JHS senior opens up about new recycling program, busy schedule, and the diversity of Jeff High
Many know 17-year-old Jeffersonville High School senior Adonis Boyd. But what they may not know is that Boyd is the driving force behind the school’s new recycling program. Boyd is well-rounded and is involved in numerous extracurriculars including Key Club, Student Council and Friends of Rachel. He is also an awarded wrestler and is involved in track as well. His participation in sports is one of the reasons he got the idea for the recycling program.
Senior Adonis Boyd collects recycling. (Photo by Bella Bungcayao)
“Well, I drink a lot of water, like with all the things I do, with all the sports,” Boyd said. “I get really dehydrated really quick. So I always bring two water bottles to school with me and I realized that kind of adds up.” He also noticed other things that should be recycled instead of being tossed in the trash. “Sometimes I’ll go to the copier room if I need to run something for a teacher,” he said. “And they just have so much paper…and there’s just nothing to do with it. They just throw it away, and it can go to something. It can do something bigger.”
Boyd also loves the diversity at Jeff High, saying that it’s “a big mesh of a lot of people.” “It’s very real worldish,” he said. “Like the other schools, they’re going to be like one group of people that stand out. But here, everybody really gels together really well. There’s a lot of diversity. It’s just a really great place to be to set you up for the real world.”
Boyd wants to make a difference in this world by increasing diversity and helping the community through recycling. He wishes to bring the diversity that Jeff High shows to the outside world. “With other schools there can be subgroups,” he said. “Of course Jeff High has those subgroups but within those subgroups people are also intertwined to other groups. It’s not just like one person rules everything. Everyone is friends with everybody and I just wish that we could take that to the outside world. Because in the outside world people can very groupish. It’s very stereotypical. Like, ‘Oh I see them. I don’t hang out with them.’ But here we don’t see any of that. We see everyone for how they are as a person. Like I can be friends with anybody. And that’s wonderful.”
Coming off a successful HHC Tournament last weekend, the Jeffersonville Red Devils co-ed wrestling team is prepared to end the season on a strong note. Four wrestlers earned all-conference honors (1st place) in the HHC Tournament: Ethan Rogers, Devin McDaniels, Matt Munoz and Cody Matherly. Rogers, a senior who has wrestled for two years, says it takes a lot of commitment to win. “Wrestling is really hard,” he said. “We stay after, come in the mornings, put in extra work.” Sophomore Connor Pangburn, a JV wrestler, says team support makes a difference, too. “When you’re on that mat, you’re out there by yourself, but you have a whole team behind you. Everybody’s watching you and wants you to win.”
Senior wrestler Ethan Rogers faces off against his opponent from Charlestown High School. (Photo by Paige Moore)Senior wrestler Cody Matherly takes a breath during a tough match. (Photo by Paige Moore)
This season has also featured strong performances from Jeff High’s female wrestlers. Last Friday, Chrissy True won the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling Association State Title. Emelly Valezquez and Mia Compton both took third place. Overall, the girls wrestling team won 5th place in the state competition. Compton says wrestling in a girls-only event is a bit unsettling. “When you’re going against a girl, it makes you a little nervous because you’re used to going against guys, and in the matches the guy usually wins,” she said. “But once you come out on top [in a girls tournament], it’s like boom … she’s powerful!” In only its first year, Jeff High girl’s wrestling team is already putting the other teams on notice.
The Girls Wrestling team proudly shows off their awards after qualifying for state. (Submitted photo)
Although the regular season is nearly over (the last regular-season meet is tonight at home versus New Albany), fans will have more opportunities to cheer on the wrestling team at home. Jeff High will host the IHSAA sectional tournament on February 1, as well as the regional tournament on February 8.
This issue of The Hyphen follows the theme “We Are Jeff High.” In this issue there are features on students and teachers who represent all aspects of the school, as well as quotes and pictures from randomly surveyed students about what they’re passionate about. Our goal in this issue is to capture the true spirit of Jeff High.
Every student, teacher and staff member makes our school community unique. All of us have an impact, no matter how small. Once a Red Devil, always a Red Devil!
The biggest rivalry game of the basketball season for every Jeff and New Albany fan. The Red Devils played hard on the Bulldogs’ home court with back-to-back wins. Senior Tre Coleman, Forward, ranked up with four personal fouls with 1: 28 in the first quarter.
“They always try to get me in foul trouble since I’m the biggest man on the court,” said Coleman.
The Devils were down heading into the half 22-27. The moment that determines how much anxiety, fear, and excitement gets put into everyone in the bleachers. The Bulldogs and the Devils go back and forth until it begins the fourth quarter. The Red Devil student section is hype and they can feel as it clouds their minds. There’s a chance that the Red Devils will walk away from this game with the win. Then everything stops; this can’t be happening.
The Bulldogs start getting their momentum back. They start putting up the points. The time is running out. Fouls are being called and the crowds are going wild. You can see the fear on the faces of fans rooting for the Red Devils and just as much excitement on the face of the Bulldogs. The next thing you know the score is 50-50 and the time has run out. The Red Devils starting point guard, Jacob Jones, has fouled out.
“I know my teammates are going to step up and finish the game,” said Jones when asked about being fouled out.
The Bulldogs don’t know what they got themselves into. Senior Darin Starks subs in for Jones, then the time on the clock starts, it’s officially overtime. The Red Devils come together as a team and start putting up assists and staying on the rebounds. The fans of the Red Devils start feeling like they were worried for nothing but knowing deep down there is still a chance, they can lose this game.
The Bulldogs only put up two points in OT. Starks leads the Red Devils to victory alongside his teammates. “Being a senior and being that leader, I knew it was my time to step up when Jacob had to come out. Basically, it was my responsibility to step up to the plate,” said Starks. The Red Devils ended the game 59-52. Just another W to add to the collection against the Bulldogs.
It was announced over the weekend that Pam Hall, current Freshman Academy Principal, will become interim principal at Jeffersonville High School for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Outgoing principal Julie Straight shared the news with faculty and staff via her weekly email newsletter on Sunday night.
Pam Hall (photo by Paige Moore)
This move is pending board approval on Tuesday, January 14.
Straight is moving into the position of Academy and CTE (Career and Technical Education) coordinator for Greater Clark County Schools.
It’s a typical Friday night in Johnson Arena. The Jeffersonville Red Devils are taking on the Silver Creek Dragons in a highly anticipated match up. The score is tight as the game is coming down to the wire. The crowd is full and the student sections are roaring back and forth, chanting and taunting. And like so many events at Jeff High, sitting in the upper level watching the school she has been a part of for so many years is Julie Straight. However, something is different about this game. For Straight, it is one of her last as principal of Jeffersonville High School. As the game ends and the crowd fills the gym floor, she looks from the balcony with a smile. And as cheers of “We Are Jeff High” ring out, Straight remarks, “This is what it’s all about: Pride.”
On Friday, December 20, Greater Clark County Schools announced that Straight would be moving into a new position as Academy and CTE (career and technical educator) coordinator for the district. In this position, she will be taxed with keeping academy curriculum, teachers and opportunities in line with the workforce. Straight believes that her experience in implementing the academy model at Jeff High will help her. “I’ve had all the training…it gives me a great foundation,” she says.
Straight is excited about the position and believes the job will “present a new challenge” that she has the “skillset to meet.” Straight cited family as the main reason for the move. “I have my first grandbaby coming in March,” she says. “Not living on the Jeff High extracurricular calendar is what I need to do for my family right now.”
While Straight is excited about her new challenge, she will miss the school she has spent most of her life at as a student, teacher and administrator. “I’ve loved it,” she says. “I don’t regret any of it.”
Going back to her days as a student and cheerleader, Principal Julie Straight has always represented Jeff High Pride. – Topic Archives photo by Steven Driver
Straight’s time at Jeff High began many years before becoming principal. A member of the class of 1982, she was always full of spirit and pride in her school as a student. “I loved high school,” she said. Despite this, Straight didn’t know she wanted to become a teacher at the time.
She went to Purdue for engineering, but she soon realized that wasn’t the path for her. She left college and got married, and when she went back to school she knew she wanted to pursue teaching, and she wanted to teach at Jeff High, but it was not her first teaching job.
“It was a hard job market,” says Straight. However, with some experience from teaching summer school, she was able to find an opening at New Washington. There Straight says she learned a lot and gained valuable teaching experience.
After two years at New Washington, she got a call from Jeff High and soon landed a job at her dream school. She would remain at Jeff for the rest of her teaching career.
Straight was an English teacher before moving into an administrative role. For Straight, she says “teaching is all about relationships and problem-solving.” She believes that she gained a lot from teaching that has made her a better principal. “I have a deep appreciation for what teachers are doing, all the balls they are juggling,” she says. “It’s very demanding work.”
Straight initially did not intend to move into administration. “I kinda stumbled in,” she said. “When I was getting my masters, I had 2 children, and the classes that were offered when I could take them were administrative classes and I really liked it.”
Straight had her administrative license for a couple of years before applying for an administrative position, but eventually she “wanted a new challenge.” She interviewed a couple of times, and in 2010 she stepped into the position of assistant principal.
Two years later, in 2012, there was a lot of movement within the administration, and after a mid-year switch, Straight became interim principal in October. She has held the top job ever since.
Coming into the job, Straight says her goals were ensuring the highest-quality teachers and creating more pride in what is happening at Jeff.
Straight is proud of the many improvements she has seen in her time as principal, “We’ve done good work,” she says. This includes the improvement in academic standing, the district-wide PRIDE program, and the hiring of many great teachers who have “embraced the Jeff High family.” However, Straight is proudest of the many “top-notch” opportunities offered at Jeff, both in the classroom and through extracurriculars. “I really believe, especially for a large urban school, we offer more opportunities than any school around,” she says.
Although she has loved the job, Straight acknowledges the challenges of being a principal. “There are some really tough decisions that have to be made, but kids have to be first, and that makes other things easier,” she says. “We’ve had some situations with students, where their lives were in the balance or the school’s safety was in the balance…But we’ve come through everything.”
Another challenge of being a principal is time management. “This has not been a job, this has been my life,” says Straight. As the leader of the school, she feels it is her responsibility to attend the events of the school and to understand and know about all the people and activities occurring at Jeff. “You don’t own your calendar… because things happen,” says Straight, “so you have to be flexible.”
And while often it is easy to get bogged down with all the work, it is her Jeff High community that keeps her head up. “I’ve been exposed to so many great things, events, people, life-changing things,” says Straight, “seeing how people care for our kids definitely has made me a better person.”
Reflecting back, she hopes that people remember she “took a lot of pride in the work and loved it.” Looking forward, she is optimistic, “I truly hope… that [Jeff High] can and will be better,” she says.
Straight says she will miss many moments at Jeff, but most of all she says, “I’ll miss seeing kids every single day.” As she looks to a new challenge, there is one thing that Straight says will always be true, “I am a Red Devil. That will never change.”
On Dec. 20, 2019, Greater Clark County Schools announced that Jeffersonville High School principal Julie Straight will move into a new role overseeing the school district’s Academies in January. The move is pending school board approval.
The school district will name a new interim principal to lead Jeff High.
On the day of the announcement, Principal Straight spoke with The Hyphen about her time leading Jeff High. Subscribe to The Hyphen on WordPress or follow us on Twitter to be notified immediately when this story is posted
Principal Straight reacts with joy while watching students and staff play a game at the 2019 fall pep session. Photo by Paige Moore
When you hear there is a sequel to a movie coming, your first reaction is that it will never amount to the first movie, or it just won’t be nearly as good or not good at all.
Frozen 2 is not one of those sequels. The six years were worth the wait; you could tell that the movie was well thought out and well made. The storyline is magical and dark. The story of Arendelle might not be as bright and pleasant as a usual Disney kingdom. The story can pull the heartstrings of the youngest of kids and the oldest of adults. A little boy in the theater asked aloud, “but, why?” during a sad scene. Kids could grasp the concept even though it got dark at times, but it was still intriguing for the older audience members.
Photo: Disney
The movie touched on the subject of growing pains and how everything changes and that you probably don’t want things to change. Olaf is mainly the one who realizes these changes. Elsa picks up on them too, but in a different kind of way. Anna seems not to see any changes, even when one affects her. Worrying about the changes in the future can remind you of the past and how it affects your future. Looking back at the memories of Elsa and Anna’s parents, they told the two of them a story of an enchanted forest. That’s where the story continues. There is a lot more than their Norwegen kingdom and the mountains where Elsa’s castle is. Even a whole sea more.
In the last movie, a whole lot of questions were left unsolved. What actually happened to Anna and Elsa’s parents? What was the parent’s story? Most importantly, how did Elsa get her powers? All of those questions will be answered in ways you probably never expected, and in a more-complicated-than-expected way. There are new questions to wonder about now. The movie ends on a cliffhanger, leaving speculation that there will be a third movie. There is more to continue with many new characters. Maybe Frozen will continue like the Ice Age saga and have five movies.
Once again, the music is excellent but different and original. The band, Panic at the Disco, even covers one of Elsa’s songs that is the first song played in the end credits. The movie features a song with Kristoff and his trusty reindeer Sven. The music is once again an absolute earworm, but you won’t be able to stop yourself from listening to it. Elsa also once again shows off her architectural skills with her ice powers during one of her main songs.
All the way around, Frozen 2 is a must-see, and if you stay till the end of the credits, there is a fun short scene like there was in the last Frozen movie.
Volleyball coach Wes Briscoe is bringing something to Jeffersonville High School that many have been waiting for. Briscoe, who coached the Jeff High girls volleyball team to their first winning season in some time, is in the process of bringing together a group of dedicated boys to form the school’s new men’s volleyball team.
There are a couple of things you need to know before coming to the camps over the winter and open gyms in the spring. First, for those on the team, practices will be every day. Coach Briscoe expects commitment. “It’s going to be very serious,” he says.
Secondly, it’s not going to be easy. Briscoe says that it will not be like P.E. volleyball. He explains that despite first impressions, volleyball is a contact sport. Although a net divides the court, it still gets physical. “If you have to throw your body on the floor to get a ball up, that’s what I expect as a coach,” says Briscoe.
In starting the new team, Briscoe hopes to see excitement in players and fans alike. “There’s not a passion for volleyball at Jeff,” says Briscoe. “That’s something I’m trying to change.”
On Thursday, November 21, school leaders gathered with past and present Jeff High baseball players to celebrate the beginning of construction for Jeff High’s new baseball facility. The project, which includes a new turf field and a replacement of the outer fencing, is being funded by a $500,000 donation from the John Schnatter Foundation.
Papa John’s Pizza founder John Schnatter, a 1980 Jeff High graduate and baseball player, was on hand for the event. Schnatter thanked attendees for their support and said it was good to be back at Jeff after 30 years.
Although the facility will be named the John Schnatter Stadium, the field will still be named after former coach Don Poole. Poole also spoke at the event.
Construction is expected to be complete in time for the first home baseball game in the spring of 2020.
After starting off their sectionals with a win, the JHS football team plans to fight for all four quarters tomorrow against Floyd Central in the sectional championship game. The team is pumped up after beating New Albany in the first round of sectionals. Senior Ethan Rogers said, “I feel like our confidence is boosted after the win against New Albany.” He added that “this is a big game for all the seniors.” Unfortunately one senior will be watching from the sidelines. Running back Isaac Finley won’t be playing against Floyd Central due to an ankle injury.
GIRLS SOCCER
Starting of their season with deep with juniors and sophomores only three returning seniors, the Lady Devils soccer team worked hard to come together as a team. A tough schedule and weather-related practice cancellations added to their challenges. Senior Bella Bungcayao stated, “This season is bittersweet because it is my last one. I hope next year will be better for all of the girls.” The Lady Devils started sectionals strong, with a win against Jennings County, but ended their season with a loss to rival Floyd Central
BOYS SOCCER
The 2019 season for the JHS soccer team was really successful. A win over Providence gave the boys a boost of confidence going into sectionals. Starting off their sectionals against rival New Albany seemed to be the best challenge, but the boys fell 1-0. “Next year the boys have a really good shot at winning sectionals. I would be really shocked if they don’t,” said senior Lex Hawkins.
VOLLEYBALL
Even before the season started, new head coach Wes Briscoe quickly set out to build a strong team. They started strong with a win over Charlestown, while also facing challenges that tested the strength of a team. “It wasn’t really what I expected. As a team we really grew closer,” said sophomore Rachel Lowe. Our Lady Devils pulled through, ending the season with a four-game winning streak and the first winning season in recent history for the program.
BOYS TENNIS
The Jeff High tennis team owned the courts all season long. With four returning seniors, they won the sectional title once again (the 11th straight and the 24th overall in school history). Several members of the team received conference and state awards for their outstanding performance on the court during the 2019 season. Senior Adam Crawford knows it will take a lot of effort to keep up the winning tradition. “I would recommend to the younger kids coming up to put in a lot of work,” he said. “Tennis is one of the hardest sports you can play.”
GIRLS GOLF
Our 21 Lady Devils dominated the season on the golf course. The Lady Devils had many games postponed due to rainy weather conditions, but that didn’t hold them back. With 52 wins and 17 losses, they still finished with a winning season. Coach Dusty Corum said the team “had a very successful golf season this year [with] very good overall performance from the girls.” Even with a winning season, Junior Baylee Lawler still believes that there is always room for improvement next year.
CROSS COUNTRY
The JHS cross country team had to be adaptable this fall as many practices were canceled due to the heat index. Injuries also took a toll on the team. Senior Matthew Leuhart couldn’t run in the beginning of the season due to an ankle injury. “The season didn’t start off too well because I got injured pretty bad,” Leuhart said, “but I came back and was able to make varsity and run at sectionals.” Senior Leo Burns received a medal and made it out of sectionals. Our Lady Red Devil runners had some rough competition against Seymour and Silver Creek. They received a lot of personal records, yet still look for more improvement in the future. “I believe if we work hard enough, we can get past sectionals for the next season to come,” said junior Kendall Stackhouse.
From school visits to applications, applying to colleges can be overwhelming. Perhaps the biggest issue? The cost of college and student debt. The tuition and fees for an average in-state four-year college costs approximately $9,410 a year. In-state four-year private colleges average about $32,410 per year. The prices are even higher for out-of-state colleges.
According to NBC News, student debt has risen in recent years and is now at $1.6 trillion nationwide. Tyler Colyer, a Jeffersonville High School counselor, says that many worry about the cost of college. “The cost of college is a huge concern for many students and families,” Colyer said. “Parents and students worry not only about the cost but also how they will afford it now or in the future if student loans are necessary.”
According to a report from CNBC.com, 84-percent of students that borrowed loans said that debt has affected their ability to save for retirement. Many people don’t pay off their loans until their 40s.
Kyle Sanders, former editor-in-chief of The Hyphen and a sophomore at Indiana University Southeast, said that he is concerned about money and that it even influenced his decision about the university he attends. “I decided to attend a local college to save money and am constantly thinking about how the debt I have will affect me years from now,” Sanders said.
Colyer advises students to start early when it comes to paying for college. “Get good grades and work on your standardized test scores because that means money,” he said. Colyer pointed out that scholarships are also essential. “Don’t write off applying for a scholarship because it’s only a few hundred dollars. Every penny counts!”
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