Trojan Tribune

Parkston HighSchool

Parkston, SDParkston.k12.sd.us

2/21/2020Issue 5

This year Parkston High School is hosting Mr. Harter a student-teacher from Colome, South Dakota. He is earning a degree in history education from Dakota Wesleyan University. According to Harter, he chose to teach because, “I actually liked going to school when I was young. I also had an amazing history teacher who was a very strong influence on me.”

He says that he has learned a lot from Mr. Jodozi, his cooperating teacher, and that all of his students have been lots of fun.

He already is working on finding a job for next year. So far he has applied at Parker and is hoping wherever he teaches is within an hour of Mitchell.

It has been worthwhile, working with Mr. Harter, according to Mr. Jodozi. “I have really enjoyed having him and hopefully I have shared some of my ex-periences to help him start his professional career.”

Mr. Harter finishes professional training at PHSby Sadie Lindeman & Cylie Emmett

Daylight Saving Time starts in two weeks

on March 8. Turn your clocks ahead--

and don’t be late!

Time Change! FFA Week kicks off FridayBy Maddie Stadlman

Every year the Parkston FFA chapter celebrates National FFA week by doing an activity each day. The organization plans different events like a fundraiser, dress up, games for students and a participation event for the elementary. The organization members bring in animals and invite the elementary students to come down. Then the FFA students play games with them and let them interact with the animals. This year’s schedule includes: 

• Friday 21st- Pancake breakfast starting at 7:00 AM

• Monday 24Th – Wear your Navy Blue FFA shirts

• Tuesday 25th – Drive your tractor to school day 

• Wednesday 26th – Ag Olympics

in Miss. Ackerman’s room 

• Thursday 27th – Petting Zoo 

Cordell MurthaBy Quinn Bormann

Cordell John Murtha was born September 25, 2001, to Charles and Darcy Murtha. He is the young-est of five siblings, Derek (26), Mikaela (25), Ethan (22) and Tucker (20), and has attended school in Parkston his entire life.

Cordell is active in many sports and activi-ties in high school. He is part of the football, wres-tling, and track teams. He is also a member of FBLA and FFA. His biggest high school accomplishment was twice making it to state wrestling. When asked what he likes to do in his free time he re-sponded, “Lift weights

Seniors

Second from the left, Jackie Braley is among eleven students who have made the South Dakota ACDA Junior Honor Choir every year since 7th grade. The event was held January 17 and 18, 2020.

Parkston student participates in honor choir every year since 7th grade

Solo and ensemb-le contest results in strong marks

February 5, members of the Parkston choir attended the solo and ensemble contest in Kim-ball. While there, 14 solos, two duets and one quartet competed.

The day went well for the students. According to the di-rector, Ms. Gerhart, “We took 18 students to contest today, and we came home with 12 gold medals! The highest solo scores of the day came from Summer Sloan and Josh Polreis who were both only one point away from a per-fect score.”

by Sadie Lindeman

and hang with friends.” His favorite high school tradi-tion is Homecoming. His advice for underclassmen is to work hard in high school so you can have a good life later on.

After high school, Cordell plans to enlist in the Navy to become a Navy Seal. Cordell thinks in 10 years he will be deployed. He has always had a deep admira-tion for the men and women who serve our country. If he could have dinner with anyone living or dead he would choose Michael Murphy. Michael Murphy was a Navy Seal that received the Medal of Honor and was killed in Afghanistan. Cordell said, “I would have din-ner with him because I could learn so much from him about service to his country.”

The quote he chose was, “Once a man can over-come fear; nothing can stop him.” When asked how he wants us to remember him, he said, “I just want to be remembered as a good person.”

ellie WeidenbaChBy Spencer Albrecht

Ellie Weidenbach is the daughter of Tim and Amy Weidenbach. She has one sister, McKenzie, who is 24. Ellie was born on August 1, 2001. She participates in volleyball, basketball, golf, HOSA, and NHS.

Ellie’s role models are her parents, because they are always positive even during hard times. When she finds time, she enjoys watching Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, and Disney+. In her free time, Ellie attends sporting events, hangs out with friends, and watches Netflix. Something on Ellie’s bucket list is to backpack through Europe. El-lie’s proudest accomplishment is placing in the top 25 at state golf her sophomore and junior years. The most valuable lesson Ellie has learned was from Mr. Jodozi: “Free is good.” After school Ellie is looking forward to traveling and gaining new experiences. Ellie says the hardest part of being a senior is “deciding where to go to college and what to major in. Her advice to underclass-men is, “Don’t follow others, follow your heart.” A quote that means something to Ellie is, “Whatever you decide to do in life, make sure it makes you happy.”

austin barteltBy Aaron Baumiller

On April 9, 2001, Austin Bartelt was wel-comed into this world by Jen and Jarren Bar-telt. He has a set of twin siblings, Evan and Elyssa. He has partici-pated in FCCLA, HOSA, FFA, FBLA, football, track, and cross country. He plans to go to MTI for animal science.

In his free time he likes to farm, hunt, and party

with friends. His favorite moment in high school was when he went to state cross country. In the next 10 years, he sees himself farming. His advice toward un-derclassmen is to live in the moment.

tyrese FriederiChBy Payton Albrecht

Tyrese Friederich is the son of Tom and Jennifer Friederich. He has one sibling, his name is Javon, who is in 8th grade. He was born December 21,in 2001. Tyrese participates in basketball, football, and NHS.

After he graduates he plans on going straight to college. He plans to study civil engineering at SDSU. His role model is Dawson Semmler (Class of 2018) because he was a mentor to Tyrese. When Tyrese has free time he likes to hang out with friends and play X-box.

If money wasn’t an object, Tyrese would like to travel. The most valuable thing Tyrese learned is that nothing is given to you and you have to work hard at everything. Something Tyrese is very passionate about is sports. Tyrese wishes he would’ve spent more time on himself. I asked Tyrese “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” and he answered with “A hard working man with a family.” Advice Tyrese has for underclassmen “Don’t take your younger years off, work hard when you’re younger so you can relax when you’re older.”

riley WeberBy Nick Hohn

Riley Jon Weber is the son of Joel and De-nise Weber. Riley has three siblings, Amber (26), Aaron (23), and Ra-gen (16). Riley was born March 9, 2001. He is a very active student and has participated in wres-tling, football, FFA, while

he maintains his own sheep herd at home on the farm. Riley plans to go to MTI for Ag Precision Technology.

Riley’s role model is his older brother Aaron, be-cause he is a successful man working at Agland Coop in Parkston, and on the farm. When he finds some free time, you can find him farming with his dad and brothers. Riley believes his classmates should be wor-ried about their futures because it comes faster than you think.

He says if he could go back to anytime in high school, it would be the 2019 wrestling season when he won state. His state title is what he is most proud of. The hardest part about being a senior is knowing your high school career is almost over.

Riley said if he could have dinner with anyone it would be Grandpa Weber because he had lots of funny stories. The most unusual lesson he has learned is to not talk back to the teachers. He looks forward to becom-ing a successful man when he gets out of school. He is very passionate about farming and the work he does on

taWni GriebelBy Hanna Jackson

Tawni Margaret Griebel is the daughter of Tara and Erik Roth and Gary Griebel. She has four siblings, Laci (29), Morgan (25), Tanner (19), and Tait (10). She was born October 11, 2001. She participates in FCCLA, NHS, FBLA, and FFA. After high school she plans on going to Stewart’s for cosmetology.

Her role model is her mom, Tara. In her free time she hangs out with family and friends. If she had the chance to go back and do over something it would be to try harder her fresh-man year. She wishes she would have been involved in more things. Her proudest accomplishment so far has been becoming who she is. The most valu-able thing she learned in school is to be your own person. The hardest part

for her being a senior would be having to say goodbye to everyone she has known over the years. She wants to be remembered by being a good leader in and out of school. The quote that means something to her is, “You do you and I’ll do me.”

the farm. Riley said a hard part was his commitment to wrestling and farming and how they both got in the way of each other.

He wishes he could go back to freshman year and try much harder in school. Riley said his sophomore year was pretty hard. The one thing he’d do over would definitely be his Alg2 final. He started a lot of hard class-es, increased his sheep herd, challenging his wrestling expectations, and had more responsibilities at home when his dad got really sick with an infection. “Harvest was very tough,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without family friends and good neighbors.” With calv-ing and lambing there wasn’t much time for studying but somehow he managed to keep his grades up.

Seniority means leadership to him. He wishes he’d have spent more time studying in high school. Riley’s advice to younger classman is don’t waste your time do-ing dumb things because life goes by too fast. The quote “Run hungry, taste victory,” really hits his home base he says.

hannah braleyBy Maci Degeest

Hannah Elizabeth Braley was born on July 7, 2001, and is the daughter of Chris and Barb Braley. Hannah has two siblings, Jackie (14) and Drew (12). She has par-ticipated in track & field, basketball, HOSA, FCCLA, and NHS. After high school Hannah plans to attend college at SDSU for Human Development and Family Studies.

In her free time she likes to hang with friends, go thrifting, dancing, re-laxing and listening to music. Hannah’s greatest accomplishment is her 100 meter hurdle record for EP track. Hannah says the hardest thing about being a senior is know-ing that she may never see some of her classmates again.

C l a s s o f 2020

By Riley Weber

The wrestling season is coming to an end. The Parkston Wrestling team has had some medical prob-lems with the team this year, including ringworm, in-fluenza, and knee injuries. In spite of that, the team has been doing great so far this year.

  Senior Cordell Murtha is doing well his last year. Cordell has been doing everything he can to get to the state tournament and achieve his goal to place at the state level. Cordell is cur-rently ranked 11th at 145 weight class. Last week-end he placed 4th at the Big Dakota Conference. 

Riley Weber also has been pushing himself to the max this year to get to the state tourna-ment and capture another state title. He has had a few setbacks with sickness and knee problems. Riley is currently ranked 2nd at the 120 weight class. 

Coleten Shedeed has also bneen held back by injuries. Last weekend, however, he wrestled 195 weight class at the Big Dakota Conference

and claimed his first varsity win. Coleten was pretty ex-cited about his first win.

 Porter Neugebauer, at 106 pounds, has had a great season, also. Porter is coming back from a minor knee injury that happened a couple weeks ago. Porter is cur-rently ranked 3rd at the 106 weight class. 

Sports

The rest of the team is working really hard to make it to the state tournament. They are: Gavin Braun at 113, Landon Sud-beck at 126, Aaron Baumiller at 132, Kolter Kramer at 138, Noah Mahoney at 152, Clay Hohn at 160, Logan Heidinger at 170, Jer-ry Kohler at 182. The region tour-nament is February 22, located at Winner High School. The State Tournament is February 27-29 at the Denny Premier Center in Sioux Falls. 

Wrestling team pushes to season finale

Above,seniors Riley Weber, and left, Cordell Murtha are powering through their last season as seniors, seen here competing at the Little B, January 25.

Teamwork key to girls’ success By Ky DeSmet

The Parkston Girls Basketball team has been do-ing incredibly well. Assistant Coach Eric Norden ex-plains the season overall: “The season is going well. They’re learning new things along the way and getting things solved. We’re playing well. We’re always looking to improve. Hopefully, at the end of the year, we’ll hit our peak.” When new challenges come up, Coach Nor-den says using teamwork is the key to success. Sticking together and working things out as a team has really helped the team solve most challenges so far. He also re-ports, “All of our wins have been because of teamwork. The team is successful because they have begun trusting each other throughout the season.”

The Girls Basketball team has had a 12-7 record. Coach Norden says that he hopes to bring the team to the playoffs and put up a good fight. “We can never truly predict what the team is going to do. We as coaches can encourage the team but we can’t do the work for them. The team has to do well in regions.”

Boys tracking strong seasonBy Trevor Voecks

Recent advances in the season leave the Parkston Trojans Boys Basketball team at 10 wins and 7 losses.

Starting off with two impressive wins, the team dropped into a brief rough patch early season. With four starting losses, head coach Craig Bruening comments that his team is ‘Getting back on track’ with their recent series of victories. Considering their most recent victo-ry over Andes Central/Dakota Christian, this statement seems to hold true. With ten wins under the team’s belt, they certainly are getting back on track.

Assistant coach Matt Grave comments that the team is “State caliber” with “Good versatility.” When asked about past and upcoming challenges, the coach was confidently lost for words. A need for better com-munication and finishing quarters were his suggestions for team improvement. He seems confident and proud of his team, with a “Win big or go home” attitude.

The team hopes to continue their current win-ning streak of three against Gregory, Scotland, and An-des Central/Dakota Christian throughout the season, as they eye state competition. The Parkston Trojans look forward to the upcoming games and the coaches are prepared to win.

Parkston Trojan Basketball

Izzy Hohn backs up Emma Yost as she goes up for a basket in spite of the defenders from Platte. Tyrese Friederich protects the ball from Platte Panthers as Braden Bruening and Nate Doering are poised to join the play.

By Sadie Lindeman

PEH gymnastics wrapped up their season with a trip to state on February 14, in Aberdeen, SD, after win-ning their third region title. The girls have worked hard all season for this one day. The competition was tough this year, with the placers for second, third, and fourth being just mere tenths of a point apart. The team had four individual qualifiers those being Jada Plastow, Tyra Zens, London Sudbeck, and Aubrie Biteler.

The team seniors for this year were Jada Plastow and Tyra Zens. They have been on the team since the start in 2013. The girls started gymnastics when they were three, so they have lots of advice and have learned a lot about the sport.

“My advice for future PEH gymnasts,” said Jada, “is to enjoy every moment of this sport, even the hard-ships. They won’t be fun but you’ll learn from all of them--don’t get discouraged and don’t give up! Time has flown faster than I ever could have imagined so give it your all and most importantly, have fun! Enjoy all of the ups and downs because before you know it you’ll be a senior at your last gymnastics meet wishing you could do it all over again.”

Gymnasts wrap season up at state meet

Above: Jada Plastow does her routine on the beam in her last High School meet. Below: London Sudbeck in the middle of a back tuck during her beam routine.Left: PEH coach Bridget Munterfering is honored with the 2020 Coach of the Year award.