Senior Spotlight: Mason Garvens
Aric Reim
Senior Spotlight: Jacob Fossum
Micah Fossum
Mason Garvens is more than meets the eye. With a quick tongue, a passion for bartending, and a mountain bike, he’s ready to conquer the world, and you could fill a book with interesting things about Mason. But since you don’t have time to read a whole book, try this play-by-play interview with the man himself to learn all the highlights about a fascinating young man who is truly like no other.
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What’s your middle name?
Joseph.
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Weird Things Heard Around Campus
Suraya Williams
Hey guys! I got a few more for you this time. Thanks for the quotes that you submitted to me, and keep them coming, please. I'll always try to be sure to include them all. Hope you enjoy it!
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"That's not his heart; that's his liver!"
"We caught a cat, clipped its fingernails, and made root beer. It was a good time."
“I would go barefoot, but then my socks would get dirty.”
"Wrestling involved far more aggressive cuddling than that."
"It's cold water that tastes like hot water."
"Reveal thy cookedness."
"Don't make us braut your phone."
"Eat the dilemma and it will be gone."
"I'm not eating--I'm licking my mask."
"Accept your compliment or I'm going to take your collarbone."
"I'm being accused of crimes I didn't commit."
"You can live without a life. Look at me."
"You can get a label that says 'scissors' and put the hammers there."
"I haven't been paying attention because he was talking to me about chicken tunnels."
"I am not injecting steroids into my cub!"
“I can still smell you, so be careful!”
"Maybe if I fall in love with my depression it'll leave me too."
"I prefer you in my basement, but I will follow you to the end of the world."
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If you had to change your middle name, what would you change it to?
I think Charles might be a good one.
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What is your favorite high school memory?
That is a very hard question.
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What’s one of your favorite high school memories?
Probably just mountain biking in general. I never really got into it.
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Is 1 equal to 2?
No.
Care to explain?
Because even when you write out that [says a bunch of mathy things that generally prove his point].
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What is your biggest pet peeve?
People saying “just kidding,” even though they were not just kidding and should have said “never mind.”
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For what blessing are you most grateful?
My friends.
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If you could have lunch with any historical figure, what would you have, and why?
Tenderloin Trio from Serento’s in the Wisconsin Dells, with Plato. It is not my favorite type of food, but it is the best dish I have had to date, and Plato seems like he would be a really nice guy to talk to.
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What would you most like to be famous for?
Dying in a really stupid way, because I feel like that is really a possible outcome of my life.
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Do you have any advice for freshmen?
Do not steal people’s food. Ever. Best piece of advice I could give anyone. If you do, and you ever get caught, your respect level goes down. Food is very valuable in the dorm.
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Other interesting information:
Dorm currency is actually pretty straightforward. Bag of popcorn is worth 75 cents. Pop tart is worth 2 to 3 bags of popcorn depending on the flavor.
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Any advice for your classmates?
Ask for permission before using my bike.
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You are a member of the President’s Cabinet. Which one are you?
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. I think that would best fit me. None of them fit me perfectly.
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What is your biggest goal in life?
To pursue happiness in myself and others.
Favorites
Hobby: Mountain Biking
Bible Passage: I don’t have a favorite.
President: In all aspects but political, Andrew Jackson. He didn’t do a great job as a President. You know, the Trail of Tears and all, but, cool guy.
Hymn: “Amazing Grace”
Thing to do on a Sunday afternoon: Two different answers--if it’s a more relaxed on-campus day and I did a lot the day before, foursquare/crossnet. Foursquare’s better. Otherwise, mountain biking.
Plant: There is a tulip that is a blend of orange and red. Super cool.
Biking with Scott and Job Memory: All of them.
State: Wisconsin
Country: Iceland
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
The hardest-to-answer question that anyone could ever ask me. I haven’t the slightest clue. So many possible outcomes.
Though he doesn’t show his face that often around the campus besides school days, he is a really nice person to be around (unless you’re his brother). He is smart, funny, and has amazing talent in drawing. Trust me on this one, you want to be his friend.
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Micah: When and where?
Jacob: (Takes a bit to say it) December 28, 2002, SC
M: If you had one day to do over, what day would it be?
J: (Almost falls off of his chair he is tilting) Second day of freshman year.
M: On the topic of days, what is your favorite day of the week?
J: Friday of course! Come on, it's Friday!
M: What is your favorite high school memory?
J: Probably formal my junior year.
M: What kind of bird would you be and why?
J: Interesting . . . hmm . . . bird . . . (time passes) A falcon because birds of prey are cool and falcon sounds the coolest out of all of them.
M: What do you want to be when you graduate?
J: Architect or Bladesmith.
M: Do you have any advice for freshmen?
J: Oh, yeah! That question! (ponders) Well, speaking from experience, don’t be fried, no, afraid to try new things and get to know your classmates.
M: I know this is a common question, but what tree would you be and why?
J: That’s a common question? A spruce tree because that is my favorite tree in Minecraft, yeah.
M: What is the weirdest thing you’ve seen on campus?
J: Oh, boy. My memory doesn’t go back that far, um, sometimes I can remember things like that. I can only think about the funniest thing, which was when Daniel Mayhew jumped out the window during English 11 and anything Dr. Dan Schierenbeck says is funny. It’s a weekend, I don’t want to think.
Favorites
Prof: Dr. Dan
Color: Black (“Because it’s dark and that’s cool.”)
Hobby: Minecraft playing and drawing.
Senior Spotlight: Ryan Zimmerman
Ethan Sydow
This Senior Spotlight is a little different than most. I thought it would be cool to interview Ryan because he’s one of my oldest friends. So I hijacked Kitara’s interview to “write” my first ever Flash article. You have probably seen Ryan running around campus playing some sport or competing with his friends in any way he can. Even though 99% of the time we’re competing, none of us is ever able to stay mad at him or each other, at least for long. No matter what, it seems he is always able to crack a joke to lighten the mood or make you smile. So for Ryan’s Senior Spotlight I was able to actually sit down with him and ask him some questions about his high school experience that I have observed up close and personal.
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Ethan: When and where?
Ryan: Eau Claire, WI. January 9
E: Middle name?
R: Thomas
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E: Plans after?
R: Uhhhhhh, probably pharmacist. No, I’m planning on playing basketball somewhere. I’m, what’s the word?
E: Undecided .
R: Yeah, that’s the word.
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E: One thing people should know about you?
R: I don’t know what is one thing people should know about me?
E: (no answer)
R: I loooove chicken. Like, really love it.
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E: High school regrets/ accomplishments?
R: A regret? I have no regrets. (Ryan loses focus again)
I don’t want to say anything about sports. I guess an accomplishment is that I had fun every day. Some people might say I’m immature. But bottom line, I had fun. (Ryan talks about his Instagram followers.)
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E: Life motto?
R: I saw this on TikTok, “It was uhhh, what was it uhhhhhhhhh . . . If your life was a movie, would you want to watch it?
K: Would you want to watch it?
R: YEAH, that would be a great movie.
E: Memory?
R: Probably just hanging out with my friends after school every day. And Algebra I. It’s the best class at Immanuel, hands down.
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E: If you could be an animal what would it be?
R: I’ve always been obsessed with turtles. They’re slow, but they got that hard shell. Nothing can hurt a turtle.
E: Turtles aren’t slow. That’s tortoises.
R: I know. I was just testing you.
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E: Advice for freshies?
R: Don’t date.
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(now on to Ethan’s questions . . .)
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E: One word to summarize high school experience?
R: Just one word? Or like a phrase?
E: Whatever you want to do, man
R: (with hand gestures) Eye-Opening
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R: Is cereal soup?
So here’s the big thing, if you look at soup and cereal and the soup as a whole, they’re the same thing. The milk is the broth and the Fruity Pebbles are the chicken. There are cold soups, which I think are cereal. So, yeah. Cereal is soup.
Favorites:
Color: Blue
Sport: Basketball
Spot on campus: The creek (E: After baseball games?)
Prof: Lau
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In ten years?
Suraya W: “Maybe working a part time job dressing up in a gorilla suit and going to children’s parties?”
Britten R: “At some business wearing a suit and tie every day.”
Ethan S: “I’ll do it later . . .”
Mason G: “Probably working in some field that is part athletics or something . . .”
Joscelyn W: “Living in a trailer park, alone, unemployed, with too many cats and a beat up minivan. He still has nice hair, though.”
It’s spooky season,
October has now returned
Time for the pumpkins;
Spooky skeletons;
Fun, scary decorations
And trick-or-treating!
Don’t forget apples
(Does Prof. Lau have those this year?)
And corn mazes too!
Fall is fin’ly here!
The year is almost finished!
Three months left to go...
(Well, two and a half!)
Haiku Blues
Rebecca Durst
Halloween
Sarah Fox
Ahh, fall. You either love it or hate it. Fall is the season of leaves changing color, getting colder outside, bonfires, pumpkins, apple picking, and of course Halloween. Halloween is such a major holiday in the United States. I’m sure just about everyone has gone trick-or-treating before. If you haven’t, then you’re not alone (I haven’t either). This is great and all, but I bet you haven't heard these crazy things about Halloween before.
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Trick-or-treating has been happening since medieval times. It was known as guiding. Children would go around and ask for food or money in exchange for songs, poems, or tricks.
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This year, it will be the first Halloween to have a full moon in 19 years!
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Jack-o-lanterns used to be carved from beets, turnips, and potatoes.
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Candy corn was originally called chicken feed, and the recipe hasn't changed much since the 1800s.
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There is a pumpkin patch in Hawaii. During fall there are pumpkins, but the rest of the year it's watermelons..
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The fastest pumpkin carving (whole face) lasted 16.47 seconds.
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This year, it won't be happening, but New York always has the largest Halloween parades with more than two million spectators.
How much of life do we spend
Thinking about the how and when?
How much of life do we use
Deciding what things will be whose?
How much of life do we take
Blaming others for our mistake?
How many times we decide
That Christ must not be by our side?
How much of life do we spend
Preaching about the how and when?
How much of life do we use
Sharing with others the Good News?
How much of life do we take
To ask forgiveness for our mistake?
How many times we decide
To let others know He’s by their side?
How many times we decide
To just pray, Lord with me abide?
Ella Bernthal
Bullet to the News
Lydia Kettner
The student council is also looking into this, but I was curious about the bulletin only being online. We now get to see what some of the ILHS students think. I first asked if they read the online bulletin daily. 16 (52%) out of 31 students responded that they do daily read the online bulletin. 28 (90%) out of the 31 students said that they would read the bulletin if it was printed and posted up on the bulletin boards. And finally 23 (76%) out of 30 high schoolers that were asked, said that they would prefer to have the bulletin printed rather than just online. I know this survey was not super exciting, but I think it is interesting to realize that many of ILHS’s students would like to have a printed bulletin.
John's Drawings
John Sprengler
This picture took me a little more than a month to complete. It was originally a line drawing, but I decided to color it. The scene is a part of a Youtube Video that I thought looked cool so I decided to draw it. As this was one of my first, I started by tracing it, but finished it by hand-drawing it. Most people that have seen it think that it looks like a Pokemon, but it’s not. I’m not sure if you managed to see it, but it’s a cat with a mask that looks like an animal skull of some sort.
Farewell John Fox
Sarah Fox
John Fox, you all know him. He's the burly, mustached man riding around on the Gator. Unfortunately, or not so unfortunately, he has decided to retire from ILC for bigger things.
John worked at Immanuel as the groundskeeper/maintenance worker for four years. His job varied from mowing the lawns and trails, repairing, and cleaning rooms. He always loved problem solving and repairing, but cleaning toilets was less than ideal for him. Instead, John has started his own handyman business. Instead of driving around the walkways and trails on a Gator, he now drives on the roads with a trailer full of tools and equipment. He goes where the work takes him. With his new job, he will be able to use his God-given talents to problem solve and fix just about anything a client asks him to. But don't get me wrong, he is definitely going to miss biscuit Fridays and working in a Christian environment with Paul Heinze.
Let's all wish John a farewell as he moves on with life and give Brett Lau a big welcome as he is filling John's shoes and riding the Gator now.
New Maintenance Assistant
Trinity Mayhew
Have you seen him around campus yet? My favorite (and only) brother-in-law, Brett Lau, recently assumed the Maintenance Assistant position of Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary after Mr. John Fox’s retirement. Even though he doesn’t know what his official position name is yet, he is extremely excited about working here. He loves working outdoors, and was formerly employed at a lawn mowing and snow shoveling company. He and his wife of one year, Savanna Lau, will be living in Birch Hall. Brett lived there when he was only a wee lad of one year, and is very excited to return. He loves thinking about the number of people who have lived there in the past. Our new ‘gator guy’ is enthusiastic and ready to work. “I’ll never be as good as Porath,” he says, “but it’s definitely fun scooting around.”
If you want to get Brett’s attention, call him ‘Burt,’ He will think that you are Zach Sippert and give you his undivided attention. Zach Sippert strongly encourages you to call him Burt and looks forward to being the Millennial shepherd of Generation Z, surrounded by little Zachs.
Welcome, Brett. We’re glad to have you here. Thank you for being our Maintenance Assistant.
Evan Kuehne
Being a younger sibling at Immanuel is an interesting experience to say the least. It has its benefits but also its disadvantages. When you first arrive, nearly everyone knows your name. Either that or they follow the ancient important formula for younger siblings. It is either, “Hi, small (sibling’s name).” or, “Hey, tiny (last name).” Everyone has expectations of you based on your sibling for good or for bad. If your sibling has a good reputation, you are expected to be like them. If they don’t have a good reputation, well . . . moving on. There are some great perks of having an older sibling too. First, they have tried a lot of the activities and can tell you what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. They can help you with homework and studying because they took the same classes. Now, this is assuming you have a good relationship with your sibling. This is where the disadvantages can come in for some people, but not all. Some siblings might tease the younger siblings, be annoying to them, or completely ignore them. The most important thing to know as a younger sibling is that your older sibling will always complain that all of your work is easier than what they have to do.
The Trials of Being a Younger Sibling at Immanuel
Joel Kuehne
The Trials of Being an Older Sibling at Immanuel
Being an older sibling at Immanuel is both a blessing and a curse. You might always have someone constantly bragging about how much more homework you have than they do, but at least you can always reply, “Oh, you think that’s bad, -Insert Long Rant Here-,” to any of their complaints. You may sometimes find that it feels like the younger sibling is invading your personal space, but at least you won’t ever be called “tiny -Insert Your Last Name Here-.” All jokes aside, having a younger sibling is great. If you are ever having a bad day, or are just tired in general. Your little siblings are always there . . . for you to tease them to your heart’s content.
WANTED
Two Metal Pipes
$5 Each
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Two Olive green Metal Pipes, each approx. ½ inch in diameter, have gone missing.
They may have been lost or they may have been stolen.
One was last seen in the lounge of North Hall.
If found, return to Alex Radichel.
I have never walked upon Your path
Though I have gone astray.
I have never felt Your mighty wrath
Though I sin every day.
I had never once asked for forgiveness,
But still I know it is there.
For blinded by Your righteousness
You have given to me in prayer.
For on Your path
You carried me
And all Your wrath
On Him would be.
Though blind in sin
I’m healed by grace
Through which You gave
God-given Faith.
So when I wander and I stray
You will with me decide
Walk with me this life of mine
Till with the Lord abide.
Ella Bernthal
Not Ashamed
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” -Romans 1:16
“Wait, do you mind if I swear?” “Are you one of those freshmen who cares when we say bad words?” “We don’t need to act like Christians, there aren’t any adults around.” “Well, we have to be nice because it’s like ‘Christian and Jesus’ and stuff like that.” “We can’t do this because we go to a Christian school.” “We’re big kids, guys. We know this stuff anyway.”
Have you been asked one of these questions or been told one of these statements? Heard one? Said this? What was your response? “I won’t do it, but I don’t really care.” Or “Oh, no, I say stuff like that all the time.” Or nothing at all? Did you stay silent, pretend not to hear, or just ignore it?
It’s hard to say something, especially if you're the only one. It’s hard to say “I do mind.” Every day people make comments. “Oh, wait, you’re one of those people that care. Do we actually have to try not to say these things around you?” But they will still say it after that, anyway.
But I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. When you walk away and don’t say anything at all or say you don’t care, you are saying, “I am ashamed of God, and I really just want to fit in.”
Not being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ is saying, “Yes. I do care. God tells us not to. It is a sin to talk like that.” Maybe you can say that, but how far are you willing to go? Saying it once, twice, even not hanging around them anymore?
“For the way of the wicked leads them astray.” -Proverbs 12:26
Am I saying that these people are so bad that there is no chance for them, and to avoid them at all costs? Of course not. God says to love everyone and that He came to save everyone. You nor I am better than anyone, but God does say to flee temptation. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” If we just listen one day and say, “I’ll never do this,” next week it will be natural to our ears and soon we’ll be saying these things. Not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ?
The next time you hear something like this, say something. Don’t say, “Yeah, whatever,” or nothing at all. Don’t be ashamed! Stand up for God’s Word! Be confident standing firm on the Word of God. Being Christian isn’t being good because you’re told to be or because you’ll get in trouble if you’re not because you go to a Christian school. It’s having faith in God’s promises, believing in Him, and not being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Why? For it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.
Ella Bernthal
Immanuel's Home Cross Country Meet
Trinity Mayhew
Did you guys know that Micah Fossum could run like that? Because I sure didn’t! In this week’s cross country meet, which took place here, on the campus of Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary, freshman Micah Fossum placed second. The rest of the team followed soon after. Our six cross country racers--Ben Haslett, Matthew Radermacher, Paul Frank, Alex Radichel, Blake Wales, and Micah Fossum--did an amazing job running this week and represented the name on their jerseys well. Their coach, Steve Sydow, has been working with these boys for the last seven weeks, and it shows in their running times and techniques, as well as the bond between them. I’m proud of you, boys! Keep on running your race and doing all you do to the glory of your Creator.