High School

Assembly highlights year of high school achievements

Academic, organizational, and sports awards

June 13, 2008

At an all-school assembly on May 16, MdCV students were recognized for end-of-the-year achievements in academic, organizational and athletic pursuits. Sponsors and coaches asked students in the audience to stand up and be recognized for their achievements, while actual certificates and awards were collected and given to students in individual packets. Parents and community members were also present to observe the ceremony.

Academic Awards
Guidance Counselor Missi Kewley recognized the following students for maintaining a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 for the 2007-2008 school year:

Seniors: Lacey Allen, Dennis Becker, Bryan Phillips, Brandon Larsen, Jessica Schmidt

Juniors: Alan Billen, Myra Boeckenstedt, Brandon Litch, Katie Reece, Michael Schmidt. LaShae Taylor, Ase Trulsson

Sophomores: Taylor Denton, Patrick Engelken, Lacey Fine, D.L., Cassie Phillips, Jamie Rice, Heather Schuyler

Freshmen: P.B., Emily Phelon, Jaime Spencer, Jessica Starch

Lyon County League Scholarship Tests
Counselor Kewley announced the results of LCL Scholarship Tests, which were taken February 20 on the campus of Emporia State University. Thirty-nine high school students participated in the event, and the following nine students scored well enough to place in the categories listed:

Lacey Allen : Literature 12+ - 2nd in Class 1A; Psychology, 2nd in Class 1A

Alan Billen : Plane Geometry - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, 5th in Lyon County League

Travis Cox : Earth Science - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; 2nd in Lyon County League

Jeff Engelken : High School Health - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; 4th in Lyon County League

Patrick Engelken : Spanish I, 3rd in Lyon County League; Biology, 4th in Lyon County League

Jamie Hall : Spelling 9 - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, 4th in Lyon County League

Lacey Fine : Algebra II - 3rd in Lyon County League

Abigail Kendall : Literature 12 - 3rd in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; 4th in Lyon County League

Bryan Phillips : Spelling 12 - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; American Government - Honorable Mention in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; 3rd in Lyon County League; Current Affairs - 2nd in Class 1A, Honorable Mention in State; 2nd in Lyon County League

National Honor Society
Counselor Kewley recognized Ariel Massey and Katie Reece as the newest members selected to the MdCV Chapter of the National Honor Society. Their selection was primarily based on outstanding evidence in the areas of service, academics, and citizenship. They join the 2007-2008 members: Dennis Becker, Lacey Allen, Jessica Schmidt, and LaShae Taylor. Kewley noted that National Honor Society helps with food drives, blood drives, and dances, along with Student Council, who also received certificates of participation.

Other scholastic awards
Kewley announced that seniors Brandon Larsen and Drew Woodruff completed the Kansas Board of Regents curriculum, for which they received certificates in their packets. This award signifies that they successfully completed four years of high school English; three years of social science; Spanish I and II; three years of science, including chemistry and physics; and four years of math, including an upper level math course.

Jessica Schmidt received a $10,000 award from the Coca-Cola Scholarship Program.

A representative from Ottawa University in nearby Ottawa, Kansas, presented senior Bryan Phillips with the Provost Scholarship.

Forensics team
Kewley, who is also the forensics coach, recognized members of the forensics team. She said, "Forensics is a special passion of mine. I love it. It is a so much fun. It takes a lot of hard work. These people have put in hours of memorization and preparing pieces. It is really hard to stand up in front of people and not be nervous. It is even harder to stand up and perform, and act like you're someone else and pull it off. We had a really young team this year, so I am looking forward to next year, because we did so well this year."

Kewley further explained that the team's efforts earned fourth place in the Lyon County League Tournament at Flinthills.

Kewley gave special recognition to Jessica Starch and Kelsi Toumberlin, who had prepared a duet acting piece for competition. "They got lots of awards for their acting all throughout the season, and I am really proud of them," Kewley said.

In addition, Cassie Phillips received a special forensics award as the "Most Improved Actress." Kewley said, "It is not that Cassie is not a great actress, but she tends to be very quiet. Sometimes she doesn't have a whole lot emphasis, but she did an amazing piece, and she worked incredibly hard, and she got third in league for this piece. She did an amazing performance. She did really well, and I am so proud of her."

Cheerleaders
Cheerleading coach Keri Dyke introduced the 2007-08 cheerleaders: Kimmy Lillibridge, Emily Phelon, Katie Reece, Mirannda Saffer, Jamie Fine, and Teria Ashlock. Coach Dyke said, "This was a brand new squad - no returning cheerleaders. I think each one of them shocked themselves at the abilities they had, and they did make up a good squad."

She then introduced the 2008-09 cheerleaders: Jamie Fine, Samantha Hays, Mirannda Saffer, LaShae Taylor, Jancie Taylor, and Katie Reece. She said, "I can't express to the student body enough that we are out here for you guys. We want to promote school spirit. We want to make you enthusiastic about school sports. Please come to us if you have any suggestions on how to improve it. That's what we are here for."

Volleyball
Mr. Thurston spoke for Volleyball Coach Melissa Criqui, who was not present because of teaching duties at Quenemo. He introduced the high school volleyball team, who finished the season with a record of 12-18. Reading from notes prepared by Coach Criqui, Thurston said, "The team worked very hard and showed great improvement. Seniors, coach will truly miss you. You were great leaders and true athletes. Coach Criqui wishes the season could have ended a different way, but she was happy to work with you ladies, and looks forward to working with you again next year."

Football
Football Coach Trent Douglas said, "This year we went 5-5. We lost the first round of playoffs, but it was the first time in 21 years that MdCV football went to the playoffs. It was a good year. I was really pleased with the way we developed as the year went along. We got off to a rough start early, but we played very well at the end."

Douglas continued: "We had 23 guys out. A lot of guys contributed, if not in the game, then at practice -- that's the way we got better. We had five quality seniors: Bryan, Michael, Drew, Dennis, and Chisom. We are going to miss them. They set pretty good examples of what we need to do as a team to be successful."

"Next year we will have a bigger team, with 31 guys who have signed up to play. We got some guys who will step and fill their shoes," referring to the graduating seniors. "We don't have to be them," Douglas said, "We're just going to do the best we can, so we can be a quality team."

Girls Basketball
Coach Donald Dyke recognized the entire MdCV girls basketball team. In addition, he thanked the managers, Lacey Fine and Taylor Denton for their invaluable assistance. He then wished the three graduating seniors - Jessica Bell, Cheyenne Russell , and Jessica Schmidt - the best of luck. Reiterating what Junior High Coach Jim Irey had said this at the junior high awards assembly, Coach Dyke said, "You got to remember that the season doesn't just go from November to February. You got to put time in outside. Although the season was not exactly what we wanted, there was a lot of improvement throughout the year."

Specifically mentioning the efforts of Ase Trusslon, the foreign exchange student from Sweden, Coach Dyke said, "I really appreciated Ase's efforts. Every day she came to practice. I remember the first time she was excited about being on the floor during a varsity game."

"And I made 2 points," shouted Ase from the audience, as she visibly shed a few tears in remembrance of that accomplishment. The audience clapped, sharing in the emotional moment.

Boys Basketball
Thad Thurston, the boys head basketball coach, recalled the team records of 14-7 for varsity and 8-8 for the junior varsity. He said, "We had a great year. Second place in the Lyon County League: That was a very tough league. If you watched any of those games, you saw that if we weren't ready to play, that other team was. Second place in the tournament: It's been a while since we placed in a tournament championship, and it came down to the last 60 seconds of the game."

Thurston added, "The varsity guys had been preparing themselves for the season as early as last May or June. We did have some close games, and those were frustrating, but we had a lot of close games that did go our direction, and we were very fortunate to hit the free throws when we did and get the rebounds here and there. Three of our last four losses were against Olpe, who finished fourth in the state of Kansas; Crest, who finished third in the state of Kansas; and a Word of Life team, who finished with just two losses. Their last loss was in a third place national tournament. We lost to a total of five teams this past year."

Track
Coach Thurston wrapped up the assembly, with comments about the track season. He said, "Track is a unique sport because it has such 'perfect' weather," a comment which elicited chuckles from the audience. He continued: "Seriously, it can be tough to practice in 45-degree weather with a little rain," noting that the team had only one indoor practice.

He added, "Sometimes, it is easier to jump back with the guy behind you, and we did that occasionally, but in the last two weeks I saw some great improvement. I saw people getting out there and working really hard in practice, and it showed. We have this thing called the 'Top Ten in School History,' which goes back about 30 years. We've had 13 additions to the current 'Top Ten' list," citing efforts from Jessica Schmidt, the relay team of Rose-Hays-Phelon-Massey, Chisom Spencer, Michael Schmidt, Brandon Litch, Pat Rager, Michael Spillman, Michael Zabel, Pat Engelken, and Cheyenne Russell.

"If we could do it all over again, would you?" asked Coach Thurston.

"Yeah," replied the crowd.

Conclusion
A PowerPoint presentation created by In-House Training (IHT) student Katie Reece concluded the assembly. The presentation featured photos and video of students at various times and places during the school year. While watching the presentation, the audience applauded, laughed, and smiled, as they remembered moments from the 2007-08 year that is now a part of school history.