Well that was exciting. Homecoming week is always a fun one for everyone. A stressful one for a lot, but fun all the same. There is so much going on during homecoming week that you frequently miss the hard work of those who put everything on. For starters, Mrs. Sides took over Student Council sponsorship this year and did an amazing job of putting on spirit week as well as the Homecoming Court and Dance. This is no small feat as these things alone have an incredible amount of planning that has to go into them. What amazed me was that Mrs. Sides looked like a duck on the water all week. She seemed totally calm and collected and had everything under control. However, underneath, you know she was constantly running through all the different scenarios and doubling down on her scheduling to make sure everything went well. And it did go well. Not just well but amazing.

In addition to the homecoming spirit week activities was the pep rally lead by Brandi Fritz and the cheerleaders. This might have been the most fun pep rally I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. The houses came up with their own cheers, the kiddos cheered great. Not to mention that we fill up the whole gym during a pep rally now and not just one side of the place. It was a good time to be a Cobra.

The final raw amount of planning that had to go into all the athletic competitions this week. Thursday we hosted three events in three locations. If you came and watched one of those games and thought that it was well put together, you can thank Brad Alley for his countless hours of hard work. He had to schedule 8 different referees, 17 different staff positions, Score reporting for everything for all the games, and coordinating with all the different schools. By the end of the night, he was dead on his feet, but he turned around and did the same thing for the Varsity football game the next night.

We also had a few daily activities going on this week that were new and fun. The seniors put on the Senior Soak where students paid to pour an ice bucket on their favorite seniors and staff. I do feel like there was a vendetta against Mr. Moore as he probably had the most buckets dumped on him. Also the Sophomores sold root beer floats during lunch time.

All in all, homecoming is one of my favorite weeks of school. There is a lot going on and it required a lot of moving pieces but it is all worth the stress when it is said and done.

As always there is too much for me to just talk about in this opening section so away we go...

Keep on making a difference.

Derek E. Smith

Monday:Teacher in Service No School

HS Volleyball C Team @ Horton 4:30 pm

MS Volleyball Tri @ Home 4:30

JV Football @ Riverside 6:00 pm

Tuesday:

High School Volleyball Tri @ Home 5:00 pm Senior Night

Wednesday:

FCCLA Summit leadership @ Meriden

Thursday:

FFA State Land Judging @ JCN

HS/MS Cross Country @ Horton 4:00 pm

MS Volleyball @ ACCMS 4:30 pm

MS Football @ ACCMS 6:30 pm

Friday: Green and Gold Day

HS Football Vs Centralia @ Centralia 7:00 pm

Saturday:

MS Volleyball NEKL @ P Ridge

HS volleyball Tournament @ Valley Falls 8:00 am

HS JV Volleyball @ JCN 9:00 am

With Several Big Wins this week, the Cobra Cup Standings had a bit of an upheaval this week. Snake Kingz came out big for spirit week and put themselves on top. Triple G had a big win with the pep rally cheer that launched them up high. However, that doesn't take away from the stellar performances of Gold Rush and Corn Fed Cobras weekly behavior points numbers. Plus we have our first house cup games coming up in two weeks that will be a big equalizer as well.

The top performers this week were:

1. Triple G: Nicole Amon- infectious positive attitude that makes others around her better

2. Snake Kingz: Anthony Gulotta- Cleaning up after pep rally on his own without being asked

3. Triple G: Felicity Kirk- Painted Mrs. Alley and Michaela's parking spots for them.

4. Gold Rush: Lillian Brown- stepped up to lead the senior fundraiser

5. Snake Kingz- Evan Ramirez- Went all out during spirit week and student sections participation

6. Snake Kingz- Rylie Strawn- stayed behind to help pick up chairs when every one else left

7. Triple G- Kendall Strathman- Worked through several difficult Spanish lessons

8. Snake Kingz- Weston Schultejans- Helped others with painting their parking spots

9. Gold Rush- Sabrina Streeter- Went out of her way to make a new student feel welcome

10. Corn Fed Cobras- Gracie White- Posative attitude

I frequently talk about a few tidbits of my personal life in the closing. Here is one that is a fond memory for me. Brittany and I had only been dating a short while when this picture was taken. She went groundhog hunting with my dad and I. In Pa groundhog hunting is a common summer past time. When hay is cut, you sit up on a high side of a field and wait for them to come out. You frequently get 300-400 yard shots on a thing the size of a football. We always make a point of confirming that we get a clean shot on a pig without suffering. One of them managed to crawl into a briar bush and down a hole. Dad and I were willing to concede that we lost that one, but Britt jumped into the briars and dug out that groundhog. Dad looked at me and said, "She is a keeper!" I guess I took that advice.

Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind.

Email: derek.smith@jhcobras.net
Website: jhcobras.net
Location: 12692 266th Rd Holton, KS 66436
Phone: (785)248-4386
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jackson.Heights.USD335

https://www.citylinktv.com/channel/cobra