Gibbemeyer brothers are Eagle Scouts

Gibbemeyer brothers are Eagle Scouts

By Emily Swanson ‘14

Senior Dale Gibbemeyer and junior Zach Gibbemeyer are not just brothers at Badin High School, but they are brothers in scouting, too. Dale and Zach have both achieved Eagle Scout status in the Boy Scouts of America.

Zach has been involved with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Troop 902 for 10 years. Zach’s Eagle Scout project was for the Fairfield Civitan Club. He built four new benches and installed four new bleachers for the club's two softball fields. Altogether the project took six months with the help of 60-plus people.

Zach states that his Eagle project and all his years of scouting has taught him responsibility, work ethic and leadership skills that he will carry for the rest of his life. In all, Zach has earned 35 merit badges, needing only 21 to become an Eagle Scout.

Zach says his favorite thing about being involved in the Boy Scout organization are the campouts during the summer. Zach has enjoyed scouting immensely over the years and hopes to one day become a leader for younger scouts.

 Dale Gibbemeyer has been in scouts since first grade, also in Troop 902. Dale’s Eagle Scout project was installing supports in the kneelers at St. Ann’s Parish in Hamilton. The construction of the center supports only took Dale two weeks to complete and took very few days to install. He completed his project during the summer with the help of around 20-30 people.

Dale stated that his favorite part of scouting was shooting rifles and shotguns when he was at camp and getting to spend his time with his friends. Zach says he likes being in Scouts with his brother and there is often competition between the two of them, but they always support each other with everything that they accomplish.

Dale has held numerous positions in this organization, one of them being the highest position, Senior Patrol Leader.

Knives on planes a bad idea

Allowing knives on planes

is a dangerous decision

By Denise Rasche ‘13

            The security check at the airport is about to get less stringent in the boarding regulations. The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) declared that, starting this April, passengers will be able to carry small knives and other items with them on commercial airlines.

. The rule requires knife blades to be less than 2.36 inches long and less than half an inch wide to be carried on. The rule also allows sports equipment like baseball bats and golf clubs. The TSA intended to take the spotlight off these items to be more capable to search for explosives.

This may improve safety from explosions, but other safety issues have been questioned by many, including the flight staff. Their argument mainly pertains to the September 11th attacks. During the assault on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in 2001, hijackers stabbed the flight staff and took control of the cockpit, just with small utility and pocket knives.

A TSA spokesman, David Castelveter, argues that Air Marshals prevent this, commenting, “I feel safe knowing there are Air Marshals to get involved if there is an unruly passenger on board.” He went on to say, “A small knife will not enable a terrorist to bring down an airplane.”

An article in The New York Times later pointed out that Air Marshals are not on every flight and that 9/11 proved that men with these weapons can hijack an airplane.

I asked senior Sophie Grollmus what her position was on this issue and she said, “I think that knives on planes is dangerous and ignorant. We’ve already given people a chance to be responsible for these weapons and they have shown that they are incapable of doing so without causing disaster.”

Sophie is not alone in her train of thought. I also talked to senior Jordan

Tri-Rudolf and he said, “I don't think that these kinds of weapons are smart on airplanes because of the 9/11 attacks.”

All the evidence that these people have shared has influenced my thinking as well. My position is based on a simple definition created by Albert Einstein: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I think that allowing these weapons is foolish and insane. The 19 members of al-Qaeda that hijacked those planes proved that small knives can be used to endanger passengers and others on the ground. These knives have already proven to be dangerous and should still be banned on airplanes.

Never Forget 9/11/01.

Music ... or math ... for Richter

Jacob Richer ’13 well known for his music

By Denise Rasche ‘13

            One of the most well-known bands around Badin, Skyferd Lake, has been spreading its music throughout the Tri-State.

Senior Jacob Richter is the leader and co-founder of the band so I set off to find out more about it and his passion for music. He started out by learning how to play the drums in the sixth grade with guidance from his dad. He picked up the drums quickly, only taking a few months, but he wanted to learn more.

Jacob says that Skyferd Lake began with 2011 Badin graduate, Kristen Collier. They started playing together and were soon joined by current senior Sam Spoerl and another 2011 Badin grad, Doug Fredrick.

Complications arose later on, which left Jacob and Sam as the only band members. Then Sam introduced Jacob to a drummer named Jake Hare. “He’s probably the best drummer I've played with,” Jacob explains.

After that, things started looking up for Skyferd Lake when the band gained two new Spoerls, Jake and Sarah. Now Skyferd Lake is well-known throughout the Badin community and elsewhere. If you would like to see them in action, they will be playing at Rick’s Tavern in Fairfield this month.

Even though Jacob is the founder of Skyferd Lake and has a dense background in music, he still has other interests and wishes in his life. He says that some of his other hobbies are “archery, paintball, writing, but mostly music.” His favorite subject is math and especially physics because he likes “how systematic it all is.”

He plans to go to the University of Cincinnati and major in either commercial music production or secondary math education after he graduates from Badin. Jacob says that he will miss “the openness between students and teachers” at Badin and hopes to become either a math teacher or write music and scores for different media sources.

He definitely has a passion for both music and mathematics -- but who knows where he and Skyferd Lake will go with the achievements they have already accomplished. These accomplishments are mirrored in the words of Jacob’s favorite quote, “It only takes five seconds of insane courage to change your whole life.”

Badin's Kocher retiring after 40 years

Kocher retirement means the end of an era

By Patrick Kuhl ‘13

            Ms. Sally Kocher will be retiring after this year. This ends a 40-year era. Ms. Kocher has taught and coached at Badin for 40 years. In the middle of her second year she was given the title of girls athletic director. She was given this title because she was scheduling all the girls sports, as well as being the coach of all the girls sports!

            Over the years she has coached cheerleading, volleyball for 18 years, girls basketball, swimming and softball. She has taught health and physical education at Badin and she also taught yearbook for 10 years. Her favorite memory from Badin is the football team winning its 1990 state championship for Badin High School. “I was amazed at how much work the coaches and players put into it," she said.

            Some of the changes she has seen include Badin entering into the GCL and the GGCL.  She said, "When we entered into the GCL and the GGCL, we became better faster." Ms. Kocher is going to miss the family aspect of Badin and she is going to miss seeing the students and faculty and staff.

            In her retirement she wants to pursue hobbies she has not had time to do such as photography and traveling. She also hopes to stay active in her community by volunteering thanks to all the service opportunities at Badin.

 She came to Badin because when she graduated from the College of Mount St. Joseph, she looked for job openings for a physical education teacher, and she found Badin. The rest is history.