The 8th grade CTE students show their great Hawk spirit as they put the finishing touches on the new steel rail fence fabricated by the High School ITE classes. Great job to everyone that had a hand in it!
TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Panhandle Conference
Host: Crawford
MATCH # TIME HOME TEAM VISITOR
MATCH #1 9:00 am Hemingford vs Hay Springs
MATCH #2 10:00am Edgemont vs Sioux County
MATCH #3 11:00am Morrill vs St. Agnes
MATCH #4 12:00pm Winner of #2 vs Winner of #1
MATCH #5 1:00pm Crawford vs Winner of #3
15 Minute Break
MATCH #6 2:15pm Winner of #5 vs Winner of #4
Our Junior High Volleyball team is made up of 12 girls this fall. We have 3 eighth graders, 3 seventh graders, and 6 sixth graders playing this fall. Within this mix we have a pretty broad range of skills and experience, but everyone has been working well together!
The last two weeks we have spent a lot of time focusing on fundamentals and I have already seen huge improvements in the girls! We are all really excited for this season to get underway with our first game at home on the 3rd!!
On Saturday, February 15th, middle level and high school students attended Hay Springs High School’s Winter Ball. The middle level dance was first up for the evening with the high school dance following. The event, which took place in the auditorium, had a great turnout and the kids had fun DJing their own dance! Middle level royalty were Queen Ava McKillip(8th grade) and King Jarhett Anderson(8th grade). High School did not choose royalty since they all consider themselves kings and queens(joking!). A huge “thank you” to Mr. and Mrs. Hagge for working to make Winter Ball a memorable night for everyone!
During the last week of January the seventh and tenth grade science students had guest speakers dealing with water. Mr. Aaron Taylor from the city of Hay Springs attended the seventh grade class to inform our students where their drinking water comes from and where their waste water goes. Mr. Taylor’s information was very interesting to the students, who had lots of questions and the students were appreciative of his talk. The two most repeated statements from the students were that the swimming pool and water tower hold nearly the same amount of water and that filtered waste water is reclaimed by watering alfalfa.
The same week Ms. Chaley and Ms. Jade from the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies presented both the seventh and tenth grade classes with activities about water in our environment. The seventh graders focused on water health. They learned how to study the macro-invertebrates living in a stream to determine the purity of the water. Some invertebrates are very tolerant to pollutants while others are very sensitive to them, by identifying which organisms live in a stream the purity can be determined without chemical tests.
The grade ten class had several activities presented to them regarding water on the plains. They found out what type of prairie we have in the area, how plant roots help the soil, which yard grasses use less water and how the prairie and water relationship changes throughout the seasons. Both classes were interested in the information and treated our guests with respect and politeness. We were very fortunate to have these speakers come to our school!
FEBRUARY 3rd, 2020
1. Tournament will begin at 9:00 AM on Monday, February 3rd. We will be using a bracket format for the tournament. There will be a total of 6 games. Once you lose, you are out.
2. Ticket prices will be $4.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. The admission is good for the entire tournament. Cheerleaders, in uniform, will be admitted free.
3. A championship sleeve will be presented to the winning team.
4. No passes will be accepted. Coaches, players, managers, and bus drivers will be stamped upon arrival.
5. Starting time for the first game will be 9:00am we will only take a short break before the championship game.
6. The team on top of the bracket will be considered the home team. Home team will be the official book.
PAC_JH_Tourney_Bracket_2020_Boys1. Tournament will begin at 9:00 on Monday, December 16, 2019. We will be using a bracket format tournament. Once you lose, you are out.
2. Ticket prices will be $5 for adults and $4. The admission is good for the whole tournament. Players, Coaches, Managers, and Bus Drivers will be stamped upon arrival.
3. Please return a tournament roster to pcyza@saa.school.
4. Locker rooms will be assigned. Each team will be responsible for their own valuables as multiple teams will share a lockeroom.
5. Officials for the tournament will be provided by St. Agnes.
6. The team on the top bracket will be considered the home team. Home team will be the official book.
girls_bracket_2019
Every year the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsors an essay contest titled, “Patriot’s Pen.” The contest is open to middle school students nationwide. Each year the students are given a writing prompt and are required to write 200-300 words to qualify for the contest. This year’s prompt was titled, “What makes America great?” It is up to each writer to interpret and write what the prompt means to them.
This year Hay Springs 8th grader Ava McKillip was chosen to be the local VFW winner. From there, her essay was entered into the District competition. Again, Ava’s essay placed first. Her essay is currently being considered in the Nebraska state competition. If Ava’s essay receives first prize again she will be entered into the national completion. Ava would also receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C.
I think everyone associated with Hay Springs can be proud of the accomplishments of Ava. We are blessed to live in the United States and Ava’s essay demonstrates how our young people do not take that gift for granted. Good luck Ava! Hay Springs is proud of you! — Mr. Bounous
Here is the text of Ava’s essay:
What Makes America Great?
“What makes America great?” is a question all of us Americans should ask ourselves. We have the freedom to study whatever religion we please, we have the right to vote on the leaders of our nation, and freedom to express ourselves.
For one thing, America gives people the privilege to study and practice the religion of their choice. People come to America specifically to exercise their religions without being persecuted. In some countries, people are lead to believe solely in one religion and one religion only. If they choose not to follow that religion or speak against it, they can suffer persecution. Being able to practice our religion is a gift we shouldn’t take for granted.
Another reason for our country’s greatness is that we have the right to express our opinion through voting for our country’s leaders and policies. Firstly, voting for our leaders gives us a voice on whom we think should lead our country. We can choose a candidate who represents our opinions and beliefs. As citizens of America we can vote on different policies affecting us locally, at a state level, and nationally. Several examples are county property taxes, doing away with daylight savings time, gun control, and health care.
The freedom to express ourselves is another aspect of making our country so great. Some other places in the world don’t allow people to have their own social media account, let alone put their opinion about leaders or current topics. Also, we can write articles in newspapers and magazines expressing our opinions, speak on TV, as well as post opinions on our social media pages. These are all different ways to convey our opinions to the public.
People immigrate to the United States of America to be able to freely study and practice a religion of their choice without persecution. They come to America to be able to vote for their leaders and freely express themselves and their opinions. People come to America because it is the BEST place ever!!! I am proud to be an AMERICAN!!!!
On Monday the 18th of November, the 8th grade science class ‘talked’ via Skype to PhD candidate Melina Giakoumis from City College in New York city. Ms. Giakoumis studies starfish genetics on the east coast of the United States and the east coast of Europe. She is using genetic profiling to study how the starfish are changing over time. Starfish are a keystone species, meaning that when they are present in an ecosystem, that system is much healthier and more diverse. The students are studying how environmental conditions and genetics are linked together in an ecosystem, so this talk was right on point. Earlier this year the 8th grade class talked to PhD candidate Samantha Summer from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. That talk was mostly about how chemists study new molecules and about coming from a small town and going on to college for an advanced degree. Both Ms. Summer and Ms. Giakoumis talked to the students about being in a STEM career. The 7th grade had a presentation from Dr. Quinn Sorenson from UC Berkeley about post fire reforestation programs and ecosystems in general. At the time the 7th graders were studying how living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem interact. This program is free from Skype and is called ‘Skype a Scientist’.
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