Pep Rally 2017

By: Gabi Sonnenberg

The pep rally is one of Sterling High School’s big events to get us ready for the homecoming football game, to set the mood.  

The 2017 pep rally started off with the SHS cheerleaders hyping up the crowd. Unfortunately the cheerleaders did not get to perform their state routine for the state routine. Freshman, cheerleader Alexia Cure said “Yeah I was disappointed that we didn’t get to perform our state routine, but of course I had lots of fun being able to cheer at the pep rally. It was an amazing experience and I’m happy I got to spend it with my sister.”  

The pep rally had fun mini games and challenges that students out of the audience got to participate in. One of the games consisted of senior volleyball players serving balls over the net while senior Golfers tried to catch them in huge pants. “It was my first year at Sterling high and I had lots of fun watching the pep rally.” Said Senior, Rayleen Brown.  

The football players of course had a chance to participate. Junior varsity and Varsity football players competed against each other, in an activity where they lined up single file and tried to pull every player through their legs without letting go of one another’s hand, and whoever finished the fastest won the game. Later two student council members competed in a lip sync battle, it was fun to watch and listen to and the students really enjoyed it. Freshman, Jaden Newson ended up winning that competition against junior, Jace Pittman. The students then had a game for the special needs students, and volunteer Kaitlynn Prelle. That consisted of scooters, basket balls, and balloons. Kids would race to do one layup, then run to the other half of the gym and back with a balloon, and then have their partner push them across half of the gym and back on a scooter. The students who played that looked like they really enjoyed themselves.  

Despite the fact that the cheerleaders were unable to perform their planned state routine, they led the crowd in cheers that thrilled students and staff alike. 

2017 Pep rally

By: Destiny Boden

Pep rallies have been around for ages but they change every year. No matter what changes throughout the years the initial goal is always the same, to get students spirit up. On September 29, 2017 some SHS students experienced their very first pep rally. Junior varsity football player Austin Garcia said, “it’s just a great experience as an athlete, to be able to recognized in front of your whole school.”  

Other students experienced what will be their last pep rally at Sterling High School. This includes senior softball player Grace Reeves. Reeves is on the varsity softball team and recently finished her last year of softball at Sterling High School.  

Reeves noted that the pep rally this year, “Was really well organized and a lot of the games were new and fun.” Reeves stated that her favorite part of this year’s pep rally was the siblings relay, which was one of the newer games. She said “I got to participate with my sister and it was so fun.”   

As for others this was just another year but it was still significant. Regan Wright is a sophomore this year at Sterling High School. Wright is one of our second year cheerleaders and has had a bit of experience with pep rallies in the past.  

Wright observed that the cheerleaders “ didn’t get to do the routine we had planned but the new girls had to work all summer to be able to do those dances and cheer at the beginning and end or the rally.”  She went on to say that this year’s activities were great and “The game where they called up siblings was new, it was pretty great.”  

This year’s pep rally had many new entertaining activities as well as old ones. From the siblings relay to the lip sync battle, this year’s pep rally was very notable. 

The pep rally was great and some students think next years could be even better. According to Garcia the only thing that could make next year’s pep rally better is , “A football players versus every other sport thing.” This would be super fun and interesting to see how it’s achieved.   

I think it’s safe to say that this year’s pep rally was super fun and accomplished its goal of getting the school hyped for the football game that evening. SHS latter went on to win the football game that evening and it was the best outcome one could hope for. 

Dress up Days 2017 Add Color

By: Emily Gemaehlich

During homecoming week, the Sterling High School had different dress up days for all four days of the school week. Anyone who wanted to participate in these dress up days could participate and each day, there would be a winner for who was best dressed. On Tuesday, it was sports day, Wednesday was superhero day, Thursday was decade day, and Friday was tiger spirit day. For sports day, freshman had soccer, sophomores had baseball, juniors had basketball, seniors had football, and the SHS staff had golf. 

My brother, Adam Gemaehlich (junior) said “I wore a Lionel Messi jersey.”  

The next day, we had superhero day and could dress up as any superhero that we wanted. On Thursday, we had decade day. Freshman had 50’s, sophomores had 60’s, juniors had 70’s, seniors had 80’s, and teachers had to dress up like millennials of 2017. 

Freshman Arabella Melton said “I wore a 50’s style dress with red heels and a red sweater.”  

Every year, in honor of the homecoming game, Sterling tiger spirit day on Friday. 

Melton said, “I wore my cheer uniform.” For tiger spirit day, a lot of people wore orange tutus with black suspenders and a white tee shirt. Many students did not like a lot of the dress up days. Some would like to change it. 

Gemaehlich said, “To have a day where you can wear your work uniforms because a lot of people in my class voted for that.”  

Melton said, “Sports day, I’d rather be able to have choices with the sports we dressed as.”  

Students are hoping for better dress up days next year, but overall everyone had fun. 

2017 Homecoming Dress up Days

By: Kobe Wilson

    The Homecoming dress-up days were definitely interesting this year. With this being Sterling’s first year of the four day week, there were less days to dress up than normal, and all four days had their own special theme. The first day was Sports Day and the freshmen dressed as soccer players, sophomores as baseball players, juniors as basketball players, seniors as football players, and teachers as golfers. The second day was Superhero Day with students dressing as superheroes like Superman, Batman, The Flash, and the real heroes, the Military. The third day was Decade Day, which means the freshmen dressed like they were from the 50s, sophomores from the 60s, juniors from the 70s, seniors from the 80s, and teachers dressed like teens from today. The fourth and last day was Tiger Spirit Day with the majority of students participating on this day; Sterling showed the spirit this town has for their school.  

Freshman, sister of senior Grace Reeves, and softball player Emi Reeves said, “It was fun. I liked seeing all of the creativity.” It was definitely fun for all students and teachers who participated. Those who didn’t had certain reasons to why they didn’t. 

“I just never wanted to,” junior and three sport athlete Colton Shalla said. He also said the themes were “very boring” this year. Others who didn’t participate can probably agree. Many freshmen who didn’t dress up said they didn’t have anything to look like a soccer player on Sports Day.  

Sophomore football player Grant Brammer said it was “actually super fun,” when he dressed up for Decade Day, though he said he was one of the very few to participate in his class. Grant said, “Maybe a public vote and the three most voted themes get picked.”  

Overall, most people enjoyed the dress up days and think this is a fun tradition. Those who didn’t dress up just treated it as a normal week and didn’t have the same fun everyone else did dressing up. There were some adjustments that could be made to these days like Grant said. This week is a very fun way for students to show their Tiger spirit.

2017 Football; Season Wrap up

By: Jayden Newson

Friday night lights, there is nothing else like it. The fresh Cut grass, the roaring of the crowd, whistles being blown, the adrenaline running through your veins. The SHS football season had all of the things that makes Sterling Tiger Football the best way to spend a Friday Night. For some, this last time they would ever get the feeling.  

Isaac Harris a junior, position wide receiver, had a special bond with this year’s senior class. He said, “I’ll miss the relationship I had with each of them.” Harris also talked about how each one was different and he loved each of them in their own way. Harris’s best game in his opinion was playing against the Eaton Reds during the regular season. With three touchdowns and one of those a kick return. “Bodie and I were just clicking on all levels, we were just in sync” His favorite memory from this season was hot tubbing every Thursday before games. “It was a relaxing and pregame routine.” he stated.  

Senior, Bodie Hume is our former quarterback. Who has been our varsity quarterback for three out of his four years at SHS. Hume is an extremely talented athlete who had two outstanding games this season. “It depends on the perspective of others. I had seven touchdowns in the game against Fort Lupton, but I threw a pick. I threw five touchdowns and two running against Valley with zero picks. So it all depends on the person.” he said. Hume’s favorite memory from this season was when he threw a touchdown pass to every receiver during the Fort Lupton game. “I’m really going to miss the guys and coaches I played with. There a lot of memories there that I gotta cherish with those guy, .” Hume said. Hume’s advice to underclassmen, “Just put work in! It’ll get you as far as you can imagine with a great heart and putting work in.” 

Senior, Christian Rose has played multiple positions, wide receiver, safety, a punter and lastly  kick returner. Offensively, Rose’s best game was D’Evelyn, and defensively it was against Resurrection Christian. “The feeling of getting to put on the black and orange, and go ball out [play] with my brothers in between the white stripes. I’ll remember the friends I made more than anything,” Rose recalled for his favorite memory. He says he is going to miss everything about football: “…The grind,coaches,teammates. Friday night lights. If I had to put it down to one thing, it would be the feeling of just catching a football, and making plays on the gridiron, there’s nothing like it in the world.” Rose’s advice to underclassmen is, “When you don’t feel like giving your one hundred percent in a drill, or you don’t wanna lift in the offseason, do it. Always go one hundred percent cause before you know it, it’s over, and you don’t have anymore chances. Always give your best effort and attention on everything you do.”  

Coach Rob Busemente has been the head coach for the Tigers for five years. Busemente felt that overall they had a pretty good season. “We had set goals and some we had achieved. The key was the guys controlling the process to get the goal.” However,  There was not just one thing they are planning to focus on next season. Busemente talked about improving each other in all aspects, and he talked about trying hard to  improve every year. “Whether it’s working on making sure no one is ineligible, just all kinds of things.” He stated “The seniors did a good job in the leadership aspect and accepting the role that they had.” Busemente said.  

With only three home football games the Tigers did not disappoint. Winning every game and having a blowout homecoming game to ice the cake for homecoming week. The Tigers ended up falling to Eaton in the first round of playoffs 24-13. They finished with 7-3 record this season. We are proud of you boys. 

Lady Tigers Volleyball

By: Camden Shepherd

The volleyball season comes to a close with the Lady Tigers continuing a six year streak of making it to the state tournament. This streak has made history for Sterling High School. Even though the Lady Tigers fell to Lutheran in the last set, spirits stayed high and no drama ensued. Head coach Lisa Schumacher, Allie Schumacher, and Lauren Luft can all confirm this. 

Lisa Schumacher has been the volleyball coach for many years and for many years we have been dominate in this sport. She has over 400 career wins and she earned the 400th win on our own home court, along with her daughter, Freshman Allie Schumacher, on the court. Coach Schumacher recently received the prestigious Pioneer award for her excellence in coaching. Coach Schumacher has been an inspiration for the team, even when she was just an assistant coach. Schumacher is a strong head coach and can coach just about anyone. 

Schumacher was asked what her favorite moment from this season was. Schumacher replied, “Beating Colorado Academy, after being down 0-2 and winning the next two sets and the final set to go to state.” Coach Schumacher was very proud of how all of her girls worked together as a team as friends, but even more importantly, as a family.  

When asked what she would miss most about this year’s graduating senior class she said, “I will miss their leadership and hard work. They were lots of fun and had great attitudes. They were cooperative and had a great willingness to teach the younger athletes.” Schumacher took responsibility for these girls and she has grown to love every minute she’s with them. The seniors will of course be missed, but there is much potential rising with every new face that comes to the program. 

Finally when asked what advice she had for the upcoming players, Schumacher responded happily with her own philosophy. “Work hard and keep a good attitude for the team. The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Head coach Lisa Schumacher has truly been an inspiration and leader for all of the girls that have gone through this program. 

Coach Schumacher’s own daughter, Freshman Allie Schumacher, started her first year on the varsity as a setter. Freshman Allie Schumacher is proud to say that she was on the court and contributing to the team when her mother got her 400th win of her coaching career. Allie Schumacher had 12 Kills, 122 Digs, 30 Aces, and 291 assists just this season. Allie Schumacher definitely contributed to the good vibes throughout the team. 

Allie Schumacher has big plans for her future, as she states, “I want to play college volleyball somewhere BIG! I’m also aspiring to be a pediatric nurse someday.” Freshman Allie Schumacher may be making big plans, but she also takes time to notice the little things in life. Whether it was the awesome bus rides, the occasional dance moves shown off at practice, or even the crazy team talks before a game. 

Freshman Allie Schumacher did however, have a role model this season. “I definitely looked up to Senior Kyndall Feather the most. She is an amazing player and is going to do big things someday. Kyndall is game smart and by far has the best ball handling skills. I’ve looked up to her ever since she was a freshman.” Freshman Allie Schumacher chose Senior Kyndall Feather because of her amazing talent and skill. Feather truly inspired Schumacher to be who she is today. 

Lauren Luft is a senior with some impressive skills. Luft usually ranks near the top when it comes to kills. Though she is now preparing for college, she plans to continue to the next level of her volleyball career. Luft was asked what she would miss most about high school volleyball, she responded, “I’ll miss being able to play with the team and how close we all were.” Luft would miss the special bonds she made with her teammates most of all. Luft also said, “My favorite tradition was when we would all go and get food with each other, or even when we would make the volleyballs that we would throw into the crowd.” Luft was saddened to see her final high school season go by, but now she is preparing for college and what lies ahead 

The Sterling Lady Tigers Volleyball Program has been an elite program for many years. The team has been dominant and prosperous and shall continue to be so. As the program grows, so do it’s skills. This has been proved many times, but recently by Head Coach Lisa Schumacher. Schumacher has recently won the distinguished Pioneer Award for her excellence as a coach. From the players, the coach, even to the fans, this program is growing. A new year is coming, bringing new faces and new challenges to Sterling Lady Tigers Volleyball. 

Softball; Building for the Future

By: Baylee Dorcey

It was a rather successful year for the Sterling softball team. The start of the season was rocky, with four losses to kick-off the season, but the team quickly managed to turn it around. With a combination of hard work and effort, they made it to the playoffs. They ended the season 11-11. Both the coaches and team consider it a successful year. 

 Kaitlyn Filer is a junior who plays left field. In 2018, she hopes to make varsity and enjoy her final year of softball.  Her favorite memory from the 2017-2018 season is when she ran from third base to home, missed the tag and scored. When asked what her biggest regret was she said she wished she caught more balls.  

Filer’s advice to future players is “Follow your heart and don’t give up.”  

 Brooke Polenz is a senior who plays short-stop and has loved softball for as long as she can remember. She is proud of her team due to the vast amounts of improvements that were made this season, but one thing she would change about this year is the outcome of the state tournament. Polenz stated that she’d miss the friendships made through years playing softball at SHS. Her favorite memory of this season was the bus rides to and from tournaments, and all the fun she had with her team along the way. 

“We’d listen to music and talk. It was a lot of fun.” Polenz said.  

Polenz’s advice to future players is “Always give it your all and play every game like it’s your last.”  

 Coach Maggie Kilmer has been a Lady Tiger softball coach for the last 3 years.  

“There was quite a bit of improvement and we made it to the playoffs, so it’s been a good year,” Kilmer said. 

Her favorite memory of this year was the first inning of the state tournament. The first and third hitters both hit home runs, which got the team off to a good start.  

Kilmer’s advice to future players is “Always get as much experience as you can.”  

 Marty Smock is the assistant coach for the SHS softball team.  

“We’re losing five seniors, all five very good, productive parts of our team, but with that being said, we have two freshmen pitchers and a sophomore pitcher… with all the players we have and the new players coming in, I’d say Sterling has a very bright future for the next 4-5 years.” Smock said regarding the seniors, and the team altogether. 

His biggest regret of the year was the injuries the team sustained over the course of the season.  

Smock’s advice to future players is “Always work hard enough to be at your best.”  

 As Smock has predicted, the years will be bright with all the wonderful future and present players of the Sterling Lady Tigers Softball team. Their ability to make a turn-around from four losses to eleven wins and eleven losses provides reason to be optimistic for the next season. While this season may not have made it out of the park, as the old saying goes… There’s always next year!  

2017 Homecoming Dance

By: Violet Taylor

The night of September 30th the SHS had its annual homecoming dance. The dance took place the night after the homecoming football game. The dance was held in the Tiger Den and students danced away the night with friends/dates. 

Senior Andrea Hahn said her favorite part of the night was “When Mr. Appelhans started singing Play That Funky Music.” Hahn also said, “They played You Shook Me All Night Long and I really enjoyed it because I actually knew it and it’s a classic.” I asked Andrea if she was sad about this being her last homecoming dance and she replied, “Not really because I’ll probably go to some more because I have younger friends. Also it’s just a part of life. There’s more to come and I’m just lucky to have had such a great experience.” 

That’s right, the assistant principal Mr. Appelhans made quite a performance when he sang along to Play That Funky Music while the students cheered him on! 

Junior, Makaiden Pace had a blast at the 2017 homecoming dance. “They played Humble by Kendrick Lamar and it was fun being united as a school and screaming Humble.” said Junior Makaiden Pace 

Junior, Kahlei Fleckenstein also enjoyed spending time with her peers during the dance. “I enjoyed the Get Low because it was funny watching the student body be one.” 

The song selection at the dance was great for all the students and it seemed like everyone really enjoyed it. It was definitely nice watching everyone have a good time dancing and enjoying the music. 

The night soon started to wrap up as the crowd began to tire out, but all good things must come to an end. The 2017 homecoming dance was definitely one for the books. 

Homecoming Dance 2017

By Cristen Kircher

This year’s homecoming was very good according to a few of our foreign exchange students. I have heard from some of our foreign exchange students, including Valeria Rivoli, Sabrina Roedler, and Robert Muller, that our homecoming was nothing like what they have and it was a great experience. It is a new experience for them and it was something that they have not seen before. 

Junior Sabrina Roedler “The best part was just to see how an American Homecoming dance would look like. The whole dance was great and it was a new experience for me.” Sabrina also noted that she feels “student council did pretty good decorating and setting up for the dance. 

She also said “My favorite song that played was closer by the Chainsmokers because that is the only song that I knew. They do not have dances like Homecoming in schools in Germany and we don’t listen to any country music.”  

The same applied for Robert Muller. He says that the best part of the homecoming dance was 

“I got to know some students which I didn’t know before, and the dance over all was great.” 

Muller feels that student council did well on the decorating. He feels that the dance was very organized and the decorating was awesome. Roberts’s favorite song that played was Closer by the Chainsmokers, along with Sabrina. This is his favorite song that played because He said, “I love this group and I feel that they make great music that is fun to dance to. In Germany they don’t have dances like this endless you graduate, finish an exam, or you can go to a club.”  

Junior Valeria Rivoli enjoyed being able to attend an American Homecoming as well. She said, 

“My favorite part about the dance was being able to get ready with my friends and take pictures all together.”  

Rivoli also likes how the dance was set up and thinks student council did well. 

Rivoli says “I liked how it was set up and decorated. I really liked all of the Mexican songs that played because they were fun to dance to. Most of the songs were more quiet and kind of hard to dance to because they were not to popular.” Said Rivoli. Overall she says she really enjoyed the dance because “It was nothing like what I have experienced before.” Our foreign exchange students at SHS learned some new moves and learned some new songs with an American accent. Dancing is for everyone. 

Second Lives

By: Amanda Ferguson

This year Sterling High School is welcoming six exchange students to its campus. Valeria Rivoli from Italy, Tamika Brown from Australia, Khulan Khashbaatar from Mongolia, Marek Marko from Slovakia, Sabrina Rodler and Robert Muller from Germany.

All six of these exchange students are excited and happy to be here in Sterling and attend SHS. Although Sabrina and Robert live in Germany they go to different types of schools. Sabrina goes to a school that is similar to a charter school here it is called a Gymnasium. Robert goes to a type of public school there. In their home countries Khulan, Marek, Tamika and Valeria all go to public schools. The exchange students say that they like Sterling.

Valeria said, “I like Sterling because I don’t really like big cities.”

Sabrina said, “I like the landscapes.”

Some of the students are not staying the whole school year. Tamika is staying just until winter break. She is leaving because her school year in Australia starts in February. Tamika would like to be home for her senior year. Sabrina is also leaving at winter break. She is leaving because she is homesick. She says that it’s too far for too long. However, they would like to enjoy the five months they are here. As for the other students they have every intention of staying through the whole year.

The students chose to come to America for a lot of different reasons.

Sabrina said, “I wanted to see what the school was like and how it felt to live here.”

Tamika said, “I wanted to come so I could open my mind and explore the culture.”

Khulan said, “I want to improve my English, and live like an American teenager.”

Robert said, “I want to improve my English and learn about the school system and culture.”

The students all really love being here in America. They are trying and doing really well at adjusting to the culture here. They all say it is very different from where they are from. Especially the difference in school systems.

Valeria said, “The biggest difference is that my Italian school we stay in the same class all day long and the teachers walk to the different classes.”

Marek said, “The difference would be that you get to choose the subjects here.”

Robert said, “The fact that you get lockers, my school you have to pay for lockers.”

The students want to accomplish a lot while they are here, some want to make friends; others want to join clubs and athletics. However all of them want to see what it’s like to be an American Teen. Sabrina and Tamika both hope to make friends; while the others want to improve on their English.

Each one of the students has their favorite teacher. Khulan’s favorite teacher is Miss. Feaver.

She said, “She is funny and one of the reasons i choose science.”

Robert’s favorite teacher is Miss. Biallas.

He said, “She keeps motivating everyone and it’s just fun to work with her.”

Valeria’s favorite teacher is also Miss Feaver.

She said, “She really explains the topics well and she finds fun ways to teach things so we can comprehend them.”

The students also have a favorite class. Sabrina’s favorite class is English.

She said, “She really likes the way Mr. McGuiness teaches. He can get the point across.”

Tamika’s favorite class is weight training.

She said, “I like having the class to exercise in. the students are really friendly.”

All six exchange students are getting comfortable and accustomed to their second lives here in America. They all really like being here.