!e team had only three drivers instead of the usual "ve, so performance in the actual game su#ered, but the team made up for it in the other categories, like table display and speech.

Junior Rebekah Blakely was on the speech team, in charge of talking up the robot to judges. “We go in as if we’re doing a business meeting trying to sell our product, which is the robot. I was the marketing lead and I did most of the market slides and stu#, so at one point I talked about ways we publicized, our demographics, our budget, stu# like that. I did bad compared to game day, but I feel like it went okay.”

“I was really surprised at how well we did at spirit and we got a lot of compli-ments,” said Youse. “We really feel we did well, we were competitive against champi-ons from other states, that makes it even more di$cult to do well at those places.”

21 schools from six di#erent states were present, even though 32 were supposed to attend. !e weather was problematic for all schools, not just the Rockets.

!e top three schools in each state get

Rose Hill High School

THE ROCK-IT NEWS Volume 13 Issue 8 710 S Rose Hill Road, Rose Hill, KS 67133 December 18, 2013

See page 5

See p

age 3

See page 6

Senior Erin Walls rolls out the paper to cover the walls in prepara-tion for Snoball. KAY Club spent months preparing for the event, and it showed through. Photo by Mark Blauser.

Senior Justin Mann and junior Olivia Vest, along with Sponsor LeAnn Youse, are presented the prize for Most Robust Robot. Photo from Mrs. Youse.

Last Saturday night, everyone got dressed up fancily, grabbed their dates if they had one, and went to the highly anticipated dance, Snoball. !is dance has been on everyone’s minds for months.

Haydock and Helton chosen Snoball royaltyKole WrightAsst. News Editor

Despite the weather, the robotics team made it to regionals in Fort Smith, Arkan-sas to compete with the best of the best in BEST.

Sudden winter weather proved chal-lenging for the team. “We had to scramble to leave a day early and we weren’t able to take the full team so when we were down there…there was no break time,” said science teacher and TSA/BEST sponsor LeAnn Youse.

Robotics competes with teams from six other states at regional game day

The best of BEST

to advance to regionals. !is means the team had to do well at the state game day, held in early November. “We got a trophy for third place, which means a high grade on the notebook, the presentation, the table display, spirit, sportsmanship, and then also scored decently with the robot.”

Full results are not yet in, but Rose Hill

took home at least one award, starting with ‘Most Robust Robot.’ “!at’s because they never had a breakdown during the middle of the round and were able to score every round at least some points,” said Youse.

Meredith BartleyAsst. EditorFeature EditorCopy Editor

Senior Justin Mann and junior Byron Aberle operate the robot, Commodore, at regionals. Photo by Mrs. Youse.

Even back in October, girls were talking about who they might ask and picking out their dresses. Guys were either waiting to be asked or preparing to break precedents and ask girls.

!e event, put on by KAYS club, took a lot of preparation and work on the parts of the members.

“We had one meeting where we decided the theme,” said KAYS President junior

Haley Slade. “!en we had another meet-ing where we decided what we wanted to buy.”

!e event included a snack table, loud music, masks everywhere, and, of course, dancing. “I think Snoball went really well. !is year we had about 370 people buy tickets, and the dance was really fun,” said Slade.

“I think every year it gets better and

better,” said KAYS Sponsor Teri Koster. “I think that every year, we learn a little bit more about how to decorate and where to put things so that they don’t fall down, and so that people don’t tear them down halfway though the dance.”

Students walked into a beautiful room, with gossamer draping from an el-egant chandelier and masks covering the walls. Photo by Mark Blauser.

Senior Kayli Helton was crowned Snoball Queen and senior Harrison Haydock was voted as Snoball King. Photo by Mark Blauser.

See page 6

See page 3

ROCKET OPINION December 18, 2013Page 2

Big Sean’s new album, Hall of Fame, has been topping charts lately. All of his songs tell a story that relates to his life at the time. Photo from KempireDaily.com.

!e Rock-It News is the o"cial publication of Rose Hill High School, located at 710 N. Rose Hill Rd, Rose Hill, KS. !e paper is produced by the Digital Media Design and Production class. !e newspaper is published bi-weekly from September

to May. Contact Journalism Sponsor Butch Gilbert at cgilbert@usd394.com for advertising information.2013-2014 Newspaper Sta#

Chandler BoeseEditor-in-ChiefLayout EditorSenior

Meredith BartleyAsst. EditorFeature EditorCopy EditorJunior

Colby WoodsNews EditorSenior

Joe NivisonSports Co-EditorSophomore

Armando MendezSports Co-EditorSophomore

Gabby FarrisAsst. Layout EditorSophomore

Nadia KhalidiAsst. Feature EditorJunior

Kole WrightAsst. News EditorSophomore

Kristin DonaldsonPhotography EditorSophomore

Haley Can!eldAdvertising Mgr.Social Media Mgr.Senior

Adam HenwoodPhotographerReporterSophomore

Devon HayesReporterSophomore

Ti"any NaillieuxReporterSophomore

Nathaniel GreggAsst. Social Media Mgr.Senior

Reed StrawnCartoonistSenior

Alex HeidenReporterSophomore

Azure JabesReporterSenior

Butch GilbertJournalism Sponsor

Winter break is "nally here! !at means that it’s time for "nals and Christ-mas lists, parties and shopping. It’s a time to spend with family and those we love. We hang up the decorations and wrap the gifts. We may bake Christmas cookies or go to church. But there’s one focus that we sometimes forget: the needy.

It’s important to be with your family at Christmas, right? But who’s to say whom you call family? Is family anyone you love, or anyone related to you, or anyone who lives in your house? In some ways, every person on this earth is family. We’re all distantly related, but that’s not what I’m talking about. We are all people, living in the same society, with wants, needs, desires, hopes, and issues. Deep down, we all have the same values. And ultimately, we all deserve to have a good Christmas.

A good Christmas is more than hav-ing gifts or food to eat. It’s about being with your family and feeling loved by them. Some people can’t even have this. !ink about the military families who aren’t going to get to see each other this Christmas. !ink about the families who

have lost someone dear to them. As you celebrate the season with your family, keep in mind that not everyone is as lucky as you are. Be thankful that you were blessed to be able to spend this Christmas with your family.

After you take a minute to say thanks for the joys blessed upon you, do some-thing about it. Drop your change in the Salvation Army bucket outside Walmart. Make a contribution to our local Adopt-a-Family program. Clean out your closet over break and take your old clothes to Goodwill. If you’re going to have a good Christmas, try to pass that love on to a family who needs it.

!is isn’t only go-ing to bene"t them.

By throwing a few dollars in that little red pot, you are doing good for yourself as well. Who doesn’t feel a little bit of warmth by donating cans to the food pantry? !at warmth is what Christmas is about. Christmas isn’t about the gifts

A Merry Christmas for al lwe receive. It’s about the ones that we give. It’s about putting others before us. !at’s why it’s so important to help others during the holidays. !e true joy of the season comes from spreading it.

Rap and hip-hop artist Big Sean released his album Hall of Fame this fall. !e album featured artists Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, and many more. Sean began the album with the song Nothing Is Stopping You. “It not only tells my story of how my dreams started unfolding, but see-ing the same dreams in somebody else. !is is a song for the dreamers, man. James Fauntleroy and Pharrell’s vocals make this some-thing special — my mom is on it too,” said Big Sean. Sean dropped a record song titled Beware. He said, “It was a song about my girl at the time, we were in and out of relationships and I wanted her back.” Sean wanted to be on top, wanted to move up in the totem poll.

In “Its Time,” Sean is saying that it’s time for his success, and time for his life to be lavish. Big Sean, during the making of this album, was dealing with his mother’s battle against breast cancer. World Ablaze is the story of him and his ex-girlfriend’s relationship while his mama was dying.

Sean ends the album with Guap, which is a fun and up-beat song. “I %ew out there to L.A to work on his mix tape and my album. When I got to the studio, he had recorded a reference of a song. It was like, ‘Man I think this could be a really big song, make a beat to it.’ I was in the studio, and he texted me the voice memo, and I kept listening to it, and

he was like, ‘Man, make it with this type of bounce. Make it like a really big song.’” You can purchase Hall Of Fame on iTunes for $11.99 and the deluxe for $15.99.

Lyrics from RapGenius.com.

We all want the Hall of Fame

Adam HenwoodPhotographerReporter

While the "rst installment of the Hun-ger Games series made more than enough money, it never felt like a movie. !e camera was always moving, the story was half baked, and it never came into its own. It almost felt like a movie trying to be the next Harry Potter. In Catching Fire, it grows out of any shadow that it may have fallen under originally. !e title "ts the movie. !e series is "nally catching "re.

!e director of the "rst movie, Gary Ross, was often criticized for his use of a shaky camera view. Francis Lawrence, no relation to the "lm’s star Jennifer Lawrence, nearly eliminates all of the topsy turvy feelings. !e story is clearly explained, and the dilemma of kids kill-ing kids from the "rst "lm is solved in this one. In the 75th hunger games, the tributes must be existing victors. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark must go back into the games against people who have won before. No one decent ever wins the games, Katniss says. I would have to agree with her. In order to survive, she becomes a killing machine. She ends up killing several people, while maiming many more.

The Hunger Games catches fireDonald Sutherland, who portrays

President Snow is cold and ruthless. Not extravagant, simply threatening. Unlike the capitol, who saw Katniss’ refusal to kill Peeta in the "rst "lm as an example of love, Snow realizes that it was an act of rebellion. If Katniss wants to survive, if she wants her family to survive, she must convince Snow and the public that there was no rebellion in the games. It was only to save her own skin. Peeta Mel-lark is played by Josh Hutcherson, who does a fairly good job portraying nice and friendly Peeta. So far, Peeta hasn’t needed to have more than one emotion, but when he does, I for one am quite curious as to how Hutcherson will adapt. Jennifer Lawrence was %at out phenomenal. Does anything else need saying? Reserve an Oscar for her brilliant, chilling, and mov-ing performance of the girl who saved her sister, ended up surviving, and now must live with the consequences of murder, before going back and doing it again.

Overall, Catching Fire improves on every facet of the original. !e next two "lms, Mockingjay part 1 & 2, will bring more depth to Peeta’s character, depth that he sorely needs. Out of "ve stars, Catching "re earned four and a half.

Nathaniel GreggAsst. Social Media Mgr.

ROCKET FEATURESDecember 18, 2013

land, according to the U.S. Geo-logical Survey, contains 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural

gas and 15% of the undiscovered oil.

It is complicated as to whether Canada can actually claim this stretch of land. !ey have yet to fully map out the area, and Rus-sian submarines left a "ag in the north pole seabed in 2007.

Page 3

Nelson Mandela, a former South African president, died last !ursday. Photo from constoriumnews.com.

!is past !ursday, the world lost a historic #gure. Nelson Mandela, aged 95, died in his Estate in South Africa. Mandela was a strong anti-apartheid lead-er. He went to jail for 27 years for this. When he was released, he became the #rst president of South Africa to be elected in a fully democratic election. He has been helping the people of south Africa to gain freedom ever since.

In other news, Canada intends to lay claim to the north pole. It #led a preliminary submission to a united nations commission. !e stretch of land they want is highly contested. Tensions with Denmark, Russia, and the United States were raised, as this piece of

Last week, the Uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Jang Song !aek, was removed from a political meeting by the North Korean police. He was arrested for a string of criminal charges, including womanizing, drug use, and corruption. A Korean news agency reporting said, “Jang and his followers committed criminal acts ba$ing imagination and they did tremendous harm to our party and revolution. A%ected by the capitalist way of living, Jang committed irregularities and cor-ruption and led a dissolute and depraved life. Jang pretended to uphold the party and leader but was engrossed in such factional acts (such) as dreaming di%erent dreams and involving himself in double-dealing behind the scenes.”

What in the world is going on?Kole WrightAsst. News Editor

Ryan Hill is the industrial technology teacher at RHHS. He teaches Cabinet Making and Furniture Design I & II, Intro to Industrial Technology, Residen-tial Carpentry I & II, Drafting, and Architectural Drafting. Hill has been teaching for seven years, Labette County High School for three years and four at RHHS.

Hill grew up in Parsons, Kan-sas and graduated from Parsons High School, he then later at-tended Pittsburg State Universi-ty. Growing up he did not always want to be a teacher. “I wanted to be a professional baseball player and everything else like every other little kid,” said Hill.

Hill also co-sponsors the RHHS Robotics club with Sci-ence Teacher Lee Ann Youse. He is also the assistant football coach and coaches baseball for RHHS.

Hill leads a busy life at home with his wife and four kids. “Besides changing diapers and playing with my children, doing whatever my wife wants me to around the house,” said Hill.

“What I like about Rose Hill is my name being everywhere,”

Hi l l bu i lds a good re lation-ship with RHHS

said Hill “I like working with the students and my coworkers, the people around here are enjoyable to be around.

If he was ruler of the world, Hill’s #rst law would be, “to up-hold the constitution of the USA and the laws in which the states have governed except the really dumb ones. Like in Missouri you can’t drive down the highway with an un-caged bear in your car... Well I might keep that one.”

Gabby FarrisAsst. Layout Editor

Industrial Technology Teacher Ryan Hill has been teaching at Rose Hill for four years. “What I like about Rose Hill is my name be-ing everywhere,” said Hill. Photo by Kristin Donaldson.

ROCKET NEWS December 18, 2013Page 4

After a rocky start to their season, the debate team !nished up their season on Tuesday, December 10. Since they have such a small team, made up of all novices, they take typically only take two or three groups to matches.

"is year’s case revolved around economic engagement of the United States in Cen-tral America, speci!cally the establishment of wind farms in Mexico. "is !nal match went better than expected, even lead-ing the team to medal.

“Christian Boudreaux and Maci Carlson teamed up and took second with an almost per-fect score both in speaking points and with their total record. "ey were just one point from being

Debate season comes to a close

perfect, which is very hard to do,” said Debate Sponsor Mark Blauser.

Over the course of the year, despite starting with all new members, the debate team man-aged to improve on a variety of things. Everything from basic speaking abilities, articulation of their argument, cross-examina-tion skills, and even the way they prepare their cases was improved on. Blauser is hoping for an even stronger team next year, but that depends on how many people come back. Even the opportunity to make it to state could be pos-sible in the future if a majority of the team returns next year.

“Debate is always kind of touch-and-go as to who comes back. "is was a completely nov-ice class. "ey were all !rst years, so we couldn’t qualify for state because novices in debate don’t

qualify for state,” said Blauser. In regards to the season as a

whole, both Carlson and Bou-dreaux agree that the season was o# to a tough start, but turned out to be better at the end. “We sort of got o# to a rough start but by the end we did really well. We medaled out of about 40 teams,” said Carlson.

“"e debate season went pretty well for how little our team was. I think it went pretty good,” said Boudreaux.

Carlson isn’t sure yet if she’ll return to debate next year, but hopes to improve on getting on her case sooner if she does. Boudreaux doesn’t plan on doing debate or anything related in col-lege, aside from just the general elective class of speech. Congrat-ulations to the debate team for a fantastic season!

Colby WoodsNews Editor

After a season of growth, eight Rocket football players were rewarded with placement on the all-league team. "ree players, seniors Garrett Forsberg and Harrison Haydock, and sopho-more Brett Bonar, were also honored with honorable mention at the state level.

At league, the honor of !rst-team wide receiver was awarded to Haydock. Forsberg was voted as second-team linebacker and second-team running back. Senior Logan Gardner was on the second-team for his season as defensive back and freshman Gri$n McBride earned second-team special teams and honor-able mention as wide receiver. Second-team o#ensive lineman was given to sophomore Brody Hingst and honorable mention defensive back was awarded to

Eight football players earn league honorsThree awarded state recognition

junior Drew Rodman. Bonar was recognized as honorable mention quarterback, while junior Ray Boese III was given honorable mention o#ensive lineman.

State-wise, Haydock was given honorable mention split end and Bonar was recognized as honorable mention quarterback. Honorable mention linebacker was awarded to Forsberg.

“It’s always great to get honors. But I have to give credit where it’s due and there is no way I could have accomplished any-thing without everyone else on the team,” said Forsberg.

Haydock said, “As the begin-ning of the summer, as a team, we set goals for the season, and things we want to work toward. I also set some high expectations for myself, but anytime I am able to be awarded all-league and all-state I am very thankful. I owe a lot of it to my quarterback Brett Bonar who I had a strong

connection with.”In regards to the all-league se-

lections, Head Coach Ray Boese said, “We wished we would’ve of gotten a few more, but we were pleased that people got recognized for their outstanding contributions.”

As Boese looks forward to next season, he feels optimistic about the future. “Next season, I’m very excited about the youth. We’ve got almost our whole of-fense coming back,” said Boese. “We’ve got a great future of football here at Rose Hill High School.”

As a whole, Boese will miss one thing about the seniors more than anything else, “"ey were there at the state championship. "ey remember that feeling. "ey know what they wanted. I think sometimes the other kids don’t realize how hard that championship team worked.”

Chandler BoeseEditor-in-ChiefLayout Editor

Seniors Logan Gardener, Garrett Forsberg, and Harrison Haydock’; junior Drew Rodman; and sophomores Brett Bonar and Brody Hingst earned all-league honors. Junior Ray Boese III and freshman Gri!n McBride not pictured. Photo by Kristin Donaldson.

In their annual joint concert, the band and choirs celebrated the season with both classic and new holiday songs.

"e band performed !rst, playing !ve holiday selections hand-picked by director David Bartley. Said Bartley, “I thought we played very well.”

Starting o# the concert was Symphonic Prelude by Claude T. Smith, based on the melody of O Come All Ye Faithful. Next was an unusual arrangement of the classic Silent Night. “We worked on good tone qualities and play-ing in tune, it was a nice tune for that,” said Bartley.

"e third song, Midnight Sleighride, featured junior Naomi Johnson and sophomore Ashlee Lasch on %ute and had quite the story accompanying it. "e song comes from the Lieutenant Kiji suite by Proko!ev, the soundtrack for an early Russian ‘talkie.’

“It was about a Russian soldier they invented didn’t really exist. "e brass got really excited about it and they gave him promotions and pay raises, and they even had

‘Any time you add sleigh bell s it becomes Christmas music’

a fake wedding because married o$cers got paid more. "is guy never existed so eventually, they had to kill him o#.”

While songs from the movie are not traditionally a holiday song, because Midnight Sleighride is about a Siberian sleigh, it sounds like it !ts. “Any time you add sleigh bells it becomes Christmas music,” said Bartley.

Next was Bartley’s favorite, Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head, an Appalachian folk song. Ending the band’s portion was a light arrangement of Good King Wencelas.

After a short intermission, the elite choir Rocketaires took the stage. "ey sang !ve selections, including the Carol of the Bells.

“"ey just knocked it out of the park,” said director Brian Stranghoner. "e combined choirs sang !ve songs as well, considered standard literature by Stranghoner. “We just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.”

"is was Stranghoner’s !rst holiday concert here in Rose Hill. “I felt it went very well. Extreme-ly well. I’m very pleased with a lot of our work.”

Meredith BartleyAsst. EditorFeature EditorCopy Editor

Every year around Christmas time many tuba and euphonium players gather and perform Christmas songs. "is event takes place at several locations all across the US and some places in Canada. It is free to watch and anyone may attend. "is year is the 40th anniversary for Tuba Christmas. "e Tuba Christmas held in Kansas City was even broadcasted on the news.

RHHS band director Jim Hollingsworth took !ve students to Salina on Saturday, December 14. "ey arrived at Kansas Wes-

Tuba players celebrate Christmas

leyan University and practiced the Christmas songs for about an hour.

Afterwards, the group traveled to Salina’s mall and performed. "ey played many classic carols like Deck the Halls, "e First Noel, Go Tell it on the Moun-tain, Silent Night, and many more.

"is was junior Nicole Buehler’s second Tuba Christmas. Buehler plays the euphonium. “My favorite part of the event is when we play in the mall, be-cause it’s awesome to see all the people stop and stare in wonder-ment and some people even start to sing along,” said Buehler.

Gabby FarrisAsst. Layout Editor

ROCKET FEATURESDecember 18, 2013 Page 5

Seniors Alex Poynter and Maddy Nelsonwere awarded the Business Student of the Month awards. Poynter photo by Kristin Donaldson and Nelson photo by Chandler Boese.

The Special OnesNarrative

Part 3Colby WoodsNews Editor

Peter Tchoikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet was !rst performed on this date in 1896. Photo from lubbockintheloop.com.

Christmas is a special time of the year. Every family has their own traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Some people like Cindy Bradford, member of the Rose Hill Historical Society, want to make new ones.

Five years ago, Bradford wished to herself there was something she could bring ev-eryone in to “old town” Rose Hill to celebrate the holidays. “I came up with the name Hometown Christmas because it sounded old fashioned and country,” Said Bradford

!is will be the "fth annual

Hometown Christmas event. It has grown from a three hour gathering at Rose Hill Histori-cal Museum to an all day a#air that begins with breakfast, before moving onto a Holiday Hustle Run, and gingerbread house construction, along with live entertainment.

To work up to this now huge event, they start planning in January and meet every month of the year. Having a commit-tee of about 8 people that gets everything ready for this one day. Bradford said, “ !ere is fun to be had by all and the small-town feel is my favorite part of the day. It is a lot of work, but well worth the e#ort.”

But the United States aren’t the only people who celebrate

Christmas. Every country has their own way of celebrating this special day.

In England, Everyone gath-ers around the tree the day before as someone tells a classic holiday story, A Christmas Carol. Children write a letter to Father Christmas with their wishes and toss their letter into the "re place so their wishes can go up the chimney.

Ethiopia follows the ancient Julian calendar, so Ethopians celebrate Christmas on Janu-ary 7. !e Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s celebration of Christ’s birth is called Ganna. All of the families attend church, everyone dressing in white.

In Sweden, the Christmas festivities begin on December

13 with St. Lucia’s Day. !e eldest daughter gets up before dawn and dresses as the “Queen of Light” in a long white dress. Wearing a crown of leaves while singing “Santa Lucia,” the Lucia

Queen goes to every bedroom to serve co#ee.

All of these places, including Rose Hill, have a special way of celebrating the holiday season. How do you celebrate it?

What’s your Christmas tradition?Kristin DonaldsonPhotography Editor

Last Hometown Christmas, a local family provided free car-riage rides around town. "e popular event will be back this year. Photo from Cindy Bradford.

As fast as he’d come in, Mat-thew pulled his coat over his shoulders while Lillian was rushing o# to "nd hers. A couple seconds later she reappeared at his side, giving him a reassuring glance as he $ung the door open. !e rain had let up the slightest from earlier, giving the towns-people an even greater chance of catching them. Not bothering to shut the door behind them, Matthew ushered Lillian on the back of the horse. He fumbled to untie it from the post as he heard a familiar voice slice through the air like a whip.

“Matthew and Lillian Gates. I hereby charge thee with witch-craft. Sin is at the price of death,” Mayor Morrison shouted.

By this time the crowd of angry townspeople were nearly "fty feet away, anything but understanding expressions on

their faces. “Burn them at the stake!”

Someone shouted. “Witches!” Others screamed.

“Let’s go!” Lillian begged, looking over her shoulder fear-fully.

Matthew snapped out of his daze and immediately climbed onto the horse, digging his heels into her side. It seemed that was enough to spark rage in the rioters, as one person sent a shot ringing o# into then night. Mat-thew urged the horse forward to the left side of the house but was met by some more rioters, driving him back. !e smell of burning wood "lled the air as what started as a small $ame, turned into a thick inferno.

Someone threw a torch into the house, causing Matthew and Lillian’s home of many years to spark a"re. Matthew urged the horse in the other direction towards a visible break in the

rioters. Smoke burned his eyes and "lled his lungs, causing him to break out into a "t of coughs. Out of seemingly nowhere a bullet brought his would-be escape to a stop, embedding itself in his right thigh. With a cry he toppled o# the horse into the thick undergrowth, landing heav-ily on his other leg.

“Matthew!” Lillian screamed. “Go,” was all he could yell

before men converged upon him. !e last thing he saw was the

glow of the $ames as something heavy came down upon his head, rendering him unconscious. Lil-lian screamed as tears cascaded down her face, mixing in with the rain that had her soaked from head to foot. She took her husband’s last words to heart and pushed the horse forward, nar-rowly escaping into the stormy night.

!e very "rst event on this date happened way back in 218 BC. In the Second Punic War,Battle of the Trebia- Hanni-bal’s Carthaginian forces de-feated the army of the Roman Republic.

On December 18, 1719, !omas Fleet published Mother Goose’s Melodies For Children. It is a book of illustrations, sto-ries, and songs for children.

!is date in 1777, the "rst

national !anksgiving Day oc-curred in recognition of British Army O%cer John Burgoyne’s surrender.

In 1787, New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the Con-stitution.

In 1796, !e Baltimore Moni-tor was the "rst U.S. paper to be published on a Sunday.

On December 18, 1896 Peter Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet premiers.

Last but not least, on Decem-ber 18, 1996 Nadia Mae Khalidi was born.

This Da y In H is toryDe ce mbe r 18

Nadia KhalidiAsst. Feature Editor

Month to month, business teachers at the high school nominate a business student to

be featured. Students that are selected must take multiple busi-ness classes, make good grades, and be a senior. !e students obtain their name on a plaque and are featured in a business

window outside of Business Teacher Sidney Shelman’s classroom.

October’s featured business student is senior Alex Poynter. “I like to work with numbers, and Mrs. Shelman makes business classes really interesting,” said Poynter.

She has plans to at-tend either Fort Hays State University or Wichita State University to major in business. When asked what she wants to do after college, Poynter said, “I have not decided,” For fun, Poynter likes to hang out with friends.

Many students enjoy having had Mrs. Shelman for a teacher.

What makes her so special? “I like the way she teaches; she’s strict but keeps the classes fun,” Poynter said.

November’s featured business student is senior Maddy Nelson.

October and November featured business students are Alex Poynter and Maddy Nelson

Nadia KhalidiAsst. Feature Editor

“I like business classes because they teach me real world skills I will have to use every day,” said Nelson.

Nelson plans to attend Kansas State University and go into accounting or pre-dentistry. “After college I plan to "nd a job, get my own place, and start a family,” said Nelson. For fun, she likes spending time with her friends, cheerleading, and going to the lake.

“My favorite business teacher would be Mrs. Shelman because not only is she a great teacher, but she makes sure you under-stand things and makes class fun,” said Nelson.

ROCKET SPORTS December 18, 2013Page 6Basketball teams begin their 2013-2014 season

!e Rose Hill Rocket bas-ketball teams kicked o" their 2013-2014 season by traveling to

Emporia on Decem-ber 10. Both the girl and boys’ teams had match-ups against the Emporia Spartans.

!e boys’ basketball team took the lead in the #rst quarter scoring nine points, while Emporia only scored two. However, in the second quarter the Spartans not only outscored the Rock-ets, they took the lead. At the end of the #rst half, the Spartans were ahead 20-17. !e two teams battled back and forth for the next half, but unfor-tunately the Rockets came up short, ending

the game with a score of 43-40. Senior Gabe Nickel led the team with 15 points; junior Alek Santo trailed closely behind with ten. Nickel said, “I think we played really well and we’re going to build up from here. We had a lot of people that played their #rst varsity game so it was an inter-esting experience.”

!e girls’ basketball team also had a close match against the Lady Spartans. !e two teams fought back and forth in the #rst half and it ended with a Spartan 22-25 lead. In the third quar-ter the Rockets were outscored 2-18 by the Lady Spartans. !e Lady Rockets fought hard in the fourth quarter to catch up with Emporia but were just slightly out of reach. !e game ended with a score of 43-60. Senior Autumn Lipscomb led the team with an outstanding 22 points.

Both basketball teams will

Senior Gabe Nickel tries to score on a Spartan on December 10. !e Spartans ended up winning, 43-40. Photo by Shelly Beckham.

Senior Autumn Lipscomb throws the ball in after the Lady Spartans score. Photo by Mendy Rushing.

Haley Can!eldAdvertising Mgr.Social Media Mgr.

play again in Mulvane on Friday. Girls play at 6:00 and boys play at 7:30. Nickel said, “It’s always a

good game against the Wildcats. Both teams are very competitive and always show up to play.”

Finals Schedule!ursday, December 19, 20131st Hour 7:50 a.m. 9:10 a.m.3rd Hour 9:20 a.m. 10:40 a.m.

“A” Lunch 10:50 a.m. 11:20 a.m. “A” Class 11:20 a.m. 12:20 p.m.“B” Class 10:50 a.m. 11:20 a.m.“B” Lunch 11:20 a.m. 11:50 a.m.“B” Class 11:55 a.m. 12:20 p.m.“C” Class 10:50 a.m. 11:50 p.m.“C” Lunch 11:50 a.m. 12:20 p.m.

5th Hour 12:30 p.m 1:40 p.m.7th Hour 1:50 p.m. 3:05 p.m.

Friday, December 20, 20112nd Hour 7:50 a.m. 9:10 a.m.4th Hour 9:20 a.m. 10:20 a.m.

A” Lunch 10:50 a.m. 11:20 a.m. “A” Class 11:20 a.m. 12:20 p.m.“B” Class 10:50 a.m. 11:20 a.m.“B” Lunch 11:20 a.m. 11:50 a.m.“B” Class 11:55 a.m. 12:20 p.m.“C” Class 10:50 a.m. 11:50 p.m.“C” Lunch 11:50 a.m. 12:20 p.m

6th Hour 12:30 p.m. 1:40 p.m.Make-up 1:50 p.m. 3:05 p.m.

!is year the Rose Hill wres-tling team has been su"ering in numbers due to illness and injury. Although through this de#cit, they still manage well with what they have.

Varsity has attended two tournaments this year, El Do-rado Dual Tournament and the Douglass Goodwill Invitational. On December 7, they ventured o" to El Dorado, but only placed

Wre stl ing te am se e ks succe ss fu l se asonseventh due to injuries, but still won 21 out of 25 matchups. !is is a great accomplishment for the wrestling team. !is past weekend they went to Douglas for the Goodwill Invitational. Sophomore Christian Polk, after missing practice due to illness for a week, still won one match out of the two he wrestled. Senior Kyle Locke was unable to wrestle this weekend because of ACT. Senior Captain Jake Wilson won, pinning one opponent in 1:42, earning one major decision and then another decision 9-4. !e

season looks promising although the loss the Rockets have suf-fered this year.

Junior varsity has seen two matchups as well this year. !is past weekend they competed in Wellington for the JV tourna-ment. All but one of the wrestlers made it to semi#nals, but only 3 won the tournament. !e JV team is looking good this year with new prospects and future varsity wrestlers. Freshman Quentin Geren went 0-2, sopho-more Brody Hingst took fourth and junior Ashtyn Cody went

Joe NivisonSports Co-Editor

3-1 and took third place. In his second tournament ever, sopho-more Gabe Hollis took second place along with junior Jake Lewis. Freshman Killian Russel won, going 4-0 at heavyweight. !e JV team is staying strong and hopefully these wrestlers can advance into the empty spots the varsity team so dearly needs.

Come and support the Rockets this !ursday at their double dual with Wellington at Augusta and this Saturday for the home JV tournament.

Junior Ashton Cody faces o" against a El Dorado Wildcat at the dual meet. Photo by Sierra White.