Examples of Excellence (Dec/Jan)

Nike's Singing Missiles sang the National Anthem at The Wrestling Club's Tournament hosted at GEHS on Sunday, December 3. Four of Nike's singers also competed in the tournament as wrestlers.

4th Grade - Walker Hale, Jackson Wood, Mattie Kroh, Harper Robinson, Khaleesi Morse, Aspen Bowyer, Layla Haskins, Lilah Cochran, Renee Stone; 2nd Grade - Robbie Akright

For the past few years, the GEHS Student Council has picked a weekend in December to stand out in front of Price Chopper and collect items for families in need during the holiday season. This year on December 9th and 10th from 10:00-2:00 they collected donations for the Hope Market here in town. They filled their entire trailer (picture is attached) and collected monetary donations of over $300. They were able to help many families! It was quite a success!!

Two high school students in the Video Production I class worked together on a video story about the GEHS band competing at the Neewollah festival on October 31 in Independence, Kan. Despite the rain and cold weather, Isabel Wallis, senior, went on the bus with the band and filmed all day and into the night, while Leilanni Lascon, junior, performed with the band. Afterwards, Leilanni took over the project as the editor and did the voice over. The project was presented on the Blazer News Center broadcast and won third place in the Kansas Student Press Association monthly contest for November. .

From The Kansas City Star:

Scientists visiting a woodland area of Mexico in 1965 captured a delicate creature with colorfully patterned wings. The animal turned out to be a new species — but it would take almost 60 years, a dedicated researcher and a group of eighth graders in Kansas to discover that. As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down classrooms around the world, Isaac Russell, a teacher in Topeka, came up with an idea to keep his eighth-grade students engaged while learning from home. He contacted Tanner Matson, a moth researcher, with the idea, Matson wrote in a study published Dec. 14 in the European Journal of Taxonomy. Matson was studying a group of moths from Mexico that had been “historically overlooked,” the study said. These Stamnodes moths were known for their “ornate” patterns and selective feeding behavior.

Russell’s interested students could join a research team to learn about “evolutionary biology, systematics, biodiversity, Mexican biogeography, and the process of describing new species,” Matson wrote. At the end, the “small group” of eighth-graders “came together and named a new species that Tanner Matson had discovered,” Russell wrote in a Dec. 14 Facebook post. The students named the new species Stamnodes aumatlapalli, or the “golden wings” moth, the study said. “Aumatlapalli” is a combination of the Latin word for “gold” and the Aztecan Nahuatl word for “wings.”

DISCOVER MORE NEW SPECIES Thousands of new species are found each year. Here are three of our most eye-catching stories. → 8-eyed creature — with personality like 'Satan' — discovered → 'Ghost'-like creature with 'ample' genitalia found at power plant → 'Cryptic' 3-foot-long creature found in mangroves of Myanmar The “golden wings” moth has wings that can reach about 0.6 inches in size, Matson wrote. Photos show the new species. Seen from above, the moth’s wings are a creamy gold coloring with brown tips. Seen from below, its wings have an almost leopard-like print made of irregular brown and white blotches.

“Golden wings” moths live in “pine-oak woodlands” and have been found in six Mexican states, the study said. Their distribution area stretches from Tamaulipas state along the Texas-Mexico border to southern Guerrero state along the Pacific coast. Matson discovered 34 preserved specimens of the “golden wings” moths in archive collections. The new species was identified by its pattern and genitalia, the study said. Matson also analyzed its DNA but could not compare it to related moths because of a lack of data. Russell’s former students who helped name the new species are “about to graduate,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Thank you, Tanner, for sharing such a cool opportunity and experience with our students,” Russell said. Matson also discovered 15 more species of Stamnodes moths, the study said. Neither Matson nor Russell immediately replied to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Dec. 15.

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article283094513.html#storylink=cpy

Students in Krista Mealman’s Computer Applications classes take industry recognized credential exams each semester. These certifications give GEHS students a competitive edge as they apply for jobs and follow career paths in the future. The Microsoft Office Certification exams are challenging and we are proud of our students who earned the industry designation at the conclusion of 1st semester. 17 students successfully received a passing score for a total of 34 certifications.

In addition we had the following number of students score in the top ten across the state :

Word 365-

6 students including Daniel Jones who got 1st place with a perfect score.

PowerPoint 365 -

6 students including Maclin Schmeeckle who scored in 1st place

Excel 365

4 students with Cody Soda scoring in 1st place.