Ram Write-Up - Maple Valley Community Schools

April 2006
Ram Write-up Staff:
Editor-in-Chief:
Lindsey Carothers
Technical Editor:
Sylvia Pedersen
Layout Editor:
Lindsey Carothers
News Editor:
Devon Hieber
Display Editor:
Courtney Hahn
Transfer Editor:
Sylvia Pedersen
Historian:
Steffany Treiber
Class List Controller:
Ashley Mullicane
Photographer:
Nick Buth
Staff Reporters:
Jeff Koithan, Shane
Erlemeier, Kayla Dose,
Austin Bettin, James
Brouillette, Aaron Bechen,
Courtney Venteicher, Sara
Dose, Jesse Nielsen
Adviser: Lois Moser
Maple Valley-Anthon Oto’s
Ram Write-Up
501 South Seventh Mapleton, IA
Issue # 7
Calamity Jane proves to be a success
Above, the entire cast of Calamity Jane is pictured.
By Aaron Bechen
On March 11th, Calamity Jane, the musical
known for its action, comedy, and song, was
put on by the MV-AO High School students
for the community.
The very unladylike Calamity Jane (Noelle
Uhl) promises to bring famous actress,
Adelaide Adams (Kelsey Clark), to the glamour-starved
miners of Deadwood, but reappears
with a phony, Adelaide’s maid Katie
Brown (Lindsey Carothers).
Both Wild Bill Hickock (Derek Dougherty)
and local cavalry officer Lt. Danny Gilmartin
(Alex Wimmer) take an immediate shine to
Katie.
Calamity is at first confused, and thanks
to Katie’s help, gets herself in more appropriate
shape to woo a gentleman or herself.
But when Calamity gets jealous of Katie, even
more trouble is on the way.
There were twenty-nine high school students
that participated in this year’s musical.
“It was a good opportunity to get to
know some underclassman and work with
such a nice group of students,” stated Senior
Chelsea Wolf.
Picking out a musical to do every year
could definitely be a daunting task.
However, the process is quite simple for
Mr. McKenny and Mr. Smeltzer. These two
got together and decided which musical
would be the easiest to do.
Another thing that needed to be done in
order for the show to be put on was collectin
costumes and props.
There are costumes and props that have
been collected from past productions that
were used for this year’s musical. Also, some
of the costumes were borrowed from the
Siouxland Community Theater.
The other portion of the costumes that
were used were rented from the Dowry in
Sioux City.
“I loved wearing the poofy praire dresses
and the matching bonnets,” stated Wolf.
“The best part of the musical was getting
to pick out and wear different costumes,”
agreed Senior Lisa Ortner.
Some of the props that came into play were
purchased from secondhand stores.
Casting for the musical began directly af-
ter Christmas break, and practice also started
at the beginning of the second semester.
Many may be wondering where the musical
comes from or maybe a little background
information.
The Calamity Jane musical is based on the
movie, Calamity Jane. The musical has never
seen the stage of Broadway, but was very
popular in England for quite some time.
Mr. McKenny says that his favorite part of
the musical was rehearsing to prepare for the
final production.
Noelle Uhl, who played the lead role as
Calamity Jane, said “It was challenging yet fun
learning all of the lines and songs.”
Noelle also added, “All of our hard work
paid off for a good performance in the end.”
Chelsea also declared, “The musical was a
lot of fun and given the chance, I would definitely
do it again.”
For some of the students, it was their frist
time being part of a musical, but it was also
Mr. Smeltzer’s first time being part of a musical
at this school. He said his experience with
the musical in a different school was a good
one.
“It was very good because the cast was fun
and very easy to work with,” commented Mr.
Smeltzer.
Mr. Smeltzer’s favorite parts of the musical
were the performances and dress rehearsal
because he enjoyed watching everyone else
have a good time.
This was Mr. McKenny’s last performance
as a director at Maple Valley-Anthon Oto as
he will be retiring after this year. He was honored
at the end of Saturday night’s performance.

Adelaide Adams (Kelsey Clark) and chorus
girls (front) Stephanie Malloy, Alli Jo Lloyd,
(back) Molly Tullis, and Elizabeth Sturgeon
sing one more chorus of Harry.
In Calamity’s cabin, Lt. Danny (Alex
Wimmer) attempts to tell Katie Brown
(Lindsey Carothers) his true feelings for her.
Susan (Jessica Bruning) sings A Woman’s
Touch during the finale as Francis Fryer
(Nate Sadler) looks on.
Page 2, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Calamity
Jane
Wild Bill Hickock (Derek Dougherty) teaches Calamity Jane (Noelle
Uhl) a lesson by roping her to the chair.

Sticky Fingers
By Sylvia Pedersen
Perfect. Perfect grades, perfect relationship,
perfect boyfriend, perfect life. That is
how Jenna Kassarian, the main character in
the book Sticky Fingers, feels her life needs to
be.
By the middle of her senior year of high
school, Jenna has her entire life in order. She
has the perfect boyfriend, early admittance
to Harvard, a best friend who knows everything
about her, and the life she has always
seen for herself.
She gets her early acceptance letter just
before Christmas vacation, which, for most
people, would make it easier to relax, but not
for Jenna. She still has to make sure she still
gets at least second or third in her class at
graduation; she has to make sure she stays
focused.
This doesn’t seem easy when the “perfect”
boyfriend is beginning to pressure her into
being more loose about everything. She
doesn’t realize just how far he would go to
get her to loosen up. To her, he is the perfect
boyfriend. He’s naturally smart (he doesn’t
have to study for anything), he helps her with
her homework when she needs it, he’s a study
buddy, he is a popular jock, and on top of all
By Jeff Koithan
Imagine you and your family are driving
across the country. Soon, you are in the desert
and you get into a terrible crash, but everyone
is OK. Then, all of the sudden, psychotic
cannibals are attacking you and your family!
The film The Hills Have Eeyes, directed by
Alexandre Aja, is remake of the 1977 version.
The movie begins with some footage of
an old nuclear test sight where the government
did many nuclear tests. The government
was forcing people to leave the prop-
Page 3, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
of that, he is really cute. What more could a
girl ask for?
Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, has always
been there for her, but around Christmas, she
begins to change. She gets more involved
with her South American boyfriend, gets
caught stealing nail polish by Jenna, and finds
out her parents are splitting up. She pretends
to be fine, but with everything that happens,
especially her dad moving out, the pressure
starts to get to her.
Courtney overhears Jenna’s boyfriend,
Scott, behind the store they both work at, talking
to a guy that works the dock. Scott’s conversation
involved a type of drug, so
Courtney decided to talk to Scott about it, and
in return, he ended up blackmailing her.
In the end, Scott turn out to be nothing
more than an insecure boy, and Courtney and
Jenna’s friendship is tested, but remains
strong. Jenna ends up in a loving relationship
with someone who means a lot to her.
Sticky Fingers discusses the relatively hidden
world of a certain type of drug. It is very
important to young people to be informed of
this, and Sticky Fingers helps do this. Read
the book to find out what drug was being
abused.
Horrifying thriller
proves to be a “must see”
erty, but some didn’t leave at all. The radiation
from the tests caused a family to have
deformed children. Now the children are
grown up, alone in the desert, and in search
for food. That food is people!
This movie will surely have you screaming
your head off, and then you’ll want to
see it again. There are not many famous actors
or actresses in this movie, but the people
in the movie do a very fine job. This is a must
see!
I rate this horrifying thriller with four out
four Ram heads.
Speech students
attend district and
state competitions
Back row: Stephen Phillips, Chris Sadler, Nate Sadler, Jeff
Bruning, and Alex Wimmer. Front row: Alli Jo Lloyd, Elizabeth
Sturgeon, Kendra Perkins, and Lindsey Carothers. Missing
from the photo is Amy Bruning.
By Jesse Nielsen
March 4, Mrs. Conover and several students
went to Storm Lake to attend district
Speech Contest.
Two or the students that went were Chris
Sadler and Stephen Phillips. When asked
about the contest Stephen said, “It was pretty
fun. I liked the surprise or the Improvisation
and met some cool people.” Chris said, ”It
worked out good and Mrs. Conover was a
good coach. It wasn’t to hard and didn’t take
much practice.
There were different categories in which
the 10 students competed. Here is a list of
the students and their categories.
Chris Sadler-improvisation
Nate Sadler-improvisation
Stephen Phillips-improvisation
Amy Bruning-Radio news, Literary Program
Jeff Bruning-Story Telling
Alex Wimmer-Expository Address
Lindsey Carothers-Literary Program
Elizabeth Sturgeon-Story telling
Ally Jo Lloyd-Story telling
Kendra Perkins-Poetry
On the 18th the continuing students went
to the State Level at Algona, Iowa. They
needed a I to continue to this point. Here is a
list of the students and their rankings (I being
excellent II being good)
Alex Wimmer I
Stephen Phillips I
Amy Bruning I
Jeff Bruning II
Lindsey Carothers II
Mrs. Conover said, “ They were a great
group and I enjoyed it.” Any one can compete
in the competition because no special
classes are required. If interested, see Mrs.
Conover next year.
“They were a great group and I enjoyed it.”
-Mrs. Conover

Page 4, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Ram Walking: Teacher’s desks
A.
C.
B.
D.
E.
Answer key on page 7
By Ashley Mullicane
The April topic for Ram Walking is teachers’
desks. The contestants were asked to
identify five teachers’ desks.
The contestants were teacher Mrs. Dirksen,
Senior David Koithan, Junior Samantha Douglas,
Sophomore Kyle McBride, and Freshman
Riley McDonald.
When the first desk was shown, Mrs.
Dirksen chuckled,”Is that Walsh’s?” David
pondered,” Hmm..I don’t know? Mr. Brown?
ha,ha.” Sami replied, “Hmm, I have no idea.
It looks so familiar!” Kyle answered, “that’s
uh..Walshs’ cause it’s messy and old.” Riley
analyzed,” There’s a football book..Oh, Mr.
Walsh.”
The correct answer which Mrs. Dirksen,
Kyle, and Riley got right was Mr. Walsh’s
desk.
The second desk was then shown and Mrs.
Dirksen stated, “That’s Mrs. Hesse’s.” David
sighed,” I don’t know this one. Uh it would
be like..Mr. Brown.” Sam evaluated, “Um..it’s
one of the special ed teachers. Um, I’m gonna
guess Mrs. Bair?” Kyle wondered,” Um..it’s
by the parking lot somewhere. It’s across
from Mr. Conover’s room I think? I don’t
know her name..um.. it’s not Mrs. Brown..it’s
the one beside her..I don’t know.” Riley answered,”
I don’t know who it is? Mrs.
um...Mrs. Bair?”
The correct answer, which only Mrs.
Dirksen got right, was Mrs. Hesse’s desk.
The third picture was then revealed and
Mrs. Dirksen replied instantly, “Mr. Clark”.
David got a little confused, “Are those the
same ones?!..No..Shoot..Oh! I think that one
might be Mrs. Lundt’s?..No that’s Mr.
Clark’s!” Sam said,” Um Mr. Clark’s?” Kyle
said,” Um, that’s Mr. Clark’s.” And Riley answered
with, “ What’s that thing? Um..I don’t
know who this one is, like maybe um Mr.
McKenny’s?
The correct answer, which Mrs. Dirksen,
David, Sam, and Kyle got right, was Mr.
Clark’s.
The fourth picture was shown and Mrs.
Dirksen replied,” That one is um Ms. Lundt.”
David said, “ I don’t know like anybody’s
desks..oh wait, Ms. Lundt’s.” Sam
guessed,”Mrs. Moser?” Kyle answered,” It’s
Mrs. Beck’s old room..um..give me some time.
Mrs. Haveman or Ms. Lundt? Hm.. let’s go
with Ms. Lundt.” And Riley said, “Ms.
Lundt.”
The correct answer, which Mrs. Dirksen,
David, Kyle, and Riley got right, was Ms.
Lundt’s.
When the fifth desk was shown, Mrs.
Dirksen knew right away, “Mrs. Moser.”
David guessed, “That’s Mrs. Moser.” Sam
answered, “ Um..I don’t know, Mr. Conover?”
Kyle answered “Mrs. Moser” and Riley gave
up,”I have no idea. I don’t know Mrs. Cortez.”
The right answer, which Mrs. Dirksen,
David, and Kyle got right, was Mrs. Moser’s.
The winner from this month is Mrs Dirksen,
getting all five questions right. Coming in
second place was Kyle, getting four out of five
right. In third place came David with three
answers right. Then Riley and Sam both answered
two questions correctly.
Mrs. Dirksen
David Koithan
Riley McDonald Kyle McBride Sami Douglas

Pals bond at Skate Palace
Jared Clausen and his pal, Jackson Krusen work on their
skating skills together.
By Jesse Nielsen
On Wednesday, March 9th, students of the
FFA pals program went to the Ida Grove Skating
Palace. They were excused from all classes
after first lunch. The students then rounded
up their pals and headed for the bus. It was
raining, so it was cold and the kindergartners
ran to the buses. Luckily there were no falls
involved. It took two buses to get all the students
there, but the second had plenty of
empty seats.
At Ida Grove there was another dash to get
into the palace and out of the rain. Inside they
got the skates and went to it. Many of the
little kids skates had to have the bolts tightened
to slow them down but some were very
good skaters. A few students fell and a couple
Page 5, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
of kids cried, but overall there weren’t many
bad spills.
The high school students weren’t required
to buy the kindergartners any treats, but most
did to be nice.
During the time they were there the students
played the hokey pokey and stand and
stoop. Some won free drinks from this.
Before they left, a group picture was taken.
Then everyone headed to the buses. On the
way home, some of the little kids were still
energetic but atleast one slept on the way
home and others were tired.
Overall the trip was well liked with no
complaints. Even the bus drivers got in on
the skating action.
Two rock icons to
perform in the area
By Jeff Koithan
Two of the biggest rock icons will be performing
in two different locations nearby!
They are Bob Dylan and James Taylor.
Bob Dylan is known for being one of the
greatest, or arguably the greatest, song writer
of all time. Bob began writing when he was
in high school and eventually moved to New
York after he graduated to pursue a career in
music. That’s exactly what he did. At first he
began playing around clubs, bars, and anyplace
he could play for someone. He was hungry
for fame. In the early sixties he started
becoming a major figurehead in the civil rights
movement and was known for writing excellent
protest songs.
By 1964, Bob Dylan was everywhere. His
words had become so influential that people
couldn’t help but notice that this man was
different. He was the first to write and sing
those kind of songs. He went on to make more
albums throughout the decades, and also
toured a lot. Now, in his sixties, he is still touring.
Bob Dylan will be performing in Des
Heap of the Month
By Courtney Venteicher
April’s pick for heap of the month goes
to Sophomore Cameron Tollufsen.
Cameron drives a light blue 1976 Ford
Granada.
Cameron’s grandpa got his car for him
about a year ago. He is one of the lucky few
who didn’t have to purchase his very own
first car for himself.
Although Cameron likes his ride, there
are a few minor things that do not work! The
front right speaker and both back speakers
Moines at the Val Air Ballroom on April 21st
of this year. It will most definitely be a night
to remember.
The second legend is James Taylor.
He is known for having one of the most soothing
voices in music history and is also known
for the beautiful sound he makes with his
guitar. James Taylor started playing guitar
when he was fairly young. In the early sixties,
he started playing it constantly. Soon, in
1968 he signed a record deal with Apple
Records and made his first album.
His first success finally came in the early
seventies with his second album Sweet Baby
James, which was an instant classic in rock n
roll history. He began touring all over the
world throughout the years and is still touring
today.
James Taylor will be coming to Sioux City
to play at the Orpheum Theater on April 17
of this year.
Two of the greatest music legends of all
time are coming to the surrounding areas!
Don’t miss them.
do not work. The dash lights don’t seem to
want to work either. Also, in the morning,
when Cameron is ready for school, he has to
let his car warm up for awhile, otherwise it
will die if he puts it into drive.
Some experiences Cameron has had with
his car include being stuck in a snow drift
and “going in the ditch three times and having
to be pulled out once,” stated Cameron.
Cameron’s best memory with his car
would have to be going through a muddy
dirt road with it!

Sales and Marketing
class participates in
Briar Cliff Contest
Back row: Lisa Ortner, Lindsey Carothers, Travis Brown, Royd
Reid, and Josh Wimmer. Front row: Jennifer Chwirka, Andrea
Kafton, Erin Vermeersch, Sara Dose, and Mrs. Lisa Haveman.
By Sara Dose
The Sales and Marketing class has been
busy recently putting their heads together to
develop a healthy snack, made with Blue
Bunny products to enter in a Briar Cliff
SnackWise Contest.
Blue Bunny sponsored the contest and
provided each school entering the contest
with money to buy their products to develop
a healthy snack. All of the contestants developed
a snack, and sent in the instructions on
how to make their snack along with the nutritional
facts to Briar Cliff where students in
the Sales and Marketing class made the products
and selected their favorites. There were
six schools who entered the contest and of
the six, the top three were chosen to sell their
product at the Southern Hills Mall.
Maple Valley Anthon-Oto, along with
Gehlen Catholic and North High School were
chosen as the top three schools to sell their
product. Of the three, the school that sold the
most of their product won an ice cream party
at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in LeMars
along with a cash prize. Second and third
place won a cash prize and either t-shirts or
hats.
Page 6, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
North High School won the contest with
their smoothie product and along with help
from their dancing, Cabana inspired dressed
boy, complete with bright colored ruffles and
a fruit hat. “I think we were at a big disadvantage
when we saw the guy dressed in the
Cabana suit dancing to the tropical music offering
free samples to people walking by,”
stated Jennifer Chwirka.
Gehlen Catholic created a product made
from Pop Rocks and strawberry ice cream.
Maple Valley Anthon-Oto developed a product
that included vanilla or chocolate ice
cream, crushed up graham crackers, and
strawberry or mixed berry yogurt. Gehlen
Catholic received second place, whereas
Maple Valley Anthon-Oto came in a close
third place.
The purpose of the contest was to help students
gain experience in the marketing field
and to give them an idea of what a job in that
field would be like. “It really helped me realize
what it would be like to have a job that
was in this field. It was really fun and challenging!”
commented Erin Vermeersch.
“It really helped me realize what it would be
like to have a job that was in this field...”
-Erin Vermeersch
Fourteen BPA students
qualify for Nationals
By Sara Dose
On February 26th-28th, nineteen students
involved in our Business Professionals of
America chapter traveled to Des Moines to
compete against other schools in the State
Leadership Conference under the supervision
of their advisors, Kayla Lundt and Lisa
Haveman. During the three day conference,
students participated in approximately 65
contests and events.
Students competing spent a great deal of
time preparing for their contests in the months
before. Students were required to participate
in at least three contests and to attend at least
two work nights before attending the State
Leadership Conference.
The first day of the conference there was
an opening ceremony with all schools participating.
The second day was filled with contests.
Later that night, there was a dance, and
for those who weren’t interested in getting
their groove on, there was a pie eating contest,
three legged races and wheelbarrow
races.
On the third and final day, the results from
the contests were announced the top individu-
By Jesse Nielsen
After 2nd semester, Auto Tech Class was
dropped and the size drop between the old
shops and the new single shop, some students
wondered is this the start of fading out the
shop classes.
At this point, at least, this is not a concern.
Enrollment is high in both Mr. Miller’s and
Mr. Benson’s classes. Mr. Benson’s classes
doubled and doubled again with a definite
increase in those that didn’t fully double.
Mr. Miller said, “The classes I teach are always
full. I have never had to recruit kids or
anything, but we would always like to have
more girls in the shop classes. There are plenty
of opportunities for them in the industrial
fields.”
In regards to the cancelation of 2nd semester
Auto Tech he said, “It’s a disappointment
because it limits students’ choices because
they might not have room for it first semester
with required classes.” He also commented
on how more kids have licenses 2nd semester.
Therefore, AutoTech gives students an
opportunity to get their cars ready for spring.
Where for the budgets are concerned, Mr.
Miller wasn’t sure whether his budget had
been changed or not. “I don’t know. We have
pretty much gotten everything we have asked
als or teams in each contest were sent on to
represent Iowa in the National Leadership
Conference, in Orlando, Florida from May
10th-14th.
Maple Valley Anthon-Oto did a great job
at the State Conference with fourteen individuals
receiving medals and the chance to
compete at Nationals.
The students who received either 1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th or 5th in their contests and qualify
for Nationals in May include: Lisa Ortner,
Laci Huck, Amy Bruning, Jen Chwirka, Emily
Hinrickson, Kristine Kueny, Alex Flanigan,
Kayla Waterman, McKenzie Sauser, Alyssa
Sulsberger, Erin Vermeersch, Sam
Timmerman, Hallie Seuntjens and Jessica
Bruning.
Lindsey Carothers, Kelsey Clark and
Noelle Uhl will also be attending the National
Leadership Conference because they completed
Torch Awards, a special level of BPA
achievement.
The students receiving Honorable Mention
Honors (placed 6th-10th in their contests) at
state were: Bryan Livermore and Courtney
Seuntjens.
Are shop classes disappearing?
for but we don’t ask for much.”
However, Mr. Benson’s budget has been
tighter. He has to check to make sure he can
buy equipment. Whereas before, he didn’t
and he has been turned down more in recent
years. This is not really the school’s fault because
more federal funds are being moved
from shop to computers and special education
development.
As for the new shop, the only major problem
is space. It limits the number and size of
projects (especially cars). This denies students
the opportunities to fix or build cattle
shutes or feed bunks and can lead to safety
considerations. It also has little or no storage
area. The storage rooms in the old shop are
still usable, but there is a huge convenience
factor.
Mr. Benson had his own shop for 25 years
until he had to share for the last two years.
The differences are it is harder to find some
things because people misplace them, but its
easier for him and Mr. Miller to watch each
others classes.
In the end, the smaller shop has advantages
and problems but like Mr. Miller said,
“We’ll make do with what we have.”

By Ashley Mullicane
As a follow-up on the same basis as my
“Valentine” article from last month, this
month I interviewed a couple of teachers on
a sort of love/marriage theme.
I surveyed four teachers, including Mrs.
Moser, Mrs. Boerner, substitute, Mr. Clark,
and Mrs. Chaffin. I asked them each four
questions.
First I gave them the phrase, “I get a lump
in my throat when my spouse...” Mrs. Moser
chuckled, “Plans a trip and I have to board a
plane.” Mrs. Boerner said, “gets tears in his
eyes over happy or sad situations and our
kids and grandkids.” Mr. Clark got all googly
eyed and replied, “makes me eat her
meatloaf. (And gets awards for teaching.)”
And Mrs. Chaffin responded with, “is having
a conversation with our sons.”
The next question that was asked got answers
with strong opinions. I asked, “Do you
believe that teenagers can’t experience true
love?” Mrs. Moser answered, “I believe that,
in rare cases, they can.” Mrs. Boerner responded
with, “Thirteen and seventeen year
Page 7, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Teachers give input
on love and marriage
old kids are probably ‘infatuated’, which is
an initial stage of love. True love grows from
work and experiences.” On the other hand,
Mr. Clark said no. But Mrs. Chaffin explained,
“There are many stages of love and teenagers
‘experience’ love for the opposite gender,
which is love but not ‘mature’ love. Love for
the opposite gender is about how love makes
you feel. Mature love is about how your partner
feels. It’s about making your partner
happy, not yourself.”
The third question was Do you believe that
love never changes? Mr. Clark doesn’t but
Mrs. Moser thinks that, “Love definitely
changes. The more you are with someone,
(36 years for us), the more you learn what’s
really important in a relationship and you
‘don’t sweat the small stuff’. It just turns into
a stronger, more comfortable, trusting bond.”
Mrs. Boerner smiled, “No, it gets better with
age.” And on the same note, Mrs. Chaffin answered,
“Love changes every minute, day,
and year.”
The last question asked was “Where did
April Birthdays
By Courtney Venteicher
Freshmen
Josh Boyer 4/13/91
Alyssa Sulsberger 4/17/91
Jeff Bruning 4/18/91
Kelsey Rotnicke 4/26/91
Korey Rotnicke 4/26/91
Daniel Greiner 4/27/91
Sophomores
Abbi Bendixen 4/01/90
Jessica Bruning 4/07/90
Nicole Rhode 4/22/90
Tyler Bollig 4/28/90
Juniors
Tyler Delance 4/02/88
Shane Erlemeier 4/06/88
Adam Petersen 4/11/89
Nick Boggs 4/13/89
Brad Petersen 4/15/89
Garrett Jones 4/18/89
Grant Jones 4/18/89
Brittany Maas 4/24/89
Seniors
Emily Hinrickson 4/23/88
Kayla Bleil 4/26/88
you and your spouse meet?” Mrs. Moser and
her husband Dwight met in high school when
she was a freshman and he was a sophomore.
Mrs. Boerner said, “I met him at a high school
music contest. I thought he was nice but not
much fun. He went to college the next year
and changed to the guy that I really fell in
love with.” Mr. Clark and his wife met in
“Max’s Lounge in the mall after we were both
through with Christmas shopping.” And Mrs.
Chaffin and her husband John met in kindergarten.
As a student in high school, students go
through all kinds of drama day by day and
one major thing that effects everyone’s daily
lives are relationships. Some of us have had
steady boyfriends or girlfriends for a couple
years. At the same time, many may not have
ever had a boyfriend or girlfriend yet.
Mr. Clark said that he doesn’t believe
teens can experience true love, but if as you
can see, Mrs. Chaffin met the love of her life
when she was in kindergarten. What do you
believe in it?
Faculty and
students enjoy
spring break
By Austin Bettin
This year is the first year that Maple Valley-Anthon
Oto faculty members and students
have had a Spring Break. Spring Break
lasted from March 10th to the 19th.
Many of the Maple Valley-Anthon Oto
students and faculty members stayed in
their hometowns during Spring Break, while
some lucky students, as well as faculty members
got to spend their Spring Break in much
more exciting places.
For instance Mrs. Boerner, a high school
substitute teacher spent most of her Spring
Break in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Cabo San
Lucas is known for being a Spring Break getaway
for many high school and college students,
and Mrs. Boerner found herself in the
mix of all it. Mrs. Boerner commented, “The
young adults that were there for Spring
Break were everywhere and they were really
loud.” Besides trying to find her way
through all the kids, Mrs. Boerner soaked
in the sun, went shopping at the different
jewelry stores, went para sailing and also
had enough time to go whale watching.
Travis Brown, an MVAO high school senior,
spent his Spring Break in Scottsdale,
Arizona with his family. His brother, Derek
“Fish” Brown, a freshmen at MVAO, and his
father Brian Brown, who teaches at MVAO,
also went on the vacation. Travis spent most
of his time golfing, playing cards, and just
taking in the warm weather.
Maple Valley-Anthon Oto high school
teachers Mr. and Mrs Ocker spent their
Spring Break having their honeymoon. The
couple had their honeymoon in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Some students left the good ol’ Iowa
weather to go to even colder areas. Senior
James Brouillette and Junior Travis Cameron
headed North for Spring Break to go skiing
in the Afton Alps in Minnesota. The two
students skied most of the time but found
time to break from their skiing to get in a
little bit of shopping done at the Mall of
America in Minneapolis.
Siblings Alex Flanigan (Senior), Angie
Flanigan (Junior), and Joey Flanigan (Freshmen),
and their family also traveled to a
colder area--Keystone, Colorado. While the
family was there, they spent much of their
time skiing and also visiting the Coors Brewery
Factory. Angie commented on her vacation,
“I had a lot of fun skiing and I
thought the Coors Brewery Factory was very
neat and interesting.”
If your Spring Break wasn’t as fun as you
would have liked, or maybe just not warm
enough, you could travel to one of these areas
next year to make your Spring Break
much more exciting.

Softball girls
prepare for
upcoming
season
Junior Laura Hoaglund practices
catching at an early softball
practice.
By Steffany Treiber
With spring approaching, and softball
practice just around the corner, softball pitchers
and catchers have been working hard to
prepare for the new season, along with girls
willing to attend hitting practice.
With a new coach this year, the Rams softball
team should look like an entirely new
team. Head Coach Tim Hupke is looking forward
to turning around the program this year
and has been spending much of his time
working with the players as much as possible.
Coach Hupke has been working with the
pitchers and catchers. Assistant Coach Bob
Hamers started hitting practice Tuesday,
March 13th. It is being held in the track shed
at the ballfield complex. Girls can attend
three nights a week and work on their swing.
At the hitting practice, the girls work on
their hitting technique during the first half.
Then towards the end, they hit off the pitching
machine. A new pitching machine was
desperately needed. It is rather nice and will
contribute to the girls’ performance by throwing
out different pitches and speeds. New
bats and equipment to help the players’
swing were also purchased.
Hopefully the Rams can improve their performance
this season since they have been
hard at work during the off-season.
Page 8, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Pictured above are the players that received all
conference honors: James Brouillette (honorable
mention), Austin Bettin (second team), Travis Brown
(first team), Tabby Allen (second team), and Erin
Vermeersch (honorable mention).
Volleyball girls work
out during offseason
By Steffany Treiber
Some people think that since volleyball
ended the season is over, but that isn’t true
for most of the volleyball players.
AAU Volleyball is a non-school organization
that lets athletes prepare for the next season.
All of the varsity players are out for
AAU, which is why MV-AO has always had
such a strong team.
Starting in February, 5th graders to 11th
graders have been practicing and competing
in tournaments all around Iowa. If a team
places well enough in one of the tournaments,
then they are able to compete in the State
Tournament. All of the high school teams
have qualified for the State Tournament.
The junior team went to several tournaments
and they are now preparing for state.
They competed in the Onawa, Hull, Lake
City, and Manning tournament. They placed
first at Lake City, and received second place
at Manning. The juniors will go to Forest City
to the State Tournament on April 1st.
The sophomore team has been competing
in several tournaments, too. They played in
Mapleton and received first, placed second
at Galva Holstein, and also competed in the
Lake City tournament. Their state will be
April 1st in Dike.
The freshmen girls have been busy also
with tournaments in Hull, where they placed
3rd, Mapleton, Lake City, and Schaller. They
will play in Newton for state.
MVAO
baseball
season looks
promising
By Austin Bettin
The weather is getting nicer and that
means that the boy’s baseball season is just
around the corner.
The pitchers and catchers started practice
on March 6th. The rest of the team will begin
their practice on the 1st of May.
The 2006 Rams baseball team will be head
coached by Jared Ocker. This will be Jared’s
first year as head coach for the Rams team.
Beau Jacobson will be the assistant coach this
season.
Jared Ocker was a former high school
pitcher and also played college baseball at
Midland Lutheran College in Fremont and
Morningside College in Sioux City.
The Rams had an excellent season last year
with a record of 18 wins and 9 losses. The
Rams advanced through district play last season
and made it to sub-state. The Rams fell
short to making it to state by losing to Carroll
Kuemper by a score of 7-1.
James Brouillette received 2nd team all
conference honors last season and will be contributing
to the Rams team as a left fielder
and also as a pitcher. Travis Hazard also received
Honorable Mention.
The team is looking forward to a very
promising season with a new coach and also
with many starters returning back this season.
James Brouillette commented on the
upcoming season saying, “I’m really looking
forward to the season. We have many returning
players who played a lot last year and
hopefully with our experience, we can make
it to state.”
With the team making it to sub-state last
year, and many returning players, the team
is looking very promising for this upcoming
season.
“...Hopefully with
our experience, we
can make it to
state.”
-James Brouillette

McKenzie Sauser
By Sara Dose
McKenzie Sauser wants to be remembered
as a person who never was afraid to be herself
and the #1 Ram Fan! “Well maybe #2 next
to Chelsea Wolf,” decided McKenzie. This
dedicated Ram Fan is the daughter of Mickey
and Mag Sauser of Anthon.
Throughout high school, McKenzie has
been involved in numerous activities such as
Business Professionals of America, track,
cross country, 4-H, Gold Club, National
Honor Society, PALS, FCA and FCCLA.
Page 9, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Senior Spotlights
You can usually find McKenzie running,
but if you catch her between one of her jogs,
she is usually doing one of her favorite things.
Some of her favorites include listening to
country music, eating macaroni and cheese
or at McDonald’s, and watching Grey’s
Anatomy or ER. On a good day, you can find
McKenzie quoting from her favorite movie
ever, Tommy Boy. Her favorite holidays are
Christmas and Thanksgiving for what other
reason? “Because there’s A LOT of good
food!”
McKenzie’s favorite high school memories
have been going to games and going sledding
at Chelsea’s house.
It’s hard to believe someone who was
never afraid to be herself would have an
embarrassing moment, but her time to
“shine” came sophomore year. Phil was
threatening to depants her because she had
shorts on. She tied the strings really tight, and
when she wasn’t looking, he came up behind
her and pulled her shorts up, instead of
down.
McKenzie admits that her secret talent is
blowing bubbles off her tongue.
Her future plans are to possibly attend the
University of Iowa and major in athletic training
or physical therapy. Hopefully she’ll be
able to fulfill her biggest ambition, which is
to graduate from college, get married, be successful
and most of all, “To have fun while
doing all of that!”
Before heading off to college this fall, she
plans on babysitting, going to baseball games,
swimming, and hanging out with all of her
friends.
Upcoming April Events
By Steffany Treiber
Saturday 1st-State Solo and Small Ensemble
Contest
Monday 3rd-Girls Varsity and JV Golf. Boys
Varsity and JV Golf Triangular at BCIG
Tuesday 4th-Girls and Boys Varsity track
MVAO Invitational
Thursday 6th-Varsity Girls Track at Boyer
Valley
Friday 7th- High School Dance Show
Friday 7th-Saturday 8th-Science Bowl at ISU
Saturday 8th-ACT test in Mapleton
Sunday9th-11th-FFA State Convention in
Ames.
Monday 10th-Girls Golf at KP, Boys Golf at
Odebolt
Tuesday 11th-Girls golf at Carroll
Thursday 13th-No School-Inservice
Friday 14th and Monday 17th-No School
Vacation
Monday 17th-Girls Boys Track at Denison-
Schleswig
Saturday 22nd-Prom, Grand March 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday 25th-6:30 p.m. -FFA Banquet in H.S.
Commons
Thursday 27th-Girls and Boys Varsity Track
Ram Relays
Friday 28th-JV Boys Golf at Kingsley
Amy Bruning
By Courtney Hahn
Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese
Witherspoon Walk the Line is one of the best
movies of 2005.
It is based on Johnny Cash’s autobiography.
It tells stories about his time served in
the U.S. Air Force. It also tells about his first
marriage and the troubles he had raising a
family and controlling his new career in music.
It shows how peer pressure can get to you
even as an adult.
Johnny began taking drugs early in his
career. He felt they would make him a better
singer. This movie also shows how Johnny
By Devon Hieber
The senior who’s best memories of high
school are traveling to Texas, Ohio, Tennessee,
Colorado, and Calfornia for choir, BPA,
and DI trips is Amy Lynn Bruning. She is
the daughter of Sharyl and David Bruning
of Mapleton, IA.
Her most embarrassing moment was
when she hit her head on her P.E. locker right
before class officer voting and she had to have
an ice pack on her head in front of the whole
senior class.
Amy plans to attend Briar Cliff University
for nursing or ISU for food science. Amy enjoys
any type of country music, watching
Wedding Crashers, eating spaghetti, Christmas,
and saying “right-e-o.” Her secret talent
is raising just her left eyebrow. Amy
wants her high school legend to be the one
who would talk to anyone.
The most influential people in her life up
until now have been her parents because they
have always been there for her and helped
encourage her.
Amy’s biggest ambition is to have a career
as a nurse or food scientist and enjoy
doing it. This summer, she plans to hang out
with friends, work at Staley’s, and get ready
for college.
Walk the Line
fell in love with June Carter while he was still
married to his first wife. Johnny Cash created
many different songs and many of them were
performed in the movie such as Ring of Fire,
Jackson, I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, I
Got Stripes, and Get Rhythm.
I felt Walk the Line did a great job telling
how one man can battle through drugs and
alcohol and at the end, still became a music
legend. No one will remember the artists of
today, but they will remember the man in
black, Johnny Cash.
I gave this movie four out of four Ram
heads.

Senior Adam Bernard practices
putting for the upcoming golf
meet.
David Trimpe plays a trombone solo
in the jazz band at Parade of Bands.
Page 10, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Alli Jo Lloyd and Shelby Wessling play their
flutes during the Parade of Bands concert held
in Anthon.
Jaime Oberg, Tabby Allen, Jessica Bruning,
and Alli Kirchgatter jog in the halls for 20
minutes during track practice.
The boys’ track team stretches out for their
daily run around town.

Page 11, The Ram Write-Up, Maple Valley Anthon- Oto Schools
Around the ‘Valley’
Senior Dustin Boyer is employed by the
school and helps Mr. Stodola update and fix
technology problems. Here Dustin is showed
fixing a computer in the computer lab.
Answers to Ram Walking
from page 4:
A. Mr. Walsh
B. Mrs. Hesse
C. Mr. Clark
D. Ms. Lundt
E. Mrs. Moser
During her free period, Mrs. Conover grades papers
at her desk.
Amanda Lavender, Kelsey Rotnicke,
Courtney Venteicher, and Heather Morgan
read their clarinet music intently during the
Parade of Bands Concert.