauryn Hartley and in this article I will be talking about some of the issues that come with archery, and how we should fix them. But for that, I will need your help. My complication is that some or most of the audience will start talking while the archers are on the line shooting. This can make the archers lose a majority of their concentration. I have interviewed some people for their insights about archery, and if they had any problems with the sport and what we can do to make people more interested in the sport.

My first proposal is that the archers would appreciate it if the audience were quiet while they are getting ready to shoot. As I previously stated, the cause of the audience talking while the archers have bow in hand makes them lose their concentration. Them losing their concentration results in them not shooting as well as they could with the peace and quiet. If the audience were to stop talking and respect the archers on the line, the archers and audience would see a profound growth in the archers’ scores by at most the end of the season. I have some insight from the archers that experience this problem at practice and tournaments. “I dislike that people do not respect the fact that Archery is a sport you have to concentrate on when you’re on the line and people talk on the line and mess up peoples’ concentration which messes up peoples' scores.”- An Archer. This is a statement that backs up what I said before, people on the line and in the audience that talk mess up people’s concentration which leads to people’s scores decreasing.

With the archers growth in their scores will boost their confidence, and could send them even farther than just regular weekly tournaments. They could get sent to State in Des Moines, or Nationals in Kentucky because of their rising scores. Being able to go to Nationals is a great experience, its somewhere new, somewhere kids want to have the honor to go because they shot exceedingly well.

There's some controversy whether or not the sport should be school affiliated. Some think that there's not enough movement or action for it to be classified as a school sport Others would say it’s more of a concentration based and laid-back sport. I asked an archer if they think Archery should be a school affiliated sport, and this is what they said. “Yeah, because people are competing and people are well, what happens in other sports is people try to get better and whoever is better wins. So, why should basketball be considered a sport and not Archery? Because it’s the same thing but with different topics.”

Some of our archers also practice outside of scheduled practices, “We are trying to get me a bow, we already got a target set up at my grandpa's place.” Another archer has an archery range set up in his basement and he shoots in there almost every night. This proves how hard our archers practice as much as they can to get the scores they get. They are trying their best to get to State and Nationals. Traveling for tournaments is a great pleasure to do. You get to see new environments and new faces that become friends. To get to go to Kentucky is even more of a pleasure, there are far more different and new places and faces. It’s fun to explore, for one year when an archer that I interviewed went to state in his fifth grade year and he went to The Mega Cavern with his family!

This concludes all I have to say about Archery, I thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far. I hope that you have an amazing rest of your day!

Study Abroad
Written By: Montana Rupe

Hey it’s Montana Rupe, and I took it upon myself to write a story about Study Abroad. For this article I Interviewed 2 people Gavin Vice and Ethan Lindsey who both went on the trip last year. Last Year this program took kids to Switzerland and Italy and they went to a bunch of cities within those countries. They are also going on another trip in the summer of 2025 June 6th- 15th. They are going to England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. I asked Gavin Vice if he thought the trip was worth it and he said “It was well worth what I spent on it. We had plenty of time to do what we wanted." I also asked him if the people running the program were nice and friendly and he said, “Yes they were really friendly and they were super helpful with questions that I had."

If any one of you guys are interested in this there will be an informational meeting April 12th at 5:30 pm in the Davis County high school commons. Also for anyone that wants to know more information right away you can go talk to Mrs. Piper. She is located in the high school mobiles.

The Winter Formal
Written By: Zane Coyne

Hi, I'm Zane Coyne and I'm here to tell you everything you need to know about the Winter Formal. As all of you know the date has been changed to February 17 because of a girls regional basketball game. The student council are the ones who have orchestrated the Winter Formal. There will be people there to get your photo taken if you would like there will be 2 packages if you were not aware. The 1st is 15 dollars and will come with 1 photo, 1 print and 1 digital download. The 2nd option is 25 dollars and that comes with 3 photos, 3 prints and 3 digital downloads. Polaroids will also be available for purchase.

The theme for this year's Winter Formal is a glow theme. They chose this theme because last year the middle school had a glow party and the student council thought it would be a good theme. The dress is just the normal dress code. It's a misconception that it is called the Winter Formal. You have to dress formally but you can just dress however you want. The Winter Formal has been going since 2016. That's all the information I have for you, have a good day.

Guide to the Best Valentine's Day Gift
Written By: Kendall Birk

If you are wanting to get the “best gift” for your significant other then you came to the right place. I sent out an google form to get as much information on this as I could. After I got my information I handpicked people to interview.

“Hello, whats your name?” -myself “Aliva, Alivia Replogle”- interviewee

“It says here the you picked chocolates, snacks/drinks, small gift, and date/going out, could you explain to us why you picked these?”

“So I picked the food options because I love like.. junk food and small gift, oh because I think small gifts can be super cute if they are like thought out you know? A thought out gift is better then a expensive one. When I had a boyfriend going out on a date was my favorite thing to do, BUT don't make her pick where she’s going because that's going to make her so mad”

“How do you usually spend your valentines day?”
“Sometimes I go and get myself chocolate and candy."

“Moving back to my first question, what would you want to do for your hypothetical date?”
“I've actually thought about this, going to nice restaurant and then going to the movies”

“Is there anything you'd like to add that i've missed?”
“Yes, just get her something rather then nothing, something is always better then nothing.”

Another Thing I wanted to show was a response that I got from one of my favorite teachers, the reason I wanted to show this was because there was a lot of different kinds of responses but this was probably the most unexpected.

“After 21 years of being my husband being my Valentine, I'm just glad to have him as my Valentine. I don't need any gifts to symbolize Valentine's Day Gift” - Mrs. Fairchild

IHCC Cardinal Welding Academy Open House
Written By: Tristan Shepherd

The Cardinal Area Welding Academy (CAWA) is holding a open house on May 13, 2024. This is going to be the 7th annual open house for the academy.

This is an interview from the Cardinal welding instructor Joseph (Joe) Vandenburg. I ask him questions regarding the open house and how he feels about it being his first year as an instructor. The 1st year students are selling raffle tickets to win a brand new lincoln welding hood, a miller welding hood, a hobart stick welder, and a lincoln mig welder. I ask why people should come to the event. He said “ People should come for the experience of the food and just a basic understanding of what the academy is all about''. That is when I asked Joe how the open house will help the academy. That is when he responded with “ The money that we earn from the raffle and silent auction will be put towards travel expenses for the next year”.

That is when I got the chance to ask him about how he is feeling about the open house and how he is feeling for it being his first year and the expectations that are being held towards him he responded with: “I am a mix of nervous and excited at the same time." That then moved to me asking what is the most challenging part of it being his first year he then responded with, “The most complicated part is the work and complications that come with holding a community event like we are having."

This event will be a fun time to just come and see what goes on and to get around and try different things. This is also a great opportunity for those who want to come into the program and also great to see how the students are doing.

Birthday Shout-Outs!
Written By: Sara Breeding

Dear Cardinal community, guess what is going on this month?!!

We have a few birthdays this month that deserve a shout-out! I took it upon myself to interview a couple students about their birthdays. Charli Rupe was one of the girls, her birthday is February 6th. Charli is going to a basketball game in Iowa City and doing a dance performance with the Iowa dance team. She is also going to be at school on her birthday but is planning on going to Canada. It will be super exciting to travel that far for a birthday. Would you ever want to travel that far for your birthday? I asked Charli if she thought birthdays were important and she said “They aren't important, all they do is celebrate life.”

Autumn Sertterh was another student I interviewed, her birthday is February 14th. Autumn said “For my birthday I plan on going to Des Moines and hanging out with my family and of course Reagan.” Which sounds fun, going out of town with family and friends is mostly a very fun time, in my opinion. I asked Autumn if she thought birthdays were important in her opinion and she said “I think birthdays are important in different ways for people, for me example, it makes me feel better about getting older, which sounds bad to some, but i'm short, and kinda have a baby face, so when i tell people my age it makes me feel like more independent and people wont think of me as a child.” Some other birthday for this month are:

• Addyson Taylor: February 2nd
• Cole Greiner: February 5th
• Kayleb Downing: February 8th
• Brynn Short: February 10th
• Nathan Henry: February 10th
• Gavin McClure: February 13th
• Levi Cox: February 13th
• Shaylyn Slaymaker: February 13th
• Autumn Sertterh: February 14th
• Braiden Downing: February 19th
• Cole Whittington: February 20th
• Brenna Dainels: February 22nd
• Tanner Scott: February 22nd
• Aiden Patrick: February 23rd
• Maggie Miller: February 24th
• Veronica Murphy: February 24th
• Logan Leverne: February 26th

The Comet Espresso
Written By: Justin Appenzeller

My name is Justin Appenzeller. I’ve learned a lot about the Comet Cafe in the past week. It started in 2018, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with you. The creator of the coffee shop is Mrs. Piper, and she told me that the way she came up with the coffee shop was that she had seen people had been stopping for coffee or drinks before school. She wanted a way to supply everyone with drinks whilst also bringing in money to put back into the comet cafe. I asked her if the coffee shop was her idea and she said it was, because she wanted kids to learn how to run a business, and her favorite thing about working the Comet Cafe is interacting with students. The way she started the coffee shop was that she got a $2,500 loan from the school and she surprisingly paid it back in under two years. There are some challenges when it comes to maintaining the coffee shop, a main one being what they can sell according to the government, because they only let you sell certain things that are somewhat not bad for you.

I also interviewed Nathan Henry, one of the employees at the Comet Cafe. Nathan is a senior at Cardinal High School and has been at Cardinal since 3rd grade. His plans for the future is that he wants to become a law student, then president, then after he wants to settle down and become a civics teacher right here at Cardinal High School. I asked Nathan how he got involved with the coffee shop and he said that he just walked in one day about two years ago, and ever since then he’s been an employee, now he’s also manager. Nathan’s favorite part of working there is socializing with his coworkers and customers, some of his favorite customers are Ms. Piper, Jace Walker, and his galpals. He said his favorite item on the menu is hot chocolate but it’s also his least favorite because he hates making it. I hope you have all learned something about Comet Cafe, If you’re ever thirsty you know where to go.

Snow Storm 2024
Written By: Kenna Kirckpatrick

Hello, this is Kenna Kirkpatrick, and as we all know, Iowa– along with the rest of the United States, got hit with a big snow storm this January. It was large enough to be classified as a Polar Vortex, which means it covered so much of the United States that it split in half into two large storms. The minimum amount of snow Iowa got overall this January was 6-10 inches in some areas, and the maximum was 11-15 inches in other areas. However, snow drift caused porches, yards, and other condensed areas to build up to 2-3 feet.

If anyone recalls, the last time Iowa was hit with a snow storm this big, was in 2019, where we got hit with a major amount of snow, a total of 38.9 inches all across Iowa. We also got hit with some really low temperatures this winter. If we compare these temperatures to the ones we saw in 2019, there are some differences. On January 15th of this year the low was -10 and on January 15th, 2019, we saw -38 degrees. On another hand, Cardinal Community Schools has had so many snow days that the School board– with the help of students, parents, and staff members– has decided to set our makeup days to Mondays.

I've spent some time interviewing an anonymous student from Agency, IA. Here's some of that interview:

“What town do you live in?”
“I live in Agency Iowa.”

"How did this snow storm effect you?”
“The storm made it to where I couldn’t leave my house, I couldn’t go to wrestling practice, and I couldn’t go to dance practice.”

“How long did it take for you to comfortably/safely leave the house”
“Like 2-3 weeks I’d say. I could leave the house after like a week but I wouldn’t say it was safely or comfortably.”

“Are you happy about makeup days being on Mondays?”
“Yes, because I don’t want school to go on for longer.”

Another student from Ottumwa Iowa has been asked some of the same questions, here are those answers:

“How did this snow storm effect you?”
“I was stuck in my house, I couldn’t go anywhere and we were completely snowed in.”

“At what point do you think Ottumwa had the most snow?”
“I’d say after the first snow storm, because all the snow that was already on the ground, and the snow drift, made the second storm worse when it added onto all that.”

“How did you spend your snow days?”
“I spent my snow days inside, usually on call with friends or playing games.”

“Are you comfortable driving/riding in the snow?”
“Uh no, the snow scares me, because you never really know if there's ice, or slippery snow that could cause accidents.”

In conclusion to all this, I want to say, please be careful in the winter season and make sure you’re doing what you can to get from place to place safely. We care about you and storms like this can be brutal and insensitive so please be cautious.

Sports Reflection Survey
Written By: Makayla Barnes

Hello everybody! After interviewing numerous athletes from a variety of different sports as well as a wide variety of coaches. I have gained valuable insight into athletes and coaches opinions and feelings on what would make a sport season more productive and enjoyable. Most coaches are left in the dark about how their athletes are feeling and what their experiences were during season. A lot of athletes and coaches both felt a survey with the following questions sent out at the end of the season would be beneficial for both athletes and coaches. Although some things could be better communicated with a sit down meeting if necessary.

Questions on the survey at the end of season:

What was good about this season?
What did the coach do to make this season great and memorable?
Will you be returning next season? If yes why? If not why?
Do you feel like respect was a two way street between you and your coach?
Do you have any concerns? If so please tell in detail
Do you feel like your coach listens to how you feel and your concerns?
Does the coach teach well and treat everyone with compassion and patience?
Did your coach encourage you and help you be the best you can be?
Do you believe everyone was treated equally this season?
How was your performance affected this season by the coach?

A survey would allow both athletes and coaches to reflect on their actions and how it affected the team. A survey would allow athletes that don’t feel comfortable voicing their opinions out loud to inform their coaches on their thoughts and feelings in a way that they would be comfortable. A survey would then be able to be looked over by the coaches so they would then be able to see what things they could improve for next season or they would be able to address a problem with an athlete so they will be more likely to come back out for the sport the following season.

All athletes felt that their coaches attitude and how they treated them reflect on their performance drastically. If a coach is giving positive feedback and encouragement the athlete feels they perform better and feel motivated to do better and try but if the coach is negatively yelling and not recognizing the accomplishments of the team then most athletes don't feel as motivated to do better. Coaches may forget sometimes (just like everyone does at some point) that the energy they put out is the energy they will get back. Another reason a survey may be beneficial is it will always athletes to reflect and remember their coaches are human too. Mistakes will be made by everyone and problems will arise but if the coach is never told they wont know how to fix it in the most efficient and effective way.

Cardinal Comet Boys Basketball
Written By: Tyler Trueblood

My name is Tyler Trueblood, and I have been working on this article for the past couple of weeks. It is on the Cardinal Comet High basketball team. What I have learned over this past week is the coaching and how the players feel during the season. I have asked some of the coaching staff some questions about Coaching. I asked the head coach, Micheal Strasko these three questions. How did you get involved with coaching boys basketball? How long have you been coaching? And How does coaching affect your time out of work? Coach Strasko played basketball in high school and college and went to a lot of camps so it was a, “ natural transition.” He has been a coach for our school for 13 years. During basketball season he puts in 40 hours only for coaching.

Another person I interviewed was our leading senior Montana Rupe. I asked these three questions. Tell me about yourself. Montana is a three sport athlete for Track, Football and Basketball. He was in the starting line up for varsity basketball his junior year and senior year. When I asked Montana if his attitude reflected on the team and coaches this is what he said, “Yes I do think that, because I am a leader of the team and if my attitude is bad then it will reflect on the team.” I think that is the best answer I could have gotten from that question. When I asked, How do you feel about the coaches, he gave me this answer. “I think all of the coaches know what they are talking about and whenever I have questions they will answer them”. That’s what I have learned from working on Cardinal Comet basketball.

Boys Districts and Girls State Wrestling
Written By: Christian Vass

On February 1st and 2nd, Ajaah Cox and Abby Durflinger went up to Iowa City to wrestle at the big girls wrestling state tournament. They had a successful day on February 1st with both wrestlers looking great and winning some good matches. Ajaah Cox went 3 and 2 during her time at state to put her on the podium at 6th place, and Abby Durflinger went 1 and 2.

Meanwhile the varsity boys are still training for the district tournament Saturday February 10th. I had the opportunity to interview Coach Walker about the wrestling program. Here's what he had to say. I asked Walker how he thinks the boys district tournament will go, and he said this, “I think that it will be a tough tournament, but I think we can send three or four boys to state this year.” Next I asked him a couple of other questions about the wrestling program as a whole.

"What is the most difficult part of being a wrestling coach?"
“Tough losses, and seeing an athlete not compete if they are injured.”

Next I asked him what could make the wrestling program better for next year, and he said this:
“A bigger wrestling room. It's crammed and getting too crowded."

We are happy for the wrestling program this year, it has been a great year for everyone who has participated, we are excited to get the results from districts and see who's going to the big state tournament.

Freshmen Student Spotlights
Written By: Quinten Moore

Maclain is involved in softball, wrestling, volleyball, and track. Her favorite subject is math because it comes easily to her most of the time. She particularly enjoys weights class, because it helps her become a better athlete. Her favorite teacher is Mr. Swafford because he pushes her to be her best. Maclain's favorite thing about Cardinal is how close it is to her house. Her favorite color is yellow because it reminds her of sunflowers, her favorite flowers. If given a million dollars, she would start her own softball club to teach young girls to love the sport. After high school, she aims to play softball in college and pursue a career as a large animal vet. Her favorite drink is Dr. Pepper, and she loves cheese curds as her favorite food.

Athan Zimmerman is engaged in football, wrestling, and track at Cardinal High School. His favorite subject is math, and he particularly enjoyed Mrs. Walker's class during the first semester. He appreciates the small size of Cardinal, where everyone knows each other. However, he's not a fan of the school's layout and the use of trailers for classrooms. Athan's favorite sport is track, though he developed an affinity for wrestling this year. Coach Zitler holds the position of his favorite coach. When it comes to refreshments, green tea tops his list, and he particularly enjoys KFC mac 'n' cheese as his favorite food.

Men's Volleyball Interest
Written By: Levi Cox

My name is Levi Cox and in this article I will be discussing how I think our school should have a Boy’s Volleyball team and a Volleyball club that would consist of Boy’s and Girls. I’d think the opinion of having a team for the men that are not good at playing basketball, baseball, or football would be interesting because it's still a team effort and not focused on one person and having to be alone and have to rely on yourself.

I’ve had conversations with a couple of peers about the subject and got their opinion about what they think about our school having a male volleyball team and club. I asked, “What are some positives about male volleyball?” Their responses were “It can get people involved in extracurricular activities that they wouldn't normally get into.” In my opinion I think it would be a great idea for our school. I know that most people here are bored of some sports because there are to many people playing it, and they don't get any play time but still want to play a sport where they get to move around and get to be active with other people and make new friends.

I have also had conversations on what they thought our team colors would be and what type of jerseys we would have. They thought that our team colors should be the same as the school we would be playing for. They also said that the jerseys should be short sleeves and shorts for more mobility and so we don't get hot as fast.

If this would be a sport for this school, we would have a group chat for when people will be able to practice and if we need to change the day we have practice so no one will miss out on the subject we would have done that day. I also thought that it would be a good idea that when volleyball season is over that the volleyball club would be able to play all year around so people that love to play the sport still have that option for an after school activity. I have also stated that it would be a good idea for the club that boys and girls could play one the same team so that we wouldn't have two different clubs and so that we could all practice together instead of splitting the court or having to have two different practices in the same day.

Photography/Art Contest
Created by the Cardinal Chronicle Staff

The next issue of The Cardinal Chronicle will be out on March 20th. We will be accepting art and photography to add to our next issue. You may send your submissions to Mrs. Walker through her email or come to her classroom if you have any questions. We will take art or photography of any kind and yours may be featured in this paper or one of the others in the following months! The final submission date is March 18th, 2024. You may add a small caption explaining the art or the photo if you would like, but it is not required. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

The Cardinal Chronicle Positivity Chain

Every issue of the newspaper will have the positivity chain! These are just comments from teachers and students that share great things happening at Cardinal and beyond. These were the answers to these questions: What are some positive things going on in your classes? Extracurriculars? Outside of school life? Give someone a positive shout out! What are some acts of kindness you've experienced in the past month?

"Teachers being kind and thoughtful of me and giving me extra time to finish assignments."
- Addison Kahl

"3rd grade just completed a worldwide reading challenge called Read Bowl! Each class read over 16,000 minutes in the month of January! We are now celebrating February as "I Love to Read" Month and have a themed reading activity everyday."
-Riley Conway

"*Some of my students are reaching their IEP goals! It is so exciting to see their faces when I share the results. *Almost every morning I see students holding the outside doors for people, students helping each other at recess. * Shout out to Sabrina Morrison for being an amazing SpEd coach! She is always very supportive! With her encouragement she makes the job easier! Thank you!!"
-Lindy Hammes

"7th grade Basketball team is 5-1 so far this season."
-JR Zeitler

"As a coach, I know athletics are always going to make some headlines. I like how Cardinal has made sure to highlight students involved in the fine arts, Quiz Bowl, and Esports!"
-Rich Mayson

"I have appreciated the two new staff members adding to the High School Special Education Department. Mr. Walker & Mr. Gerleman have done an amazing job building relationships with their students, supporting their students' needs, and creating a safe learning environment for everyone on their roster. I'm so glad they chose Cardinal."
-Sabrina Morrison

"In the music department we're getting ready for café musicale, I'd say it's coming along well. The color guard will also be doing a performance, while a few other miscellaneous acts will happen. I've heard someone's doing a poem. I've seen the new transfer student, Jonathan, be treated well by those in choir and other classes he's in. People haven't been rude, they've even tried their best to communicate with him, with google translate or what they've learned in Spanish. It's nice to see people acting like that. Little actions do a lot for people."
-Khloe Heckethorn

"Ariel, one of the elementary reading tutors has been working with some of my four year old preschoolers that need a little extra help with alphabet recognition. This has made huge gains in my classroom. Now, ten out of my seventeen students know all of the uppercase letters!"
-Lynissa Elliott

"One thing is that there are 7th graders playing in high school band."
-Caleb Farfan