Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: October 3, 1996

OCTOBER 3, 1996

How much do you know about the national party platforms on which presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole are supposedly running? How would you feel if a high school student could tell you more about the issues in the race than you could tell them?

Students in the Advanced Placement English class at WHS were recently assigned to write a research paper comparing and contrasting the Democratic and Republican Party presidential platforms on five major issues. At the same time the students were learning about the party platforms, they were learning to use the “Information Super-highway,” because the assignment was to rely primarily on the Internet for sources. Those sources, as listed in the bibliography of student Bob Henningsen, included such names as “Democratic Homepage,” “Republican National Convention Page,” “Politics Now,” and “CNN Interactive,” each followed by a long list of slashes, dots and letters somewhat reminiscent of words. The world of information gathering is changing, and WHS students are getting up to speed on the Internet, as Henningsen’s paper shows.

If the Whitehall High Homecoming 1996-97 celebration held over the weekend had been an event in search of a slogan, it might aptly have been titled, “Double the fun.” The girls’ basketball team began the weekend’s athletics with a Thursday night victory over Philipsburg, and the football team doubled the fun with a Friday night romp against the tough Three Forks Wolves. Kurt Larsen was crowned king and doubled his fun with a strong performance on the football field as a key player in the Trojan win. MiRanda Martinson was chosen queen and she doubled her fun in two ways – by assisting with the basketball win and by sharing candidate honors with her sister Coco. But theme or no theme, the celebration was clearly enjoyed by many. From the Monday morning pajama day to the final dance, the week brought smiles and lasting memories to students, parents, coaches and teachers.

Trojan Educator of the Week is Terry Kelly, the Political Science teacher at WHS. Mr. Kelly was nominated by Mrs. Thronson because he is an outstanding teacher. He utilizes higher cognitive thinking skills and challenges all students to “think.” He is a gifted teacher who has been with the district 20 years, and has 28 years total in education under his belt. He is also the Senior Class sponsor.

Trojan Student of the Week is Kelli Dillon. She was nominated by Todd Breitenfeldt and Ken Kinzer for her efforts in Advanced Placement Biology and Science. She is the daughter of Joe and Charlene Dillon.

Trojan Athlete of the Week is MiRanda Martinson, a senior at WHS. She was nominated for her basketball efforts because she is an athlete who gives 100% on offense and defense. She exemplifies the “team” concept and is a very unselfish player who has the ability to get all of her teammates involved at the offensive end of the court. She is the daughter of Randy and Debby Martinson.