CHS Chilli-Chatter

by Aundraya Shady

The glass-front cabinet in the high school office holds a wooden bucket inscribed with dates. A shadow box at Jersey’s Sports Grill will soon hold a red and blue sweater embroidered with dates. What these two objects have in common are Chillicothe football history and Chuck Haney.

Our football team used to have a rivalry with Brookfield, playing each other for fifteen years. In 1964, the former mayor of Chillicothe and the editor of the Constitution-Tribune, Chuck Haney, started a tradition with a sweater. He and the sports editor of the Brookfield newspaper started a rivalry when the winning football team would take the sweater as a token of their victory. Chillicothe won 14 of the 15 games--losing only once in 1974. After the rivalry ended in 1979, Mr. Haney kept the sweater. When Mr. Haney passed away in 2018, his son Kevin (father of our own Kyrstyn Haney) inherited it. Knowing that others might want to see the historic item, Kevin Haney asked Kevin Murray, owner of Jersey’s, to make Jerseys its new home. For Kevin Murray, that was an easy decision. The elder Mr. Haney was always a mentor to Mr. Murray and inspired him to be everything he could be. Mr. Murray said that Haney was an “everyday ambassador for Chillicothe.” The sweater will be placed in a shadow box frame next to the fireplace. Another item at Jersey’s that honors the former editor and mayor is the Chuck Haney Burger.

Another football tradition of Chillicothe is the Sugar Bucket. Officer Mike Lewis, school resource officer and formal football Hornet, explained the history of the memento. In the 1960’s, Chuck Haney and the editor of the Trenton paper made a bet on Trenton vs. Chillicothe football games. Either Haney or the Trenton editor would take off his shirt and give it to the other man if his team lost. They would meet in the middle of the field after the game to hand over the shirt. After a few years of doing this, in 1968, the Sugar Bucket was born. It replaced the shirt exchange with the winning school keeping possession of the bucket through the academic year. It primarily stayed with CHS, but spent a year in Trenton in 1990. The last game against Trenton was on November 6, 1992, with CHS winning 21 to 7. The Sugar Bucket now lives at CHS until the day comes when we might play Trenton once more.

by Claire Ripley

Nick Heldenbrand, junior, enjoys the dangerous, adrenalin rush of bull riding. Since watching bull riding on tv as a little boy, he's been hooked. In 8th grade he decided to bring what he was watching into his own life; Nick attended the Terry Don West Bull Riding School in Oklahoma. Since then, he has been competing all over the country: Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Heldenbrand competes almost every weekend between June and November, but he will occasionally compete year-round if he can find events during the off season.

Heldenbrand had beginner’s luck for the first competition and rode his bull for the full 8 seconds, but the next few months he competed he fell off every time. Things started to click when Nick was a freshman and the competition went to a new level. He was riding in the second round of the YBR World Finals in Texas and he said, “It all just kind of clicked at once and I started riding well.”

As with any sport, bull riding has its ups and downs, including injuries; Heldenbrand experienced his first injury as a freshman when he got knocked out and his knee stepped on. Despite the potential for serious injury, Nick loves what he does and even wants to make it his career just like his favorite bull rider Sage Kimzey who has won 6 PRCA Bull Riding World Championships. This is Nick’s last year of junior bulls; next year Nick will be competing in the opens with bigger and better bulls.

One of Nick's favorite parts of bull riding is competition day. When he shows up to the rodeo, he finds out what bull he has drawn and goes to look for that bull. In the meantime there's a lot of sitting around waiting for all of the events to get done, which is Nick's least favorite part. Then it’s time to get ready to ride. Another one of Nick’s favorite things is “when you make a good ride and you hear the judge say a score that you know is going to win the rodeo.”He stated that about 75-80% of the bulls he got on this year he made the 8 seconds.

Bull riding isn’t something that most people would find interest in doing themselves for fun or as a career, but don’t be surprised if you see Nick on the tv someday riding a bull.

by Kadence Shipers

Organizing time and putting plans into a calendar may just make life easier. As a student, you are always busy having deadlines to meet, club functions to attend, sports to play, and any other activities outside of school. Are you one of the students who choose to be organized by adopting a scheduling method, or do you decide to go with the flow and wing it?

In a recent survey of CHS students, 88% of students reported that organization and planning are important to them. Most students, 53%, use either a planner or reminders on their phone to prod them to do something. Other students, 43%, choose to use their phone calendar and 12% an online calendar. There were a few students who claimed they have a mental calendar rather than a physical agenda. A surprising discovery was that more than half of students keep track of their events independently, while some leave it up to their parents. A majority of students (87%) claimed that keeping track of their schedule has allowed them to excel in academics and improve their involvement in extracurricular activities. When asked how organizing their time has benefitted them, most students agreed that it made it possible for them to meet due dates and deadlines (74%), prevented them from being late to important functions (68%), kept them on track (68%), restricted them from scheduling events same-day or same-time (49%), limited them from doing too much (47%), and allowed them to have more time for themselves or their family (33%). To my surprise, most students use some method of planning and organizing in order to meet success.

Many students at CHS are involved and have been successful because they use some sort of planning process. For the most part, they do it on their own time and without the help of their parents. Organization has taught countless students responsibility which can be used for future jobs. Numerous students, approximately 68%, plan to continue organizing their time, while 25% of students are open to the idea of adding it to their routine. Planning out your time is very effective and will decrease the amount of your stress and also prepare you for any task you take on in the future. It is safe to say that the students of CHS are very passionate about organization, and will continue to show success because they remain organized and plan their time wisely.

by Leah Lourenco

High school is a time when teenagers begin to gain greater independence and learn how to survive on their own. An important part of independence is understanding how to manage your finances. Students begin to work part time jobs, manage bank accounts, and make more frequent expenses; therefore it is important that they learn healthy financial habits. Furthermore, in a survey conducted on CHS students this month, it was found that 62% of respondents have a debit or credit card.

A primary part of financial responsibility is tracking earnings and spendings. A surprising 68% of survey respondents do not keep track of their spendings. The survey found that the primary reason for students not recording their finances is that they “just don’t like to do it” (27%). Other reasons included that they are too busy (17%), it is unnecessary (17%), it is confusing (11%), and a few students responded that they had an app that did it for them. Although these reasons are understandable, many of the skills involved with properly managing money have to be practiced, just like any other skill.

While tracking finances may seem troublesome and unnecessary, it truly is an important habit. Many people spend much more money than they realize. It is easier to prevent these excess expenses if you are recording your finances. If you use a checkbook, try keeping it with you so that you can record as you go, instead of being drowned in receipts. If physical records don’t work for you, most banks have apps that will automatically record debit card transactions. There are also third-party apps available for managing money; the New York Times recommends the app “Mint.”

Many students will continue to develop their positive financial habits well into adulthood even if they currently find themselves lacking the motivation to record their every expense. With a little encouragement and practice, every student has the potential to have an excellent future of financial success.

by Lexie Walker

With COVID-19 still a presence in our nation, schools are continuing to improvise how they carry out regular activities. The Drama department at CHS has pursued many options when considering if “the show must go on” and has had many doubts when considering a spring show. After the exploration of many options like Zoom shows and live streams on various social media platforms, showtix4u.com, a website dedicated to supporting the arts, has proved to be one answer.

Showtix4u.com is a website that offers live streaming services and an on-demand library for past shows. At the website, a quick search of “Chillicothe High School” will display all seven shows that the drama department owns. Some might ask, “Only seven shows! Where are the rest?” A lack of royalty licenses and rights ownership issues get in the way of every show being available on this platform; however, there are still several productions accessible. These include Courage and Love: The George and Erika Mandler Story, If Halls Could Talk (the tribute to the “old” CHS), Tribute to “High School Caesar,” A Christmas Carol written by Lisa Rule Based on the Works of Charles Dickens, The Big Town Where We Live (a history of Chillicothe), Word Problems, and The World Awaits a Savior: The Life of Jesus. For a rental price of $5 plus a small processing fee, these shows are available to anyone for 48 hours.

In terms of future shows, the drama department plans to put on Annie in the spring. Because of social distancing rules, the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center is only able to house 150 to 200 people versus the normal 840 person capacity. Showtix4u.com aids this predicament by providing an outlet for those not able to attend in person, the opportunity to purchase a ticket for the live stream. Additionally, during the window that shows will be held, the play will be available to rent on-demand for a separate rental fee, and customers can watch as many times as desired. After the window has closed, however, Annie will no longer be available on showtix4u.com since the rights are not owned by CHS.

This new platform will create a more stable and accessible place to live stream drama productions as well as offer a library of past projects. The most exciting aspect of this revelation is that it presents an opportunity for students to continue to be involved in drama while remaining safe and responsible.

by Dimitri Dickerson

Karyna Ireland, a junior at CHS, recently made Chillicothe history by becoming the first female wrestler in Chillicothe to place first at a tournament, the December 12th Excelsior Springs tourney.

The girls wrestling program at CHS started 3 years ago in 2018. Karyna joined the first year it was available, explaining that she had been wanting to wrestle and play football for a long time but that no programs were available to her. When the girls program opened up, she joined. Head Wrestling Coach Chad Smith stated that Ireland has improved all three years she has been in the program. Ireland also placed at the Midland Empire Conference.

Ireland often stays late after practice to get in some extra time and works out every day. Assistant Coach Joseph Rinehart confirmed she is always working hard and spending time on her skill and conditioning. When asked if there was any competition to see who could achieve this first in wrestling history, Ireland said, “We were all trying to do it. It just happened to be me who did.”

by Emma Rule

Here we are in the middle of January 2021, a month many were looking forward to for some time. For many people, the new year signals a time to make resolutions, but New Year’s resolutions have not always looked how they do today. According to “The History of New Year’s Resolutions” by Sarah Pruitt, some of the first people to create resolutions for the transition into a new year were the Babylonians about 4000 years ago. As the ancient Babylonians affirmed their loyalty to their king, they would make promises to repay all their debts and return all that they had borrowed. It was said that if they kept their promises throughout the year, they would be blessed.

2020 is over and a new year has begun. We no longer pay back our debts to kings as the Babylonians did, but we do still try to better ourselves when a new year rolls around. In a recent survey of 125 high schoolers, 79% of the respondents declared that they have made resolutions for themselves this year. Out of that number, nearly 63% of them made personal resolutions. 27% made resolutions in the world of health, and about 10% were concerned with school and their academics.

When asked if the dramatic consequences of 2020 had made an impact on whether or not they made resolutions, nearly half of respondents said that it did influence them; another 21% were undecided but thought it possible. Whether it was 2020 or not, something prompted this decision because more students made resolutions for this New Year than they had in previous years.

Regardless of whether or not students have made resolutions for this year, let us all hope that we live up to them and this year lives up to all our expectations.