Something about watching a thrilling horse race sends chills down your spine and creates goose bumps on your arms. Sometimes it is the horses that you least expect that beat the odds and surpass all the competition, these magnificant strides of great agility and speed enter the hearts and minds of people. These inspiring ledgendary horses and races will never be forgotten because they are embeded in the minds of our country.

The Triple Crown races include the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes; they determine the best of the best race horses.  Throughout history only a handful of horses have won all three. One of these horses was a thoroughbred named Secretariut. His amazing story caught the attention of the movie producers at Disney and they decided a movie should be made to tell his story.

Secretariut won the Triple Crown in 1973, contrary to the belief of everyone besides his owners that he would not have enough stamina to withstand the length of the last Triple Crown racetrack, the Belmont Stakes. But Secretariat did not just prove them wrong by winning by a neck and neck race, he won by an astounding 32 lengths of the track; he began this race by starting at the very last of the pack, as usual.

Secretariat’s number-one fan and owner, Penny Chenery, is played by actress Diane Lane and his famous trainer Lucien Laurin is played by John Malkovich. The story line is closely acurate on what actually happened with this historic horse. This movie is heart-warming and a great family movie. It is a movie about beating the odds and overcoming the obstacles that are set in front of you. Secretariat was an inspiration to his owners and all of the horse racing spectators.  He was the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and was, and, is still considered the greatest racehorse ever.

This movie is inspirational, thrilling and definitely worth seeing, I enjoyed this movie. You do not have to be an animal lover to appreciate the horse and his story in this movie, Secretariat has a message for everyone.

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Haley Butler

“I think we did really well in our season. There are improvements that need to be made for next season, but that is expected to happen. I think that we just need to practice practice to fill in our mistakes we have made,” sophomore Paige Weidner said.

They obviously had a great season with the record of 29-11, though unfortunately, Weidner said they copped out at the last of their games for the season.

“I think that maybe some of us were a little intimidated before we started and I think that the whole day we were playing more reserved than we should have. We just did not give it our all in those last minutes,”  junior Jaime Birzer said.

With such a great season comes along a lot of great memories, even though they did not play the best they could have at the end, they can still look back and say they had a pretty satisfying, illuminating and memorable season.

“There are a lot of memories that are amazing, but I would have to say my favorite memory is senior night, when we got to wear our pink jerseys,” Weidner said.

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Tayler Guge

“We didn’t play as a team on Friday,” said senior Robert Retzer . “We obviously weren’t cohesive on the field and it showed in the final score,” Rezter said.

This year the OHS football team has won only one game, against Prarie View on September 9. The score was 28-6.

This Friday OHS plays at Spring Hill, and for Homecoming, the game is on the eighth of October, they will be playing DeSoto. “If we play up to our capabilities we should win both of those games, but if we don’t play as a team and we play like we did on Friday, we will lose both,” said Marc Bergan, the varsity football head coach.

The following Saturday, the team had an early morning Saturday practice. On normal Saturday morning practices the team looks to see what happened that could be prevented by practice. Some of the parents of the players also make breakfast for the boys.

“We always have a Saturday practice to review the game tape,” Bergan said.

The players dreaded going to practice to watch their loss against Paola the night before. But this Saturday the team did not review the game tap; in fact, it was thrown away in front of the team.

“On Saturday we didn’t watch the game tape, Coach threw it away and put in a movie instead. All we did on Saturday was hang out and eat,” Retzer said.

“The purpose of throwing the tape away was to completely forget about the game because we played so badly Friday night. Neither I or the team wanted to relive the previous night,” Bergan said.

Mentally it was better for the players to watch a movie and eat breakfast together as a team instead of watching the game tape. It is helping the team forget about the loss, and it is helping them move on and focus on winning future games. Dwelling on previous games is not a way to win the future games. If the loss was that bad there is no reason to watch the game tape and look for the little things that the players did correctly.

Basically, the plan for recovering from this week’s game is to completely forget that it even happened. But can the whole team really do that? Is it really possible to forget a loss of that stature? Only time will tell if the team can focus on winning and playing together instead of playing as individuals on the field, then winning is a possibility. If they cannot get the memories of the game against Paola, then it will be very difficult for the boys to come out and play like a team and play like they have a chance to win.

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Morgan Fredricks

For some reason everyone forgets that almost every team has someone working behind the players doing tasks to keep the team running. They work and do not ask for much in return, but it is time to give them some credit. They do things that no one else has extra time to accomplish.

“It’s difficult but, it’s worth the effort to keep the team going,” said Ciera Gardner, a manager of the football team.

Managers are important to every team, and it allows the team to know that the jobs that need to be done are getting done. But being a manager means that there are a lot of jobs that need to be done. Filling water bottles, showing up for all the practices and games, and accomplish other jobs that seem small but in reality are important to keeping the team functioning correctly.

“My favorite part of being a football manager is knowing that I’m helping out and making an effort into something that matters to me,” Gardner said.

Basically being a manager for a team, no matter what the sport is, means you must do everything the coaches ask you to do, by the time they want it completed and be done the correct way. You also have to put a large amount of effort and energy into everything you do and to make sure that it is done right and to the best way you know how to do it.

“The most difficult part of my job is definitely putting up with the attitude I get for the guys on the team,” Gardner said.

But some managers are not managing just because they want to be, sometimes they manage the team that they would be playing on if they were not injured. “I’m managing because I have a torn ACL and am out for the season,” said Callie Shea

If you get injured before your season starts, sometimes one of the only things you can do for your teammates is to be doing things behind the scenes for them. It may not be exactly what you are looking forward to, but it is a way to keep connected with your team members and to keep up with what is going on.

“I tried to stay involved with the volleyball program,” Shea said.

All in all, managers are not simply on the sidelines to be seen, they are there to help the team and the coaches. Every team needs someone behind the line to accomplishing difficult and not so glamorous jobs to keep the team running.

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Morgan Fredricks

Many of the soccer players are looking forward to this season, expecting new challenges with a new coach. The upperclassmen are finding the most alterations, as they are now playing together with a new coach. Nathan Ward, senior, is anticipating his senior season.

“I think each coach has different tactics and skills they want to bring to the team and that is something we are experiencing right now,” Ward said.

The players are taking the transformations well so far. Many express their new coach as a new “friend” as well as someone they can look up to during their soccer career.

“I think he is a pretty cool guy. We get along pretty well and the team is taking the changes well also,” Ward said.

Though the boys soccer team has kept up a good reputation, many believe that with a new coach, they can become better. Of course, practicing diligently is the only way the players can improve their skills and overcome any challenges they may be facing, with a new coach there are new practices. David Wilson, senior, is also expecting a good season this fall.

“Just having a new coach in general changes things, but not always in a bad way. I think we will have a good season. For the most part, everyone is adjusting to any changes we are faced with,” he said

Many students as well as players are facing challenges and alterations during this school year. Though not all of them are on the soccer field, students, players, staff and faculty are adjusting to the changes they are faced with and finding a way to overcome them.

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Emily Leadbetter

Soon we realized the possibility was going to turn into reality. “I didn’t know what the reasoning for changing the schedule was, until they told us that it would save money by cutting classes and a few teachers. It then made a little bit more sense, but I feel as if it didn’t save that much money, but I don’t know all of the details,” Lacey Knight, Junior, said.

As we all are aware the school year has arrived and we have been experiencing seven classes a day, with only lunch and five minute passing periods as a break. That is quite a big jump from having only four classes a day, with C.A.T to study and to have a break from classes.

“When I first heard about the schedule I didn’t like that we were changing it because I feel like with block scheduling I had more time to study and do homework,” Knight said.

We have only experienced a little over a week with this new schedule but the students and teachers are realizing how much of an adjustment that we are going to be having to make. “It is not as bad as I thought it was going to be but that’s only because it’s the beginning of the year.

I think that as the year progresses it will become more challenging to adjust to,” Knight said. With such an adjustment that students and teachers have already made and continue making throughout the year, it is wise to come up with something to get the things done that need to get done.

“I think I will try to find some kind of system and try to stick with it. Trying to fit everything in will be a challenge, but I can do it!” Knight said.

Whatever outlook or view you have on the new schedule, it is not going to change, at least not for this year. So try to make the best out of the situation, think positively about it and learn how to manage time.

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Tayler Guge

When you walk through the mall, the local grocery store, the hallways, the park, when you are driving down a street, a highway, pretty much anywhere, you can spot a teen texting. Walking and texting, driving and texting, even carrying on another conversation and texting. I will not lie; I am guilty of all of these things. But just the other day while I was driving in my car, I saw a woman walking and texting down Cedar. She was wearing some cut-off jean shorts and a white t-shirt, the weather was quite warm, up in the high 80s, and she looked upon her phone with a disheveled look upon her face. Then, suddenly, her foot caught the curb and she fell to her doom. Obviously, I started laughing, it was a funny situation; the woman got what she deserved for texting and walking simultaneously.

Then I started to wonder, what sort of funny or interesting happenings do I miss because I am so absorbed in my cell phone? Imaging how many people I could see tripping, or accidentally spitting when they talk, or even shooting a booger out of their nose if my phone was not connected to my hip. Honestly, I am not even that attached to my phone. So if I am missing out on essential events in life, what are other technology maniacs missing out on?

Yes I know that everyone likes to stay in touch with one another 24/7 but maybe, just maybe some people will read this story. Maybe it will change their lives. Maybe they will put their phone down, and take a moment to watch those frisky squirrels messing around in the trees. I know I will.

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Dana Peterson

“For English when we were working on our papers, I left my jump drive at home, so I didn’t really know what to do. I also used to forget it all the time last year in my Internet class,” junior Crystal Holly said.

Holly brings up an excellent point. Junior thesis papers: A.K.A. the absolute worst punishment that a high school student will endure thus far- this final contains around 20 pages of information we have crammed into our brains through the year about a single theme of novels and research. Our teachers have reminded us over and over that if we are to lose our information or papers, we will fail. I would hate to be the one who lost everything that was on my jump drive the day that it was due.

“I went to edit my paper from my flash drive the day that it was due, only to find that it was not there. My advice would be to print a hard copy a lot and to save in more than one place,” junior Tayler Guge said. Luckily, she had already printed a hard copy before.

So you may be getting the picture about saving in more than one place, but many may feel like it would never happen to them. This may be true, but others will not be so fortunate. To rely solely on a small jump drive could lead to serious consequences, such as a failed grade because the one day you need it, nothing shows up.  This all goes back to responsibility for yourself and making sure that you take school and assignments seriously. In order to do so, save save save! Do not only save on your jump drive, save on your home computer, your school drive, and print off hard copies as much as possible! Although you may feel like you have nothing to worry about, it could happen to anyone.

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Angela Geist

However, cleaning up this oil spill is not an easy task. There is a major leak 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. That makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for cleanup crews to stop the leak. This BP oil rig does not have the safety precautions to shut down the machines sucking up the oil deep down, from the surface like other companies do.

The cleanup job is very expensive. Recently, President Obama announced that BP would be fully responsible for the cost. BP has already paid millions of dollars and will most likely pay millions more until the problem is fixed.

“The oil spill is probably going to greatly affect the surrounding countries,” Clayton Broyles, English teacher, said.

The oil in the ocean is expected to harm countries, like Broyles said, economies, under water life, beaches and much more. On May 2, Fox News announced that the oil is only about nine miles away from the coast of Venice, Louisiana, and is supposed to reach the shore within the day. The oil is also reaching Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and the fragile coral reefs in the area.

The seafood market has already been greatly affected by the oil. Due to the large amount of contaminated water and fish, the government has shut down many miles of fishing grounds. People may have to cut back on the fish they are eating for a little while.

Some cleanup methods being used are putting 74-ton metal and concrete boxes into the ocean to capture the oil. The boxes will be loaded onto a barge after they are full of oil. There is also a burning method being used. Oil is being corralled by fireproof booms and are being carried to a different location. However, the Coast Guard has been saying that most of the oil will not be cleaned up.

“The oil spill will probably lead to stricter regulations and to greater awareness,” Broyles said.

Projected Travel of Oil Picture
( Image from NASA)

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Kali Hinman