FCCLA

by Sharon Cal/Megan Lannholml

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is proud to announce that while attending the FCCLA State Leadership Conference in Columbia at the end of March, three of our members took First Place Gold in the STAR Events competition. They were Kourtney Cantrell, Cassie Dishman, and Chasity Reaves.  They were entered in the “Focus On Children” category.  They not only took first place but did so with a perfect score of 100!  These girls are now eligible to compete at the FCCLA  National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida in July.  Their project was titled “Healthy Indians,” where the girls worked with a group of 4^th and 5^th graders since early fall, concentrating on teaching them about the benefits of  healthy eating habits (including making a healthy snack each week) and exercise (also including a weekly activity).  Their charts, graphs, and students quotes were displayed on a rotating pyramid and included a short video shown on a television set into the pyramid.  Their 10-minute presentation also included a speech.  These girls impressed the judges and other FCCLA members from many schools both in southwest Missouri and across the state.  Their project was exceptional and the girls looked very professional.  They will represent Missouri FCCLA well!  A big thanks to Megan Lannholm, who is a co-advisor of Strafford FCCLA.  She spent many hours working with these girls.  Coincidentally, the last time Strafford took a project all the way to Nationals was when Mrs. Lannholm (then Megan Goad) and her partner advanced to this level 15 years ago in Anaheim, California.  At that time, we were still known as FHA.  The scope of FCCLA, as with Family & Consumer Sciences, has broadened and is more relevant today than ever for our young men and women who are sharpening their leadership skills in their families, communities, and careers.  Congratulations, girls.  You have made this school, community, and state very proud!!!

The end of the year is almost here and FCCLA is ready to elect officers for “08-’09. We thank our members for all their hard work this year and we look forward to an even more successful year involving more of Strafford High School’s future leaders.     

FFA

by Duane Fabro

Congratulations to the following FFA members who all received first place at the Area 12 proficiency award screening:

                Jim Lile - 1st place Outdoor Recreation               

Nick Knotts - 1st place Ag Mechanics

            Kathy Strothiede - 1st place Home and Community Development

            Monica Dishman - 1st place Diversified Horticulture

            Chad Fisher - 1st place Turfgrass Management

These students will go on to compete for the state proficiency award in April.

Journalism

by Bev Zieres

Misty Atkins and Shauna Smith both received honorable mention for their yearbook copy, caption and headline writing at the Ozarks Publications Advisers Write-off contest on March 12.

During the contest the students are given information and they write a story, captions for five pictures and a headline, and turn in the package within a two hour time frame.

Also competing were Katie Frazier and Samantha Wolfe in yearbook copy writing and Nikki Orchard and Maggie Tortat in news/feature writing.

Nikki and Maggie listened to a speaker for about 30 minutes and then had an hour and a half to produce a feature story for the newspaper.

NHS

by Sandra Turley

On February 16th the NHS held our first annual Dodgeball Tournament and it was a huge success. Teams and spectators got into the spirit of the game. People are already asking about forming teams for next year's tournament. We were also successful in raising $700 through team admission fees and concessions.  We have asked Mr. Soden to allow us to hold the tournament twice next year; once in the fall and once in the spring.

NHS officers learned some valuable lessons about leadership, planning, and delegating through the planning of this event. They will use the funds raised to help restore the one room schoolhouse project and the officers are looking into the needs of the new community park out on Bumgarner Street. Officers are also researching ways to use some of the funds to benefit their school community.

Science Fair

by Geri Brown

Congratulations to the following students for placing in the MLC Science Fair:

                Amber Risco and Katie Frazier placed 3rd in Environmental                                  

            Ben Weeks placed 3rd in Health

Spanish Compition

by Dennis Westcott

Several students from Strafford placed in the top five at the Hispanic Studies League Competition which took place in Marionville on January 19.

                Brock Rostam - 2nd place 1st year Poetry                      

Merry Yeager - 2nd place 2nd year Poetry

            Drew Binam - 3rd place 1st year Vocabulary

Tim Cooper - 4th place 2nd year Poetry

            Brock Rostam - 5th place 1st year Vocabulary    

Kristin Corlies - 2nd place 2nd year Vocabulary

            Chelsea Gamble - 4th place 1st year Project Competition             

Andrea Sleeth - 3rd place 2nd year Vocabulary

In the Culture Bowl Competition two teams placed in the top five.

                Keaton Galindo, Jake Triplett, and Kelsy Johnson - 4th place                    

            Jacob Gilmore, Ethan Trogdon, and Joe Preston - 5th place

Speech Team

by Huston Ward

Congratulations to the following students for placing in the District Speech Tournament on Friday, February 29:

                Cameron Vance - 1st place medal in Radio Speaking                               

            Merry Yeager - 8th place medal in Story Telling

Student Council (HS)

by Missy Devlin/Lisa King

Spring Blood Drive - The SpringBlood Drive was held April 21, 2008.  We obtained 86 units of blood and qualified for the Level II scholarship which is $1,000.  The scholarship will be divided between two seniors and was presented to them at the Awards Assembly on May 7.

Warm Fuzzies - On May 6th, Student Council again had the entire student body particpate in "warm fuzzies".  Each student and teacher were given a necklace which had a ball of strings attached.  Students took a string from their necklace and tied it onto a friend's necklace while saying something positive.  This is the third year for this activity and it was back by popular demand!

Teacher Appreciation - Student Council worked with FTA to recognize teachers during the week of May 5 to May 9.  We had a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast on May 2nd, and then the following week took turns giving the teachers goodies every day.

2008/2009 Student Council Members -  Application have been completed and turned in.  The following students will be your 2008-2009 HS Student Council:

            President – Tim Cooper

            Vice – President – Katelyn Goins

            Historian – Anessa Alexander

            Secretary – Kayla Davidson

            Activities Coordinator – Tayler Filler

            Senior Representatives – Abby Eubanks and Brittany Bracamonte

            Junior Representatives – Misty Atkins, Samantha Lurvey, Brittany Bumgarner

Sophomore Representatives – Conner Wilson, Lauren Vicat, Brittany, Bain, Jaclyn Hankins

            Freshman Representatives – still being voted on