| Pirates
Treasure Chest
Not everything has been good news since the last time I wrote this column. The loss of Sarah George has saddened our whole community. Our hearts go out to her parents, family and her friends. Our Prairie High School students have been quite busy during the past summer months, even though the halls have been strangely quiet. Upcoming senior, Eric Mader competed in the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette, Wyoming. Eric, obviously a very talented bareback rider, placed 19th overall. Congratulations! And, as many of you know, Kelby Wilson served as a Page for Senator Larry Craig this summer in Washington D.C. Kristi Poxleitner, Miss Teen Idaho, has done an excellent job of representing our community while competing and placing in the top fifteen at Nationals. As you can see PHS students have been active in various arenas including reigning as the royalty of the Idaho County Fair. Many people watched as Queen Briget Long handed her crown off to Carolyn Sonnen. 2004 Fair Princesses Brittny Behler and Lacey Seubert completed their reign as Sarah Forsmann started her year as 2005 Fair Princess. Congratulations to everyone for their outstanding achievements in the 4-H ring, including Kayla Uhlenkott, Grand Champion Round Robin Showman and Adeline Lustig, Reserve Champion Round Robin Showman. That’s an impressive accomplishment! I also want to say “Way to Go!” to Cody Gehring for raising the Grand Champion hog. Besides being interested in 4-H activities, I enjoy the arts and crafts exhibits. Brio Laurino’s pencil drawing of a small fawn nestled in the trees was outstanding. Renee Duman’s framed horse picture also caught my attention. Nice Job! The fair does offer an excellent opportunity for the display of individual talents. I realize that I can’t possible give recognition to every student’s accomplishments at the fair. I do regret that… just one more thing that I feel I need to mention. I’ve heard so many positive comments this summer from area employers about their high school employees. Our children possess a solid work ethic that we can all be proud of. I’ll admit the initial back to school advertisements in the middle of July caught me off guard. Anyway, all of that brought my thoughts around to school shopping. My sympathy goes out to those of you who had to brave the crowded stores and wait outside the dressing rooms. Hopefully, your children share your vision of appropriate attire enough to make the experience less traumatic. Just for those of you who may have had a slight disagreement with your offspring, I’ll share this experience. I was looking through a high school yearbook with a friend of mine. She had a 30th class reunion coming up, and of course that brings up those bittersweet memories of youth. One picture in particular caught my eye. The Home Economics instructor, “judge” Joan Haines, (now Mrs. Mick Kinzer) and the members of the high school student jury were trying another “Dress Code Offender.” As many of you remember, it was the era of the mini skirt; popular with those who wore them, and also VERY popular with those who noticed. What struck me was that current struggle with “appropriate” school attire is not the first ~ but in fact ~ just a small chapter in the ongoing saga, with the pendulum of fashion trends determining the particular times of most intense conflict. I will admit that I felt rather “proud” of this outstanding insight. Any of you who have gotten this insight years before me, please don’t mention it…Anyway, I’m positive fashion trends will continue to change. And students will continue to use their style of dress to express who they are as individuals. From the longer hairstyles worn by the young men of the 70’s, to the young men currently wearing earrings; this exploration to discover one’s own identity is as natural as growing up itself. In the last month I have seen at least three articles regarding the upcoming fashion trend changes. Yes, the pendulum is starting to move once again. Depending on your personal outlook this could be good, or this could be bad; but at least it should be interesting. While pursuing our mission to raise good adults, we will continue to help this future generation learn to stay within the boundaries of appropriate attire while giving them the opportunity for self-expression. Just like those young students pictured in that yearbook from the 70’s, this generation of students is capable of rising to the challenge. Nancy Uptmor Editor's Note: Nancy hopes to make this column a regular feature highlighting the more positive things going on at Prairie High School. |
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