Tiger Scholar of April

By Abby Cross

The Tiger Scholar for the month of April is Alan Polly due to his outstanding technical expertise.  Polly has a cumulative GPA of 3.3 and plans on attending college for two years to study criminal justice, which he has always been interested in.

“My favorite school subject is Creative Writing because the class is very laid back and  because it doesn’t flow like a standard boring class, where all it is is do this, do that, and act  like you’re learning. Creative Writing is more realistic and keeps class interesting,” said Polly.

His favorite teachers are Mr. Moon, Mr. Blake and Mrs. Fehringer. Polly’s favorite memory from high school is when he bought his first car. In ten years, Polly has no clue where he will be and what he will be doing.

Some advice he has for the under classmen is: “Just do you work and don’t complain until you’ve finished. College in Colorado has to be done so just do it. You can’t change the requirements,” he said.

In his spare time, Polly enjoys gaming, game modding, house improvement, yard improvement and drawing. He has one biological brother, two step brothers and a step sister.

“One of my top role models is my step dad. He always tries to do things even if he doesn’t want to do them. He puts family first, no matter what and has been a great family man,” said Polly.

His favorite quote is by Eminem and says: “You don’t get another chance. Life is no Nintendo game.” This is his favorite quote because it is pretty much saying “go for it,” don’t hold back, but it also says don’t be stupid and learn from your mistakes.

Polly’s favorite book is A Child Called It because it is one of the only book series he has been able to keep reading, and it also links into his love for criminal justice.  

His favorite movies are the Final Destination movies, his favorite food is Italian food, and Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday because everyone can come together without greed and it does not get as much “hate” as the other holidays.  

“Looking back in time, I don’t think there is anything I’d change. Everything has gone very well for me,” said Polly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 

Four SHS Students Place at Math and Science Competition

By Kayla Smithgall

On Thursday, April 6, 44 Sterling High School (SHS) students participated in the annual Math and Science Competition held at Northeastern Junior College (NJC). The students left SHS at 8:30 a.m. and returned at 3:00 p.m. SHS mathematics teacher Christian Robles spent the day with the students.

The 44 students included freshmen Kevin Smithgall, Darcy Trump, Ananisia Gallegos, Alexandria Alles, Noah Tonche, Camryn Trump, Alexander Mahaffey, Tyler Prodey, Jaxon McCracken, Joslyne Lopez, Chase Hume, Akayla Mahaffey and Adrian Aguirre, sophomores Liam Skerjanec, Makenna May, Ethan Phelps, Ashby Hux, Greyson Dudley, DeVontae Kilgore, Wesley Younger, Hunter Paxton, Hannah Nelson, Mariah Gohson, Emily Fleckenstein, Zach Loft, Brooklynn Bohler, Ian Cone, Reid Kaiser, Katie Masters, Maggie Alsup and Sadie Holloway, juniors Rachael Northup, Trevor Smith, Riley Schaefer, Cassidy Paxton, Shyloh Ertle, Riley Meisner, Jacob Schroeder, Victoria Trevino, Rebecca Miller, Bodie Hume, Cherie Bell and Saengchat Theerakitpaisal and seniors Abigail Davidson and Victor Ferri.

There were 18 schools that participated in the competition, which included SHS, Akron High School, Brush High School, Caliche High School, Fleming High School, Fort Morgan High School, Holyoke High School, Julesburg High School, Kimball High School, Limon High School, Merino High School, Peetz High School, Prairie High School, Revere High School, Weld Central High School, Wiggins High School, Wray High School and Yuma High School.

The students took tests based off of their grade level. 95 freshmen participated in the ninth grade science test, 52 in critical thinking and 60 in Algebra I; 109 sophomores participated in the biology test, 54 in critical thinking and 94 in geometry; 59 juniors participated in the Chemistry I test, 49 in critical thinking and 97 in Algebra II; 26 seniors participated in the physics test, 45 in critical thinking and 21 in calculus. 32 juniors and seniors participated in senior math and 35 participated in trigonometry.

The first testing session was held at 9:20 a.m. It was for the science and critical thinking tests.

The second session was then held at 10:45 a.m. This session was for the subject math and more critical thinking tests.

After the testing sessions, which lasted around an hour, the students had a lunch break until the award ceremony at 1:30. SHS had four students that placed in the competition.

Akayla Mahaffey placed third in Algebra I.

“I was expecting the test to be very difficult. I felt the test was something I was well equipped for, but I also found some things I need to work on. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to go. I am so thankful to have gotten third at the fair,” she said.

Dudley placed third in biology.

“The competition was for the most part easy, except botany was hard because I know nothing about flowers,” he said. “Taking the test allowed me to learn better test taking strategies.”

He is confident that he will take first next year.

Theerakitpaisal placed first in Algebra II.

“The test wasn’t very hard because I was prepared for it. This is also my first and last American math competition and I am glad I did so good,” she said.

Northup placed second in Chemistry I. The test was easier than she expected it to be.

“I remember reading the questions on the test and thinking, ‘Wow! I actually learned this in class!’ So that made me feel better. I was glad I could apply what I had learned,” she said.

Although science isn’t her best subject, the test gave her more confidence in the subject.

“When I found out how I did, I was kind of shocked, but really excited because this was a hard contest to place in and I haven’t placed in the top three for a few years now,” said Northup. “Overall, the math and science fair was really fun, if you can call taking tests as being fun.”

Robles is very pleased with the results of the competition.

“I was and still am proud and satisfied for their effort. I knew those tests were going to be really difficult, but they came through and these are the results. I’m glad that I got to be part of this experience. It’s very rewarding to know as a teacher that all that hard work we put in the classroom somehow pays off.  I can’t wait to next year,” said Robles.

Teacher of April

By Abby Cross

The teacher of the month for April is Marilyn Fehringer. Fehringer is a math teacher here at SHS and teaches Algebra 1 and 2 as well as Geometry. She is also a senior class advisor. Fehringer has been a teacher for 24 years; teaching at every level except middle school.

“I wanted to be a teacher at Sterling High School because of the challenge of teaching high school after doing every other level,” she said.

She wanted to become a teacher in the first place because she wanted to empower others, which is what teachers do. The two people that influenced her the most in becoming a teacher were her third grade teacher and her mom.

“My third grade teacher made learning fun and my mom instilled the love of learning in me,” Fehringer said.

Her main goal for this year at SHS was to help students succeed while building a good math team. Her favorite part about teaching is witnessing the light bulb feeling that students have when they “get” what they are being taught.

“My favorite memory from teaching is when I walked into the final test of first hour in the second semester and knowing I had succeeded in teaching my students enough to move on to higher levels of math,” Fehringer said.

Outside of school, Fehringer enjoys doing stuff on her farm, dealing with her animals, camping and anything that has to do with her family. Her favorite holiday is Easter because of her strong relationship to her faith. Her favorite book is Little House on the Prairie and her favorite food is any kind of pizza.

“An interesting fact about me that none of my students know is that I rode a motorcycle in Thailand, as well as I faced down a cobra outside of my house while living there,” said Fehringer.

 

Teacher of March

By Hannah Mildenberger

Although he may no longer be a teacher, Assistant Principal Mark Appelhans is the teacher of the month for March due to his sheer tenacity, perseverance and hard work for this school. He went to the University of Northern Colorado, Northern Junior College​, and Colorado Christian University.

Years ago, he taught at Campbell Elementary School for about seven years. He taught everything: math, reading and writing.

His main goal as a teacher was to have “successful students who learned as much as possible. My favorite part about teaching is that moment when a kid who was struggling with a subject finally got it.”

“I thought I was going to be a teacher after I retired when I was working somewhere else. I was involved in my son’s coaching and I enjoyed working with kids,” Appelhans said. “What influenced me most to become a teacher was when I was complaining about education to my wife and she said to do something about it instead of complaining about it.”

Appelhans’s favorite memory as a teacher was when he had an ornery student sitting up front while another student was messing with a bracelet. He confiscated it and put it on a shelf. When the day was closing and coming to an end, he noticed that the bracelet was missing. A third student said somebody took it.

“I looked right at the student and said that nobody was going home until they fessed up. That student jumped out of his seat and did just that. He fessed up,” Appelhans said.

Appelhans said, “A fun fact about myself, that most people don’t know, is that I like to do Karaoke and I’d say I’m a pretty good singer.”

He also enjoys doing home improvement projects on the weekends.

“My favorite holiday would be Independance Day, because on that day, I host a picnic with my family and friends,” he said.

His favorite book is Of Mice and Men and his favorite food is green chili.

Winter Sports In Review

By the Bengal Cry staff

Boys’ Basketball

 The Tigers boys basketball team had an outstanding season that resulted in a 3A State Championship for the first time since they won the 4A title in 2011. The Tigers went 22-5 overall and 9-1 in their league. The Tigers are coached by Mike Holloway and assistant coached by Doug Holloway, Brad Hessler and Mike Gertner.

    The varsity team consisted of a total of twelve players including three seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and one freshman. Each individual player did their part in helping the team make it to the state championship game. The team was lead by three seniors this year: Wade Kellogg, Mike Chavez and Austin Bornhoft. In the ceremony following the state championship game, Coach Holloway pointed out that this group of seniors were some of the best leaders he has ever had and also the least selfish.

     Basketball is Chavez’s favorite sport. “It felt unreal to reach our goal, we knew we could do it but we were so in shock we had no idea what we accomplished. Even now a couple of weeks later I still can’t believe we won a state championship, especially because we’ve never made it to the great eight the past three years. It was the most memorable event I’ve ever been a part of and I’m happy I was a leader on the team,” he shared.

      Bornhoft had been looking forward to this moment his entire basketball career. “It was probably the most bittersweet moment I have had in my life. Myself and the others on the team had put a lot of blood sweat and tears into this season and we came out and ended it in the way we had hoped. In terms of my final high school basketball game, it could not have gone any better. A clutch play for a come behind win is definitely the best way to win a championship and end my senior season. At the same time in all the joy that came from us winning there was also a lot of mixed feelings I had about being done with basketball. Our team this year was more like a family than anything else and not being with my boys everyday and having a sense of brotherhood is something I am going to miss but I could not have dreamt of a better way to go out,” he exclaimed.

    For Kellogg, winning the state championship was something he had always dreamed of. “It’s the best way any senior can go out. It just felt so great to finally see our hard work pay off with all the long hours in the gym constantly putting up shots and to see it pay off the way it did was truly amazing. It was also really cool to see the whole community get behind us in the championship game, with the students and crowd going crazy and the band and cheerleaders coming up to support us. It’s something I’ll remember forever,” he said.

    The championship game at the University of Denver (DU) was a nail biter and a game the team and the community will never forget.

    Before making it to the big game at DU, the Tigers had to make it through some tough playoff games. The boys had a heartbreaking loss, losing 66-63 in the Patriot League tournament championship to Resurrection Christian but that didn’t stop them from fighting in the state playoffs.

   The Tigers went into the state tournament as the tenth seed. In the first round the Tigers played Buena Vista and easily beat them with a final score of 67-47. In the sweet sixteen, they faced Coal Ridge in an intense overtime game resulting in a close win with a score of 61-59. Ecstatic to make it to the great eight, the team beat Manitou Springs 58-50. The next day in the final four the Tigers went up against Colorado Springs Christian and won 51-43. All of these games lead up to the final game of the season: the state championship, in which the Tigers beat Faith Christian 48-47.

    The Sterling Tigers boys basketball team had an incredible season that will go down as one of the best in history.

 

Girls’ Basketball

It has been a rough season for the SHS girls’ basketball team, but over all odds they are undefeated.

Junior Peyton Huss said, “Some of our starters were out because of the sick season.”

Sophomore Katie Masters actually subbed for one of the sick players.

She said, “It was a great opportunity to get on the court when the team needs it most.”

Huss also said, “The hardest game so far was Liberty Commons because most of the starters were out that game.” Huss also said that Eaton is their rival because, “they give us pretty good competition every year.”

The team has been doing great this year with the injuries and sickness. They are undefeated 19-0 and still going strong. Even when they had no starters they still won.

The Lady Tigers won third place at the State Basketball Championship 2017 which was held in Denver, Colorado.

“It’s been amazing going to State this year too, but I did hope we would win first place,” said junior Brooke Polenz. “But overall it was an amazing season and next year we will try improving our play and hopefully win!”

Senior Taylor Knudson said, “Going to State my senior year was great and we did good. I am very excited about starting my next basketball season with Northeastern Junior College and hopefully it will be a good season.”

 

Swimming

Junior Kaitlyn Maker has been swimming for 10 years; she began when she was six years old. She swims every week, Monday-Friday, from June to February.

Maker is one of 20 members of the Eaton swim team. The team includes 14 swimmers and six divers.

She first joined the team in 2014 as a freshman. Before that, she swam with Valley’s club team from 2011-2014.

“I joined Eaton’s team because they were closer to home, had a lot of girls my age on their team and I really liked their coaches,” she said. “I joined the high school team because I was on their club team and I already knew the coach.”

Maker wasn’t sure what to expect about relationships with the team, but has developed a close bond with them.

“I love all the girls on my team. My best friends are the girls I swim with,” she said. “I am so happy that I have been blessed with these relationships. All of the girls on the team are so welcoming and loving towards me and for that, I am so grateful.”

During her freshman year, Maker was on the 200 yard free relay at state and had personal bests in her other events. Then for her sophomore year she qualified for state in the 100 yard breaststroke, 200 yard medley relay and the 200 yard free relay.

“I had a great first two seasons on the team,” she said.

This year at state, she placed eleventh place in the 100 yard breaststroke, sixteenth place in the 100 yard butterfly, tenth place in the 200 yard medley relay and fifteenth place in the 200 yard free relay.

“I had a lot of goals. All of my goals were times that I wanted to reach. I reached most of my goals, but God blessed me with an amazing season and I am super happy with how it ended,” Maker said.

Although she doesn’t have any set pre-race rituals, she gets in the zone by encouraging her teammates and cheering them on.

“Before my race, when I am behind the block, I always stretch, jump around a little and say a little prayer,” she said.

For Maker, swimming is more than just a hobby.

“Oh my goodness, it is definitely a passion,” she said. “I love the sport so much and it has taught me so many things.  Swimming has brought the most amazing people in my life and I have developed so many life-long friends through the sport. I just love to swim.”

Her dream since she was a little girl is to swim in college. She is currently looking at Oklahoma Christian University, Tabor College (in Kansas) and a few others.

“My plans for next season are to just keep improving and dropping time. I am hoping to swim a qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke for a national meet. I also hope to sign to swim at a college before next season,” said Maker.

According to her coach, Hattie Carlson, Maker is the epitome of an athlete because “she always shows up willing to give 100 percent, whether it is in the pool, school or with her friends and teammates.”

“Kaitlyn is a great leader and example for her peers to follow. It is a pleasure working with an athlete who is so coach-able. Kaitlyn celebrates her successes, as well as her challenges. I’ve been able to watch her mature in the last three years that I have been working with her in getting to the point where she can use her hard times as a motivator to be better,” said Carlson. “This year she was awarded “Most Inspirational” for her continuing drive to bring the team together and for her outstanding performance in the pool and the classroom. Kaitlyn is an integral part of our team.”

 

Wrestling

The 2016-2017 wrestling season was a good season for the team. Although this was not the most wrestlers that Sterling High School had taken to state from the past years it was a good amount of wrestlers. Sterling took five wrestlers to state with only one wrestler actually placing in state.The five wrestlers that went to state were Drew Book, Tate Green, Ernesto Ochoa, Zach Loft, and Dylan Prelle. The one wrestler that had placed was Dylan Prelle and he had placed 5th. The wrestling team consisted of Drew Book, Jake Breidenbach, Eleazar Chavez, Gabi Deleon, Isaac Deleon, Jeremiah Deleon, Tate Green, Jaylen Lee, Zach Loft, Tristan Manley, Ernesto Ochoa, Dylan Prelle, Carlos Rodriguez, Trae Walton, and Pacen Whited.

 Breidenbach has wrestled throughout his entire high school career. Sadly this was the last year for Breidenbach to wrestle on the Tiger wrestling team.

He said, “I’ll miss bonding with my teammates but I’ll miss feeling the excitement and being apart of the excitement for each other after winning a tough match or watching a teammate win a tough match.”

Breidenbach also said, “The biggest accomplishment as a team throughout my high school career was tying the school record for taking eight wrestlers to the state tournament my sophomore year. My biggest accomplishment in high school was placing 6th place at the state tournament my sophomore year and leaving my name on the wall of wrestling room forever.”

Senior Gabi Deleon has only wrestled her freshman and senior year. She had come a long way from her freshman year to now.

“I think the biggest accomplishment doesn’t really have to do with the wrestling its just getting to know each other and getting really close to your team and getting to know each other and individually just meeting new people and being brave enough to do like such a trying,” said Deleon. “I think I did pretty well this season and the most memorable part was probably leaving the school to go get subway with Tristan.”

For Prelle, this was his last year on the SHS wrestling team. He was the only one from the wrestlers that went to state that actually placed in state. He placed 5th in state this year.

“This was my best season by far, as a team we were really close friends and personally I had the best record and placed at state. I think I did well this season. The most memorable part of the season was standing on the podium at the state wrestling tournament. I will miss my teammates the most” he said.

Ochoa has wrestled for the Sterling Tigers since his freshman year and will continue until next year. He was one of Sterling wrestlers that went to state but did not place.

He said, “I like it more because of how far I went and how I was determined to prove people wrong. Next year I don’t just plan on just taking part of state I’m going to go take over state champion.”

Freshman Jeremiah Deleon this was his first year wrestling for the Sterling High School. He wasn’t one of the ones to go to state this year but is determined to go next year.

He said, “As a team our biggest accomplishment was winning Strasburg. My individual accomplishment was placing at regionals.”

Sophomore Isaac Deleon has returned for his second year of wrestling. He did not go to state this year but is determined to go the next two years.

Deleon said, “I did not do my best this year. My favorite memory from this year was when Ernesto said he couldn’t see cause of all the weight he cut. This year was a lot harder for me. I also improved a lot more on my wrestling moves.”

For Book, this was his first year wrestling for SHS. He was one of Sterling’s  wrestlers that qualified for state but did not place.

He said, “I got along better with the team I even grew a love for the team. I liked this year a lot more. As a team we won a couple tournaments and did really good at duals. Individually I did well because I made it to state.”

This year was a good season for the SHS wrestling team, taking five of the wrestlers to state and having one senior place fifth in the state championship. Although Sterling will be losing three of their seniors, they still have more wrestlers ready to take a step up and lead the team.

March’s Tiger of the Month

By Katlyn LaPorte

For his many accomplishments and tremendous talent in track and field, Austin Chavez is the Tiger of the Month for March.

Chavez was born on July 14, 1998 to his parents Jeff and Kristy Chavez. He is one of three triplets along with his brother, Mike, and his sister, Kylie. He also has an older brother, Drew. The family has a pet dog, Scooter.

Chavez has been doing track since middle school and has participated all throughout high school as well. He has already won a gold medal at the state track meet in high jump. The events he competes in are high jump and pole vault. His biggest supporters in track and field are his mom and dad.

“My favorite track memory is winning state in high jump,” said Chavez.

Next year Chavez is looking forward to competing in track and field at the University of Northern Colorado where he has already signed on.

Although track is his favorite sport, Chavez also played football all of his high school career.

His goal for his senior season is to take first place at state again.

Chavez wants to give a shout out to his best friends Jake Breidenbach, Brady Krier, and Dylan Prelle.

Aside from sports, Chavez really likes to work on cars and motorcycles. His favorite class is auto tech. His favorite food is grilled chicken, and his favorite animal is a tiger. He has a 3.3 GPA.

His favorite quote is, “My wallet may be empty but I got a lot of cool stuff.”

The advice Chavez wants to give to the underclassmen is, “Work hard and be patient. Trust the process.”

 

SPED “Spreads the Word to End the Word” at SHS

By Amela Nevaljalovic

“Spread the Word to End the Word” is a campaign proposed by the Special Olympics Committee and the campaign has been around for almost four years now. Miss Krumpelmann, special education teacher has been implementing it in Sterling High School for a long time. The “R” word is something that has been around our society for years and one campaign will not do much in stopping people from saying it but will draw attention to this problem and that there are people who do get offended by it.

“Unfortunately, students at Sterling High School have been using the “R” word a lot and they still are,” says Krumpelmann. “They are just not aware how offensive this is to kids with disabilities and this campaign is something that pays attention to this.”

Special education teacher Maggie Kilmer said, “Adults are very hidden from the word. I have a feeling that kids do not say it in front of the adults and that is why we do not know how much is used in the society,” she continued. “There is not supposed to be a ‘replacement word’ because we simply should not label people at all. Just treat them as they are.”

The things students could do in order to use this word not as often is to  pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people.  Students can do this online at the www.r-word.org and just spread and share their stories. The site has over 700,000 pledges given by people from all over the country and why shouldn’t you be one of them to give a pledge. Students use the “R” word as an insult and often times it could be replaced with other words. Those words could be silly, stupid, airhead, fool, goof, etc. The point is there is always another way of saying things and people should focus on that instead of just saying the word randomly.

“Everyone has a gift and the world would be better off if we recognized it.” said Timothy Shriver Chairman of Special Olympics on their website.

One of the special education students, junior C.J Iekel said “It is very sad to hear people say that and very disrespectful. Kids should pledge because that would be nice act to do.’’

The first of March is the Spread the word national date and Miss Krumpelmann told students about the website and how to pledge about this campaign.

“I think that a lot of kids use that word and they should at least try using other words with similar meaning,said  junior Jack Roys, special education student. “Students should pledge not to use the “R” word at all!’’

The pledge is act of respect and that is the only the “R” word that should be used in our dictionary.  The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory to many students and people and others should be able to control what they are saying and in front of whom are they saying it.

It is important to talk about this issue and at least try to prevent younger generations from using it but the truth is the change is not easy. First, we have to start from ourselves and make a change with ourselves and then spread the word with our friends, family and community.

There are many things that Sterling High can do to make kids with special needs feel like they belong.

“Mentoring programs or organizing extra-curricular activities with kids with disabilities is something almost every student at Sterling High could do and at the same time help another student” said Krumpelmann.

These kinds of things would help students with disabilities feel like they are the part of this high school equally as the other students.