PANTHER PRIDETHE POLO R-VII SCHOOL DISTRICT

November 2007 Volume 3, Issue 3

IIIIINFONFONFONFONFO

Postal PatronPolo, MO 64671

Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe TTTTToday for theoday for theoday for theoday for theoday for theRural Reporter Polo Edition.Rural Reporter Polo Edition.Rural Reporter Polo Edition.Rural Reporter Polo Edition.Rural Reporter Polo Edition.Mail in to P.O. Box 233, Polo MO 64671 or call in at(660) 255-4300 to place your subscription today for theRural Reporter Polo Edition. The cost is $26.75 for a fullyear. All that is needed is your name, address and billinginformation.

NONPROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 31

ImportantNovember Dates

From the Elementary Office

by Saren ThomasStaff Writer

The Polo R-VII School District is fortunate to have many parents who are in-volved in the school. The elementary had an average of 93% of parents attend therecent Parent-Teacher Conferences. We also had numerous parents, grandpar-ents, and patrons attend the Halloween Parade and parties.A few of Polo’s finest, the veteran’s, will be at Polo Elementary on Monday,

November 12. They will eat breakfast with the students and then visit each class-room. The elementary students are participating in a card drive for the soldiers inIraq in conjunction with the Christ Chapel Church. Students will make cards in artclass and in the classroom to send to the soldiers.Students at Polo R-VII Elementary in grades 1-6 are taken the STAR reading

tests to help determine grade level equivalency. Students were given the GatesMacGinitie reading tests earlier this year. For more information on these tests,please call our reading specialist, Lori Hicks, at the school.Mark your calendars! The Winter Program for grades K-6 has been scheduled

for Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 6:30 in the gymnasium. For Thanksgivingbreak, school will dismiss on Wednesday, November 21, at 11:30 and will resumethe following Monday. School will dismiss for winter break on Friday, December21, at 11:30 and will resume on Wednesday, January 3, 2008 as a late start day.We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable time with their families during thesetwo breaks.

You Can Save a Life

November 9th is the annual Blood Drive held in the multipurpose room at thePolo High School sponsored by Future Business Leaders of America. If youare 16 or older you qualify to donate. Students in school wanting to donate musthave a signed parent permission slip and photo ID with proof of age in order todo so. Permission slips are in the High School office. You must sign up withMs. Frerking or online at www.esavealifenow.org/. The blood donations timeslots will be from 2-7 p.m. Donors will receive a complementary T-Shirt andsnacks afterwards for donating blood.Did you know that one unit of blood can save 2 lives!?! Also studies show that

only 5% of today’s healthy or eligible population actually donates blood. Theneed for blood is in high demand because accident victims, surgery, and cancerpatient are increasing everyday. Blood needs to be replaced replenished fre-quently and has a self life of only 5 to 24 days. Blood is something that can beeasily reproduced for a qualifying donor. Please donate and save a life.For donors who have donated in the past and for first time donors here are

some tips to help your blood donating process to more go smoothly. Eat a goodmedal 3 hours prior to your donation, avoid smoking the day of and beforedonating, eat the snacks offered after you after donating, and stay well hydrated.

Nov. 5Late Start - 10:30 a.m.

Nov. 7PAT Group Meeting - 2:00 p.m.

Nov. 8PAT Advisory Meeting - 3:30 p.m.

Nov. 9FBLA sponsored Blood Drive - 2-7:00 p.m.

Nov. 10Band Booster Chili/Soup Dinner - PoloFirebarn from 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.mMusic Booster Meeting - 4:00 p.m.

Nov. 12FCCLA MeetingNHS Bookfair

Nov. 13NHS Bookfair

Nov. 14Athletic Booster Club Meeting - 5:00 p.m.Meet the Panther Night - 6:00 p.m.

Nov. 15NHS Bookfair

Nov. 16Varsity Fall Sports Banquet - 6:00 p.m.NHS Bookfair

Nov. 17Band at Chillicothe Christmas Parade

Nov. 19Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 20Fall Sports Pictures - 11:00 a.m.

Nov. 21Annual FCCLA Turkey BowlEarly Out - 11:30 a.m.

Nov. 22Thanksgiving!No School

2 November 2007 The Panther PrideNEWS

Bus Safety Weekby Abbie Russell

Staff Writer

For “Bus safety week,” the kin-dergarten classes decided to takein some bus safety tips. Theykindly invited the bus drivers infor some donuts and the viewingof “Willie the Whistle,” an infor-mal video on bus safety. Afterwatching the video, the bus driv-ers went over rules and tips theythought the kids should know.Both classes promised to listen

to the bus driver (who is the leaderof the safety team) and to followALL bus safety rules:1. Stay sitting quietly on the

bus.2. Keep feet, arms, and back

packs out of the aisles.3. Stay out of the “danger

zone” when walking outside of thebus.4. Cross the street / road the

safe way by paying close atten-tion to our bus driver.

Polo bus drivers enjoy breakfast and books with theKindergarteners.

ElementaryMAP Awards

MAP Awards were presented tostudents in grades 4, 5, and 6 onThursday, October 25, 2007 in theMulti-Purpose room. Studentsreceiving the awards were givento students who received profi-cient and/or advanced on any ofthe spring 2007 MAP Assess-ments. The students will be re-warded with a field trip. Studentsreceiving the awards are: GageAubrey, Logan Bowley, JorgiaCory, Ariel Eggers, Ashley Har-ris, Erik Johnson, Jenna Johnson,Josh Kesler, Mikayla Reavis, Brit-tany Sheppard, Parker Smith,Jesse Vaughan, Danielle Allen,Jessica Barnes, Catherine Boruch,Sidney Copeland, Madison Curp,Mason Daughters, KatelynEichmeier, Jimmy Endsley, JacobHicks, Skylar Howe, BrandonLatimer, Mason Misel, TristanRardon, Brandon Richardson,Adriana Segar, Taylor Thompson,Aimee Walker, Megan Henry,Alex Johnson, Dakota McGinley,Jackson Pile, Megan Rook, JamesRoss, Houston Stone, LoganStump, and Loren Wagner.

On Halloween night many Poloresidents were surprised whenthey were not being asked forcandy, but for canned goods. ThePolo FBLA chapter dressed upand went trick- or- treating forcanned goods. This was part ofthe state wide community serviceproject called iCan, which helpslocal food pantries. FBLA mem-bers collect as much food as theycan to see which district raises themost. There was a contest withinthe Polo chapter as well. At thebeginning of the night memberswere divided into groups andwhichever group collected themost cans by the end of the nightwould get breakfast in the morn-ing. After all the cans were turnedin, advisor Lindsey Frerking wasso impressed that she brought ev-

eryone doughnuts the next morn-ing. The Polo FBLA chapter raised300 cans and donated them toPolo’s food pantry, Christ’s Cup-board.Senior Alyssa Lamarr who went

trick-or-treating as a fairy said, “Ihad a lot of fun and will miss itnext year.” That seemed to be thegeneral consensus for all of theseniors who participated.Senior Joan Ahart who went as

the Homecoming Queen said that,“Trick-or-treating for cans was agreat success, but it wouldn’t havebeen possible without the gener-osity of the Polo community.”The FBLA members would like

to thank everyone who donated tothe community and they hope tomake it an annual service project.

by Abbie RussellStaff Writer

FBLA’s Trick or Can Results

Above: Joan Ahart, Cody Hicks, Kasey Claypole, Saren Thomas,Emily Powers, Alyssa LaMarr, Kelsi Pile, Paige Ahart, KatelynSanders, and Amber Endsley show off their stylish Halloweencostumes and the abundance of food they collected.

Christian Youth Updateby Ashley Strickbine

Staff Writer

This month the members of theChristian Youth Group are veryexcited to be hosting the secondAccelerate held at Polo highschool. After the first Acceleratein September, the Christian YouthGroup has increased in sizegreatly!! Pastor Luke and theband from the Rock of KC wereso excited at the turnout (over 150students) that they couldn’t waitto reschedule another Accelerateat our high school. Accelerate isplanned to return on WednesdayNovember 28th, the week afterThanksgiving break. It will beheld in the high school gymnasiumfrom 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., everyoneis welcome. This time it will benew and improved with newsongs and better lighting.The money raised at the free will

donation at September’s Acceler-ate is being used to send two girlsto a Girl’s Only Retreat. This re-treat will be on November 9th, 10th,

and 11th. It will take place at theGreat Wolf Lodge in Kansas City,Missouri. The two girls who are

attending the retreat are WhitneeAllen and Haley Hurd. The girlswill stay at the Great Wolf Lodgefor two nights and three dayswhere they will enjoy two break-fasts, one lunch, and one dinner.Also they will get a pass to thewater park, a chocolate prayer box,retreat journal and door prizes.Mr. G said, “I think this is a fan-

tastic opportunity for our womenof faith to spend time with otherwomen of faith!”In other news, this winter the

Christian Youth Group is planningon teaming up with SADD andsponsoring a family. The groupswill pick a family in the commu-nity who is in need. After theychoose a family, the ChristianYouth Group will buy Christmasgifts for them and the SADDmembers will arrange a dinner forthem to eat. Other events thathave been discussed for the restof the year are Acquire the Fire, acandy sales fundraiser and a mu-sical fundraiser that is planned tooccur in February.

Varsity Fall Sports BanquetFriday, November 16

@ 6:00 p.m.Commons Area

NEWSPANTHER PRIDE

3http://polo.k12.mo.us November 2007

Corey Feil, Jeff King, and CodyMcCrackin were a part of the 80th

National Convention in India-napolis, Indiana October 25th

through 27th. The three studentsand advisor Mr. Pollard set out at4:30 Thursday morning for thelong trip ahead of them. In Spring-field, Illinois they took a short ex-cursion to get a glimpse of howAbraham Lincoln lived before hewas elected president. Theytoured the two story house that helived in with his wife and kids, andthey got to visit some of the homesof Abe’s neighbors.At the convention they attended

several sessions in the Consecofield house where the Pacers playbasketball. They listened to theinteresting stories of speaker RickRigsby and keynote speakerHenry Winkler “Fonzy”. Theyalso witnessed the exciting induc-tion of the new National President,Zach Kinne, who is fromEagleville, Missouri. The IndyColts RCA dome sports stadiumis where the career show and FFA

shopping mall was held. Studentsgot to stand on the football fieldand thought that it was a neat ex-perience. At the career show lotsof free souvenirs were given outand enough pens and pencils tolast the rest of the year. At the Lin-coln Tech booth Jeff King entereda welding competition to show offhis awesome welding skills!Jeff said, “I liked the guest

speaker Rick Rigsby and thewelding part of the careershow,…pretty neat.” Aside fromthe convention, Mr. Pollard tookthe boys to visit the Indianapolis500 Speedway. Here, they got tosee all of the old Indy cars andawards in the museum.Freshman Corey Feil said, “I

liked the career show and the tal-ent show the best.”As always National Convention

is a good way to represent yourstate and town in an enormous seaof blue, and experience the pridethat FFA members feel for theblue-collared organization.

Sea of Blueby Emily Powers

Staff Writer

The National Honor Societymembers just completed their firstservice project last month. NHSmembers assisted the People WhoCare Organization at their fourthannual Halloween Carnival. OnSaturday October, 27th at 3 p.m.the NHS members arrived in cos-tume to the community buildingat Stagecoach Park. All membershad to attend for it to be countedas a service project. Each mem-ber had an assigned job waitingfor them. A few members got todress up and scare kids on the hay-ride, while others were assignedto booths inside. Joan Ahart, whoworked the hayride, said, “If Iweren’t in NHS I would havewanted to participate because itwas so much fun.”

Upcoming NHS events includethe Book Fair that will be held inthe library on November 12-16th

from 12:30-3 PM. Each memberwill work at least two shifts. TheBook Fair will be held after schoolon November 15th from 4-6 PM.On Sunday November 11th, eightmembers volunteered to hangflags on Veteran’s Day. Later thismonth, the NHS will start prepar-ing for the next service project.This project will be hanging upChristmas decorations and buyinggifts for the senior citizens at anarea nursing home. After the lastservice project any money leftover will be used to pay for a fieldtrip for the members.

NHS Updateby Ashley Strickbine

Staff Writer

On Monday October 29th Mr.Fickess’ Geology class bundledup and set out to the HannibalMissouri caves. This class of eigh-teen has been the largest class toattend the caves. The caves inHannibal have been in existencefor 12 Million years! Through themany years it has been used for abomb shelter during the cold war,cite to get married and a place withvery good conditions to growmushrooms. The cave is also overa burial ground of some sort.There are for miles of passage-ways to travel through, and withinthese passage ways are speciallynamed rock formations. Rollingstones, Titanic, Alligator, Tea Pot,and Trip Over are some of therocks named in the caves.

Geology Tripby Saren Thomas

Staff Writer

On Tuesday, October 30, the sixth grade drama class presented theplay, “Three Witches.” Several students attended the performancealong with parents, grandparents and staff members. Cast membersincluded: Megan Rood, Carlie Oxford, Jesse Salmon as the ThreeWitches; Trent Scobee as the Custodian; Jackson Pile as the Veterinar-ian; James Ross as the Cowboy; Jonathon Shelton, Tyler James, andDaniel Teegarden as Stage Crew and Special Effects. The class istaught by Robert Collins. All of the cast members would like to thankthe parents who donated the use of props and costume items for thisperformance.

Not only did the class have funbut they also learned a little moreabout the rocks they had studiedin class and also a few thingsabout bats. The classed learnedthat if a bat flies around for 10-15minutes that it can loose up to halfof its body fat, which it uses to staywarm in the very cool caves.When asked what was the most

favorite part of the trip the classsaid, the “crawling tunnel”. Thisis a must at the caves. Visitors gothrough narrow tunnel which themajority of people can crawlthrough and opens up to a greatcave. It was said that Mr. Fickessgot stuck for a little bit but made itout just fine. Another class favor-ite was Jennie Sorensen. In honorof the bats she herself dresses asBatman.

“The Three Witches in the6th Grade”

Above: The sixth grade students put on their wigs and prepare fortheir performance.

Above: The sixth grade students pose after the production of “TheThree Witches.”

4 November 2007 The Panther PrideNEWS

KINDERGARTENBrendon ArthurDylan FrazierJacob HurdEzekhiel JacksonShelby JohnsonAlex PilgerJordan RashAndria RichardsonWyatt SegarTrevor StandleyCarson ThomasTrysten Wolf

FIRST GRADEAlex ArthurMadison BaughmanDylan BrowerPaige ChapmanMariah ClevengerDylan FaulknerMercedes McNabNickolas MyersJoel OntiverosLandon PasleyHarley SammonsPayton Tate

SECOND GRADEHailey BoyleLuke CoryPatrick CoveySierra DyeDalton FrazierTeresa HarrisAmanda HIlburnJulianne HurdCheyenne JohnsonTeagan LoganSeth TeegardenHunter ThompsonAbby Walker

THIRD GRADEAustin ArthurHaylie ArthurDecon BrowerTyler ChapmanWolfgang ClapperRyan HenryDouglas LindamanAlex MyersTaylor RashGarret ThomasAustin VanOsterGavin Walker

ElementaryFirst Quarter Perfect Attendance

FOURTH GRADELogan BowleyJorgia CoryCheyanne DyeJo ElliottDerek FaulknerAshley HarrisBrandon HubbardErik JohnsonJenna JohnsonJoshua KeslerMichael LeamerMikayla ReavisParker SmithMatthew TarwatersAlissa Wood

FIFTH GRADEJessica BarnesCati BoruchJessica ConnerJimmy EndsleyJacob HicksAndrew HollandMason MiselTristan RardonBrandon RichardsonAdriana SegarTrystan SunbyCharles TarwatersKatelyn TarwatersTaylor ThompsonAimee Walker

SIXTH GRADETyler FeilMegan HenryAlex JohnsonKolton RoarkTrenton ScobeeMegan StandleyColtt VanWerden

ThanksgivingFAVORITESMy favorite partabout Thanksgivingis all the food!!! Iabsolutely can’t livewithout dressingwith brown gravysmothered all overit.Freshman Jeff King

My favorite partabout Thanksgivingis spending timewith my family.Especially since Iget to see my rela-tives from Texas.Sophomore MichelleTempleton

My favorite partabout Thanksgivingis eating. I lovecheesecake and thatbroccoli, cheese,and rice casserolemy aunt makes.Junior Jesse Farris

My favorite partabout Thanksgivingare the mashedpotatoes...yummy!Senior BrandiAlexander

Parenting TipInfants and Toddlers

Confining your baby or toddler to a play pen or infant seat for long peri-ods may be delaying his/her development. Infants and toddlers need op-portunities to be active so they can learn important developmental skillssuch as rolling over, crawling and walking.It is a sequential process. Babies have to stretch, squirm and twist their

bodies in order to develop muscles. Rolling helps strengthen the muscleshe’ll need for sitting up. First a baby rolls, then sits up and finally scoots…allin preparation for crawling.Here is a parenting tip: when your baby is standing and holding onto a table

for support, place a favorite toy on the table a short distance away fromhim/her. Encourage him/her to cruise around the table to get the toy.For more parenting tips or parental support contact:

Parents As TeachersPolo R-VII School354-2200 ext. 114

NEWSPANTHER PRIDE

5http://polo.k12.mo.us November 2007

The Polo community spirit wasrunning high on Saturday, Octo-ber 27th. NHS, FCCLA and otherPolo students teamed up with thePWCO to work their 4th AnnualHalloween Carnival held at theCommunity Building from 4-8PM. There were fun activities forevery age. Students worked atone or more of the seventeenbooths the carnival provides in-cluding the following: a huge 40’indoor slide, Spider Can Toss,Skeet Ball, a scary Maze, TreasureChest Hunt, Tic Tac Toss, LittleTykes Basketball, Face Painting,Pluck-a-Duck, a Ping Pong Pit,Dart Board Game, a Dungeon tolock friends up in, Plinko, Feedthe Witch, Big Kids Basketball,Haunted Hayride through thepark, a Concession Stand, PrizeBooth and a Cake Walk area. Thestudents dressed in costume, deco-rated, worked the event andhelped clean up.Virginia Fry, a member of the

PWCO said, “The students werehelpful, enthusiastic and wonder-ful to work with!”Over 250 kids attended the event,

many parents and family membersas well. Overall it was a huge suc-cess for the Polo Community. Thestudents who helped were: NHSstudents – Abbie Russell, AshleyStrickbine, Emily Powers, KaseyClaypole, Amber Endsley, HollisFee, Sam Uehling, MeganSnodgrass, Joan Ahart, CodyHicks, Emma Hindman, KimWebb, Kelsi Pile, Lathan Dixon,Jake Roberts, Andrea Kesler, Alan

Annual Halloween Carnival

Above: The Halloween Carnival helpers pausefrom their hard work to gather for a picture.

Left:Senior

SamanthaUehling

and Fresh-man Madi-son Misel

pose forthe camera

duringtheir shift

at theshooting

booth.

by Mitch HuntleyStaff Writer

As we all know it is now hunt-ing season. It’s time for rifle hunt-ers to start shining up their gunsand pull out their camo to get readyfor this year’s big hunt. Most ofyou all know the basics when itcomes to safe hunting, such as,don’t climb over fences or fallenlimbs with a loaded gun, and toalways keep your gun pointed ina safe direction. Yet, along withthose basics are some need-to-know tips that I have researchedand want to share with you.Ø Always tell someone

where you are hunting and ap-proximately how long you will begone.Ø Avoid hunting alone, yet

if you do go alone hunt in familiarareas.Ø Check the weather fore-

cast before heading outside.Ø Check your hunting

equipment before and after each

Hunting Safety Tips

When I think of Thanksgiving, Ithink of a cloudy day with warmautumn trees that tucks me in. Itmay not be a bitter cold day out,but it is chilly enough for me towear a cozy jacket when I’m walk-ing to the door of my grandparent’shouse. We watch some football,say a prayer and eat a lot of (deli-cious) food, and spend time to-gether. That is the most commontradition among today’s society.After taking a survey over fourhigh school classes, I found that alarge 88% of students, teachers,and/or their families watch foot-ball during their Thanksgivingget-together.You may not realize it, but many

traditions occur through each fam-ily. Whether it be coincidentallyusing the same convenient platteror dish or making the same olecookies, you have them. Maybeyou even eat your meal at the sameplace or time or draw names to

Thanksgiving and All It Entailsby Abbie Russell

Staff Writer

Vassmer. The FCCLA students-Destiney Freeman, RitaStottlemyre, Emma Oyler,Michelle Templeton, NikitaStottlemyre, Jessica Vassmer,Brittney McGinley, and DaltonRardon. Other students were:Cody VanBebber, Ashleigh Jones,Kadee Phillips, Madison Misel,Kaitlyn Taylor, Austin Bowley,Jonna Stottlemyre, ConagherGlascow, and Charlie Boruch.The PWCO has many sponsors

that make the carnival possible andmany adults who work the eventas well. The following is a list ofproud sponsors: Paul & CristiStauss, Hy-Klas, Misel Construc-tion, Orcheln’s, Lucille Stone,Five Star Construction Services &Inspections, D & D Heating andCooling, Jackson’s Hardware,Bank Northwest, Triple A DJ Ser-vice, Shining Stars Daycare, Rich-mond Wal-Mart, Bailey & CoxFuneral Services, Pack Tech, TheDaily News, Judy Baker, Casey’s,Polo Reality, Lincoln’s Place,Summerville Insurance, TriCounty Propane, Decker Con-struction, John Allen Trucking,Panther Drive-In, Randy HowellGarage, MA Baker Inc., BearBranch Salon, Sally’s, Allen &Sissy Hobbs, David & Ariel Misel,Greg & Debby Misel, Jill & ShaneRardon, John Dana, and theHamilton Bank.“Together, with the help of the

students, sponsors and adult work-ers this community event was asuccess!”

decide who’s buying who aChristmas present. Probably be-ing the most common tradition,setting up the Christmas tree issomething to look forward to. Ittransitions the fall spirit to a win-ter spirit and sets off a cozy holi-day feeling.In today’s generations, the typi-

cal Thanksgiving feast consists ofturkey, ham, stuffing, mashed po-tatoes and gravy, corn, deviledeggs, and homemade pies (mostfamously, pumpkin). The firstThanksgiving feast was not nearas delicious. With venison andwild fowl, they scooted by withusing the term feast as well as theycould. Pies, cakes, and breadswere impossible because sugarbrought over on the mayflowerwas nearly gone. So when you’refilling up your third plate and yourstomach already hurts, realize youare very lucky to be doing so!

outing, and be sure to maintain itproperly.Ø It’s always a good idea to

carry a cell phone just incasesomething might happen.Ø Always dress properly

and be prepared for the worst pos-sible conditions.Ø And finally always wear

enough “blaze” orange to be vis-ible to fellow hunters.In conclusion, I hope these few

tips were a little help for this year’shunters. I would like for everyoneto be safe out there and have fun.I know from personal experiencethat hunting can be a great hobbyfor most people and a tradition forothers. In order to keep that lovefor the sport going, we need to al-ways remember safe hunting prac-tices. By following these tips, itwill keep the everyday hunter safeout on the trail.

6 November 2007 The Panther PrideNEWS

The season for tall tales has ar-rived. Yes, I am talking about hunt-ing season. I am sure everyone hasheard some pretty interesting talltales about 50 point bucks, a gob-bler with a 28 inch beard, or a fishthat gets bigger every time thestory is retold. I found a few in-teresting tales myself, that you canbelieve or not from a couple stu-dents at Polo High.Alan Vassmer, an avid deer

hunter shares one of his favoritedeer hunting stories. “One morn-ing, I woke up at four o’clock, gotout my Red Rider B.B gun andmy box of 9,000 B.B’s. I grabbeda bite to eat, put on my camo andheaded out the door. When I gotto my deer stand I crawled up andwaited for the buck of my dream.After about an hour’s wait, papadeer came out into an opening rightby my deer stand. I drew mytrusty ol’Red Rider and fired. Tomy surprise I took him down onthe first shot. I loaded up my four-wheeler and took’em back to myhouse to make some jerky andburgers.”That sure was an interesting story,

but let’s hear our next hunter’saccount. The next story comesfrom Coach Webster, who as mostof you know is full of stories toshare with fellow students.He shared, “One afternoon, I

was at a deer check-in station inTrenton. While I was checking inmy deer, I heard a gun shot, andwas curious to see what it mightbe. There were a bunch of cityslickers out hunting that day and Iwas just hoping that they did notshoot anyone. As I was talking tothe conservationist, a man fromKansas City came up over the hillwith a goat. No joke, it was a goat!Then to my surprise he actuallyturned it in as a buck. Come to findout it was shot down in a pin nextto a farmstead. That was one ofthe funniest moments in my life. Ilaughed until I cried.”Well I would have to say that

those are both some pretty inter-esting stories. I am sure whenthese hunters get older those sto-ries will be even bigger than theyare today. Whether or not youbelieve the so-called tall tales ofavid hunters, understand that thebond a person has with hunting ishard to match.“That’s The Way I See It”

by Mitch HuntleyStaff Writer

Hunting Stories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ AAAAA ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Jessica Barnes

Cati BoruchJessica Conner

Sidney CopelandMadison CurpJacob Hicks

Andrew HollandBrandon Latimer

Mason MiselTristan RardonAdriana SegarAimee Walker

~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~Katelyn Eichmeier

Skylar HoweJennifer RashTrystan SunbyShelby Wells

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ AAAAA ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Megan HenryAlex Johnson

~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~~ B ~Kylee EaglenCarley OxfordJackson PileMegan RoodJames Ross

Megan StandleyHouston StoneLogan StumpLoren WagnerJulianne Wood

First Quarter Honor RollFifth Grade Sixth Grade

Who: Panther Pride Band hostingWhat: Chili Dinner Fundraiser

When: November 10th from 11-7Where: Polo Fire BarnWhy: To help raise money for Band

Boosters

5thand 6th Please Grade bring Crackers and $57-12th Please bring a Dessert and $5Choir Please bring a Desert and $5

Chili, soups, desserts, and drinks.All Proceeds will go to the Band Boosters to helpfund the Band. Please come out and join use

Band Booster AnnualChili/Soup Supper

NovemberAthletic EventsNov. 3-9MS Basketbal - Norborne

Tournament

Nov. 13MS Basketball vs. Braymer -

6:00 p.m.

Nov. 15MS Basketball @ Orrick - 5:00

p.m.

Nov. 16Fall Sports Banquet - 6:00 p.m.

(Commons)

Nov. 19MS Basketball vs. Norborne -

6:00 p.m.

Nov. 20Fall Sports Pictures - 11:00 a.m.Varsity Basketball @ Osborne -

6:30 p.m.

Nov. 26MS Basketball @ Hardin-

Central Tournament

Nov. 27MS Basketball @ Hardin-

Central TournamentVarsity/JV Basketball @

Plattsburg - 5:00 p.m.

Nov. 28MS Basketball @ Hardin-

Central Tournament

Nov. 29Varsity Wrestling vs. North

Platte/South Harrison - 6:00 p.m.

Nov. 30MS Basketball vs. Hamilton -

5:30 p.m.

SPORTSPANTHER PRIDE

7http://polo.k12.mo.us November 2007

The 2007 Volleyball District 15Tournament was hosted at PoloHigh School for one last time be-fore volleyball becomes unknownto the future varsity sports at PoloHigh School. The teams that par-ticipated in the District 15 Volley-ball Tournament were Polo,Hardin, Braymer, Orrick, St. JoeChristian, Norborne, and SouthHolt. On Monday October 22, thefirst game was between Braymervs. South Holt with Braymer win-ning and advancing to the nextround. The second game wasNorborne vs. Hardin. This Hwy10 rivalry was shown with thehard fought battle on the court. Inthe end, Norborne defeated Hardinwho had come out on top in theprevious match-ups between thetwo schools. The Lady Panthersplayed St. Joe Christian at 7:30 onMonday October 22. The teamput a lot of heart in the game, yetfell short to the Lady Lyons.The second day of the tourna-

ment was on Tuesday, October 23.The first game of the eveningplayed was Norborne and Orrick.Orrick easily downed the LadyPirates and advanced across thebracket to the championshipgame. The second game match

by Joan AhartStaff Writer

Orrick Overpowers District 15

up was between Braymer and St.Joe Christian who had knockedout the Lady Panthers the nightbefore. The Lady Bobcats fromBraymer proved to be too muchfor the Lady Lyons. St Joe Chris-tian was sent home while Braymermoved on to meet up with the num-ber one seed, Orrick. The LadyBearcats from Orrick quicklyshowed District 15 why they werethe best. With the killer spike ofBrittany Townsend and the powerserves from Brittnee Nichols,Orrick swiftly clasped the District15 Title from Braymer in twogames with the score of 25-4 and25-7.The following players were

named to the All-District 1st Team:Emma Hindman – Polo, BrittneeNichols – Orrick, Brooke Dersler– Hardin-Central, Caitlyn Osborn– St. Joe Christian, Emily Swin-dler – Braymer, Tiffany Craig –Norborne, and Brittany Townsend– Orrick. Players voted on the All-District 2nd Team were: MoganAdkison – Braymer, Faith Mattis– Braymer, Lauren Lindsey – St.Joe Christian, Elizabeth Clark –Orrick, and Jacque McElroy – St.Joe Christian.

The hard fought fall sports sea-son has come to an end. The PoloPanthers went through ups anddowns but battled it out. Softballhas become the new sport for Polo,replacing volleyball. Coached byGreg Keith, his lady panthersended with a disappointing 3-12-1 record. The softball girls foughthard and had some excitinggames. Out of all the discourag-ing losses the softball team had twoAll-District players, AlishaBolling and Kelsi Pile. Next yearwill be even better with all play-ers returning from this year.Coached by Lindsey Frerking

and Katie Limyao, the volleyballteam ended their season with an11-12-1 record. The Lady Panthervolleyball team fought hard andthe seniors gave it all they had. All-District honors went to JuniorEmma Hindman who led her teamin kills and blocks. This year willbe the last year for volleyball.

Fall Sports Wrap-Upby Josh Duncan

Staff Writer

Though it will be missed, softballwill bring just as much excitementto Polo High School as did vol-leyball. The Polo Panther football team

ended with a 4-6 record. The sea-son with high expectations had abumpy ride and didn’t end the waymost would like. The Panther stillfought hard and never gave updespite the district results. On Oc-tober 31, the seniors had their lastdinner as football players. After thegreat dinner that all the footballmoms prepared for us, we had abonfire and a spectacular fire workshow. On November 1st, the pan-thers ended their season with a bigwin over their rival the BraymerBobcats. Finishing the season witha 33-20 win over the Bobcats gavethe seniors something to remem-ber. The fall sports banquet willbe held at Polo on November 16to wrap up the season with awardsand honors.

The 2007-2008 Jr. High basket-ball season is here. Both the boysand girls teams had their first gameon Monday, October 29th, hostingthe Osborne Wildcats. The girlscame out strong against Osborne’sfull court press, and led the wholegame until the end. The game wentinto overtime and Polo reclaimedtheir lead bringing home a firstgame victory. The Lady Panthersended coming through with aclose win. Following up the girlsthat night, the boys also had a closegame which they ended up win-ning. Great job both teams.This year’s Jr. High coaches are

boy’s coach Allen Meyers andgirl’s coach Lindsey Frerking.Coach Meyers coached the boyslast year, but this is CoachFrerking’s first year as a basket-ball coach. The girl’s team is con-sidered to be a rather tall team,having four girls that are at least5’ 6”. The boys have several eightgraders who played last year whoare looking good.The Junior High will play next

in the Norborne Tournament onNovember 3rd through the 9th.Good luck Jr. High boys and girlsbasketball.

by Kelsi PileStaff Writer

JH Ball Offon a Hot Start

CongratulationsJunior, Kelsi Pile - Softball

Junior, Emma Hindman - VolleyballSophomore, Alishia Bolling

All-

Dis

tric

t A

thle

tes

1st 1st 1st 1st 1st TTTTTeameameameameamRyan BarnesLinebacker

2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd TTTTTeameameameameamCharlie Boruch

LinebackerJosh Duncan

Defensive BackCody Drew

Kicker

HonorableHonorableHonorableHonorableHonorableMentionMentionMentionMentionMention

Josh DuncanRunning BackRyan Barnes

Offensive TackleLathan Dixon

Defensive Tackle

All ConferenceFootball Players

Meet the Panther sNovember 14 @ 6:00 p.m.

Come see the varsity basketballteams in action!!!

INFORMATIONPANTHER PRIDE

8http://polo.k12.mo.us November 2007