High School Assembly - Volume 6 Issue 3

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VoluMe SIX | ISSue THRee

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Joe STASI | Account [email protected]

TIM WeIDeMAn | Editor

eTHAn cleVengeR | Student Writer

ADAM oeSTReIcH | Graphic Design Intern

HunTeR PeTeRSen | Graphic Design Intern

lAuRen SMITH | Graphic Design Intern

One of the goals of High School Assembly is to recognize the students and activities they are involved in throughout their high school careers. We try to focus on giving as many students and student-athletes as we can the recognition they deserve. A sports that gets overlooked far too often, however, is cheerleading. Not only do these young women and men work hard to put together routines that entertain and pump up the crowds at many sporting events, from football, to basketball and wrestling, but they also take as much pride in perfecting their technique, form and skill as any other student involved in athletics.

For cheerleaders to perform at their best, countless hours of practice must be put in. No part of cheerleading comes to a person overnight. And yet, for all the hard work put into cheerleading, today’s media doesn’t seem to think the sport worthy of much recognition. Sure, there might be a great article in a local paper, but what about the bigger papers? Nothing.

That’s where the High School Assembly tries to step in. We believe that these girls deserve recogntion from a medium that reaches the entire state of Iowa.

Everybody who’s ever gone to a sporting event knows that cheerleaders play a huge role in making the event more enjoyable. That’s why a major portion of this issue was devoted to covering the Iowa State Cheerleading Competitions.

The cover of this issue features the cheerleaders from Nashua Plainfield, the Class 2A Small Team champions. The feature story on page 6 tells the story of a day at the state competition. The centerspread offers a glimpse of this year’s action. High School Assembly and The Iowa Sports Connection want to congratualte all the teams that competed at this year’s state competition. Without you, let’s face it, athletic events would not be the same.

Enjoy life,

Tim Weideman

Iowa State Cheer: Overdue RecognitionBy TIM WEIDEMAN - HIgH scHool AssEMBly EDITor

Table of Contents

Student Life | State Football: Best Dressed Students

Student Life | Iowa State Cheer: A Real Sport

State Cheer Photos

Student Life | Sugarland CD Review

Student Life | Texting Kills

Student Life | Christmas Favorite: Cookies

Academics | Prepare for College with High School Classes

College Prep | The College Finals Experience

College Prep | Scholarship Hunt

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Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com Volume 6 Issue 3 5

Student Seasonal Prom Shop Hits Jordan Creek

Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

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We’re quickly approaching the fifth season of the year. No, not tax season. Prom season. As the anticipa-tion builds, so do the preparations. Luckily, Glam is here to help you out. Glam is a seasonal prom dress store at Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines, with another location at the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville, IA. Both are furnished by An Elegant Affair By Amy, located in Cedar Falls. I got a chance to talk to Libby Cue, assistant manager at the Jordan Creek location, about prom season and Glam. “We want the girls to leave here ex-cited about their experience and their dress. That’s what sets us apart,” Cue said. She emphasized the customer service they offer. “We aren’t a store where you’ll be walking around carrying dresses. We’ll tuck them away in a dressing room for you.” She was the only employee there the night I dropped in, but she said

that there’s plenty of help on hand for the weekends. The website also says that they never sell the same dress to any girls from the same school, so you can rest easy about that fiasco. Glam is open through April 23. Business peaks in mid-February, Cue said. The week of February 14 is the state wrestling tourna-ment and the high-point of business for the store, bringing shoppers from across Iowa. Walking in, the store looks like a madhouse. Racks of dresses are everywhere, including right in front of the counter. But Cue says there’s a method to the madness. Dresses are organized mainly by color. They keep several sizes on hand for girls to try on, and then when they’ve figured out what they want, they can order it. Dress prices range anywhere from $160 to $500. For the first-time dress shoppers, Cue had several tips. “What you don’t like is just as important as what you do,” she said. “You have to start somewhere. We want to get you in a dress and figure out what you like and what you don’t like. Color and fit are very important.” She also had some tips regarding when to come shop. “Saturdays are insane, wall to wall girls,” she said. Instead, try coming in on a weekday and save the hassle. I stopped

in on a Tuesday night and we were uninter-rupted. For any curious gentlemen, Cue and I agreed that its best to just pick up a black shirt and get a new tie for each new dress you need to match. For all your prom dress needs, be sure to check out Glam, open Monday through Saturday 10 am to 9 pm and 11 am to 6 pm on Sundays.

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A Real SportEthan ClevengerStaff Writer

November 6th marked the 20th annual Iowa Cheerleading Championships, a growing tradition. Over 142 teams showed up from 93 schools, a number that keeps getting bigger every year.

For those of you not familiar with cheer competitions, it’s a very diverse breed of sport. There are several types of teams. A stunt group does only the lifts and other “stunts” that many people associate with cheerleading routines. There is also a sideline competition in which cheerleaders execute a routine similar to what they might do on the sidelines of the football field while the game is going to pump up the crowd. Performance teams do it all in just two and a half min-utes. They’re judged based on confidence, jump height, facials and coordination aside from simply executing moves correctly. All this culminates to someone going home the winner.

Upon arrival, it became obvious that it isn’t just the teams in on this. When one person is cheering, their whole family is right there behind them in cheer t-shirts. That means big brother and dad, too, and sometimes dad even gets weepy when his kid wins.

Following the final exhibition performance before the morning’s awards, a flood of com-petitors hit the mats in front of the awards table while the room erupted into noisy anticipation. Contrary to what one might believe, few tears were shed when first place didn’t go someone’s way. The tears were saved until first place was awarded, and sud-denly people leapt from the mats, shouting and crying and hugging like they’d won the gold medal at the Olympics. I got a chance to talk to coach Kristi Hannemann of 2A division winners Nashua Plainfield.

“It’s a very big deal,” she said. “These girls are in every moment. They put in the practice and the hours.”

And indeed they did. Hannemann said the girls would often practice twice a day, show-ing up at 6 AM before school to drill their routine. She didn’t have long to talk, but left me with the team’s motto:

“Athletes practice until they get it right. Champions practice until they can’t get it wrong.”

Obviously this worked out for them.

After the morning’s awards I looked for an opportunity to talk to co-executives of the Iowa Cheerleading Coaches’ Association Nancy Huether and Jeanne Ehn. Of course, these two ladies were very busy on such a big

day, so for a while I was escorted around by Krystal Fitzpatrick, one of around ninety-five people working the competition, many of whom are volunteers. Krystal took me behind the scenes in our quest to find Huether and Ehn, where I got to see what goes into some-thing like this.

The competitors’ preparation begins about an hour before they’re set to perform. They first get a chance to stretch before undergo-ing the first step in an extensive effort to keep competitors safe. They have their nails checked, jewelry removed, hair put up, and aren’t allowed to use spray-on glitter. Next the teams have their pictures taken before moving on to a hallway with several stations where they get a chance to practice their rou-tine before going out on the big stage.

After a lot of searching, Krystal and I man-aged to track down Huether and Ehn, who were having a quick lunch in the middle of their busy day.

The first thing we talked about, and the big thing that stuck out to me about this event, was the safety of the cheerleaders.

“The cheerleaders are number one,” Huether said. The important thing is that they have a good time, and safety goes hand in hand with that.

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“As cheerleading gets more popular, coaches are getting educated,” Ehn explained. The Na-tional Federation of State High School Associa-tions is in charge of that. They offer programs to properly educate school coaches so that the girls’ safety is assured.

Also watching the competitors’ safety are the judges. There are three sets of judges. Two of these sets of judges are watching perfor-mance, the “Bring It On” look, Ehn explained. The other set is purely judging safety. Should anything not be up to standards, teams are deducted points.

In addition to ensuring the safety of the cheerleaders, Huether and Ehn have a lot more on their plates for this competition. Finding a venue has been difficult enough. Huether not-ed that this year’s venue, Hy-Vee Hall, wasn’t the ideal place. Seating was difficult there. But they were very excited about next year’s venue, hopefully Jacobson Arena on the Iowa State Fairgrounds, which will offer more seat-ing and a better show for everyone involved.

Planning an event like this is a year-long process. Huether and Ehn told me they started work on next year’s event before this year’s had even finished. They expect it to be even bigger. In recent years the event has jumped as much as 50 teams between competitions.

All in all, this year’s show was a big suc-cess. Huether summed up the event with this thought:

“Each team dedicated themselves to being the best they could be by practicing long hours and committing to their teams. We are very proud of all of them!”

For full results, check out:www.iowacheer-coaches.org/state.htm

First Place Teams

Small Team - Williamsburg1A - Newman Catholic2A - Nashua Plainfield3A - Assumption4A - Hempstead4A Large - Valley

LeMarsBettendorf

PellaMarshalltown

Ames Carroll Waukee

Cedar Rapids PrairieNewton

Keokuk Grinnell

Cedar FallsKnoxville

Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln Sioux City East Rhythmettes

OskaloosaDavenport CentralCedar Rapids Prairie


Rate My TeachersEthan ClevengerStaff Writer

Have you ever wanted to really blow off some steam about a teacher? Re-cently brought to my attention was a place students can do this anonymously for the benefit of students to come. Ratemyteachers.com is a website designed to do just that: Rate your teach-ers. Teachers are judged based on easiness, helpfulness and clarity, which is compiled for a general popularity score. Sounds like a great idea, right? The idea in itself is great, yes, but it has some drawbacks. We’re all aware that in high school there are plenty of students who aren’t going to get along with any teacher and seem to have a general distaste for everything. These sorts of students manage to wiggle their way into our history classes and our gym classes, ruining the experience for everyone else when they cause a weekly disturbance. Despite their objectiveness to learning, they have managed to figure out how the Internet works and have also invaded this website. Most teachers are littered with several ratings that are all as poor as could be, rarely citing reasons why. When they do cite reasons, they are often not very good reasons. Of one of my high school chemistry teachers, someone commented alongside their rating of 1 helpfulness and clarity that “she’s only cool because she sets stuff on

Student

teacher on the site was usually pretty accu-rate. Additionally, if you are looking for that mentally stimulating class, quickly perusing all of a teacher’s ratings can help you get an idea of how he or she stands in individual categories and factor out whether or not he or she is easy. In short, the website only functions as well as its users want it to. You get out what you put in. So take the initiative and let the world know what you really think of your teachers, for the sake of them and their fel-low students.

fire”. There’s an obvious level of maturity be-ing displayed here. This just brushed over another issue. There aren’t many comments to go with the ratings. While a score is great, every student has different preferences, and so a well-thought out evaluation, even if it’s only a few sentences, could do much more good than a few ratings. Another issue I see is that “easiness” is a category at all. Whether a class is easy or hard should not factor into how “good” a teacher is. Some of the most difficult classes I endured in high school were often my favorite, because classes that are “hard” are often also mentally stimulating, something that one would hope many students are searching for. This is not to say that the site is com-pletely useless. Since it’s based on averages, as long as lots of students get on and rate their teachers, the ratings should get evened out regardless of any blindly bad ones. This is already obvious in that while I came across some harsh ratings, the overall status of a


Upcoming Concerts Across Iowa

Student


Too often do people claim that there is noth-ing to do in Des Moines. Coming from a town of 40,000 and having found stuff to do there, I can guarantee there are evenings to be had here and in the nearby areas. This big thing to keep in mind when evaluating upcoming events is to keep your mind open. If you’ve never experienced an orchestra or a theatrical performance, perhaps this is a good time to check it out. Allow me to enlighten you with a few upcoming events around Iowa:

“Still Life” at the Des Moines Playhouse - This play by Alexander Dinelaris is about a pho-tographer named Carrie Ann who suddenly finds herself lost of creativity and afraid to pick up her camera just as her career is tak-ing off. A sudden romance with trend analyst Jeff ensues, and Jeff encourages her to move on while facing problems of his own. The show is running its first showing outside of New York here at the Des Moines Playhouse. The show runs through Feb. 13, so get out and see it.

Three Dog Night - This one is a little further away. Three Dog Night is a rock band from the early 70’s who still perform and record. They’ve got a live show coming up on Feb. 10 in Omaha. For those of you who aren’t famil-

iar with Three Dog Night, I’d be willing to bet you know one of their songs and don’t know it. Check out “One” and “Joy to the World” on your favorite music-streaming website.

Sweet Honey in the Rock - A black female a capella group that’s been around since the 70s, these ladies’ music includes “Blues, spir-ituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, Hip Hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation”. Check out their website, sweethoney.com, to hear some of their music. They will be performing at Stephen’s Audito-rium on the Iowa State University campus in Ames on Feb. 17.

Capetown Philharmonic Orchestra - Featuring two-time Grammy Award nominee violin-ist Philippe Quint, the Capetown Philhar-monic Orchestra from South Africa will be at Stephan’s Auditorium at Iowa State University. This is their first-ever tour of North America. Catch them Feb. 27.

Loretta Lynn - The coal miner’s daughter will be at Hoyt Sherman Place here in downtown Des Moines on Feb. 12. She’s a bona fide country act and has been around since the 60s. Her music reflects traditional country music as opposed to the new country you might be more familiar with. These tickets are more expensive, however.

The Des Moines Big Band - This community jazz group includes Drake University music

professors and plays every Monday night at Adventureland Inn. You don’t even need a ticket! Come in and get a meal and entertain-ment.

Loverboy - Loverboy is the rock band that re-corded “Workin’ for the Weekend”, which you are likely familiar with. They’ll be in Clive on Feb. 19, and it’s sure to be a great show.

As I Lay Dying - This metalcore band hails from San Diego. In 2008, they won “Artist of the Year” at the San Diego Music Awards and were nominated for a Grammy for the song “Nothing’s Left” that same year. They’ll be in Omaha Feb. 15.

Hopefully with a variety of options, you can find a way to both entertain yourself and broaden your horizons for a night this month. Check out the High School Assembly web-site’s “Upcoming Concerts” page to see all of these acts and more, as well as find links to ticket information.

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DVD Review - “The American”


The American” is George Clooney’s latest film to hit shelves. A spy film with a Bond feel, it encompasses the story of someone who seems to be an American spy of sorts who is hidden in Italy. He’s nearing the end of his career and begin-ning to struggle with his solitary life. His boss gives him one last job in which he must build a gun for a woman, but a romance begins to interfere. First, don’t have any younger siblings watch this movie. Clooney’s love inter-est, played by Violante Placido, is shown fully naked at one point, while topless in a few other scenes, including a sex scene between the two that was oddly long and a bit uncomfortable to sit through. Lan-guage and violence are pretty light, but we see a great deal of Ms. Placido. On a plot level, there’s not a whole lot going on here for an hour and forty five minutes of film. Watching this felt a lot like an artsy experience, as there wasn’t a lot of action or dialogue taking place. A lot of the story is told through the acting,and much of the appreciation for it comes from the camera shots. This makes the few moments where the film’s

score rises up in the background very impressive, especially when it’s comple-menting the camera work in close, tense scenes. The music is light when it needs to be, grows when it ought to, and is quite compelling. Unfortunately, the acting wasn’t outstanding enough to fill in the gaps that this style. Clooney, who’s witty de-livery is often crucial to his charm, does not do a bad job, but it’s certainly not his best film. The priest brings some dynam-ics to the table, but the two ladies are both pretty dry. The action you would usually associ-ate with a spy movie appears to get roll-ing about halfway through. However, this is merely a hiccup, as the movie quickly cuts off any notion of more for a while, drawing you back to the intricate film-ing. This is not to say that things aren’t tense. Once again, the music helps build moments where you may have no idea why, but a threat seems imminent. This is one place the movie shines. Despite the minimal dialogue, you won’t find yourself lost in what’s happening. It helps put you in the mind of the American and get a grasp on what he’s perceiving as opposed to always what’s physically occurring. Nonetheless, while sitting through this movie late at night may be difficult, the ending is worth the wait. It pushes

the movie over the edge and makes the entire film worth watching. The more you sit on it, the better it feels.

So while this was by no means a great movie, it was certainly not a bad one. Rotten Tomatoes give it a fresh rating, while it’s garnered an unimpres-sive 6.6 from IMDB. If you find yourself indoors, trapped by snow or simply look-ing for a day to relax, you could do worse than “The American”.

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Student


AcademicsWith spring just around the corner, (yes, it’s there) the college search has come up again. There are countless numbers of schools to choose from, and it can be a bit overwhelming. Whether you’re heading off to university next fall or just starting to look at your options, there are great schools in state, perhaps just outside your back door. Here is a list of great Iowa schools, and a little background for each. Who knows, maybe one of these will soon be your Alma matter.

IowaUndergrad Enrollment: 20,547Average High School GPA of incoming students: 3.59City Size: (Iowa City, IA) 67,830Popular Majors: Psychology, English, Communication Studies and BiologyAthletics: Iowa competes in the Big 10 Conference and in the NCAA Division I-A. They have 22 collegiate sports teams, the main ones being football, wrestling and basketball.Notable Alumni: Diablo Cody, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Bro-kaw, Grant Wood and Brandon Routh

Iowa StateUndergrad Enrollment: 23,104 (Fall 2010)Average High School GPA of incoming students: 3.49City Size: (Ames, IA) 56,510Popular Majors: Agriculture, Design, Engineering and Veterinary ScienceAthletics: ISU competes in the Big 12 Conference and in the NCAA Division I-A. They have won national championships in wrestling, gymnastics, cross-country, basketball and football.Notable Alumni: George Washington Carver, Carrie Chap-man Catt, and Senator Tom Harkin

UNIUndergrad Enrollment: 11,147 (Fall 2009)Average ACT Score of Incoming Students: 23.1 City Size: (Cedar Falls, IA) 38, 589Popular Majors: Business Administration, Education and Social and Behavioural SciencesAthletics: UNI competes in the Missouri Valley Confer-ence, NCAA Division I for all sports excluding football, which competes in I-FCS.Notable Alumni: Charles Grassley and Kurt Warner

Drake Undergrad Enrollment: 3,164Average High School GPA of incoming students: 3.69City Size: (Des Moines, IA) 200,538Popular Majors: Business, Pharmacy, Education and JournalismAthletics: Drake competes in the Missouri Valley Confer-ence, NCAA Division I in all athletics except football, which competes in the FCS NCAA Division I Pioneer Football League. Drake has hosted the Drake Relays every April since 1910, and is the second largest collegiate track and field event in the US.Notable Alumni: John August, Terry Branstad, Johnny Bright, Chet Culver, Billy Cundiff, Zach Johnson and Roger Williams

AIBUndergrad Enrollment: 970City Size: (Des Moines, IA) 200,538Popular Majors: Accounting, Business Administration and Media CommunicationAthletics: AIB competes in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, and the NAIA. They offer three sports teams: women’s basketball and men’s and women’s golf.Fun Fact: AIB will be adding Men’s Basketball to their list of sports teams starting Fall 2011.

Upper Iowa UniversityUndergrad Enrollment: 6,158City Size: (Fayette, Iowa) 1,300Popular Majors: Elementary Education and Teaching.Athletics: Upper Iowa offers 14 collegiate sports teams, and competes in NCAA Division II, Northern Sun Intercol-legiate Conference (NSIC.) Notable Alumni: John “Doc” Dorman, Mary Lundby and John Mott

GrinnellUndergrad Enrollment: 1688Average ACT Score for incoming students: 29-33City Size: (Grinnell, IA) 9,105Popular Majors: Psychology, Economics, Biology, History and Political ScienceAthletics: Grinnell has 18 collegiate sports teams and competes in the NCAA Division III, while being a member of the Midwest Conference. Notable Alumni: Herbie Hancock, Robert Noyce and Harry Hopkins

Grand View UniversityUndergrad Enrollment: 2,100City Size: (Des Moines, IA) 200,538Popular Majors: Liberal Arts, Nursing, Education and BusinessAthletics: Grand View participates in the Midwest Colle-giate Conference and the National Association of Intercol-legiate Athletics (NAIA). Fun Fact: Since the 1930s, students have participated in a campus tradition using a large eagle statue called “Bud the Bird” in the school’s own version of ‘Capture the Flag.’

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)Undergrad Enrollment: 22,000 (over all 6 DMACC loca-tions in Central Iowa)City Size: various locationsPopular Majors: Computing, Nursing and Vocational TrainingAthletics: DMACC hosts 9 collegiate sports teams, com-peting in the Iowa Community College Athletic Confer-ence and the National Junior College Athletic Association. Fun Fact: A normal credit hour at DMACC will cost about $102 per hour, as opposed to rates at Iowa State, which can range from $286.75-$232.50.

MorningsideUndergrad Enrollment: 2.000City Size: (Sioux City, IA) 82.807Popular Majors: Mathematical Sciences Nursing, Pre-Professional Programs, Mass CommunicationAthletics: Morningside’s 19 sports teams compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference of the NAIA. The Lady Mustangs basketball team even won back-to-back NAIA Division II National Championships in 2004 and 2005.Notable Alumni: Abigail Van Buren and Ann Landers (“Dear Abby” and “Ask Ann Landers”)

Northwestern CollegeUndergrad Enrollment: 1,206City Size: (Orange City, IA) 5,582Popular Majors: Computer Science, Fitness/Sports Man-agement, Criminal Justice and Neuroscience.Athletics: Northwestern is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Great Plains Athletic Conference. In 2010 the women’s basketball team won a national championship in the NAIA Division II.Notable Alumni: Deb Remmerde (holds the record for the most consecutive in-game free throws in organized basketball.)

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How To Beat The Winter Bluesenergy levels.

Get Some Sun Most people know that sunlight provides us with Vitamin D. But did you know that it also improves your mood? Winter days are shorter and darker than other months, and because of the cold weather, a lot of people spend less and less time outdoors. Lack of sunlight can cause many people to become depressed—without knowing why! Similar to exercise, sunlight exposure releases neurotransmitters in the brain that affect mood. Try to spend a little more time outdoors. Keep your shades up during the day to let more light in. Sit near windows in restaurants and during class. Try changing the light bulbs in your house to “full spectrum” bulbs. These mimic natural light and actually have the same affects on your mind as the real thing. Act on your Resolutions A recent study from the CDC showed a strong link between healthy behaviors and depression. Women who exhibited healthy behaviors (like exercising, not smoking, etc.) had less sad and depressed days than those whose behaviors were less than healthy. The results are likely similar in men.

Treat Yourself Having something to look forward to can keep any-one motivated. Winter seems endless! But if you plan something exciting, your mood improves when you’re anticipating it and when the event actually comes. Plan something that’s exciting to you—a weekend trip, a day at the spa, or special event like a play, girls (or guys) night out, or sporting event (see the “Upcoming Events” article). Relax! You’re busy! Work, class, family, friends, —even if you enjoy being busy, everyone needs some time off. Don’t be afraid to say “No” to extra opportuni-ties, and try to spend a few minutes each day doing

- Adapted from “10 Cool Ways to Beat the Winter Blues” by Nicole Nichols on

We’ve all felt it. Those “winter blues”, character-ized by the mild depression, lack of motivation, and low energy that many people experience during this cold season. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to both prevent the blues from coming on and get yourself back to normal if they’re already here.

Exercise As if we needed another reason to get fit! Exercise isn’t only for staying healthy. It’s great for reliev-ing the stresses of life. Plus, the effects of a good workout can last for several hours after you hit the showers. You’ll have more energy throughout the day, and your metabolism with stay elevated too. Exercise also helps your mind by releasing those “feel good chemicals” that improve your mood. Eat a Healthy Diet What and when you eat has a great affect on your mood and energy. Avoid refined and processed foods (like white breads, rice, and sugar). These foods are not only devoid of the nutrients your body craves, but they zap your energy levels and can affect your mood—causing depression, lack of concentration, and mood swings. Try to incorporate more complex carbohydrates (whole wheat breads, brown rice, veg-gies, fruit) and get your daily 8 cups of water. These healthy foods provide your body (and mind) with nutrients, and stabilize your blood sugar and your

nothing! Read a book or magazine, sleep in on the weekend, go to bed early, try some meditations, or take a yoga class. Relaxation, especially in the form of yoga, can alleviate stress and leave you with a calm energy. Mental exercises like meditation and positive thinking can help keep depression at bay. 7. Embrace the Season Instead of always avoiding the cold and the snow—look for the best that it has to offer! Take up a winter sport like ice skating, snowboarding, hockey, or even sledding! Enjoy these opportunities while they last—after all, they’re only here a few months per year. Staying active will boost your energy. Seeing winter in a positive light, with all the fun activities that it has to offer, will keep your spirits high. 8. Get Social Support Don’t underestimate the power of friends, family, mentors, co-workers, and neighbors. Who can you turn to when you’re down and need a pick-me-up? Keep a mental list of these special people and don’t be afraid to ask for help or encouragement when you need it. Something as simple as a phone call, a chat over coffee, or a nice email or letter can brighten your mood.

9. Catch some Zzzz’s People naturally want to sleep a little bit more during the winter. But with all we have going on, some-times sleep is the first thing to go. With a little time management, and some self-discipline, you can meet your shut-eye needs. Aim for 7-8 hours each night, and try to keep your bedtime and waking time consistent. That way, your sleeping patterns can normalize and you’ll have more energy. Try not to oversleep—those 12-hour snoozes on the weekend can actually make you MORE tired. Don’t forget naps! A short (10-30 minute) afternoon nap may be all you need to re-energize midday.

College

College Prep

Plus, Fastweb.com offers excellent financial aid advice for high school students and families preparing their students for college. The website can also help you find an internship in your area or the area where you’ll be attending college.

Fastweb.com also offers high school athletes assistance in college recruitment. Fastweb works with the National Collegiate Scouting Associa-tion (NCSA) to help student-athletes locate schools and help them find scholarships. Athletic scholarships can be a great way to help pay for college—no, you don’t have to be an athletic star to get an athletic schol-arship.

Scholarships are great, plain and simple. Who wouldn’t accept free money? And with the price of at-tending college only rising, scholar-ships are looking better than ever. The thing is, you have to know where to look for scholarships. Some are easier to find than others.

Some of the best sources for col-lege scholarships can be found on-line. A very good website that serves as a good tool to find scholarships is Fastweb.com. For no charge, you can sign up and Fastweb.com will keep you updated on available scholar-ships that suite you based on your college choice, interests, hobbies, etc.

Fastweb.com has about 1.5 mil-lion scholarships online that are worth about $3.4 billion. That’s a lot of cash that can go a long way in helpign you pay for college.

A good local resource for high school students searching for schol-arships is the Iowa College Access Network or ICAN, which helps middle school students, high school stu-dents, college students and even graduate students in Iowa achieve their academic goals. ICAN offers many tips, from high school study help to college planning tips. Like Fastweb.com, ICAN also offers a scholarship database. ICAN’s website, www.icansucceed.org, also links to other scholarship resource websites, including Fastweb.

What’s cool about ICAN is that once you’re on your way to college, you can still use the site as an excel-lent resource. ICAN offers a budget-ing calculator (believe me, a budget is important to have), advice from college students, financial aid advice and advice for every-day college life. Take advantage of these re-sources. They’ll help you save money (parents love that) and they’ll even make college a little less scary.


Scholarship Hunt: Where To LookTim WeidemanEditor

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800-553-4150

STUDENT FOCUSED – graduating students with less debt than any other private institution in Iowa

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ONLINE EXCELLENCE – nationally ranked among top online degree-granting universities by Online Education Database and repeatedly rated for “best buy” programs by GetEducated.com

“ I chose Upper Iowa University to develop and broaden my education, play competitive collegiate sports, and meet new people. UIU offers opportunities to young minds everyday.”

Shaina Marnell, ‘12Hanover Park, IL

Learn more at the

UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY HAS A LOT TO BRAG ABOUT

IA Sports ad - Jan 2011 - 7.875 x 4.indd 1 1/5/2011 9:13:01 AM Upper Iowa UnIversIty has a lot to brag aboUt

On Campus • Distance Education • U.S. & International Centers

800-553-4150

stUdent FocUsed – graduating students with less debt than any other private institution in Iowa

excellent FacIlItIes – completing $75 million in Phase I construction of classrooms, residence halls, and a student center

globally avaIlable – offering degrees through 16 U.S. educational centers and 3 international locations

onlIne excellence – nationally ranked among top online degree-granting universities by Online Education Database and

repeatedly rated for “best buy” programs by GetEducated.com

“ I transferred to UIU because it has a more personal environment than many other schools and I can be more one-on-one with professors and my advisor. The two-at-a-time class schedule gives me a healthy balance of class, athletics, and other extracurriculars.”

Kirby Hovden, ‘12West Union, IA

Learn more at www.uiu.edu/thewholestory

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http://www.uiu.edu/thewholestory

High School Assembly - Volume 6 Issue 3

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