By Nick Warner

Graduation is no doubt a huge part of becoming an adult and moving on with your life. Just like anyone else, you want to be recognized during this time of honor. Nothing spoils such an important event like misbehavior that would result in being embarrassed. Here are a few tips for you, your family, or anyone else that will be attending a graduation ceremony.

1.       Refrain from screaming. Everyone, including you and your family, wants to hear your name being called as your receive your high school diploma. By yelling, parents and friends could make another family unable to hear their student’s name being called.

 2.       No blow horns or other noise makers. It is way over the top to bring a blow horn to such a respectful, important ceremony such as graduation. Not only is it disrespectful, but it is an embarrassment to the family, the student, and even the school. Just leave the blow horns at home.

 3.       Try to avoid getting in the way. Especially with such a small place for graduation to take place like at North Scott, this may be extremely difficult. However, do your best to avoid blocking the view of others around you. You would hate to miss your loved one walking and receiving their diploma, so keep that in mind.

 4.       Show respect. During times like the national anthem or any speeches that are given, show the appropriate respect. Once again, you could easily embarrass yourself and your family if you lack respect.

 5.       Keep it positive. Whether your families are tight or absolutely hate each other, don’t boo other students when their name is called. Even if it is just a joke, don’t do it. Everyone deserves their moment of recognition as they become an adult.

 6.       Arrive early. Just like tip #3, if you show up late you are getting in the way and will end up with awful seats. Make sure to arrive roughly 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

 7.       Dress formally. Graduation is not the place to show up to wearing holey jeans or paint covered shirts. Even though it is extremely hot at graduation, dress to impress. It is a formal event and your attire should correspond to that.

 8.       Use your electronics appropriately. A bad timed cell phone call or camera flashing could be embarrassing. I’m not saying revert to the stone age but be smart.

Jessica, 18

Who was the first person you told?

Once I knew, my immediate thought was how was I going to be financially capable of supporting my child and myself. The first person I told was my boyfriend, Trevor. Then one day after work, I told my mom that we needed to sit down and catch up on the things going on in my life. By the time I sat down to tell her, she already had a good idea of what we would be discussing. She was the one who told the rest of my family because I had no idea how anyone of them would have reacted and I didn’t want to be criticized.

Did you tell your friends?

At school I told everyone I knew and didn’t want to keep it hush hush because that’s what causes whispering and rumors. I get a lot of starring. None that were mean glares from what I knew of, but who doesn’t look at a pregnant girl?

Have you faced any stereotypes?

Stereotypes weren’t such a big deal to me. People asked if the pregnant teens at our school formed a “group” and planned it. Of course not. But I did meet/earn a new best friend from all of this, Shania. I didn’t really have any harassment personally, but I did witness a lot that was given to Shania. I stood by her and was as much support as I could be.

What was the first ultrasound like?

Seeing the first ultrasound was one of the most anxious times during the pregnancy, and also the scariest. I knew I was pregnant but seeing him for the first time made everything that much more real to me. It made me realize this was actually happening, it wasn’t a dream.

How did you prepare for your pregnancy?

I prepared for the baby by changing my diet, and my daily activities. Also, I had to make a baby nursery for him. The most fun part was painting, picking out designs and getting new furniture.

Who will be at the hospital with you?

In the room to support me will be my mother, Trevor, and his mom. I’m sure all my friends will be there; the one’s who’ve been there through this whole pregnancy, and who’ve given me support. I thank them for that.

Are you going to do an epidural?

I’m not sure if I want do an epidural. I’m going to wait to see how I feel during labor. If I think I can handle the contractions, I will give birth naturally.

When are you due?

I’m due May 7^th, two days after prom so if all goes well I can still go. I want to go because it’s my senior year and I think I’d look pretty darn cute 9 months pregnant in a dress. But I’m not going out to buy one for $500; EBay is where it’s at. I’m looking cheap so if I don’t end up going I won’t be out of hundreds of dollars. 

Did you consider abortion? Why or Why not?

Never. I don’t believe in killing innocent children for my mistakes. They didn’t mean to be born so why punish them? I mean, if raising your child is that big of a damper on your life at least give him/her up.

Have you considered adoption?

Also no, never. I also don’t believe that giving up your flesh and blood is right. If you’re mature enough to make the decision to have sex, then you should be mature enough to raise your child that you made. In some cases, such as rape, I believe that adoption is appropriate.

What is your advice for teens?

Yes, people have sex. It is a natural thing and I’m not going to sit here and protest against sex before marriage. Just don’t be dumb about it. I thought being on birth control (the pill) was enough to keep me safe but it wasn’t. There are more protections against teen pregnancy to use besides just birth control and condoms. Also, if you can’t look at the person you are with and envision spending the rest of your life with them, if you can’t imagine waking up to them every morning for the rest of your life, then don’t do it. Don’t make a one-night decision influence the rest of your life. Like I said, I’m not telling you not to do it, just be smart.

I hope this opens a lot of eyes at North Scott.

*Jessica gave birth to Chase on May 1^st.  On the topic of natural birth, Jessica says, “No way,” she laughs, “I thought I was dying.” She still intends to attend Prom.

An annual Post Prom highlight.

By Kevin Nelson

Post prom 2012 was an overall success. The games and activities were a hit for the students, but there were issues with the way prizes were given. The committee in charge of awarding prizes and gifts to juniors and seniors had a goal to ensure that every upper classmen received a gift.

A member of the committee mentioned that there was over 300 gifts for the students, and somehow there were quite a few students who didn’t receive anything. There were also students who received multiple gifts and some students received more than one large ticket item, myself included.

The system was set up to be error free, and fair for everyone, but as we know, nothing is perfect.

Students that didn’t receive anything wanted to make sure that next year’s committee addressed these issues and included everyone. I thought the system was more efficient than last year, but I believe the way the committee drew names could be more error free and less time consuming.

By Noah Gumpert

The 2012 North Scott Football team will be running out in some new jerseys next year. With all of their funds from last year they were able to purchase new white away jerseys.

The jerseys are Under Armour brand with a white base and red and silver accent colors. They are shorter and a tighter fit than the current home jerseys.

The football team was also able to purchase new pants to match their new jerseys. The pants are also white with accent colors of red and silver. The Lancer Football program is hoping that they will be able to purchase new red home jerseys by the end of next year.

By Ben Ihrig

With a van full of athletes, North Scott’s Drake qualifiers headed for Des Moines where most would compete, not knowing how well they would do. For Tyler Blondell, Randy Schmidt, Louis Defreise, and Jon Rus (4x 100 team), they never even came in first the entire year during a regular season track meet, so they were definitely astonished when they ended up placing 7^th out of 80 teams at the famous Drake Relays.

“I knew we weren’t too bad but I didn’t think we’d make it to the finals,” said Tyler Blondell (4 x 100 lead leg).

It certainly surprised me to receive a text from Blondell late Saturday that simply stated they were 7th. Many of their own teammates, including me, didn’t think they would do that well at Drake. I guess being underrated isn’t a bad thing at all.

They competed against some of the most elite 4A high schools in Iowa including Cedar Falls (who set a new Drake record), West Des Moines Valley, Iowa City High, and many others. Cedar Falls also had the fastest participant in the state running as their anchor, James Harrington, who also set a meet record in the 100 meter dash.

The team made a great run for a fairly underrated lineup in the state and (most importantly) made the coaches happy.

By Noah Gumpert

Senior linebacker, Tyler Blondell, has chosen the school he will attend and play football at next year. He has selected the Division I Illinois State Redbirds coached by Brock Spack. Blondell’s final choices were Iowa State and Illinois State. Blondell’s senior stats were: 109 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks. He is joining a successful program and will look to help them out wherever needed.

The Redbirds went 7-4 last year and look to build off of their success. They recently have added two FBS transfers. Coach Spack has recently added Dominic Clark, a defensive back from Ohio State, and Jermaine Barton who played on the offensive line for the Miami Hurricanes last year. The Redbirds first game is September 1 when they host the Dayton Flyers.

By Lauren Salas

 It’s time to say goodbye to one of our FACS teachers.  After 10 years at North Scott, Ms. Ferrel will be moving to teach at a school just outside of Des Moines.  It wasn’t an easy decision for her, but it was a decision that would be better for her family in the long run.

Mrs. Ferrel teaches the Child Development courses and is a FCCLA leader. She may be leaving, but her classes will continue with a new teacher. Even though it will be hard to say goodbye to one of the sweetest teachers at North Scott, we wish her best of luck.