In preparation for Christmas, Kouts High School is having a bunch of class competitions going on at the moment. These class competitions include the Dress Up Days, the Hallway Decorating Competition, and the Elf on the Shelf Competition. All of these competitions will rack up points for each class (depending on how many people participate), and whichever class wins will receive the Spirit K.
The Dress Up Days are exactly how they sound: each day of the last week of school before Christmas Break, students dress up according to certain themes. This year’s themes are as follows: Monday is Ugly Christmas Sweater Day; Tuesday is Twin Day; Wednesday is Hat Day; Thursday is Tie-Dye Day; and Friday is All-Out School Spirit Day.
Speaking of All-Out School Spirit, students are allowed to wear their “Homecoming Jeans” on Friday. These Homecoming Jeans are jeans that students decorate for Homecoming. People may paint whatever they like on these jeans, but some put their graduating year on the jeans or cover the jeans in black and gold.
For the Hallway Decorating Competition, each class will choose a theme for their side of the lockers in the hallway, and then decorate it to that theme. Teachers and students will then vote on whose theme they liked the best. For the Elf on the Shelf Competition, Elves on the Shelf will be hidden around the school for students to find and turn in to their assigned teacher, just like the Turkey Competition that happened in November.
As the days are winding down until Christmas break, Kouts High School is hanging in there by letting their students loosen up and have some good competition.
What's coming up?
There are big things coming up for the Kouts’ boys basketball team. Kouts will be traveling to Terre Haute for a tournament. The tournament will last for a few days throughout this week, and the varsity team will play a couple of games whether they win or lose. As this is something Kouts really has never done before, students and staff are excited for this tournament. Today at 7 p.m., the Kouts and Andrean teams will compete against each other. This and all other games will be live-streamed for those who cannot go due to COVID-19 safety guidelines. Tune in however you can to support the varsity boys basketball team as they compete.
Teacher spotlight
Out of all the great teachers at Kouts, there is one teacher who really stands out as caring and helpful towards students. That teacher is Kristen Calvert, or Frau Calvert as her German students call her. Calvert has studied abroad at Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany and has also stayed with a host family in Nürnberg, Germany, for six weeks. She takes students and sometimes parents on trips with a company called EF. These trips are based in Europe, and last for about a week and a half during summers.
Calvert has a tabby cat named Dougal, and her hobbies include watching drama TV shows, reading, knitting, and crocheting as well as cooking and baking for her family. Not only does Calvert care about her family, but she also cares about her students. Her door is always open in the mornings for students who need help. She even starts a Google Meet throughout the day for any students who are in need of it.
Student spotlight
One student at Kouts destined for great things is Junior Andrew Palmer. Palmer is very impressive academically. He has both made the honor roll and been in the top five in class rankings every year of his academic career. He plans to be an electrical engineer after high school, and he is in a vocational related to that career path.
Other things Palmer participates in are the Kouts’ Band and Drama Club. He plays the french horn for the band and has played the instrument for about six years. Also regarding music, Palmer is in the Kouts’ Jazz Band. For the Drama Club, he does the lights. He also is involved in varsity Cross Country.
Some interesting things about Palmer are that his favorite TV show at the moment is Breaking Bad, and he has an English Mastiff named Lani.