by Julie Vonderschmidt by Scotti Twombly Dec. 12, 2012 volume 9, issue 2 Hunting is a favorite past time of many students, and on average they will spend around three to four hours in the great outdoors and have been hunting with a family member since they were in elementary school. Besides hunting for deer, many stu- dents also hunt for turkey, raccoons, and coyotes and are always waiting for the next hunting season to begin. HITS AND MISSES Hit: Halſtime performances by our own “Fillies”, the dance team Miss: Late night basketball practice because we have one gym! Hit: When girls have early practice. Miss: Practices over break when all you want to do is rest. Miss: When only 14 girls show up to the preseason basketball meeting and only 16 are out. Hit: When “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is on the radio! Miss: You wake up, get ready to leave, and then realize your vehicle has frost on the windshield then have to stand in the cold while freezing and scrape it off. Hit: Early Christmas movies on TV in the middle of November. Miss: Christmas is right around the corner. Be prepared to gain some weight :) Hit: Getting out of school 2 hours or more earlier than normal during the week of finals! Miss: STUDYING FOR FINALS. Hit: Dunkin Donuts relocating and being open for business--better watch out cause here I come! Miss: Boys with beards and girls with hairy legs for No-Shave November... Eww Miss: You’re in the weight room and the boys sweat all over the bench before you start benching. Wipe it off fellas! Hit: When Math ball gets so competitive that Mr. Swendson has to stop it and let everyone take a breather. Miss: How the teachers expect us to get 15 A.R. points a semester when we can barely get 5. Hit: Mr. Lackey telling us school gets let out early! Hit: K-State is good at football and KU is good at basketball. Let’s just say the state of Kansas is awesome. Miss: Having to stay at school aſter finals because we have to get counted for the minutes. Hit: 3-day weekends that give us Monday off. Miss: Procrastinating A.R then stressing about it when it’s due. by Mackenzie Boos Peanut Butter Balls Sugar Cookies Chocolate Pretzels Puppy Chow Oreo Truffles Pretzel Turtles Without the birth of the Christ child, there would be no Christmas. It is a joyous time of year to celebrate God’s greatest giſt to the world—Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about the par- ties or the frenzied buying of giſts or getting a long “winter break” from school. ose are what many people think Christmas is all about. But, even Santa Claus knows what the true meaning of Christmas. roughout the winter months other holidays such as Kwanza and Hanukah are celebrated by many people all over the world, yet do not get the same attention as Christ- mas. It is rare to hear someone wish you a “Happy Kwanza” during the holiday season in the United States versus the popular “Merry Christmas.” People with different religions or non-believers who do not celebrate Christmas may some- times be offended by the empha- sis on the holiday by Americans. While some people accept their decision to not participate in Christmas, others feel the need to somehow change their mind. For example, “He is the Reason for the Season” is a huge argu- ment every holiday season. Some businesses are even forced to say “Happy Holidays” no matter what their beliefs, in order to bypass the possible religious controversy. No matter what the religion or beliefs, wish someone a won- derful holiday and remember the reason to celebrate the festive day. May you and your loved ones experience love, hope, joy, and peace during this Christmas Sea- son and throughout the New Year! Don’t forget the true meaning of Christmas Sitting in a tree stand when it’s freezing cold out waiting for a deer to come into shooting range doesn’t appeal to a lot of people, but there are a lot of students at DWHS that will skip school to wait for that trophy buck. Deer season opened on Nov. 28 and many students were doing just that. Even though the deer popula- tion is down due to Blue Tongue Disease, a hemorrhagic disease that is spread by gnats or flies that bite the deer, students are still sport- ing their orange and looking for a deer, no matter what size it is. Many hunters will say the most exciting part of hunting is the mo- ment right before they get to make the shot. Others will say the most ex- citing part is dragging the deer out of the woods and field dressing it. Almost all hunters will say that the worst part of hunting is the disap- pointment of not getting a deer and having to go home empty handed. Far left:Hunter Idol and Houston Cluck gather brush to build a duck blind for the winter duck season. Left: Fresh- man Houston Cluck proudly poses with his 12 point buck, which was taken on the morning of Dec. 2. “He was with two does, 200 yards away. I shot him in the neck with a 243 rifle.” This deer was the first for Cluck who has been deer hunt- ing for about eight years. Deer season brings high hopes, disappointment Decked out in a bright array of sparkly Christmas sweaters, red bows, and red lipstick, the dancers gather after performing their dance to “Jingle Bell Rock” on Dec. 11. “The ugly Christmas sweaters made us get in the mood for the dance and Christmas. With the little time we had to practice, it pulled together really well,” Mackenze Boos said. December survey of 60 students