Online Exclusive!
STORY BY MADDI MARTINEZ
Many kids today are somehow connected to the cyber world by cell phones, internet, social media sites, emails, and texting. For several years there’s been issues happening over these connections. Some of the issues can be and have been taken too far. Kids have been experiencing bullying for centuries. In the past several years it has been carried over into text messages, email and social media sites such as facebook and twitter. In some cases it’s carried on even further. Sometimes resulting in the making of a website solely based on these attacks, often having negative outcomes. But what can be done to stop it? The school’s policy can only punish the bully if the cyberbullying affects the victim in school.
“If it becomes an issue at school we can do something about it like a conference with the people involved, with the police officer present, but if it gets to a certain point, charges can be filed. But there is a degree of when and how far the school can be involved,” Fred Maher, assistant principal said.
Cyberbullying often can’t be traced, with today’s technology, people can bully from an anonymous source. There are also different types of cyberbullying such as harassment, cyberstalking, outing, anonymity, masquerading, and several others. All of which can have an affect on the victim. Children of all ages have been affected by cyberbullying.
There’s even been a case of a teacher quitting his job due to a couple anonymous kids making a website about him and another teacher being child molesters. It made him scared to go back to that school to teach.
A website called hsmemes.com has recently been created, and its caused some harm to students in Council Bluffs and other schools around the country. Hsmemes.com is a site for people to create their own memes. It’s been used as a way to target kids and make fun of them for whatever reason the creator wants. Unfortunately people have used it for cyberbullying students. People can post as anonymous or make up a name. Some of the memes have caused a lot of drama. Although AL doesn’t have any more than three pages that have been created, TJ has had their link reset due to the amount of insults and spam on their page. Websites like these are causing kids to feel bad about themselves and giving them bad reputations.
“Cyberbullying should never happen, nobody deserves to be told to die or be called names.” Chanel Zarate ‘14 said.
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Category Feature, News |
STORY BY KATIE HIERS AND MADDI MARTINEZ
Fred Maher, assistant principal of Abraham Lincoln High School, is retiring after working for Council Bluffs Community School District for 50 years. Doing his part included more than just being an administrator of the school. He organized and raised money for post prom, making sure everyone had a great time while staying safe and doing the right things. Maher attended the Council Bluffs track meets and helped out, always preparing to start the races. Maher also helped out various students along the way getting them on the right track to start their lives after high school.
“I still see a lot of students around after they’ve graduated,” Maher said. “I receive notes and emails saying thank you for everything I’ve helped them through.”
Many students still enrolled thanked him for everything he’s done. He’s helped students stay out of trouble, gave them career advice and guided them onto the path to success.
“I’m going to miss him a lot, he’s a great guy. He gave me a lot of ideas and tips on where I should perform my magic acts,” Julian Henning ‘14 said.
Faculty members shared their memories and keen thoughts regarding Maher’s retirement. Being involved in the community as much as he is it’ll be hard for many to get used to someone replacing him.
“I think he’s awesome. He brings a lot of maturity, fairness, good judgement and character to the staff. Mr. Maher’s kind but stern, it’ll definitely be hard to fill his shoes,” Industrial Tech teacher Dan Fee said.
Many have asked why he’s retiring, but he said he doesn’t know himself. After retirement, Maher plans on cleaning out his garage and picking up something to keep him busy.
Maher’s retirement has fueled the “Pass It On” movement, which will be featured in the next print issue of Echoes in April.
(File photo)
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Category Uncategorized |
The Echoes recently published the sixth issue of the school year!
You can check it out by clicking on the picture below!
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Category News |
STORY BY BLAKE WILLADSEN
We’ve all seen it. Whether it be walking down the hallway only to be blocked by a few Tebowers, to the countless news stories, and even your Facebook news feed, Tebow mania has struck the hearts of many. Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, has made quite a name for himself after winning the Heisman and a national title in high school, all while becoming a pop culture icon. He prides himself on a strong moral foundation and is a preacher of Christian values in a world that might not emphasize such values as much as before.
After a successful career at the University of Florida, Tebow was drafted 25th overall in the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. This brought up some controversy among Broncos fans as they already had a productive quarterback and Tebow’s style of play doesn’t fit into their offense.
There was mutters of him maybe switching positions to one such as wide receiver or fullback. Tebow has made a name for overcoming challenges like this.
“When he (Tebow) was drafted, I didn’t think too much about it,” long-time Broncos fan Josh Cross ‘13 said. “Once he was on the field, I knew we had a good quarterback.”
Tebow’s resilience is what has made his career such a whirlwind of a story. He wasn’t supposed to be first round draft pick, he wasn’t supposed to be a starting quarterback, he wasn’t supposed to lead his team to the playoffs.
“He’s a great model,” Cross said. “He’s very religious and a nice guy. I believe he has a good vibe on other people and makes everyone happy. He inspires so many.”
Tebow has made a fan out of casual football fans as well. Tebow’s heartthrob effect has women of the nation in awe despite his relationship rumors with Olympic downhill skier medalist Lindsey Vonn.
“One day my dad told me ‘I give you permission to marry Tim Tebow,’ and I looked him up,” Allie Moats ‘14 said. “Some people are chicken to show their beliefs. He is courageous enough to show his beliefs.”
As soon as there are the passionate fans surely will follow the Tebow haters. Criticism has been a constant with Tim Tebow throughout his career and once he joined the ranks of the NFL the critics brought significantly more attention to him.
It used to be quite a task to find a regular guy who didn’t like Tim Tebow. After he was drafted people have been more critical of Tebow’s performance on the field and even his beliefs.
“Tim is the most overrated football player since the invention of the sport,” Brice Johnson ‘12 said. “I don’t like Tebow because his belief that God is the reason the Broncos & Gators succeed.”
Tebow’s beliefs are very public as you can see him praying on the field and his face paint is often graced with the scripture passage John 3:16.
“I totally think it’s an act,” Johnson said. “Sports is about hard work and he probably puts in the work but works on his public image more.”
Lots of attention was payed to a strange coincidence in the Broncos upset playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tebow threw for 316 yards and averaged 31.6 yards per completion. The Internet exploded as the coincidence of John 3:16 (one of Tebow’s favorite scripture passages) became the most Googled term that Monday.
Tebow’s reach has expanded more than anticipated, since he has dominated social media sites. He has more chatter this year than Kim Kardashian, Oprah and Mitt Romney combined while being the topic of 20% of celebrity tweets and statuses, most coming after his six straight victories in his opening stretch as the starter. Tebow has even taken to making some new friends. A “bromance” between him and Lebron James has started back and forth on Twitter. Numerous references to him in the presidential debates have been made, and he’s even had a Saturday Night Live skit dedicated to him and the rest of the Broncos locker room.
Thanks to the controversy and endless attention being paid to Tim Tebow, it looks like he’s here to stay for awhile. He has become a pop culture icon and has not even won the super bowl…yet. Who knows what is next for Mr. Tebow?
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Category Sports |
Story by Brittney Johnson and Krystal Hopkins
The countdown has started and the Super Bowl is coming soon. With the big game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots comes the anxiety of planning and hosting a Super Bowl party. There are some who go all out and decorate and spend hours making snack items and “football” food. Then there are those who just wing it–inviting people over, ordering pizza, and just sitting around having a good time watching the anticipated game.
Hy-Vee is one of those stores that can make hosting a Super Bowl party easier. They have deals on almost all snack items, smokies, meatballs, and grilling items. They are also making snack trays, and three foot subs. In previous year, these sales have added to the number of shoppers in Hy-Vee leading up to the Super Bowl as well as increasing the amount of items sold.
“The items that endorse the Super Bowl tend to be the ones that we have out for display as well as the most sold items,” said Chad Thacker, a manager at Hy-Vee.
Besides food, another big thing for Super Bowl season seems to be that people want newer, fancier televisions. Stores who sell televisions usually have big sales during this time of year, such as Best Buy.
“We will have more TV sales in our ad in the couple of weeks leading up to the Super Bowl” said Nate Rosenthal, one of the managers at Best Buy.
During this football season some people go all out and buy themselves in-home theaters.
There is also the cheaper route to watching Super Bowl on a big screen. Restaurants such as Buffalo Wild Wings are one of the many hot spots to watch the game.
Not into having a big party or going out? One could stay in and have a nice immediate family get together. It could be a bonding experience. Or you could also have a not-so-immediate family get together. Ted Hennings, social studies teacher/football coach, and around 50 family members get together and get some Buffalo Wild Wings to go, play games, and watch the football game together.
“We have games for kids, such as football bingo,” Hennings said.
The Giants and Patriots have faced off at the Super Bowl once before when the Giants ended the Patriots’ undefeated season. Therefore, this game could cause some rivalries between the fans of either team, and it will also put pressure on the Patriots to redeem themselves.
Whether you like these parties for the food, the commercials, or the football game itself there will be something for everyone as they enjoy the time with their friends and family.
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Category Arts & Entertainment |
The staff at The Echoes would like to sincerely wish you a happy new year! We would also like to invite you to check out our 3rd and 4th issues online, which you can found under the “Current Issues” tab.
Enjoy your year!
- The Echoes
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Category Uncategorized |
Leave us a comment or post a picture on the Echoes Facebook page.
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Story by Victoria Holcomb
College View Elementary, home of the Little Lynx, was built and ready for students to come and learn in only days before the ribbon cutting on the 16th of August during their back to school night. At this back to school night the Abraham Lincoln mascot the Lynx came and took pictures with the students as well as high fives and hugs. The choosing of their mascot was due to an online voting pole, committee meetings, along with the notation of the high school. Abraham Lincoln, home of the Lynx, schooling several hundred students daily is only right down the hill from where College View Elementary was built, it seemed like a perfect fit. Besides the indication of being right next to Iowa Western, the name of College View seems to match perfectly to the mascot chosen.
College View has the ability to have growing neighborhoods with all the open land around them, along with increasing enrollment with several schools in the district closing. Enrollment goals were not only met but exceedingly high for being a new school with no housing anywhere near. With extremely high enrollment all the classes are packed full, but all the kids seem to love their school.
“As far as it seems; all the kids like their new school, are extremely excited to come every day and seem to brag about it to all their friends,” said Mrs. Rice, Principal at College View.
And even with the chaos of College View being a new school, all the talk and large enrollment numbers everything still seems to be going very smoothly. All the parents are great, supportive and adaptive to the change in placement of where his or her child or children are being educated at. While sitting in their cars waiting for that bell to ring at 3:35, these parents wonder what kind of story his or her child will tell them that day, while, all the students are getting lined up and ready, chatting amongst themselves, all looking very happy and anxious.
This elementary school, unlike all others in its district offers a Spanish course to students that wish to enroll in it. College View is known as a candidate school for primary years program and is pursing authorization as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School. Which wants students to commit high quality; challenging, international education which the school thinks is very important to their students. Besides being an IB league school, the teachers and parents and staff only want the best, and all the normal characteristics still apply.
College View can effect several people in AL because of the new teachers that work there and all of the new students that attend. Emma Preston ‘14, is effected by this this indirectly. Her little sister is in first grade as well as her mother who has started teaching there this year.
“The faculty is nice, education is great and school has a great facility,” said Emma Preston, ‘14.
With only a start to this school year; there is still plenty of room for change and improvement to school staff and education. College View is viewed by students and staff of AL alike as a great place for kids to be.
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Category News |
Hail Storm Ravages Students’ Property
The recent storm that struck the metro on Aug 18 has left many with quite a mess to clean up. The start of the following school day was filled with numerous amounts of stories of the aftermath. Stories told ranged from students being left in the dark all night long to what was the biggest size of hail someone had in their yard.
“I lost power from 8:30pm last night to 2:30pm (the following day),” said Paige Branson ‘13. “ We had to call the fire department because of a power wire that was on fire. But, anyway I had to take a shower in the dark and all that good stuff.”
During the time of the storm many students were present at numerous different places. Whether it happened to be the roaring winds, loud thunder, or hard hail the storm definitely could be heard wherever they happened to be.
“I was at my house during the storm,” said Holly Jensen ‘14. “ I could hear the hail on the roof.”
No matter where one was during the storm, the aftermath seemed the toughest to deal with because some damages were unknown.
“We do not know about the roof of our house but our porch roof has a bunch of holes in it,” said Jensen.
From street to street if one was to go around the town afterwards, more damages would be a more common sight then others. Broken windows, fallen branches and trees around houses were a common sight. The most common sight at school, however, happened to be damages to the cars.
“The back window (of my car) was completely out due to the hail,” said Ashley Vanderpool ‘12. “The trimming on the front window came out and on the driver’s side, the headlight is all busted out, and the passenger headlight has a few cracks in it.”
Many damages due to the storm can be fixed, but the night of this storm will not be forgotten for many students and teachers at AL.
(Story by Lauren Myers. Pictures courtesy of Hayley Hochstetler. Graphic by Brian Williams.)
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Category News |
On March 30, players on the football team were told that head coach Justin Kammrad was resigning for a head coaching position at Papillion (NE) Lavista South High School. However, before the players could even complete the grieving process they were faced with yet another turn of events–Kammrad has withdrawn his resignation and will remain at AL.
“[I chose to stay because of] family and personal reasons,” said Kammrad. “I absolutely felt like I did the right thing.”
Many players said they are relieved Kammrad is staying.
“I was really happy that he came back because when he was going to leave, the whole mood of the football team was down,” said Ryan Hrabik ‘12. “It didn’t seem like anyone was going to try. Now that he’s back, everyone’s happy and it seems like they’re gonna try harder for next football season.”
Many players were concerned about what next season would bring since their head coach was leaving, however many players now feel reassured as does the school staff. Jeff Novotny, Activities Director announced the news to the AL staff yesterday (April 11) afternoon.
“I feel great, it’s great for the school,” said Novotny. “He’s great at supporting the school’s teams, not just football.”
Without the hassle of finding and then having players adjust to a new coach, AL students and staff are waiting to see what the Lynx will bring next season after an undefeated regular season in 2010.
“I honestly feel like the team is gonna be successful,” said Kammrad.
Story by Brittany Rupp, Emmalee Adams, Arianne Boehme, DJ Jefferson and Taylor Bright.
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Category News, Uncategorized |
