West Vigo loves to have a good kick off with a Homecoming football game!! Next week
we will be having our homecoming week, we will be having Coronation October 4th @ 2:30,
Homecoming Parade October 5th at 6:00 but groups will get lined up at 5:30.

The parade will be followed by the Powder Puff Game on Wednesday night.

Then we finish up with our homecoming game October 7th at 7:00 pm.

We will be having a spirit week for homecoming, Monday we will be having Pajama Day, Tuesday is Dress up Day, Wednesday we will be having a Surfer vs. Biker Day, Thursday is Adam Sandler Day, and finally, Friday is Green, Black and White Day for our school colors!

Wednesday- Biker vs. Surfer Day

Monday- Pajama Day

Tuesday- Dress Up Day for Coronation

Thursday- Adam Sandler Day

Friday- Green, Black, and White Day

Since it is mental health awareness month, I decided to interview Preston Montgomery, a three-sport athlete, about how he handles school, work, and sports. When asked how he balances school and sports, he answered, “Balancing school and sports can be challenging. I try to do most of the work at school.” Getting all of your homework done at school can be tough, especially for someone like Preston, who takes AP biology, Advanced Composition, Pre-Calculus, and Spanish three. He said that “Altogether, my homework can take 2+ hours each night.” Having practice after school and then going home to do homework can be quite tiring, so I asked, “Do you feel like you are given too much homework?” He responded, “A lot of nights, I feel the homework amount is too much. I don’t feel that I get a lot of breaks to where there are no nights of homework.” I then proceeded to ask him if he felt that the homework he was given helped him learn the material. “I feel that the homework given is helpful, but I feel I’d have a better understanding if they’d do some more problems that will be similar to the homework,” he responded. Like many student-athletes, Preston also deals with stress, “I do feel pressured to do well in school and in sports, but I do have support from people. I have also pushed myself to be the best I can be.” When asked what his stress level is like during his sports seasons, he replied, “I wish it were lower, but the stress is pretty high. I wish I didn’t have to be stressed about what work I’m going to do after practice.”
It can be tough for Preston and other student-athletes alike to get schoolwork done and be stress-free. During mental health awareness, I encourage you to check up on your friends, whether they are athletes or not.

Mr. Basan’s manufacturing classes have been making products by hand in the woodworking shop. These items include coasters made custom to your choice, squirrel picnic tables, and custom plaques. The coasters are $5 for a set of 5. The squirrel picnic tables are $15. The custom plaques are $30. They can make your orders just by emailing Mr.Basan. The reason they have been selling these
items is to be able to get more materials, to make more things. These items are really recommended. You can get any design and any color for coasters and plaques, but the picnic tables come in one size and shape and are stained. They can be painted if desired. Help out the manufacturing class by making a purchase today!

Mrs. Newport is a counselor at West Vigo High School. She went to high school at Terre Haute South. Mrs. Newport attended Indiana University and Indiana State University. She has been married for twenty years and has three kids. In her free time she goes to concerts, national parks, movies, travels all with her family, and she reads. Mrs. Newport became a counselor in 2007. She took a break when she had her kids. Mrs. Newport came back in 2018. She was encouraged to become a counselor because before she was always helping people, likes working with kids, and wants to make the biggest difference. She helps different grades with different things: she helps get classes for students and gives support and guidance. Mrs. Newport started working at West Vigo High School in 2020. This is her third year at West Vigo.        

Mrs. Mellissa Weir is one of three counselors at West Vigo High School. She has been a counselor since 2007. She started counseling at West Vigo in 2014. Mrs. Weir went to Terre Haute South for high school and attended Indiana State University. Before she was a counselor at West Vigo, she worked at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Long Term Health Care, and Child Welfare as a social worker. She was encouraged to become a counselor because she had some very helpful adults while she was in school and wanted to help students the way those adults helped her.  Mrs. Weir likes counseling to help kids, the fast pace of the job, and all the variety within her job. Some of the things she does as a counselor are schedule students, crisis interviews, and help students find resources and scholarships. She deals with financial aid and works with students to find out what they want to do after high school. The biggest challenges students seem to face in high school are fitting in, mental health, confidence, social media, and what they want to do after high school. Mrs. Weir helps with all these tasks. Mrs. Weir is married to Jeremy Weir. She has two kids, one boy, named Jacob, and one girl, named Morgan. Some of her interests outside of school are anything outdoors such as gardening, hiking, and walking around. Mrs. Weir also coaches cross country and track.

Mrs. Ashley Weir attended West Vigo High School. She attended Indiana State University. Mrs.Weir has been a counselor for 12 years. She was encouraged to become a counselor by wanting to work with and help kids. Mrs. Ashley Weir started working at West Vigo High School and Middle School two years ago. Mrs.Weir does many counseling jobs such as talking with students, listening, scheduling classes, and taking students on college and career field trips.

Mrs. Curry has been teaching for 30 years.  She graduated from Vincennes Lincoln High School. Mrs. Curry loves to vacation with her family. She has a daughter named Michelle who is 37 years old and a son named Michael who is 34 years old. Mrs. Curry likes to spend time with her family and friends and garden in her spare time.  She enjoys going out to eat with her family. Mrs. Curry loves teaching at West Vigo High School. Her favorite sports teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, the Indianapolis Colts, and Indiana University Hoosiers. An interesting, unknown fact is she found out she has a half-brother when she was 50 years old. Mrs. Curry has one grandchild named Amelia. This year is Mrs. Curry’s last year at West Vigo. She will be retiring at the end of this school year. We will miss you, Mrs. Curry!

Mrs. Curry

Last week’s poll asked “What’s your favorite soda?” We had over 130 responses! The most voted drink was Dr Pepper, which is one of my favorites! The next most chosen was Mountain Dew. Funny enough, Coca Cola and Root Beer tied while Sprite, Squirt, and 7 Up almost tied with Mountain Dew. Very few people voted on Pepsi and Fanta. The “I don’t like drinks” and Diet option was also less voted on. There were other votes on different drinks such as cream soda and monster, but someone also voted on rat poison, which is strange, but I won’t judge.

One of the downfalls of a sports season starting early is that it ends early. This tennis season wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst. We had many wins and too many losses. This shows that there is room for improvement. The varsity lineup was the same all year. Bryce Easton at 1 singles, Garrett Hawthorne at 2 singles, Jayce Noblitt at 3 singles, Brandon Dailey and Jack Readinger at 1 doubles, and Christian Foltz and Gavin McCoy at 2 doubles. The JV players were Liam Beeler, Bennett Evans, Briston Pape, Jeffery Brown, Braydon Scott, and Bronson Thralls. The tennis team suffered a hefty loss on Wednesday the 28th, sectional day. We played against Terre Haute North. North has a really good team. James Belmar, Connor Bishop, Gabe Dunbar, those are just the singles players. We played them at Terre Haute South and lost 5-0 in total. We lost all of the matches but, almost all of them were closer than the first time we played them. I came up with a conclusion, we have a young team, and all of these other schools we play have older teams and are more experienced than us. I believe if we play during the off season and grow during the season the next couple of years, we can become a good team and win more often.

Finishing up the last home and the last few away games in soccer, starting with the LAST home game for the girls on Monday, September 19 against Vincennes Rivet. The Lady Vikes won that night’s game 3-1. The girls then went on to play Terre Haute South at South on Wednesday, September 21. The girls lost 9-0. Continuing on to Saturday, September 24 the Lady Vikes played against Brown County at Brown County. The Vikings won 4-0. The last away game of the season was against and at Edgewood on Wednesday, September 28 and they won 5-3. The girls have a big week following with sectionals from October 3 to October 7, 2022. Now for the
Boys Soccer team. The boys played Tuesday, September 20 against Monrovia. They fought hard, but sadly lost 4-0. They then played against Brown County on Saturday, September 24. The boys won the game and the score was 3-0. Moving onto Wednesday, September 28 the Vikings played Edgewood at home. The boys played hard and won 4-1. The final game the boys played before sectionals was on Thursday, September 29 at home against North Nox. This game unfortunately was canceled, but it was also Senior Night for the boys. The boys have three seniors: Benito LaComba, Jarrett Stone, Arthur Barbieri, and Laine Hendricks.

October is the official month honoring Breast Cancer Awareness. A common misconception about breast cancer is only women get it. Men also can get it, but women are at a higher risk. During Breast Cancer Month, we try to be more aware of breast cancer. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the higher the woman’s survival rate is. That is why breast self-exams are so important. Many good things have come from working with patients that have breast cancer. The first ever operation to use anesthesia to reduce pain was breast cancer surgery. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is also important because it helps promote self-care, focuses on the treatment factors, and spreads the wonderful news of those who are proud survivors of it. Help support those with breast cancer during this month by wearing pink.

            Long ago the plants that contain caffeine were limited to a few corners of East Africa (coffee plants) and a small region in South China (tea plants).  Humans discovered the energizing effects of these plants in colonized areas that stretched from Africa to Asia  to America. Today, 27 million acres of land and 25 million workers are dedicated to providing you with your favorite coffee. Historians called coffee the civil drink. 

           In the 1950s companies noticed that after offering their female workers short breaks with tea and coffee, these women became much more productive, endured longer working hours, and produced higher quality work. The coffee break was created. Caffeine helped with wars. During the American Civil War, each Union soldier was issued 16kg of coffee a year. Because of the economic blockade, the South experienced Confederate soldiers deprived of caffeine. This caffeine imbalance gave a clear edge to one army over the other. 

          It is becoming clear that caffeine improves both mental and physical performance through years of research.  Caffeine boosts memory focus, alertness, attention to detail, psychomotor skills, and learning ability.   Suppose you’re a caffeine regular and would suddenly stop getting your fix. In that case, the lack of caffeine in your system will make you tired, irritable, lethargic, unmotivated, and unable to focus. In a worst-case scenario, you’ll suffer intense distress and a complete loss of confidence. 

           Tea and coffee are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.  In fact, regular and moderate caffeine consumption is linked to lower risks of breast cancer and many other health conditions. Caffeine abuse may disrupt the quality of your sleep, research suggests that a moderate caffeine intake of four cups a day can benefit your health more than it takes away.   

Source: https://dr-younes-henni.medium.com/how-caffeine-addiction-changed-history-9fadf60427eb

The tradition of Halloween originated from the Celtic Festival of Samhain. Halloween hasn’t always been what we know it as today. It was originally called Hallows Eve. 2,000 years ago,  Celts  would wear costumes to ward off spirits They thought the new year began on November 1st, they believed that spirits or undead would return to the Earth. November 1st marks the end of  the harvest season and the beginning of a dark, cold winter which many people would associate with death. From its origin, the tradition has slowly changed into what we know today with jack-o-‘lanterns, handing out candy and dressing for fun. Happy Halloween!

         Minimum wage is a topic not many people want to talk about, usually, I do a lighthearted article or just something informative, however, this is a very serious topic. The minimum wage is $7.25 as of 2006-2022 (present day), and before 2006 it was $6.55. The issue with minimum wage is it’s way too low, rent is too high, bills have gone up, and food right now is very costly. Say you work 35 hours a week, and you’re paid $7.25. You’d get $253.75 weekly, now multiplying that by 4 (4 weeks in a month) you’d get $1,015, however you get a tax cut on your salary, which tends to be 15.22% off. So really you’re only getting $863 monthly, which wouldn’t be bad if inflation hadn’t caused prices to go up. The average rent price ranges anywhere from $700-$1,000+, thankfully we live in a small city, so our rent prices are much cheaper (usually in the $200-$400+ range). Now, we also have to take into account the bills (water bills, electric bills, internet bills, etc) as well as food, which people can spend up to $1,339 on monthly if they’re eating right. I did the math, and in bigger cities, it can cost more than $3,000 a month to live there, that’s not counting furniture, personal belongings, or going out. Places are hiring for $12-$15 an hour, but that’s what minimum wage SHOULD be, and even then it can be hard to get by in bigger cities. In smaller cities, like Terre Haute, it’s cheaper to live.
         Recently there’s been an increase in homeless people. 66.7% of people in America are homeless, those who aren’t homeless live with family, and not many people can live alone because it’s too expensive. As of right now, the homeless can get fined up to $3,000 just for sleeping on the sidewalks or benches. Speaking of, organizations are now making “homeless” proof benches and railings.
          Thanks to the government getting involved in matters that don’t involve them, inflation has rocketed. The American dollar is actually worth less now and your coins are worth more than a paper dollar, they won’t lose value unlike the paper dollar because coins are metal. Your 25 cents will ALWAYS be 25 cents in coin. The singular dollar isn’t even a dollar.
          Food prices have gone up by 10%, housing has gone up by 10.8%, and rent has gone up by 13.4%. Our $7.25 minimum wage isn’t cutting it anymore, but it was fine 50 years ago when everything was cheaper, and the American dollar was worth its face value.
        I want to make people aware of how bad it’s actually getting, that is the purpose of this article. A teenage high school student shouldn’t have to be stressed over the fact that they might not have much of a future in America because of the American government.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/20/the-7point25-dollar-federal-minimum-wage-is-worth-less-than-it-was-60-years-ago-.html

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/average-rent-by-state

https://www.energysage.com/local-data/electricity-cost/in/#:~:text=Electric%20bills%20in%20Indiana,-Monthly%20electric%20bills&text=In%20Indiana%2C%20the%20average%20monthly,kWh%20*%2015%20%C2%A2%2FkWh.

             This weekend I traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia for a college visit. Before the trip, I was anxious about what college I wanted to attend because I hadn’t found one that was the right fit. After the trip, I knew I wanted to attend West Virginia University. First and foremost, the campus and greenery were beautiful. The student union, which they call the Mountainlair, was also very nice, and I could see myself spending a lot of time there. The recreational center was way fancier than any other college recreational center I’ve been to. There was a rock wall, an Olympic-sized pool with a whirlpool and hot tub, volleyball and basketball courts, a track, and a gym. I was glad the recreational center was so nice because I plan on working out in college. The dorm the tour guides showed us was also very clean and fairly large, considering it was a dorm room. Looking at the dorms, I could see myself living there. The college also has this really cool form of transportation for students called PRT, which stands for personal rapid transit. The PRT is a little train that takes students from campus to campus. The main reason why I picked West Virginia for college is because of the feeling I got when I was there. It felt like home, and I could see myself living in the area even after college.

West Virginia University