Kylie’s Race to the Finish:
Although it seems like a while ago, on October 11th, Kylie Kuebler made her way up to Chicago and stood at the starting line at 7:30 in the morning, representing Team World Vision. She’d stretched and had been mentally preparing herself for this moment for months. As the whistle blew, Kylie and her close friend Tara Hamstra, shot off and ran for hours. Finishing at exactly 4 hours and 55 minutes, Kylie was exhausted, tired, but knew she was changing lives.
Keep Calm and Win PCC:
Pumped up and ready to battle, the volleyball boys battled long and hard for the win against Washington Township, and got to keep the title in the PCC round robin for the first time since 1997! Alex Garavalia attacked with 10 kills, followed by Dylan Bruce with 9. Dough Satoski defended like a champion with 18 digs and Tyler Heimberg added 4 block kills.
The Mustangs ended their season with a win on Morgan Township. Alex Garavalia led with 14 kills, followed by Trevor McCormick who had 13 kills. Tyler Heimberg contributed 2 aces. Dylan Bruce and Tyler Heimberg also added 5.5 blocks. Jared Birky had 39 assists. Doug Satoski led the defense with 28 digs. Shout Out to Trevor McCormick, Jared Birky, and Dylan Bruce for playing on the All-Conference team. Another shoutout to Alex Garavalia for being named the Most Valuable Player in the Conference. The Mustangs played an amazing season and ended with a 14-1 record winning both the PCC round robin and PCC tournament.
Sectionals (Girls Soccer):
The girls soccer team played in the Sectional championship game and, unfortunately, lost to Boone Grove 4 to 1. The Fillies’ lone goal was scored by Gabby Rogers with an assist from Emmalee Deardurff. Tiffany Trater defended the goal and had 5 saves. The Fillies fought hard and long and played awesomely! Coach Schwartz and I would like to thank all of the players for their hard work this season!
Cross Country Regionals:
Both and Girls and Boys Cross Country teams qualified for Regionals this year! The Fillies finished 4th and the Mustangs finished 3rd. Top finishers include Holly Kuebler in 4th, Jay Heinold in 6th, Dakota Dick in 11th, and Grant Hamstra in 13th.As Holly Kuebler and Jay Heinold made their way to semi-state.
Volleyball Girls Seasonal Stats:
The Varsity Girls ended their season beautifully, and a lot of the girls racked up several stats. For Serving, Chloe Koedyker had 36 aces, followed by Madison Clinton with 29. In Spiking, Chloe Koedyker gained 116 kills, followed by Hannah Maier with 113 kills.
Next, in blocking, Kaylee Heimberg had 39 blocks, followed by Paige Gurley with 37, and Sadie Leatherman with 26. In Passing, Chloe Koedyker had 174 digs, followed by Hannah Maier and Madison Clinton who both had 169 digs. Finally in Setting, Kyla Roney had 162 assists, followed by Sarah Clinton with 117 assists, and ending with Meagan Farmer with 69 assists. The record was 8-15. For PCC, the record was 3-4. Thanks for a great season, ladies!
62nd Ham and Turkey Dinner:
The Music Boosters 62nd annual Ham and Turkey dinner happened this past Saturday, November 7th at 4:00 to 8:00. With food, entertainment from the Kouts Singers, and student waitresses, who wouldn’t come? The dinner serves around 1500- 2000 people every year to fund the upcoming Band and Choir trip next year and also new equipment. All in all, the Ham and Turkey was a major success, and the food was delicious!
Spell Bowl Wants That State Win:
The High School Spell Bowl team is winning one after another this year. After winning third at the Penn Invite, fourth at the Kouts Invite, and Second at Benton Central, the Spell Bowl Team is storming its way to qualifying for state again this year! With anticipation and excitement filling their veins, the Spell Bowl team headed to Area and destroyed the competition by almost doubling everybody else’s points with a score of 71.
With a score like that, the Spell Bowl team didn’t just qualify for state but scored the top score in Class 4. They also placed 5th in the ENTIRE state behind Penn, Martinsville, Terre Haute South, and New Prarie. To practice, they scheduled two class competitions on November 4th and November 10th where the Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors on the team all face off against each other.
Last year, the Spell Bowl team earned 69 in the area and brought the score up to 85 at state. The Spell Bowl Team also spent the last Class Competition giving this year's seniors the admiration they deserved with a Spell Bowl Senior Night. Bailie Frazier came up with the idea and gathered the balloons and personal notes given by each of the members on the team to the seniors in decorative boxes. Thanks for a great season, guys! Good luck at state!
Veterans Day Program:
In honor of Veterans Day, Kouts held their Veterans Day program on November 11th from 8-10. Several chairs lined the gym floor as the Band played a patriotic tune and the veterans crowded the floor. The pledge was recited, and then the special recognition to ones who’ve passed, and ones still serving was done.
Next, a special video was made in honor of the ones who have served and the ones who have passed. The link to this video is here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLKT-RhsKHY). Finally, one by one, gussied up seniors gave personal thanks to each one of the veterans with a handwritten note and a firm shake of the hand.
The program came to close when the Choir sang a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. On behalf of Kouts, I’d like to give a special shoutout to all the Veterans on their special day. Thank you for all that you’ve done.
Fall All-Conference Athletes:
I would like to recognize the multiple fall athletes that earned PCC All-Conference this Fall. Congratulations to Grant Hamstra, Jay Heinold, Dakota Dick, and Holly Kuebler who received All-Conference in Cross Country. As for soccer, congratulations to Doug Satoski who represented the Mustangs and Tiffany Trater, Gabby Rogers, Emmalee Deardurff, and Corina Alvarez who represented the Fillies on the PCC Girls All-Conference team.
Congratulations also to Dylan Bruce, Jared Birky, Alex Garavalia, Trevor McCormick who earned All-Conference for the Mustangs volleyball team. Congrats to Hannah Mair and Chloe Koedyker who represented the Fillies volleyball team. Megan Heinold was awarded the Mental Attitude award for the volleyball team. Doug Satoski was named the Mental Attitude award for the boys’ soccer team this year and Jared Birky was named the Mental Attitude winner for boys’ volleyball this year. Shoutout and Congratulations to all of the Fall athletes! Great job, guys!
Lakeshore Paws:
As the first service project going on, several students ventured down to Lakeshore Paws center where they spent most of the day cleaning, filling dog toys, and enjoying the little pup’s company!
Honor Society Inductees:
Congratulations to the Class of 2017 Honor Society Inductees: Candace DeMarco, Kylee Martin, Harlee Satoski, Gabe Conway, Elizabeth Palmer, Gracie Birmingham, Chloe Koedyker, Kyle Roney, Brianca Sutton, Nicole Fackelman, Noah Miller, Gabby Rogers, Alex Garavalia, Maddy Garcia, Hannah Fosburg, and Sam Kropp.Here’s a sneak peek at their first meeting!
Student Shout Out:
Holly Kuebler started her Cross Country season with high hopes and great goals for herself as a runner. Her coach asked her what her goals were for this season and Holly reached for a goal that required hard work and dedication.
She wanted to “make semi-state and hit the 19’s before she graduated”. Holly, freshmen, this year along with another teammate, Jay Heinold advanced to semi-state this year and they ran their hearts out. Holly ran her personal best of 20:05 and finished 46th out of 178 runners at New Prairie High School. Congrats to Holly Kuebler and Jay Heinold for qualifying for semi-state and doing a heck of a job! Great season, guys!
Teacher Shout Out:
Welcoming a New Treasurer: Mrs. Laura Tharp began her career at Kouts with the fifth grade as an instructional aide, and then switched to a Technical Computer Lab Instructor later. As she began to become more comfortable with the school and grew a love for the kids here, a new job opportunity opened up as the new treasurer.
Although the kids gave a sincere to the old treasurer, Mrs. Vick, we are happy to welcome Mrs. Tharp in. I had a chance to sit down with Mrs. Tharp and ask her a few questions about her new job.
What made you take this position instead of keeping your old one? She answered, “Well, I have more experience doing this type of work...I love the financial problem solving that comes with this type of job.”
I also inquired about the kids that she’d grown used to and if she’d miss them and, of course, her answer was yes!
The last question I asked Mrs. Tharp was if this what she’d originally wanted to do with her life and she answered no, that she used to be a court reporter, but she started going back to college for Accounting and this job suited her more.
HOMECOMING FLOAT THEME REVEALED: BOARD GAMES CANDYLAND!