By Alaina King
Continue reading “Student club teaches, competes in ballroom dance”
By Alaina King
A nozzle is pressed and dark liquid streams into a cup. Foam appears at the top, but the drink isn’t beer—it’s coffee.
By Alaina King
The music faded, lights adjusted and audience members hushed as Elle Rose stepped onto a wooden stage to perform comedy for the second time at Be Here Now. She glanced at the folded paper clutched in her hand before looking at the audience and beginning her first joke.
“So I realized recently that dating me is a lot like dating fast food,” she said. “I look good, I only cost about four dollars to take out, but after about a month all you really want is the smell of me out of your car.”
Continue reading “Weekly comedy show serious boon to local funny people”
By Alaina King
Senior Tylan Davis graduates from FC on Monday, Dec. 15, 2014 and leaves for Parris Island, South Carolina for boot camp in February.
Continue reading “Floyd Central 1 in 1600: senior Tylan Davis”
By Alaina King
Mickey Deputy had open heart surgery when she was 10 months old and was diagnosed with leukemia at age seven.
Riley Lesh was born 15 weeks premature, spent 90 days in the NICU, and had a benign tumor removed from her shoulder.
Between six months and a year old, Ella McBride stopped growing, had heart failure, and an auto kidney transplant.
Although these stories are unique, these girls had one thing in common: being treated at Riley Children’s Hospital.
Continue reading “Riley families benefit from Dance Marathon”
By Alaina King
After standing in line for hours with freezing temperatures building tension, sophomore Megan Siltz is ready to shop. When the doors open, she rushes inside in search of deals, but never expected shopping to be so hazardous.
By day, junior Hayley Hall is a student particularly interested in Radio/TV. By night, she is working in a pet shop taking care of animals and learning about them as well. During the weekend she is busy with modeling. Hall is a person with diverse interests that not many people possess.
“I like everything about Radio/TV because you have a lot of freedom and Mr. Dench doesn’t hold your hand through the course,” said Hall.
Last year the Radio/TV class made a lip syncing video to the song ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth. Hall was one of the leads in the video.
“The ‘All Star’ video was one of the best lip syncing videos we’ve ever made. Hayley worked a lot with making the video,” said Radio/TV teacher Tim Dench. “Hayler can shoot video, edit, produce multiple camera video, talk on the radio, or anything. Hayley is the total package and I love having her as a student.”
After a day at school, Hall then foes to work at River Bend Reptiles. River Bend Reptiles hosts an Indiana breeder’s expo every other month at the Tri-County Shrine Club in Clarksville. Hall said it is a lot of fun because the expo features snakes, spiders, lizards, bunnies, and other furry ani,als including tigers.
“I love working with animals and learning something new about them everyday,” said Hall.
Although working in a pet shop is fun for Hall, there are also negative factors.
“I dislike cleaning up after all the animals because they smell really, really bad,” said Hall. “The bearded dragons are the worst.”
Hall owns a seven foot carpet snake named Pompeii, which she keeps at the pet store.
“I like reptiles because they’re different than regular house pets,” said Hall. “I don’t have any reptiles at home which makes me really sad, but I do have three dogs, one cat, and a rat.”
Hall has been features on the FC radio show “J n L”, hosted by juniors Julie Jackson and Lilly Hunchman.
“Hayley was one of my first friends when I moved here,” said Hunchman. “I used to be shy, but she got me out of my shell with her craziness.”
Hall said she would describe herself as unique, outgoing, and spontaneous.
“Hayley has a very bubbly personality and is full of boundless energy,” said Dench.
Hunchman agreed with Dench and said Hall is very outgoing.
“Hayley isn’t afraid of what other people think. She’s a friend to everyone and she’s always there if you need her. I can trust her with anything,” said Hunchman.
Aside from her other hobbies, Hall also spends time modeling.
Hall was first scouted in the mall when she was eight years old for an American Girl Doll fashion show. She said it was a great experience and her picture was in an American Girl Doll magazine under the doll named Kit.
“As of right now I’m doing print and promotional modeling, but coming up on March 31, I will be doing a fashion show at the Clifton Center,” said Hall.
Hall said she hopes in the next five years she will be in one of Givenchy’s fashion shows because he is her favorite designer.
“I like modeling ebcause whenever you model you feel pretty and everyone wants to feel pretty sometimes,” said Hall.
Hunchman said Hall is very passionate about modeling.
“My favorite thing about modeling is having others look up to you and feeling so accomplished after getting that perfect picture,” said Hall. “I have to say I do dislike wearing heels for eight or more hours a day.”
Hall has unique interests that she plans to take with her in the future.
“Hayley could do whatever she wants,” said Dench. “If I had 20 people like her, I could conquer the world.”
Hunchman said Hall is the type of girl that brings out everyone’s wild side.
“Hayley is like the weather,” said Dench. “You never know what it’s going to be, but you know it will be exciting.”
On a beautiful day, unexpected darkness descends among the world. As everyone stares in wonder, the Earth starts to tremble and gradually becomes a violent earthquake. Buildings tumble, roads split, and the world as we know it is ending just how the Mayans predicted.
On Dec. 21, 2012, the world is predicted to end according to the Mayans, Mayans predicted the world would end somewhere near the Winter Solstice and their calendar ends on the 21.
“If you refer to the Mayan calendar, I think they just got tired of making a calendar,” said Science teacher C.J. Jackson. ” I mean how long are you going to make a calendar? It’s good for a certain amount of time, but it’s like counting. Can you count to a million? Yes, but you start to lose interest because it’s so redundant. Just like the Mayans and their calendar. I don’t believe the world is going to end here in December.”
Although the Mayans predict violent earthquakes to bring an end to the world, most people favor the option of the world ending by a zombie apocalypse.
“I think the zombie apocalypse is just a joke, but if it does happen I’d be shocked because there are no signs of anything about that in nature,” said sophomore Bryce Moore. “I’ll still play zombie video games for fun, though.”
Grace Lutheran youth Director Mitzi Lyon shares her realistic views on zombies.
“I don’t believe in a zombie apocalypse,” said Lyon. “I don’t believe zombies exist. When we die, we don’t turn into anything, We go to either heaven or hell, we don’t become zombies.”
Zombies are constantly displayed in movies such as Dawn of the Dead and Zombieland and in video games such as The House of Dead: Overkill and Left 4 Dead 2. A T.V. show that has attracted viewers worldwide is AMC’s survival show “The Walking Dead.”
“Some of the movies and games are dumb and some are fun to play and watch, I like to watch the show ‘The Walking Dead’,”
As some enjoy the world ending shoes and movies, others shed light on what they think.
“They are just trying to make people feel that there is an end coming,” said freshman Grayson Devall. “They make people believe it’s going to happen. Getting people to believe is what is giving them money and that’s all they want.”
Others remain unaffected to the games, shows, and movies that feature the world ending.
“The movies, shows, and games don’t bother me because I know it is all fiction, fiction meaning not true,” said Lyon.
Although most people joke about the world ending, others take more extreme measures. Zombie Survival Camps are stationed across the United States. These camps train ages from as young as seven to adults in basic training in case of a zombie apocalypse.
“The people seriously preparing for a zombie apocalypse or any other event to make the world end are crazy,” said freshman Logan Gilland. “Even if the world does end, there’s not a single person who can prepare for that.”
Devall said the people who are preparing are paranoid and should not be wasting their money on something that is not coming.
“People have better things they should be worrying about and stop freaking out about the world ending,” said Davis.
In the past previous predictions of the world ending have occurred.
“No one can actually predict when the world is going to end,” said sophomore Hannah Baird. “I’ve never heard of a planet spontaneously combusting or being taken over by zombies. People need to get out of their games and movies and focus on reality. There have been so many other predictions about the world ending before and it didn’t happen, so why now?”
Previous predictions of the world ending include Harold Camping and his huge epidemic last year when he predicted the world would end on Oct. 21, 2011. Camping invested in billboard advertisements, commercials, and radio announcements. People interpreted the planets aligning as a sign for the end as well. Jehovah Witnesses have made countless predictions, all that have not come true.
Religion also affects the decision people make about the world ending.
“I’m a Christian and in the Bible it says no one will know when the world will end,” said junior Betsey Brimm.
Devall said no one will know when God chooses to end the world.
“I know without a shadow of a doubt that the world will end,” said Lyon. “I can’t say when this will happen, but I do know it will. The Bible tells us that it will be like a thief in the night, which means that no one will know when it will happen. There are speculations that the end will be Dec. 21. I don’t believe this to be true, I believe that it will happen in God’s time and according to God’s plan, not man’s.”
Scientifically speaking, the world could end with just a small change.
“Every so often something happens where the world is in a tough state,” said Jackson. “The dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago and rocked this world. They didn’t destroy it, but from a dinosaur’s perspective, their world ended. But for us, it will take something much smaller. Like a depletion of the atmospheric layer, the addition of too much pollutant in the air, or a disease that wipes the world out in less that two months because we have no cure.”
With Dec. 21 approaching, anxious people around the world await the day to determine everyone’s fate. Whether the world ends or not, only time will tell.
“If the world doesn’t end after December, those who thought it will end will be really shocked and maybe upset because the money put into it getting ready for the end was wasted,” said Moore. “But those like me who don’t believe it will end will be happy because it means we get to keep on living life.”
With squeaks and rumbling, the metal wall of the hangar opens to reveal Floyd Central junior Wylie King and the airplane he will be flying, his Cessna Cardinal.
Routinely, Wylie has to start preflighting before takeoff. He begins with checking tire pressure, then clamps the front of the plane and pulls it out like it weighs nothing. Wylie plus in headphones that are used to communicate during flight, buckles in, and drives the plane to the stretch of runway that would look like an ordinary road to non-flyers. After going through more checks of the controls, Wylie accelerates down the runway and rises into the air for his personal birds eye view.
“I’ve taken flight lessons since I was 14, so I have a student pilot’s license that lets me fly solo, but not take people on rides,” said Wylie, who will get his pilot’s license when he turns 17.
“Flying runs in the family,” said Wylie. “My great grandpa, grandpa, and dad flew, now I fly.”
Wylie’s dad, Doug King was a pilot in the Air Force and now flies for UPS.
“I support Wylie and his flying,” said Doug. “I think it’s cool that he learned really young. Not many people can solo at 16.”
Wylie said his dad was really nervous the first time he flew by himself.
“My first solo was nerve-wracking,” said Wylie. “When I got up I was fin, but then it set in that I had to land the thing.”
Like a driver’s permit, a student pilot’s license allows Wylie to take passengers with him as long as his dad accompanies him. Wylie got to take his best friend, junior Jacob Marguet, on a flight.
“To begin with, he was going to fly me around thousands of feet in the air, so it took quite a bit of trust to get me near the plane, let alone in it,” said Marguet. “But we have been best friends for years so I knew I could trust him. The craziest thing that happened while flying was when he was practicing his stalls. One moment I was fine, the next I was on a roller coaster, except I could die.”
Wylie’s longest solo flight was from Indiana to West Virginia and back.
“Wylie knows his stuff,” said Marguet. “Since he flew to West Virginia, I know it took some serious knowledge to get there without killing himself.”
Wylie said he plans to go into the Air Force like his father after finishing high school and later higher on an airline.
“The funniest thing my dad has told me was that he had better not catch me texting and flying,” said Wylie. “I just think it’s kind of neat that I can fly an airplane before I can drive a car.”
Alaina King 