by Gabe TuggleJunior• • •

Fall break- a time for students and teachers to unwind and reflect on how the new school year is going so far. Some students see it as a time to go on a vacation, while others see it as a time to sleep in and just be lazy. Some enjoy the change in weather while others not so much. The students of Mercer County all tend to enjoy their fall break for the most part. Local sophomore Ruben Bacon said he used his spare time to go “backpacking in Daniel Boone National Forest.” Other students, such as, sophomore John Perkins said “I went on that trip to Europe.” He is referring to the Europe trip that was hosted by teacher Mrs. Milburn.

It is apparent that all students use their time off differently and like taking time to just think about their life. When asked why he thought students enjoyed fall break so much, freshman Justin Kimerly said, “It’s a time that we don’t have to go to school and we can just relax,” which is very true, at least from the perspective of most students. Others see it as a boring week of no school and nothing to do. Kimerly said he used his spare time to “just play football.” All in all, fall break is beneficial to students and teachers alike. Many use it as free time to catch up on much needed sleep, while others enjoy traveling and taking a vacation. A home away from home.

Falling for Fall Break

TITAN TIMESISSUE NO. 13

MERCER COUNTY SENIOR HIGH/OCTOBER 24, 2014

On October 17th, 2014, all of the football,

marching band, cheerleading, and dance team seniors got a chance to walk down the football field with their families and friends. For some, this would be the first and last time. Taylor Lawson, marching band senior, said, “It was very scary but I still had tons of fun.” Taylor plans to pursue a career in the medical field, although she is undecided what exact route she is going to take.

Football seniors include Dakota Baldwin, Joey De Giovanni, Malik Ford, Noah Vandivier, Layne Peavler, Grant Willmott, Alli Long, Austin Sparrow, Dylan French, Deron Bartleson, Mason Richardson, Lorenzo Smith, Matthew Raskin, and Ashlin Kendrick.

The marching band seniors were Aalayah Purnell, Anna Mollett, Kaleigh Davis, Kristian Crank, Ashton Logue, Ashley Rice, Wyatt Harris, Lucas Powell, Gillian Casey, Maggie Baker, Misty Carter, Cassidy Bennett, Kayla Preston, Jacob & Sarah Mullins, Ecasia Burrus, and Taylor Lawson.

The cheerleading seniors were Rysee Smith, Kelsie Devine, and McKaylah Robinson. Dance team seniors included Chloe Rogers, Lydia Brodeur, Kayla Crawley, and Ebony Burrus. Although excited, many of the seniors were overwhelmed and someone overcome with a feeling of sadness when they got to the arch at the end of the 50 yard line and were recognized as members of the Class of 2015, knowing that their senior seasons are coming to a close.

Fall Senior Nightby Madeline Yankey

Junior• • •

by Gage RedimarkerSenior• • •

HOW IT PREPARED ME FOR MY FUTURE

Since the sophomore year of my high school career, the largest student organization in the nation, Future Business Leaders of America, has instilled a passion for competition and hard work unlike anything that I have ever experienced. My sincere and truly passionate feelings towards being a part of this student organization was lead and nourished by my own personal desire to grow and expand into greater and better things, but was also influenced by a teacher whom left us this year from the vocational school, Mr. Damian Laymon. I know it’s hard to imagine, but FBLA is by far the largest student organization in the nation, and much larger than FFA throughout the country. In our school, those roles are reversed; FFA has a very large size of students compared to FBLA’s on average 20 students, but the organization will always continue to push and develop student’s skills on several areas; these include, but are not limited to: public speaking, accounting and business finance, computational skills such as

website designing and graphic design, but also includes the scope of artistic creations, and the simple fact is that FBLA is an organization meant to cover a vast horizon of technical and useful skills, and help students around the nation and world develop those skills into a truly useful and resume-worthy skill-set. Not only was the organization put in place to improve student’s skills and improve their life, but the dedicated advisors from around the country are what make the organization truly what it is. Mr. Laymon to me was not only my teacher; he was an astounding teacher to not only me, but all of his students of the classes that he taught; he was an advisor who helped me refine and narrow my skills down to what I was truly gifted at; but most importantly, he helped instill and create a powerful and  resilient work ethic in not only me, but all of his students, and one of the focal points that I had taken from  my two years of being a student of his, is to put your head down, do the work you need to do, and then have fun afterwards once everything is taken care of, but also to always live in the moment and enjoy

what you have – and in my case, I am now reflecting upon the work ethic and the mindset that he helped instill, and truly embracing and understanding how much of a help that really has been, and there is nothing I would ever be able to do to return the favor. Yet, at the end of the day today, I will be able to take a moment in consideration, and understand that I have honestly tried to express my thanks towards him, in the form of this article, and when it all comes down to it, all that matters will be how you see yourself, if you’ve been honest and true with everything you’ve done, nobody will ever be able to take that away from you and that is a moment you will forever cherish, like I have with the memories I’ve gained, along with the honor and privilege to be mentored by such an influential and remarkable teacher… advisor… and most importantly, a friend.

Future Business Leaders of America

School Lunch’s New Lookby Emily Crace

Senior• • •

In the past, the consensus on school lunches hasn’t been the best. Now, the hard working cafeteria staff are hoping for better results. With a whole new set up and menu, they are hoping to offer more meal choices and sides to gain more student and staff customers. In the new and improved cafeteria system, there are three meal stations. The Titan Deli, on the left side of the kitchen, will hold a salad bar and sandwiches and wraps. The Titan Grill, in the middle, will have grilled food items and regular staple-food sides. Then The Cafe, on the right, will serve things like spaghetti and tacos. Cafeteria staff member Pricilla Blake said she can already see positive results. “The students really seem to like the new food. The only thing we need to work on is the set up of the line system,” said Blake. “We have a whole new menu that will hopefully appeal to more students.” With this new menu, the staff is doing a lot more cooking, rather than just preparation. Pricilla added, “I want the students to try something new. You never know what you like until you try it!”

Record Making Man

by Kasey HalcombSenior• • •

Peyton Manning entered Sunday night’s game just three touchdowns shy of breaking the record for all time touchdowns that was held be retired QB Brett Favre. Demaryius Thomas got to have the honors of catching Manning’s record breaking touchdown pass on 3rd and 1 and just barely got his feet in bounds. The pass made it a 21-3 lead over the San Francisco 49ers. The

stadium roared and all of the players cheered because they knew that their quarterback had just broken the record, now leading the NFL with 509 career touchdown passes.

The Broncos ended the game beating the 49ers 42-17. Manning said it was quite an honor to have the record and Brett Favre

immediately took to twitter to congratulate Manning on his monumental achievement.

I interviewed Randy Martin on his thoughts about Manning breaking the record. Randy said, “Manning deserves it. He’s the best quarterback in the NFL and he’s put in enough work to have the record”. When asked if he thought Manning would keep on adding to the record, he said, “Of course. It’s only half way through the season and Peyton Manning is no way near retiring”.

Top 5 Halloween Hotspots Near Harrodsburgby Audrey Johnson

Junior

• • •• Devine’s Corn Maze in Salvisa. Admission is $5. Get lost in the maze but not too lost, and pick out a

pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, too.

• Fright Night located in Lexington at Jacobson Park. The cost is $25 for the chance to explore three different trials.

• Terror on Tates Creek, also located in Lexington. Only $12 to go through the creepy crawly haunted house.

• Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville. The cost is only $20 for a night in an old tuberculosis hospital.

• Hustonville Haunted House which is located in Junction City. Admission is just $15 for this exceptional house of horrors.

Haunted Welcomes

by Ashley HallJunior

• • •

Harrodsburg has many places that people think are haunted. One of these places is Diamond Point: The Welcoming Center to Harrodsburg. Diamond Point was built in 1840 as a home. Many of the current employees believe that it is haunted. Julie Wagner, the executive director, said, “I have heard a typewriter when no one else was there, horse whips, little girls laughing, and sometimes I can smell burnt foods when I’m the only one there.” Many of the other employees claim to have encountered the same things but at different times.

Kentucky Shadow Chasers, a paranormal investigation group, came and did an overnight reading. They captured an apparition and according to the article on their findings, those are very hard

to catch on camera. The Chasers have been invited to investigate two other buildings in Harrodsburg, the oldest settlement west of the Alleghenies, and the group already has looked into other buildings in the county.

DIAMOND POINT

by Lindsay TurnerSenior• • •

According to Mercer County High schools students, the question “are ghosts real or not?” has a definitive answer. After asking both seniors Winnie Cheng and McKaylah Robinson if they had ever had any scary ghost encounters, both replied no. But according to huffingtonpost.com, the article “Spooky Number of Americans Believe in Ghosts” by Lee Spegeil states that nearly 45% of Americans believe in ghosts, or that the spirits of dead people can come back in certain places and situations. When asked if they believe in life after death, 64% replied yes. While 59% of adults do not believe they’ve ever actually seen a ghost, 43% also don’t think that ghosts or spirits can harm or interact with living people.

Ghastly Ghosts

What’s a catchy headline for Ebola?

by Dylan FrenchSenior• • •

As you and everyone else in the world know, there’s apparently an Ebola outbreak. What do you know about ebola? If you’re like majority of us, you more than likely have no idea what to think about the virus. It seems people’s opinions on the matter fall into one of two categories; there are those who don’t really see ebola as a threat and ignore the media hype, and then those who believe ebola will wipe out the human race.

Junior, Gabe Tuggle said, “The thought of Ebola spreading throughout the United States without the government doing something about it is absurd.” Most people around here share the same beliefs as Gabe. Most don’t really think that a disease such as ebola could possibly take over the United States. Ebola is real and it is dangerous without a doubt, but to freak out and to be constantly scared of catching it is simply a

waste of time. Ebola in the United States is controlled. Those believed to have the deadly virus were immediately quarantined until a 21 day period was up. For now the United States is safe from the spread of ebola for the most part.

From the Editorby Emily Crace

Senior

• • •

Thank you so much to our readers and hardworking staff! Lots of hard work go into every issue.

We are opening up an email account for you, the readers, to send in story suggestions and letters to the editor! Send any ideas you have to mercer.journalism@gmail.com!

Have a wonderful week at Mercer County Senior High!

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