The Rampage

Jessica Rish Staff Reporter                 The beginning of May brings many exciting things-one of which is AP testing.  AP classes are programs created by the College Board, which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. AP stands for Advanced Placement. Colleges and universities often grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations.                 AP exams will begin at the beginning of May and go through the end of May. Reagan Mackie is a junior who will be taking 4 exams this year.                “I’m in AP composition, AP psychology, AP world history and AP human geography,” said Mackie. It is important to start studying at an early date so students can be prepared for the test according to collegeboard.org   “Yeah, I started studying about two weeks ago. Yes, I’m ready for my test,” Mackie said when asked about the upcoming tests. A student at Southeast Polk can take many AP classes that inc

Lexi Burrows Staff Reporter                 Students in freshman Earth and Space classes have been learning about the Earth. They collected data from an experiment testing heating and cooling systems that they completed. In the experiment students are given soil, sand, water and salt in a cup.  Students then stacked books on top of chairs and placed a meter stick over top.  Finally they were given a thermometer and a heating lamp. Students then had to write a hypothesis of which substance they thought would warm up fastest and which would cool off the fastest. Students set up the experiment and every two minutes they recorded the temperature of the different substances.  After twelve minutes students then shut off the light and kept track of the temperatures as they cooled. Once all of the data was collected, students shared their different temperatures with the teacher and the rest of their classmates. They were then given a piece of graph paper, and told what to label

Brooklyn Draisey Columnist                 On Wednesday, April 22, the University of Iowa hospitals celebrated the year of the hospital’s 5000 th transplant by planting trees. The event was organized by Greg Johnson, Jody Johnson, and other members of the hospital staff. They planted five different trees for the five different major organs, which are the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. They also planted a tree in honor of the donors who saved recipients’ lives by donating organs. The types of the trees were Bald Cyprus, which were chosen for their beauty and resilience.  As of April 22, the hospital had successfully conducted 5,018 transplants. The most common type of transplant was for kidneys, and there have been 3,338 since 1969. There have been 785 liver transplants, 339 heart transplants, 146 lung transplants, and 69 pancreas transplants. There were also many people who required more than one organ transplant, like heart and lung or kidney and pancreas. Bef

Claire Strickland Opinion Editor             Students who play volleyball have a mandatory meeting on Friday morning at 7:15. The meeting will take place in Mr. Parkers room, N273.             “The meeting will mostly be about future summer open gym dates,” said sophomore volleyball player Maya Barker. For students who plan on playing volleyball during the next fall season, the meeting is highly recommended.             “I want varsity to make it to state of course, but also a good team record for all of the teams,” Barker said. Students who play volleyball attend summer open gyms, where lots of preparations occur. Drills, games and conditioning take place at the open gyms every morning.             “During the offseason there are open gyms and sand volleyball clubs and tournament teams and we all pretty much go off on our own training,” Barker said.             The meeting on Friday morning will be held by varsity coach, Matt Parker. This meeting will include information

Ethan Edvenson Cartoonist             It’s just an average lunch time on a pretty basic day at school. You look around and see most everyone enjoying their lunch just as you are, until your stomach gets that feeling. UH OH! Looks like you can’t eat any more of that chicken sandwich because your stomach is now full! Oh what to do? Just like culture has taught you, it is okay to just go ahead and throw it in the garbage along with the other food you didn’t finish. It won’t add up to much right? However, you soon realize more and more students are doing the same thing as you are doing. Then, you think about the students and staff from the other lunch hours all combined in their efforts to get rid of their trash. Finally, you acknowledge the several millions of other United States citizens that shamelessly throw away their remains to rot in a landfill. And that landfill isn’t limited to food. According to the EPA, in just one year, America is estimated to waste 251 million ton

Tori Hennick Arts + Cultures Editor Students are beginning to start buckling down on their studying as the AP exams approach. Most of the AP exams are at the beginning of May, so they are only a few weeks away. Junior Morgan Handy hasn’t started yet, but is planning to start studying for her AP Human Geography exam. “It is important (to study) because if you do well enough, you can get college credit for that class,” said Handy. This is Handy’s first college credit class she has taken and so far. She isn’t too stressed out because her class has just started to talk about everything they are going to need to know. “I should study more, I think I’m going to do well, but it never hurts to study more often and frequently,” said Handy. AP teachers usually tell their students to study anywhere from 2 weeks to a month in advance about the exam. This gives students a chance to go through all of their material and figure out if they are missing any worksheets and gives them plent

Pete Ruden Staff Reporter             A staple in Southeast Polk athletics since reaching the state championship game in 2006, the football team has already started spring “seven on seven” workouts.             A football seven on seven is when the offense’s quarterback, running backs and wide receivers go against the defense’s linebackers and defensive backs in an all-passing, fast paced competition.             “It gets the team together and helps us get to know each other when it’s not necessarily football season,” safety Michael Altes said. “[We can] have fun and just get work done.”             After a 6-5 season and another trip to the postseason, the Rams are looking to make it back again. In recent years, they have had a “playoffs or bust” mentality, helping to add fire to the fuel.             The Rams have had a strong run with Denny Muller as head coach, including 92 wins, nine postseason appearances, and a trip to the state championship. With Muller now resig

Demi Muchmore Editor in Chief                 It might seem strange to discuss next school year when the current school year is still unfinished, but next year’s school schedule is official and has been published.                 The start date for teachers to come back and begin preparing for all the students will be August 18.                 This year’s start date for students will be August 24 th . This is a little bit further into the summer than what students are used to, but no one is willing to complain about it since this means they will get a longer summer.                 Along with the good news comes the bad news. For years SEP had fall semester finals before winter break, concluding the first semester. Now students will leave for winter break and then will come back to take finals, with the first semester ending on January 15 th . This decision has not been agreeable to the student body.                “I think the idea is dumb and I prefer coming back to s

Josi Bambrook Columnist During the school week of April 27, sophomore students will have to take the ASPIRE tests. The tests will be held from 7:50 am- 12:00 pm and will either be in the multipurpose room or band room depending on the students’ last name. The tests will assess students in 4 main subjects; Reading, English, Math, and Science. The ASPIRE assessments will also give students a projected ACT score.                 All of the sophomores just had to take the Iowa Assessments and now the students must take more tests. Although this ASPIRE test might not show how the sophomore class is doing since many students, if not all, are tired of testing.                 “I don’t like taking tests. Why do we need to take more tests? What’s the point?” said sophomore Sierra Robertson.                 Students are tired of all the testing and don’t understand why they have to test over the same things so many times.                 “I don’t know why we have to take it when w

Emily Merkle Design Editor Southeast Polk high school students will take on the dance floor Saturday, April 18 from 8 pm to 11pm with after prom shortly following, doors opening at 10:30 and closing around 5 in the morning. According to the Southeast Polk website, last year over 900 students took part in post prom, over 100 community partners donated prizes or gifts, and there were 110 volunteers to run games and serve food to ensure a smoothly ran night. During the dance, there will be a five minute video commemorating the graduating seniors, similar to previous years, along with the unveiling of senior polls. “I’m really looking forward to my senior prom and after prom this year after I had such a great time last year, “said senior Blake Bauer. All juniors and seniors are automatically on the list to attend post prom for free, underclassmen and students from other schools are required to purchase a ticket to the dance in order to attend. “The goal of the Southeast Po

Kailee Ammons Staff Reporter              Earlier this month, some students received a letter during advisory informing them about the National Honor Society and congratulating them on being considered to apply. In order to be eligible, students must have the required grade point average of 3.5.             National Honor Society is an organization hoping to get students more interested in scholarships, enhance leadership skills, and develop a sense of character among students. Some people would say that it is an honor to even be asked to apply.             The application focuses on leadership for the most part. It asks students to give examples of leadership qualities and leadership positions (in and outside of school). The application also asked for applicants to explain their service opportunities and activities that they have participated in.             There is one particular section of the application that students seemed to be struggling with, this would be the es

Jessica Rish Staff Reporter The 2014-2015 competitive cheer team. Photo courtesy of @SEPcheer on Twitter.           It's time for the competition cheer team tryouts for the 2015-2016 seasons.           Sophomore Tiffany Spencer cheers for the JV football team. Any 2015-2016 cheerleaders are able to try out for the competitive team.           “This year I am eligible for the competition team and I’m really nervous for the tryout,” said Spencer. The competition workshops are April 22, 29 and May 6 from 3:15- 5:00 pm. If someone is interested in trying out they must attend three of the four workshops. The workshops consist of a variety of stunting, jumping and conditioning. At the actual tryout there will be a jump sequence of 5 jumps and two stunts. There will be two competition teams this year. One will attended three competitions throughout the season and will consist of 16-20 girls. The other team will compete at competitions and also perform at football games.

Quincey Nelson Staff Reporter The yearbook is taking club photos on Thursday, April 15 in the auditorium. “It gets a lot of people included in the yearbook so people who don’t do lots of actives can still get in through that, and people will know about the clubs we have,” said Renee Stohr. Every period a selected amount of clubs will be selected to go at certain times during the period. “We mostly try to include every club at the high school. [We don’t include them] f it’s a club that only one or two people are in or they ask not to be [included,] otherwise we try to include every single club,” said Stohr. If any students are having their club picture taken make sure to know what time and period the club is going at. Times can be found on posters around the school “It’s frustrating when clubs show up late because every 5 minutes a new club will come in and it’s running all day so if people show up late they don’t get to be in the picture and that sucks,” said Stohr. “All

Brooklyn Draisey Columnist             Starting Monday, April 13, the lunchroom is offering reusable silverware and tray options for those who want it. The plastic trays have been offered alongside the Styrofoam ones all year, but the metal silverware is new.              Sophomore Autumn Tallman isn’t planning on using the new silverware herself, but still thinks they’re a good option to have.             “Then students have the ability to not be so wasteful,” said Tallman. The trays are also larger and both are easier to use than their less eco-friendly counterparts. They aren’t as convenient trash-wise, since the Styrofoam trays and plastic silverware can just be thrown away, but the benefits outweigh the inconvenience. Students may like the new dishes and silverware, but it just increases the workload for the staff.             “It’s more work because we have to run the dishwasher twice to clean them and stack them in bins,” said Pat Dearden, a member of the kitchen st

Kaelee Keesee Managing Editor Each semester, the staff, administration and students participate in required “intruder” drills to keep the school safe and the security of the students effective no matter the situation. The term intruder should be used loosely according to assistant principal John Steffen who believes the drill’s name should be changed to “lockdown” as opposed to “intruder”. “We use the intruder drill for so much more than just intruders. We lock down the building to keep students in for a number of reasons,” said Steffen. Steffen said that the drills don’t just pertain to this building- meaning if something were to happen at the junior high, the administrators would be informed and the high school would be locked down. During a lockdown drill, teachers are to lock their doors, cover the classroom window and make sure that there are no students roaming the hallway. “The drills are more for the teachers than for the students. It helps them prepare for any sit

Kenzie Baldwin Feature Editor AP classes are starting to prepare students for the AP exams that will be held next month. In AP literature the students are focusing on the essay portion of the test. They have the class period to write an essay and then they peer edit each other’s to find things they need to improve on before the test. “I think the work we are doing is helping me prepare for the exam. It’s helping us see what kind of problems we’ll have to be answering on the exam, and it’s giving us practice at answering them,” said junior Savannah Kellis.  In AP literature this week the teacher, Chris Snethen, is going to consult with each student about an essay they wrote in preparation during one of the class periods. The teacher will discuss what their strengths and weaknesses are of the paper so the student can get a grasp at what the grading will be like for the exam.  “The teacher has been helpful through the preparation. Snethen has explained what the graders will b

Lexi Burrows Staff Reporter In English I classrooms, students are writing a comparison paper about act III of “Romeo and Juliet”. Students have to read the play and watch the two different versions of the movie.  After they completed those tasks, they received a graphic organizer which they had to fill out. “It was pretty helpful, but you had to fill it out thoroughly because otherwise there were no benefits,” said freshman Sydney Milani. Once the students had the graphic organizer filled out, they were then given an outline sheet. English I teachers gave it to students to make writing their papers an easier task.  “I think it was very helpful because I looked back at it a lot while I was writing my paper and if I wouldn’t have had it, I wouldn’t have been able to write my paper,” said Milani. After filling out the graphic organizer and the outline, students were assigned to write their rough draft. After they finished their rough draft, they were told to proof read it

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor For the majority of the semester, students in Bob Knipp's class 'History of the 60s 70s and 80s' or what most students know as "Hippie History", go on a very in-depth investigation of the JFK assassination. In 1986, a mock trial for Lee Harvey Oswald took place, giving him the trial he never had. Students take vigorous notes, as well as prepare to teach the case to freshman history classes. "I was fascinated at a young age about it," Knipp said. "There's always fresh perspectives on it every year, whether it be books or films, it's always new." The teaching includes a complete walk through of the event. Students are selected to play certain roles and take part in the presentation. The demonstration lasts from Kennedy driving by to Oswald being arrested.  It's a very popular unit, earning live coverage from Knipp's twitter account (@knipphip) where students from present and past chime in

Ellen Bombela News Editor With AP tests fast approaching, many students are starting to stress out. In order to eliminate a little stress on test day, Southeast Polk is requiring all students who are taking an AP test to attend an AP Pre-Administration Meeting. At the meeting, students will complete the identification information that is required on the AP answer sheet. Filling out the information will save both time and will help students’ hands not get tired as quickly. Students will not be allowed to take their AP exam(s) if the information is not completed ahead of time. The meeting is expected to last between 20 and 30 minutes, and will be held in the Multi-Purpose room. Available dates to attend are listed below. Friday 4/10                         After School Monday 4/13                     After School       Tuesday 4/14                     After School       Wednesday 4/15              Before School (9:15)

Claire Strickland Opinion Editor             Wednesday April 8, Stand for the Silent members spoke to staff members at their regular two-hour late start meeting. Sophomores Cassidy Oberbroeckling, Kailie Hesner and junior Missy Rovner spoke in the meeting. "This morning we presented in front of the SEP high school staff, informing them more about the club Stand for the Silent, including what we do, why we are doing it, what our goals are, and what we are learning while we do it, along with some information about our latest project, the Pieces of Me Campaign," Hesner said. Stand for the Silent has been traveling to the elementary schools around the district with the junior high and Spring Creek students. "It felt really great to talk in front of our school’s staff because it's showing them more about who we are and what we do to open up their minds about getting involved and getting to see what some of their students are doing in the community outside t

Tori Hennick Arts + Cultures Editor Students in the spring play, Alice @ Wonderland, will be performing this Friday and Saturday in the auditorium. Tickets are $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for students. Tickets can be purchased in the activities office or at the door the day of. Senior Austin Putz is a cast member of the play. His role is Humpty Dumpty and a flower named Rose. He enjoys working with all of his cast members and also enjoys getting to know more people through the school plays. “This is probably one of my favorite plays that I’ve done because there are so many different directions the characters that were given to us can go,” said Putz. He would recommend that anyone who can make it Friday or Saturday to come see the play for many reasons. “There’s a variety of cast members that I’m sure a lot of people know, it should be pretty funny. It’s a little abstract version of a very well-known story. It’s a modern version of Alice in Wonderland and it should be a lot

Shelby Kellis Staff Reporter  In biology students at Southeast Polk high school are learning how to make 16 and four squared Punnett Squares. According to askabiologist.asu.edu, Punnett squares are useful tools for predicting what the offspring will look like when mating plants or animals. One of the teachers teaching this is Brian Robison. Sophomore Marisa Young is in his eighth period biology class. “They’re easy and a basic science skill,” said Young. “I don’t mind, I think they are easy.” The students are learning about genetics and how relate to DNA.  Using the Punnett Square, students had fun predicting what their kids might look like.

Ethan Edvenson Cartoonist             Every day when you come into school, you see people talking with one another in the commons as usual. However, at the same time that they’re talking to one another, they’re also pulling out their phones and texting six other people. Thus the age-old question of do phones hinder social skills? is brought up. On one side, phones obviously help by connecting people even from a distance. Obviously, I can text anyone at any time if I need to ask them a question or want to talk. In addition, I can text multiple people at once without actually having to meet up with them face to face.            On the other hand, if I’m talking to someone in person, I would find it rude if they were only half listening to me and looking on their phone the whole time texting someone or doing something else completely off topic. I understand wanting to communicate with other people at certain times, but you can only pay attention to so much of what each has to

Pete Ruden Staff Reporter The boys track team poses for success after the Ram Relays. Photo courtesy of  Nolting's Twitter account.             In most sports, one team is competing against another team to try to win. However, that is not the case in track and field. On April 2 at the Ram Relays, there were eight teams, all vying for the chance to be number one. Behind five event champions, the Southeast Polk boys track team was able to take home the title as their first win of the year. “It felt great knowing that all our hard work we put in finally paid off,” said junior sprinter Kalen Jennings. Junior Adrian Burriola got the meet off to a good start for the Rams, winning the discus with a throw of 151-04. The momentum continued as sophomore Wade Barclay took gold in the 400m hurdles, with a time of 55.77. The 4x100, 4x200 and shuttle hurdle relays, which all qualified for the state meet last year, continue to be a strong point for the Rams, as all of those te

Demi Muchmore Edit in Chief            Students will take the Iowa Assessments, formerly known as the Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITEDs), on Tuesday April 7 and Thursday April 9.            On Tuesday, April 7, students will be tested on reading assessment, written expression, and vocabulary. The bell schedule for the following will be first period 7:50-8:15 and 8:20-10:30 testing time. The remaining school day starting with third hour will follow on a two hour late start schedule.            On Thursday, April 9, students will be tested on math, science, and a survey. The bell schedule for the following will be testing time 7:50-10:40 and 10:50-11:21 is second period. The remaining day will continue with fourth hour and follow on a two hour late start schedule after that.              “I believe that ITEDs are a waste of time because they don’t go against your grades so I don’t get why we have to take them,” said freshman Jessie Cruchelow.             Just lik

Kailee Ammons Staff Reporter                 On Friday, April 10, FCA will be hosting a dodge ball tournament located at the Spring Creek Sixth Grade Center at 7:00 PM. Students are able to sign up at each of the lunches individually for $2 or as a team of ten people for $20. There will be FCA students sitting at a table (near the auditorium) until Wednesday, April 8, the last day to sign up.                 FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, started this tournament last year as a fundraiser for the group. About 100 people attended last year, and had a lot of fun. Students are encouraged to sign up because it is a great way to be interactive with their peers and to enjoy a friendly competition.                 “The best part is watching people compete and seeing how into it they get,” said Kaitlyn Walker, junior.                 The winners will receive a cake and the pride of being the champions of the FCA 2015 Dodge Ball Tournament.

Emily Merkle Design Editor Katelyn Fritz with a young girl in Guatemala. Photo courtesy of Fritz. As students grudgingly walked back into the High School on their first day back from break, Monday March 23, the students enrolled in the Advanced Nurse Aid class were welcomed back with a pleasant surprise. Registered nurse Michelle Metts, had been a part of this class many times before to substitute, teach and to help at clinicals. On that special Monday however, she was a special guest. She gave the students a presentation on a medical mission trip she had went on only a few years ago called Medicine for Mali. Metts, only a few other nursing students and another nurse traveled to Mali, Africa to set up a clinic in which people traveled for miles and waited in line for hours. They were only there a short 2 weeks, but in that time helped care for many people and made a large impact on the dangerous town, so dangerous that the program was shut down a couple of years after.

Brooklyn Draisey Columnist The Iowa Jazz Championship program. Photo courtesy of Molly Hart.             On Tuesday, March 31 the Southeast Polk jazz band competed in the Iowa Jazz Championship at the Civic Center and placed seventh out of fifteen bands. They competed in 4A category against bands from schools such as Dowling Catholic, Waukee and Linn-Mar, who Southeast Polk beat to get invited to the competition. A total of over 1,500 students and 60 bands in attendance.             “We’ve been practicing the pieces we played since the start  of the semester,” said sophomore Ethan Owens, a trumpet player in the band. The band played three pieces at the competition; Symphony in Riffs, The Beautiful, and What You Dealin’ With. The composer of The Beautiful is a teacher at the University of Northern Iowa.             The band performed at 8:30 am, then spent the rest of the day watching other bands perform until the awards ceremony at 5:15 pm.             The top eight band

Jessica Rish Staff Reporter (From left to right) Ringler, Brown, Stromley, Birkenholtz, Keoouthai at a FCCLA conference. Photo courtesy of Kaitlin Brown.                 FCCLA, one of the newest clubs to come to Southeast Polk, attended their state competition on March 30 and 31.                 FCCLA stands for Family Careers Community Leaders of America. Members take part in community service projects. After members have completed the community service or an activity that brings the community closer together he or she presents the project to a panel of judges. Sophomore Kaitlin Brown competed in an event called chapter review at their last competition.                 “Brittany Ringler and I had to take everything that the SEP chapter [has] done so far this year and put it into a project,” said Brown. Six members competed in star events at their recent competition. Kayla Keoouthai was one of those six students.                 “Sheridan Stromley, McKayla Birkenholt