Volume 88, Issue 3November 2012

By: Kelsi ThurmanStaff Reporter

Photo of junior, Brian Herring (second right) accepting Gear Up scholarship. In picture left to right, Student Aid Executive Director Karen Misjak, Mr. Kirk Herring, Mrs. Tammy Herring, State Tresurer Michael Fitzgerald.

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TJ student wins Gear Up scholarship

School lunches: Healthy, disgusting, or both?

Art and vandalism: Commotions within the classroom

By: Kelsi ThurmanStaff Reporter

By: Isabella MooreStaff Reporter

By: Kelly EspinozaStaff Reporter

This year’s school food is a little bit different from year’s past. The Federal Government have a new mandate on what is being served to students at Thomas Jefferson, and across the United States. “We get free food from them, and therefore we have to follow their rules,” said Mrs. Lisa Dale, Principal at TJ. The students of TJ are not happy with the new lunch. The rules have changed for what stu-dents can or cannot be served. “It’s gross,” said junior Ash-ley Stansberry. “They changed the cheese, and you have to have a fruit or vegetable. I don’t like it.” The US Dept of Ag’s School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children provides healthy school

meals that are consistent with the Recommended Dietary Allow-ances (RDA). “We have to serve a fruit or a vegetable the portion to be served and they student has to take a half of cup of fruit and a half of cup of vegetable,” said head of Nutrition Services Vir-ginia Bechtold. The average high school stu-dent grades 9-12 need a maxi-mum of about 2200 calories and a minimum of 750, They use this amount of calories to cut obesity. If you’re eating healthy, your plate should have a certain amount of food on it. “They’re nutritious and de-licious and I love eating them everyday,” said junior Jennifer Meyer. Students are able to check their own calorie intake as well. Active students are supposed to

have a higher calorie intake than non-active students but the school lunch menu focuses around the average students’ diet. There are alternatives to the school’s lunch program, though. For instance, bringing a lunch from home saves the school food and money, and it allows the stu-dent to get as many calories that they feel they need. “I have a senior pass which allows me to get off campus lunch,” said senior Dominic Wilson. Wilson is TJ’s quarter-back for varsity and feels that the lunch is “Not very good,” and that we “have the same stuff ev-ery day.” Seniors with a senior pass are allowed to go off campus on fridays for lunch. For the others that are opposed to school lunch, they are welcome to bring their own from home.

TJHS students have been given many opportunities and rewards throughout the years, like cell phone use at lunch and in the hallways. But some of these things are being taken advantage of dur-ing school. As a result, some of these rewards could be be taken away. Walking around in the hall-way during class, cell phones, even the Google Chromes are just some of the things that are being taken advantage of dur-ing school. “Cell phone usage is frus-trating,” said science teacher, Mr. Mark Brown. “It makes us, as teachers, not trust you.” Even though it may seem like all high schoolers abuse privileges, sometimes stu-

Read “Classroom” page 2.

Brian Herring won a $1,000 scholarship from Gear Up with a simple survey submission. “MyfamilyandIfilledoutthesurvey on the internet. We had no idea we would win,” said the ju-nior. “I was speechless because it was completely unexpected.” The scholarship comes from the Iowa Savings Account, which is a part of Gear Up. The grant program is designed to increase the opportunities of lower in-come students who are prepared to enter postsecondary educa-tion. “I plan on going to Pharmacy school either at Creighton or UNMC, now that I know I have some money saved up,” said Herring.

Ten students at different schools across the state won the $1,000 scholarship. The scholar-ship will not be taxed, and all the money has to go toward school materials. “We are very happy and ex-cited for Brian knowing he has money saved to go off to col-lege,” said Kirk Herring, Brian’s father. There will be another chance for everybody to win a scholar-ship. Visit www.myiowa529-plan.com for more information and to register for a $5,290 scholarship. Anybody can sign up, you do not have to be a Gear Up student for this award. We will also have a link to the scholarship on The Signal’s facebook page.

Shaking the spray paint, “click, click, click.” Listening to the sound of blue paint misting out of the nozzle. The “pshhh, pshh, pshh,” as the layers overlap to create a cloudy backdrop for a mural. Maybe just dipping the paintbrush into different colors. Watching the stars meld togeth-er and come alive on a canvas. In a vacant alley, art meets brick. But, it’s illegal because the brick isn’t owned by the art-ist. It’s vandalism. There seems to be confusion on what is artistic expression and what is vandalism. In and outside of school, you see writ-ing on property that belongs to someone else. But is vandalism a form of artistic expression? Vandalism is a deliberately mischievous or malicious de-struction or damage of prop-erty. Breaking windows, egging someones car, etc. are all exam-ples of vandalism. Being artistically expressive

is exhibiting an involvement, appreciation, or indication of art. Portraits, paintings, murals, and drawing are forms of artis-tic expression. Anyone can be artistically expressive. It’s all in the way you plan. One is legal, and the other is illegal. One of the common ways that vandalism is shown, is graffiti. Markings like initials, slo-

gans, or drawings, written, spray painted or sketched, are all examples of graffiti. “Anyone can paint or sketch a picture for fun, but what makes something expressive, is to have meaning behind it,” Thomas Jefferson’s art teacher Courtney Mimick said. Graffiti, though illegal in most cases, could be catego-rized as artistic expression if the

Where to draw the lineGraphic by Trystan Brock.

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drawing has meaning behind it. “I grew up in a small town, my mom was very artistic so she always encouraged me to use watercolor paint, but when I moved to Omaha, about 6 years ago, I began to appreciate more kinds of art,” Mimick said. TJHS has vandalism through-out the school. The majority of

Read “Vandalism” page 3.

Congratulations to seniors Cody Conoway and Jasmine Fisher for having their bill about anti-bullying passed at the Iowa Youth Congress. Read the full story at signalnews.blogspot.com and at cbcsd.org.

Advice from a TJ graduate

As a first year student atMorningside College, I am just now beginning to see what from high school worked for me and what didn’t. I went all four years ofhighschoolandcandefinitelysay here are a lot of things we are doing right, but some of what we do could change. One great thing about Thom-as Jefferson was how involved I could be. I was in the show choir, National Honors Society, and did many plays as well as being a varsity team member of cross country and track. I spoke at my graduation, was the junior class president and student council president my senior year. I did everything I could to be involved and even went to work at the state capitol for one trimester my senior year. All of these activi-ties I did helped to balance out my interests and made me more attractive to scholarship and ad-missions boards. Now that I’m at Morning-side College, I can still be as actively involved as I like. I am a member of the cross country and track team, the Morningside Civic Union, Morningside Ac-tivities Council, doing a media-tion tournament with the politi-cal science department and was Jack in the musical “Jack and the Beanstalk.” There are also many other awesome opportunities to be involved in college that high

school just doesn’t offer. I have volunteeredatapoliticalofficeinmy spare time and I shook hands with the President of the United States! Activities in high school offer many avenues to pursuing what you love in college as well. They also offer the chance of tal-ent scholarships, so keep that in mind! While activities are important to set yourself apart, the truly important thing to understand is the importance of your grades. At TJ I had above a 4.0 and went between being number one and two in my class of 300. If you don’t have good study habits at the moment, you need to change that--like now. College is a lot moredifficult,butalsoalotmorefun. The best way to prepare for college is seriously taking the CE and AP courses offered at TJ. I went into school with 34 cred-its and will be a junior next year. These courses help a lot in prep-aration, but are still not quite the college level because you meetevery day. TJ did do a pretty good job of preparing me for college, but that is ONLY if you apply yourself and don’t try to slide by. Slackers don’t make it in college and they won’t try to help you unless you put forth the effort. Currently, I have A’s in school and want to keep it that way. Something else very impor-tant is how are you going to pay for school? I cannot stress enough the importance of fill-

ing out as many scholarships as possible. There is literally some-thing for everyone and if you say youcan’tfindone,youarelying.While these won’t pay for every-thing, you can get a huge chunk ofyourfirstyearknockedoutatleast. Many schools also have talent grants for things ranging from sports to writing to draw-ing and speaking. The more you try for the more you get. I have a large portion of my schooling paid for at the moment because of all the scholarships I filledout. Something else that really helped me was my ACT score. I didn’t get a 36, but I did get a

high enough score to have the highest academic scholarship. The better you score the better the money. The difference of one point on the ACT can be $8,000 you didn’t get. I recommend studying and taking the test more than once. My score went up four points from thefirst time Itook it and the last. The differ-ence there was $8,000 difference in financial aid, so yes that testreally does matter. Working hard will really help in the long run, so take that ex-tra few hours and put it to good use. The difference working hard makes is something you will never regret.

By: Kyle McGladeContributor

Something now to remember foreverBy: Dana Mefferd

Staff Reporter

Yearbooks are something that you can have to look back on your school years. They let you see the fun times that happened. Sporting events and club highlights are just a page turn away. Senior year is an important year in school. You start look-ing for colleges and for career choices. Buying a yearbook your senior year is a easy way to recall all of those significant instancesthroughout the year. If you play a sport you can look back on highlights and spe-cial team seasons. For example, if you are involved in a club, you will be able to look at memorable occasions anytime you like. Even if you are not in anything you can still look at all the exciting mo-ments and special things that hap-pen your senior year. High School years are the most important and eventful times. You

get to meet new people, form spe-cial bonds, and learn new and in-teresting things. Senior year is the year that you decide where you are going in life and what you are going to make of yourself. It is your last year with friends that you may never see again. The last year with teachers that you might have bonded with. Those years and memories are things you will not get back. By buying a yearbook you can look back on all the fun times and memories that were made. It helps you never forget the memo-ries that made your senior year so important.

By: Shelbie GrangerStaff Reporter

Classroom

I think that senior students should buy a yearbook their se-nior year, but from previous years also. If you do not own and/or buy previous yearbooks you will real-ly regret it because those memo-ries could be lost. The point of buying a year-book is to save memories, so you can look back on them. Without past yearbooks it is harder to reminisce. There are social me-dia sites that have pictures, but a yearbook is better to have because it is a physical copy with stories

about each event and you can get a friend’s signature or even a note to look back on. “I think students should buy their yearbooks so they can look back on all their memories” said senior Tori Salmons. If you do not get the past year-books soon, there is a possibility they will not be there. There are only a certain amount of year-books ordered each year and once they are gone there will not be any more. If you are an underclassmen start buying your class yearbooks now so you have them for the fu-ture.

dents just need a little bit of down time. “Kids need a break from 70 minute classes, a re-energizer, like a drink, or a bathroom break,” English teacher Mrs. Carrie Booms-Ryan explained. Some teachers also see it as an escape method when students do not understand the curricu-lum. “Kids that don’t understand the subject matter abuse rest-room breaks because it is an escape method,” Brown clari-fied. “But there are still those few that abuse it just to be silly.” Google Chromes also have been a distraction in school. “It’s the first year with the Chromes, they are meant for education and for learn-ing, but there’s all kinds of other distracting things on the computer,” Booms-Ryan said. “But it’s a part of this genera-tion's lifestyle; to constantly be connected.” Cell phones, iPods, and computers are distracting in and out of the classroom. As a student myself, it is un-derstandable wanting to use electronic devices. But when teachers have to resort to con-fiscation, is it really worth it? “I don't want to be a cop. I don't want to be nasty. If I wanted to be a cop, I would have applied for the job,” Brown said.

10. No, I’m not on my cell phone.9. I’ll do it in five more min-utes.8. I don’t need a week for that assignment. I could finish it in a day.7. These notes are pointless, I’ll never use them.6. I knew that answer, I just couldn’t find the right words5. I don’t have to write that down; I’ll remember it.4. I finished my homework, but it’s at home.3. This worksheet is easy. I’ll finish it when I get home2. Yeah, I understand the prob-lem.1. No, I’m not on facebook.

Now that’s funny

By: Kiarrah PleasStaff Reporter

Continued from page 1:

Photo of 2012 graduate Kyle McGlade submitted by Mrs. Mary McGlade.

Page 2

Top 10 lies a student tells:

Young Americans include TJ students

Page 3

Organized and living stress free

Vandalism

Dana MefferedStaff Reporter

By: Abi RaymerStaff Reporter

Photo of the Young Americans at rehearsal. Photo submitting from the TJ MVPs Facebook page.

Photo of junior Tristin Kern by Shelbie Granger

“Thefirst thingstudentsdon'tunderstand is where they are spending their time,” said coun-selor Karla Hughes about stu-dents’ schedules. “[They need to] get a sense of how much time they are actually spending on leisure things versus academic things.” Having a planned out schedule to do school work and get help makes being successful in the classroom that much easier. “Some people need a more strict schedule because they have trouble getting things done,” said Junior Class Graduation Coach, Ashleigh Weaver. “If you keep a good schedule you’ll get things done. It’s when you don't have a schedule that you start falling be-hind.” Students with higher level classes, like AP or CE classes, find themselves getting stressedout about all the school work that has to be completed in a certain amount of time. Making a well devised plan suited to your needs wouldbebeneficial. “It can be stressful at times, but as long as I space out and plan my studying, I manage to get by. Instead of doing all homework at once, I do some for an hour and then take a break before continu-ing,” said junior Ariana Rogers. Not every student benefitsfrom the same type of schedule, though. “Some kids need some down time right after school,” said Hughes. “They need that to en-ergize themselves to get back in. And then there are many other students that it’s easier for them

to just get their work done right after school because then the rest of the time is theirs to do what-ever they want.” Schedules are allowed to change and be fluid. That waywhen something does not work, you can try something different until it sticks. “If you’re staying on top of things, you’ll get your stuff done and will get good grades,” said Weaver.

1. Make a to-do-list in gmail.

2. Organize from most important to least.

3. Consider sports and extracur-riculars.

4. Do not take on too much at once.

5. Have an assignment sheet with due dates.

5 tips for organizing your class time

the vandalism happens in the bathrooms due to lack of super-vision from teachers. Some ex-amples are when there is writing on the mirrors, carvings into the doors, and writing profanities on the walls. Students attending high school either see the vandalism, or are the ones vandalising. The school would benefit from more activities that involve self-ex-pression. Maybe not only just painting a picture, but collab-oratively spray painting on a wall in the school, to bring the school spirit alive. Graffiti is looked at dif-ferently by people around the world. Melbourne, Australia, War-saw, Poland, and Queens, New York, are just some of the plac-es in the world that either allow graffiti in the entire city, or have certain walls that are open for graffiti. Artists that enjoy ex-pressing themselves by graffiti are able to openly spray paint anything they want. Protesting gay rights, abortion, even the economy, are being presented in a way that is very unique. Do you remember the Google spray wall last year? How about something like that on a real wall?

Continued from page 1:

The 2012 presidential election has inspired teachers to get stu-dents more involved in debating. In election debates Romney and Obama talk about major is-sues that are affecting society such as, health care, economy, ed-ucation, etc. When debating they want to make sure their opinion is heard because they have dif-ferent viewpoints that could have various effects on Americans. Speaking out to the public by debating shows their true knowl-edge and passion for this coun-try. Some students cannot stand politics. “I don’t care about politics or the issues,” junior Tiffany Mal-vin stated. However, “The Freechild Project” has found that around the world young people are get-ting more involved with politics, than ever before. There are 19,797,000 peo-ple ages 10 through 14, and

19,832,000 people ages 15 through 19. These statistics show thepotentialinfluencethatyoungpeople have in future elections and in politics. If students stay involved and learn more about economics, then it will be easier to take a stand in regards to poli-tics or issues that affect the world as a whole. “Students should learn how important it is for them to under-stand and participate in the demo-cratic process. It's a responsibili-ty that too many people neglect.”, English teacher Mrs. Erica Sch-nepel said. “Passivity can lead to helplessness. Being active in and knowledgeable about issues that directly concern us gives us personal power. Things might not improve right away, but if you do nothing, things will never im-prove.” English teachers are using the 2012 presidential debates to their advantage. The presidential election brings a lot of opinions to the table. Teachers are apply-ing ideas that campaign manag-ers, and reporters use in elections

to show knowledge and explain their opinions. The students in Schnepel’s classes will be creating a cam-paign video as their final prod-uct to show what they have re-searched. “They are researching a cur-rent issue, evaluating the quality and bias of their sources, and tak-ing a stand by asking undecided voters(ofaspecificdemograph-ic) to vote for the candidate that supports their view of the issue. When the project is complete and students have shared their cam-paign ads with each other, they'll doflashdebatestodeterminethewinning candidate, time permit-ting.” Schnepel explained. Debating in class shows a stu-dent’s knowledge about the issue. Not only because they have to discuss their topic, but they have to support any opinions with facts and research. This will help teachers know that students have a full understanding about what they are researching, how to cite a source, and how to develop a good project with facts.

Political campaign reason for debates at TJ

By: Kelsi ThurmanStaff Reporter

The Young Americans held a workshop at T.J. from October 28-30. “The workshop is 3 days where you learn singing and dancing medleys and you learn many other things as well,” said senior, Ejanae Hume. They focus on providing mu-sic education and performance opportunities to young people all around the world. The Inter-national Music Outreach Tours call attention to the importance of music education by bringing mu-sic workshops to students in 4th to 12th grade worldwide.

The Young Americans College of the Performing Arts provides a new and creative learning envi-ronment that encourages artistic, intellectual and personal growth for those interested in becoming performers or arts educators. “Yes, I did enjoy the Young Americans. There was a lot of dancing and music. The teachers that we had were like our friends to us,” said senior, Courtney Hol-land. The group Young Americans has been around for about 50 years . It was founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson. In the 60’s and 70’s the group would appear in numerous variety shows. They

would sing and dance with en-tertainers such as Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis, and Dean Martin. The group later started touring in-ternationally presenting concerts and musicals for presidents, head of states, and audiences world-wide. “Young Americans is a group that tours all around the world and teaches kids from really young ages to seniors in high school singing and dancing medleys, but they also teach way more than that like passion, love and the meaning of family,” said Hume. To get into the workshop all you have to do is sign up, pay the fee, and come. To get into the

Young Americans is a little bit more complicated. You audition for them by DVD or in person and wait and hope that you receive an acceptance letter. “I think [students] should get involved in Young Americans because if they like dancing and music this would be a great spot for them and they make friends really easy...In the end both the Young Americans and the stu-dents leave a changed person, for the better. The best part about the entire experience is that you don't have to be the best dancer or best singer. All you really have to do is be willing to give your all and try your hardest,” Holland said.

Page 4

The definition of beauty

Olympians speak at Kirn

Career visit at IWCC

Living the legacy:

By: Kelly EspinozaStaff Reporter

By: Kiarrah PleasStaff Reporter

By: Brooklyn HolderStaff Reporter

Photo of Olympians, Ian Crocker (left) and Christine Magnuson (right), at Kirn Middle School. Photo by Allie Townsend.

The Mutual Of Omaha Break-out Swim Clinic came to Council Bluffs this month at Kirn Middle School. The Southwest Iowa Sailfishswimmingclubhostedanevent at the clinic on October 6. The event featured Olympic gold medallists Ian Crocker and Chris-tine Magnuson. Crocker is a five timeOlym-pic medalist and has three gold medals. He was the world record holder in the 50; 100 meter but-terflyandthe100meterfreestylebefore Michael Phelps in the 2004 and 2008 olympics. Magnuson had set the Ameri-can record in the 100 meter but-terfly in the semi-finals with a

time of 57.08 seconds. But she came in second earning silver in the finals in the 2008BeijingOlympics. “Having the olympic swim-mers and the special event in-creased the interest in swimming for the children,” said Adam Moon a science teacher at Thom-as Jefferson. “It was also used as a fundraiser for the YMCA team.” Children from the ages of 8 to 18 can join the club. The clinic is designed to help young people build new talents and skills. They will be able to learn the techniques on strokes and will have a group instruction. Understanding how the body, mind and heart works makes a difference in swimming. “The event helped the kids build better skills,” said Mrs. Shannon Moon. “When they

heard the Olympians speak about their accomplishments it gave themmoremotivationandconfi-dence to be just like them.” The young swimmers got to train with the world’s top swim-mers, get autographs, pictures and ask questions over any swimming topics. There was a $75 fee to at-tend the event, and approximately 60 children attended, according to Mrs. Moon. “I am part of the T.J. swim team and I practice at the Kirn swimming pool and I heard about the event and I'm disappointed because i couldn't attend,” said Corry Valeika a senior at Thom-as Jefferson High School. “The event was great for young athletes to see what the best looks like, so they know what they have to strive for.”

Beauty in high school, or even in general, is a touchy subject for most. Girls and boys alike be-come very self conscious during their teenage years. The definition of “beauti-ful” has changed immensely throughout the years. In the 1600s, heavier people were the ones that could afford to hire ser-vants, serfs, etc. -people to work intheirfields.Theservantswerethin because they couldn’t afford to eat as well as their employers did. Therefore, the heavier peo-ple were considered more beauti-ful, and more respected. The perception of beauty is also being corrupted due to massmedia. Superficial womenare being portrayed as beautiful and it affects children as early as their childhood. Little girls get their first Barbie doll at around3 or 4 years old. Models and ce-lebrities are being touched up by sites such as photoshop and they are made to look “perfect” when, in all reality, they aren’t. “I started wearing make up a long time ago,” said sophomore Jelsey Bryant. Whether you care or not, beauty will always play a big role in your life. “Either you have it, you want it, you hate it, or you love it,” said sophomore Genesis Alva. “If you have it, you’re set up for be-ing apart of rumors. If you want it, you start the rumors. If you hate it, you spread the rumors. And if you love it, you stop the rumors.” Beauty does not mean you have to wear tons of makeup, or be super buff, though. It could be as simple as personal hygiene. Senior Khadesha Brown de-fines beauty as, “Just shower-ing.” Sophomore Logan Hotz agrees with her by saying “Hy-giene, hygiene, hygiene.” There are no guidelines in life about what is and is not beauti-ful, so do what makes you, per-sonally, feel beautiful. Develop a personal style that sets you apart from the crowd, and don’t change unless you, yourself, want to. “Changing your personal style for just one person is lame,” said Brown. Take a look at the friends you keep around. Do they act like you? Do they make you feel bet-ter when you’re down? Or are they the very reason you’re down inthefirstplace?Thepeopleyousurround yourself with will most likely influence the way youact. The easiest solution is to be with people more like yourself. People who will bring you up. People who will help keep you on a good path. Happiness and beauty go hand in hand. It is all about the per-ception, or your outlook on life. In other words...Think happy thoughts.

Several students from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln High went on a college career field trip to IowaWesternCom-munity College. This was a great opportunity for students to really get a look at their future. Each student was put into a cluster based on the career they selected. Then they conducted different activities to learn more about each career. Junior, Bailee Dunn, felt privi-leged to be able to participate. “I was in the group for health occupations and nursing,” said Dunn. Iowa Western may not be a four year university, but they have a lot to offer their students. “We got to go into this new section for nursing. It was great because not very many people get to go into that place. We got to do a lot of hands on activities and work on dummies,” explained Dunn. “Of course they wouldn't let us practice on humans. But it really gave people a feel of what nurses and doctors do.” Aside from what was learned in Dunn’s perspective, Senior, Kim Embrey also learned new thingsaboutthehealthfield. “We learn more about basic procedures in nursing and sur-gery,” said Embrey. “The basic knowledge could help others be aware and help others who need the basic things.” There is a lot to learn. If you ever think that you are done learn-ing, it is not true. “I learned how you can check people's pulse through their feet,” said Dunn. “Also I learned what a congested lung was and what a fluidfilledlungsoundedlike.” Visiting colleges is a great way toseeifitisarightfitforyouandit also provides different opportu-nities to learn new things. “It was truly a great experi-ence,” Dunn replied. Embrey agreed, “It went well. The only problem that I saw was the students didn’t always show the staff respect.” Let us remember that college is near. Choices need to be made. Your teachers and counselors are there for you to talk to. T a k e advantage of the help. Do not be afraid to venture out. For those who need a starting place, Iowa Western could be yours. To learn more about Iowa Western or visit their campus go to: www.iwcc.edu/Future_Stu-dent/visit.asp.

Junior Faye Arthur walks down the same hallways and through the same classrooms that her great grandmoth-er, Nellie Phillips, walked through. Seventy-two years later, TJHS still has many students that continue to carry on the legacy of their parents, grand-parents and great-grandpar-ents. If you have ever looked at yearbooks from the previous years up until now, you would start to notice a pattern of last names. This is because they are a legacy, where a student attends the same school of their parents. “Its interesting because [my grandma] is old,” said Arthur. “I don’t generally think of her

as a high school student.” Arthur is far from the only student who has had previ-ous generations of her family graduate from Thomas Jeffer-son. Junior, Alicia Beckman, is the fourth generation on both her mom and dad’s side. “I didn’t even know I was one,” explained Beckman, “until you posted on Face-book.” Some people plan on send-ing the future generations of

their family to Thomas Jeffer-son. “I’m going to try,” said Beck-man, “but you never know where you are going to end up.” Future cir-cumstances are impossible to predict, so one can only hope for an opportu-nity to continue

their legacy. “I suppose that it depends on where I get a job and go to college,” said Arthur. “If it is the area, then I would have no problem with sending my children here, I have had great experiences here.” Even alumni come back to work at Thomas Jefferson, such as, Keli O’Dell, a custo-dian at TJ. “I was sorta looking for a job after I graduated from col-lege. It just so happened they had an opening at TJ” said O’Dell. These families stayed here because they liked the school and the community. “We had ties to the commu-nity,” said O’Dell, “All of our family grew up in the Council Bluffs area.” Mr. Steve Hardiman was also an alumni. Mr. Hardiman, a graduate of TJ, was the only graduate in his class to become a prin-cipal of his home high school. He was also an assistant prin-cipal and a science teacher.

Photo of Alumni from left to right: Michael Beckman, Nellie Phillips, Kelli O’Dell, and Jodie Holm.

By: Brooklyn Holder andDylan Montgomery

Staff Reporters

Generations take the same path