Have you ever wondered what it would be like to leave your home country and attend school in a different country? Would it be hard to communicate with others? Are the school systems different and if so does it heavily impact your learning skills? We are here to try to answer some of these questions. We have interviewed three foreign exchange students that attend West Vigo High School that were willing to help answer some common questions you may have about being a foreign exchange student. 

 We started by interviewing the three foreign exchange students, Laila Rudolph, Margherita Piaggesi, and Arthur Barbeiri. We asked them some simple questions. Laila is from Germany and is a junior but would have graduated already in Germany. Margherita is from Italy and is also a junior but would have been a senior at Language High School in Italy. Margherita stated that in Italy they went from school Monday to Saturday whereas in the U.S. we go Monday to Friday. Arthur is from Brazil and is a senior, he attended Coopeq Objetivo while being a junior. Some of the favorite subjects for them are psychology, art, and manufacturing because back home they didn’t have access to these subjects. They all agreed that algebra is the worst subject. Laila stated algebra was a hard subject for her because the calculating back in Germany is very different from how it is in the U.S. Talking to family back home seems hard because of the time difference for the two with family in different time zones and while at school they don’t get to talk to family as much while being at school at the times they can call back home.      

After we got to know them a bit, we decided to ask them some questions aimed more towards being here in West Terre Haute. We first asked what has been the hardest obstacle for them since their stay here in West Terre Haute. All three stated that the hardest obstacle for them was being able to communicate with other town residents. Margherita elaborated it more for us stating that it’s hard because people in the U.S. tend to talk faster and use slang words. We also asked them about what is different about West Terre Haute and their hometowns. Laila talked about how the people here are more friendly than back in Germany. Margherita also mentioned how she loves nature here especially at the local parks we have. She told us that she likes the parks here because you can actually interact and do things there because back home in Italy parks are often places to go get drunk or do drugs. We were both genuinely curious if being in a different time zone would affect them, so we decided to ask them. Arthur said that it didn’t really affect him since the time zone didn’t change for him. Margerherita and Laila did indicate that it was a little hard getting used to the change since they come from the Eastern Hemisphere.  Our last question we had for them was if the teaching system here was different compared to the teaching system in their home country. All three agreed that there was a major difference in the teaching system. All three stated that having a consistent schedule is new to them whereas back home they only focused on one subject per a day. So instead of having your normal broad schedule, you would focus on Algebra one day and possibly English the next day. Both Margerherita and Laila would be seniors, but due to the difference in the American teaching system, they were registered as juniors in the school system. 

It is truly interesting to hear and learn about different perspectives from these foreign exchange students. We hope we were able to answer some of your questions you may have had. Thank you to all three of the foreign exchange students that helped us out with answering our questions and welcome to West Vigo High School!

Are you interested in F.C.C.L.A but need more information on it? Well, this article is to help with that. F.C.C.L.A stands for Family Career and Community Leaders of America. FCCLA members will strengthen skills and make a positive difference in today’s world through participation in Competitive Events. Students will participate in competitions, attending conferences across the nation, networking with youth leaders, and attaining essential college- and career-ready skills.  Mrs. Herrin started a F.C.C.L.A club back in 2002, first starting at South Putnam, and now has moved it here to West Vigo. F.C.C.L.A deals with helping families in and around the community. F.C.C.L.A is known for its bake sales, baskets of cheer, socktober, and many other events. Family is the emphasis for F.C.C.L.A, and always has something going on at least once a month until March, which is conference month where they compete against other F.C.C.L.A clubs. Students who take part in F.C.C.L.A state that the club is very fun, supportive, and has a great atmosphere. F.C.C.L.A only costs $15 to be a member, it used to be $21. You can pay $11 to be part of it, the extra $4 is for a t-shirt. Mrs. Herrin’s F.C.C.L.A currently holds about 30 members, but her goal is 50. How cool would it be if we reached past that, and got 100 members? Mrs. Herrin stated she once had 100 members in F.C.C.L.A before COVID, so that is the max goal. If you have any questions regarding F.C.C.L.A, Mrs. Herrin can be found in room 111 during school hours.

Sources : https://fcclainc.org/join
https://www.lacrosseschools.org/lincoln-middle/ca/fccla/fccla-logo/

Mr. Young wants to start a book club and a storytellers club, these are going to be two different clubs being hosted in the Library Mr. Young has been a librarian for 14 years and this is his first time starting clubs like this. He’s also new to West Vigo High School. The book club will be on Wednesdays during lunch in the library for high schoolers who want to share a book they enjoy reading, talk about it, spark interest to other students to read the book, or books by the same author. This may also turn into a story-time type of deal. The actual storytellers club will be during SRT on Thursdays. For the storytellers club, picture books will be read.  Mr. Young wants to voice these characters (which he’s REALLY good at) and give life to these characters to draw more people in and engage them. He wants students to make their own voices and give life to characters themselves, so It won’t be just Mr. Young. It’s a bit of a learning experience as well. Students can voice these characters based on their environment. Later on in this club, Mr. Young wants to try going down to the Vikes N Tikes and read to them, as well as possibly going to other schools and reading to young children at some point. Mr. Young, I quote, says “The more you perform for students with characters from a book, the more kids will get more engaged, more interested.” Mr. Young wants at least 20 people for the book club, and 8 to 12 for storytellers. However, if he gets more and more students, he can hold up to about 50 students for each club. If there’s any questions you may have about either of these clubs, you can always find Mr. Young in the library during school hours.

On Saturday, August 13th, the boys and girls cross country team competed in their first official meet at the Lavern Gibson Valley Kickoff Race. The boy’s cross country team consists of junior Bryland Pape, sophomores Liam Campbell and Kyler Sullivan, and freshmen Cameron Nunez and Kyson Daugherty.  The girl’s team consists of senior Sara Callecod, juniors Cassie Roush and Gwen Garman, and freshmen Madelynn Wrin, Audree Bauer, and Laikyn Luttrell. 

When Coach Denise Herring was asked if she felt the team was prepared, she replied, “They are prepared. They have had tough workouts. They’ve been running at least five miles each practice. They are ready.” 

The girl’s team was the first to run, and leading the girls was Cassie Roush, with a time of 25:49. Next was Madelynn Wrin with a time of 26:41, and Audree Bauer was close behind her with a 26:51. Gwen Garman finished the roundup with a 28:47. Next was the boy’s race. Liam Campbell ran an 18:51 with Bryland Pape not far behind with a 19:02. Kyson Daugherty ran a 23:41, and Kyler Sullivan ran a 23:03. 

On Thursday, August 18th, the boy’s and girl’s cross country team had their first home meet against Sullivan High School. Cassie Roush came in third with a time of 24:14. Audree Bauer came in sixth place, and Gwen Garman came in eighth. The boy’s team had four members place in the top five. Liam Campbell won the boy’s race with a time of 19:13. Bryland Pape came in second, running a 19:29. Kyler Sullivan came in fourth place, and Kyson Daughtery came in fifth. Both teams ran very well but unfortunately lost against Sullivan because they didn’t have enough members to qualify as a team. 

With school starting again that means it is time for fall sports. These sports include football, cross country, soccer, volleyball, and tennis. Tennis practice began about two weeks before school started. I was one of the people practicing. We played a lot of matches to help us practice and to figure out what our spot would be on the team. After about two weeks of practice it was time for our first match, this would be the first match out of three we had this week. The first match was August 15 at home. The second was August 16 at home, and the third, August 17 away at Owen Valley. As I write this on August 22nd, the current standings for the Varsity are 1 singles, Bryce Easton, 1-4. 2 singles, Garrett Hawthorne, 3-2. 3 singles Jayce Noblitt, 1-4. 1 doubles, Brandon Dailey and Jack Readinger, 1-4. 2 doubles, Christian Foltz and Gavin McCoy 4-1.

The West Vigo Invitational was on August 20th. It was a good group. Covington, South Vermilion, Terre Haute South’s Junior Varsity, and of course West Vigo. It was good competition; the final score was Covington 1st, West Vigo 2nd, Terre Haute South 3rd, and South Vermillion 4th. Every team fought long and hard, but Covington held on for the win. 

The most recent match was August 23. We played South Putnam. They only had four players so we played 1 singles, 2 singles, and 1 doubles. We won the match by a total of 5-0. We only had to win one match because they had to forfeit two of them already putting us at 2-0 from the start. For this match, Briston Pape played in 1 doubles with Gavin McCoy, Jayce Noblitt played 2 singles, and Garrett Hawthorne played 1 singles. Leaving the varsity records at Bryce Easton 1-4, Garrett Hawthorne 4-2, Jayce Noblitt 2-4, Brandon Dailey and Jack Readinger 1-4, Gavin McCoy 5-1, Christian Foltz 4-1, and Briston Pape 1-0. We have had a good first couple of weeks of tennis to start off the Boys Viking Tennis season.

Hello West Vigo Vikings! On Friday August 19, 2022 I interviewed Alex McKinney, who is a junior on the boys varsity soccer team. Alex is a second year player, but a first year starter. Alex’s number on the team is number 14. When I talked to Alex, I asked him how it feels to be a starter. His response was “It feels good.” With Alex being a junior and only having this year and next year to play, I wanted to know how he felt about not having many more years left. Alex answered with “It’s sad and scary to be a junior.” The final question I asked Alex was how well he thinks the boy’s soccer team is doing. Alex thinks “there is work to be done, but says they will get it done.” 

Labor Day is a national holiday. Have you ever thought about why we get the day off of school? Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditonally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day is just around the corner. And while this holiday allows Americans to enjoy a long weekend in September, it is important to know why we even celebrate it in the first place. To better appreciate the meaning behind it, you must understand the history of Labor Day. It began in the late 1800s during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. During this time, work hours averaged 12 hours a day, with most Americans working 7 days a week. Children as young as five years old would put in their hours in factories, mills, and mines, even though some states had restrictions in place again child labor. And these young workers would get paid a fraction of the salaries given to adults. As if low wages were not enough, the working conditions at times were often dangerous, too. The work environments did not allow workers fresh air or clean spaces. Breaks were either limited or not allowed. These conditions affected the poverty- stricken and the immigrants more. Today, a worker’s daily average is eight hours per day. As we celebrate Labor Day,  we should not just look at this day as a day off from school, but a day to thank those who work so hard.

Sources: https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

Paul Dresser was a well known singer and song-writer. Paul Dresser was born in 1857 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He had 13 siblings, one of them was the well known author, Theodore Dreiser. Paul Dresser spent time in jail in his early teenage years. When Paul was 16 he made the decision to leave home and decided to perform in multiple comedic acts. Dresser would travel in minstrels and medicine wagons. Years later Dresser started to become popular in the mid 1890’s for his music. Paul Dresser was the person who wrote the national song of Indiana, which is On The Banks Of The Wabash River,Far Away in 1897. In 1905, his music publisher Willis Woodward and company, went bankrupt. Unfortunately, Paul Dresser died  January 30, 1906 at the age of 47 due to poor health. In 1970 he was inducted into the songwriters hall of fame. His house has become a state memorial. In Fairbanks Park you can visit his house which was also his birth place.

Mr. Cobb has been at West Vigo High School for the last twenty-two years. He chose to teach at West Vigo because there was an open spot. Mr. Cobb chose freshman English because loves teaching freshmen and it’s their first year of high school and he wants to help them have the best first year possible.  Mr. Cobb went to college at Indiana University then transferred to Indiana State University. He majored in Social Studies Education and English Education. Before Mr. Cobb taught English, he began teaching Social Studies. He has only taught at West Vigo High School.  Mr. Cobb said that his hair has gotten thinner and grayer since he’s u7been at West Vigo.

Mr. Cobb said that it has been weird not being the football coach and that in his now extra free time he gets to go and enjoy his kids games and kayaking. While Mr. Cobb was in high school, he played football, basketball, and also ran track. His jersey number was 5.

Mr. Cobb is married with 3 children. His favorite drink is milk. Mr. Cobb’s favorite place to eat out at is Stables Steakhouse. He loves fall because of the temperatures, bonfires, and football.

Mrs. Wright teaches physical education and health. Mrs. Wright also handles a prideful and caring club called the SPARK club. The SPARK club focuses on students promoting pride and volunteering in the school and community. Mrs. Wright has been teaching physical education to students for the past 16 years at West Vigo High School. She teaches 9th-grade physical education for freshmen students. When she isn’t teaching at school, she usually spends her spare time just watching Netflix and going to her kids’ sporting events. Mrs. Wright is married and she has one sibling.

     Mrs. Wright went to Indiana State University (ISU) to become a physical education teacher. She graduated from West Vigo in 2001. Then, she attended Indiana State University and became a teacher in 2006. Mrs. Wright says that she is interested in teaching her students physical education because she likes sports and it encourages students to stay fit and healthy.

     Mrs. Wright says that she has some strengths and weaknesses when it comes to becoming a teacher. She does have some interesting strengths though. Mrs. Wright says her strength is that she is pretty fair and cares about her students. Mrs. Wright says that her weakness is that she is sometimes late to her classes by at least 30 seconds maximum. So far, students have enjoyed having her in class.

Mrs. Wright has some advice for high school students:

“Students need to learn that high school counts and they need to take high school classes seriously.”