Novice builders provide community service

--Stephanie Griffith
Learning construction skills on the job, the 7^th hour construction class and the 4^th hour advanced are lending their talents to complete various construction tasks in the community.

Currently, the construction class--Chris Skov, Taylor Bliss, and James Richmeier-- are currently building a Gazebo Shelter at the Trego County Lemke Memorial Assisted Living area.  This job followed the students building storage cabinets for Quinter Hospital.

More projects will be completed this year.  The students will remodel display booths at the exhibit building at the fairgrounds, construct shelves for Bev Ambruster’s preschool classroom, build display cabinets for the Historical Society, assemble storage cabinets at TGS, and complete two computer stations for the city library.

Also assisting this group is the advanced woods class of James Richmeier, Cody Schmitt, and Logan Hendrickson.  The advanced woods class provides extra help to the construction crew by building parts in the school shop. Then the construction crew will use these parts on the community jobs.

Teacher Doug Durr commented about the community projects.

“The main thing I like about the classes is that students get to build projects for the community.  We try to do projects for organizations on restricted budgets so our help is a savings for them.”

Positioning rafters, James Richmeier, Taylor Bliss and Chris Skov work on a gazebo shelter project for the Trego County Lemke Memorial Assisted Living facility. The gazebo shelter is one of many projects on the agenda for the seventh-hour construction class.

Physics students build trebuchets

Physics students, studying projectile motion, got the opportunity to put what they learned in to action.

 Student teams, under the direction of Carl Behrens, designed and constructed trebuchets, originally weapons used in the Middle Ages to launch projectiles over or smash an enemy wall to gain entry.

To test the efficiency of their trebuchets, the team traveled to the tennis court to launch their trebuchets.  Each team had three trials before the winning team, the one achieving the longest distance, was determined.

Bragging rights for the longest distance went to the team of Chad Jamison, Brooke Scheib, Shane Pfeifer and Liz Schoenberger. 

RIGHT: Undaunted by the cold,  rainy conditions, the team of Shane Pfeifer, Chad Jamison and Brooke Scheib prepare to launch a tennis ball with the trebuchet they designed and built.  They, along with Liz Schoenberger, achieved the greatest distance among class competitors with a launch of 65.75 inches. (Photo by Teran Frick)

Former TCHS student Ean Mong (2003) demonstrates to Kristian Tuttle and Beth Hafliger the steps to cut a strawberry in to a flower shape. Chef Mong prepared a dinner for the investigative foods class on November 21 and shared what it is like to have a culinary career.

Ean offered some insight in to the fine points of preparing food:  “Presentation should be 65% of what you do.  If it looks good to the eye, it will taste good.”

Ean's purpose for returning to TCHS was to inspire others to enter his profession.  He explained that when he was 14 years old and working at the Western Kansas Saloon and Grill, a chef from California who also worked there introduced him to the art of cooking. 

“If I can turn kids onto cooking as I was, It is a gift worth giving.  There is nothing better than cooking.”

Former grad shares love of cooking

“It beats taco burgers, big time,” said Lexsie Newcomer, one student who experienced the culinary talents of former TCHS student, Ean Mong.

Explaining his career as he prepared a special meal, Ean informed and entertained students in the investigating foods class on November 21.

Ean, a 2003 graduate of TCHS and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of Las Vegas, returned to WaKeeney to work as a chef for Leap of Faith Catering, owned by Darla Mong, his mother.

Despite having the opportunity to prepare food for celebrities like President-elect Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Celine Dion, and Elton John, to name a few, other things brought Ean back home to WaKeeney. 

“I got tired of the corporate world, and I have a two-year-old niece I wanted to see more.  Of course, there is no place like home.”

As he addressed the foods students about being a chef, Ean encouraged students to be involved in the preparation of a special dinner of tossed greens with white truffle, mango chutney, saffron risotto, zucchini-rice stir fry, and garlic-roasted pork tenderloin.  As the students fashioned sliced strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers in to exotic shapes,

Using an actual Monopoly game board as the basis for a game they invented for U.S. Government class, Austin Clark, Jon James, Casey Flax, and Teran Frick use the game as a test review over the executive branch of government. Students made up games as a fun way to review concepts.

Playing a game similar to Connect Four; Carl Hodges and Larry Hafliger participate in an executive branch review game.