Category Archives: News

DECA holds “Hoops for a Cause”

By Erika Green

     DECA will be hosting their annual “Hoops for A Cause” event on Nov. 24 here at the high school. The purpose for this event is to raise money to go towards building a school in Mali, Africa. Hoops for a cause has been going on for over ten years now. DECA hopes to raise $14,000 to build the school and as of now they have raised about $10,000. DECA teamed up with Dr. Scott Lacey and got involved with African Sky thus making this an international cause. The event will take place in the upper gym and the DECA students will be playing the staff. It is $2 to get in to watch and an additional optional $1 for half time half court shots.

Strong start for Speech and Debate

    By Sophia Boris

The SMFHS speech and debate team began their year on a good note.

There are weekly tournaments held at different schools including the high school, Kimpton and Lakeview. This past weekend the students at SMFHS participated in a tournament at Stow high school.

Perry High School placed first overall for the tournament. Stow ended up placing third overall.

Coach of speech and debate team Ms. Theisen said, “Overall the results were very well.”  

Also sophomore Sarah Laubaugh said, “Stow did really well, I am proud of my entire team.”

Teams are not just judged as a team but also by individual and team performances. There are multiple categories you can choose to compete from. For example, one category you can choose from is argumentative. Every category has a winner.

The speech team at Stow had a  successful weekend in these individual and team performances. Seniors Matt McCombs and Cam Stebbins placed third in duo interpretation. Also juniors Savannah Novak and her partner Elizabeth Angeletti placed fifth in duo interpretation. Along with these performances seniors Maddy Light and Samantha Wilcox placed 2nd in duo. Lastly junior Chloe Holm topped it off by placing 1st in poetry.

Stow’s speech and debate team having a triumphant weekend, Theisen looks to have further success this year.

“Each week the teams getting better,” Theisen said.

These weekly tournaments are preparing the team for districts and states later this season.

There was a huge turnout for this event, with 663 people, and 179 adult judges.

“We could not have done all of this without the help of our parent boosters who fed everyone, the wonderful administration who lets us use the schools for these events, and special thanks to the TWE that stayed all day and helped with electrical issues,” Theisen said.

The speech and debate team does not only work together in school, but they act as one unit. They are like a family.

The SMFHS speech and debate team strives to continue their season on a good note.

Sophomore Annemarie McCombs said, “Ms. Theisen is the light of my world and the love of my life.”

DECA creates new atmosphere through DECA Week

By Bayley Patterson

DECA is a marketing club that students compete in different business categories. Junior and seniors have the ability to learn about marketing in a fun and interactive way.

“I just started this year as a senior, and I wish I started last year. You learn a lot about marketing and business, and we have speakers and go on cool field trips too,” senior Madie Mills said.

Lisa Mowls has been in charge of DECA for 16 years.

This week DECA is holding a ‘DECA Week.’ Every year in November, Mowls picks a week to participate. This week is created to potentially acquire new DECA members. It is also to spread the news of what DECA is and what members achieve.

Every day, DECA members have to tweet something depending on the day. Every day will have a different theme.

On Monday, DECA representatives had to wear DECA spirit wear and a pin. They also had to tweet out a motivational message.

“I think it gave Stow’s DECA a positive vibe. It shows how we want to be successful, and by tweeting it, everyone else can see it as well. Hopefully, it can positively impact another student’s day and influence others to strive for greatness,” senior Madi Baughman said.

On Tuesday, members had to wear clothes to represent the country or flag. Juniors had to tweet a picture of themselves with a poster, and seniors had to post a picture with a map. Members all chose a country to represent because they are learning about international business along with business in the United States.

Wednesday, members participated in ‘Well-­Groomed Wednesday.’ They had to dress nicely and tweet a picture with the ‘DECA Diamond.’ Stow DECA representatives went to Joshua’s for a junior achievement meeting where different business workers will talk with the DECA members.

On Thursday, DECA representatives are required to wear the given black business polo for the class. They also have to tweet a fact about the Mali/Stow school DECA is creating.

“I’m excited to have an opportunity to help people outside of our community. The school in Mali will give children a chance to receive a good education,” junior Kaely Montgomery said.

Friday, DECA members will be participating in the usual Stow spirit.

Mills said, “I love DECA week because we get to do a bunch of things to help get the word out about DECA and raise awareness about who we are and what we do.”

Millennials losing interest in voting

It seems as if the current generation of U.S. citizens who are newly eligible to vote on issues and in elections have an extreme lack of interest in actually voting.

Millennials are considered to be anyone who reached the age of adulthood near the year 2000, and they are a big category of people to win over during elections and voting times.

A Harvard survey revealed nearly one out of three millennials did not believe that running for any type of position, including president, in the government was an honorable thing to do.

Additionally, two out of three surveyed believed politicians only run for selfish reasons and they do not really want to help the American people.

One of the many theories said to have started the lack of interest in politics in general is the Obama presidency.

Obama’s presidential campaign called out for change and reforms which many millennials do not believe were carried through; therefore, causing a lack of faith and desire to put in the effort to vote again.

Another theory is millennials have a feeling of hopelessness when it comes to America and reforming it to what they would like it to be.

“I don’t think anything could really get me to change my mind about voting. Maybe when I’m 18, but I doubt it,” junior Ethan Myers from Hudson High School said.

The majority of millennials believe there is nothing they can do to change anything about how America currently is and it causes them to lose interest in anything related to politics.

“I feel like I should be [interested in politics], because it has such a big impact on my country, but I’m not. I feel that I don’t have that large of an impact on my country when I vote,” Myers said.

Mid-term elections specifically seem to be the lowest interest to millennials. In 2010, only 21% of the people who voted were age 18-24.

Historically, there has never been in time in any country’s government that has had more young people vote more than their elders.

While youth votes have never been plenty, the past few years has resulted in major decreases in youth voting throughout the world in general.

The usual excuse people use is millennials are just “too lazy” to get out in vote, but that is not actually the case. Millennials volunteer more than their elders, and they are less likely to drink excessively or use drugs and are much better educated than their older companions.

Another theory of why millennials are lacking an interest in politics is their lack of connections and caring about the things going on around them.

In 1970, the average women married and settled down before she was 21, causing her and her husband to care about schools and hospitals and things of that nature because it affects their children.

Now, women wait on average to get married and settle down until they are 26 which means the 18-24 bracket of voters do not have the family ties to pull their interest into politics.

Millennials do not care about politics because they do not have an immediate reason to. There is no tie to the government that causes them to really think about what is going on around them.

Many claim Obama owes his presidency to the millennials. Obama won over the youth vote and had historically high amounts of youth voters vote in his favor.