A brighter future comes to Paris

by Madison Gates

Paris, Illinois. Population: just under 10,000. It’s safe to say that Paris isn’t exactly the biggest town you’ll travel through in Illinois, but hey it’s our town and it’s changing. It’s changing every single day. It’s becoming more modern. The restaurants and the stores are becoming up to date with today’s society, as are the people of the town. With iPads and Droids this world is becoming highly developed. Our town shouldn’t be deprived of the technology it deserves.

Our high school, however, is clearly not getting any younger. The current high school was built back in the early 1900’s. It’s 2011 people! The building is almost 103 years old! Sure when the high school was first built it was thriving for its day in age, but a little over 100 years later, and it’s starting to fall apart! It is in need of millions of dollars in repairs in the coming years to keep it operational.

For the past few months though, the little town of Paris has been campaigning for a new high school! More commonly known as “Yes2PCHS.” The town voted for it on April 5, 2011. It was a success! They did this because we had a remarkable and very rare opportunity to take advantage of state funding for construction of a new high school!

In other words, since the town voted “yes,” the state of Illinois is literally going to give us $20 million for construction of a new high school. The costs to keep the current one, but make it meet standards would cost the same, if not more as it will to build a new high school. So the answer was clear, that a new high school was necessary especially when the state is going to pay $20 million of the cost, that’s 65%!

“I’m excited to start learning in a new environment.” Randi Hays, a freshman stated. “I’m happy to be getting a new one,” stated Denver Brewer, also a freshman at PCHS.

Taxes, of course… Yes if the state is paying for 65% of the new high school that does mean that your property taxes will be slightly raised. For some home owners this could be an increase of $8 per year. However, if the referendum wouldn’t have of passed then the tax load might have been even LARGER, only because the local residents would be responsible for all 100% of the costs, rather than 35%.

The opportunity was here, and the time was now. Thank you for everyone who voted “yes” to the new high school. For those of you who haven’t been won over yet visit www.yes2pchs.com for more information or for a better understanding on the topic.

New "addition" to math teacher's family

by Andreanna Smith

If you have ever walked through the main hall way of Paris High School, then you have probably been past the classroom of the math teacher, Mr. Roger Thomas. If you walk in and get to know the teacher, you will probably hear about his family which consists of him and his wife, and how they have been trying to adopt a child through open adoption for about three years now. Open adoption is a type of adoption that is becoming a part of every day lives for many people in the United States. It means that the birth parents of the child are included in the child’s life along with the adoptive parents. Tiger Tales is proud to announce that this March, Mr. Thomas and his wife were finally blessed with a baby to adopt.

Sloane Harper Gracie Thomas made way into the hearts of the Thomas family in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, March 7, 2011. Sloane is Mr. Thomas’ first child, and with the first child comes changes in ones life, “I don’t sleep anymore, busy from the time I get out of bed until the time I get back in. [My life] is also more awesome, if you can believe that!” laughs Mr. Thomas.

The most difficult thing about the adoption Mr. Thomas thinks was “Probably just waiting in Pennsylvania for two weeks before we could bring her home, but it was worth it.” Mr. Thomas was away from his students for two weeks , he jokes, “I didn’t until I came back, hahaha, just kidding. I think its really cool how all the kids were asking questions and being supportive through the whole process.”

Yes 2 PCHS: A Vote for The Future

by Rachel Kenderdine

What could the vote on April 5th mean to the Paris community? It could mean new school board members, city officials, and the decision that seems to be dominating the news lately: the Say Yes 2 PCHS referendum.

According to the Yes 2 PCHS website, early voting for the issue started on March 14 and ends March 31. The actual election will take place on April 5, and the final decision on the referendum will be made that day.

A “yes” vote would mean the creation of a new high school constructed on a lot outside of town. Without the new school, our current high school will need extensive updating to be up to the fire safety code.

If approved, the vote would also be a good choice for the budget. The Yes 2 PCHS website says that if the referendum passes, the state of Illinois will pay for 65% of the school, leaving less than half of the proposed cost for the community to shoulder. This oppurtunity would not come around for another four years, but at that point there may not be enough state funding to give school construction.

The school would be modern and up to today’s standards for future generations to use and may be ready for students as early as 2014.

“This is probably the only chance our community will have for this opportunity in my lifetime,” said Mrs. Wells, English teacher. “I will be voting ‘yes’ for my children and my students.”

Hopefully, the entire community will feel the same, and vote “yes” for the future of Paris.

NHS Inducts new members

by Olivia Underwood

The prestigious society of The National Honor Society has recently inducted the newest members with a ceremony with much pomp and tradition behind it. The new members elected their president, PCHS junior Rachel Kenderdine. National Honor Society has a long history of upstanding members and charity work, and they are a highly respected group of scholars. Rachel was honored to be so highly regarded by her peers.

“It means a lot.” Rachel said. “I wanted to have an office, and I’m really happy to be President.”

NHS has several pillars of spirit that every student inducted must meet. These include Scholarship, Leadership, Character, and Service. As President, Rachel will be continuing this tradition.

“I hope to volunteer as much as possible and help keep everything up to the National Honor Society’s standards.” Rachel said.

This year National Honor Society has decided to help the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital by selling boots for a dollar that will be hung up around the school. St. Jude’s helps children suffering from cancer and turns no child away so it takes millions to keep it running. St. Jude’s helps hundreds of children and so now National Honor Society is helping them to continue in their mission. If you’d like to support National Honor Society’s charity efforts contact one of their many members to find out more.

“The boots are a good way to help without forcing people to buy expensive things they don’t need,” Rachel said of the charity. “And they go to a good cause.”

Teachers Set to Retire

by Serena Wells

Mr. Aydt and Mr. Kirby are two of the multiple teachers retiring from PCHS this year. I asked the two of them a few questions about their past here and what they are planning on doing with their free time during retirement. This is what they had to say.

The Interview

Serena Wells: How do you feel about retiring?

Mr. Aydt: I’m mostly looking forward to it.

Mr. Kirby: I am looking forward to it.

SW: Have you enjoyed your years at PCHS?

Aydt: I have enjoyed it a lot. I have had a very good 37 years here at PCHS.

Kirby: Oh yes, I have enjoyed it very much! I went to high school here and also taught for 36 years, so I have been here for 40 years.

SW: What are you planning to do in your free time?

Aydt: Probably a lot of work around the house and yard. I may be doing a part time math class.

Kirby: I’ve bought a small business in Florida so I’ll be working there.

SW: What do you think you will miss most about teaching?

Aydt: Working with kids. I’ve always enjoyed the give and take.

Kirby: The students and the great administration.

SW: Why did you decide to retire this year?

Aydt: I’ve had enough time to get full retirement. Don’t have the energy for the high school students. I thought it was time for someone younger to take over.

Kirby: Why not? I have gotten my years in.

Mr. Kirby also would like to mention that he is “really hoping Yes2PCHS goes through so we can have a great learning environment for the students here [at PCHS].” So after over 30 years of both of these men working here at PCHS it’s obvious that they will both miss their teaching career. Goodbye to the both of you and us students here at PCHS hope you have a great retirement.

Code Confusion Cleared Up

by Rachel Kenderdine

Many students involved in extracurricular activities at PCHS were confronted by a very important question at some point within the last few weeks: What was the reason for the sudden onslaught of Extracurricular Codes lately?

The ten-page document gives the student participant the basic rules and regulations for playing a sport or being involved in a club at school, such as attendance, eligibility, and drug testing rules. The Code requires a parent’s signature agreeing that the school rules are understood and their student will follow them.

Olivia Underwood, a junior, said she was given one Extracurricular Code for each activity she was in to fill out within a week. “I was annoyed that I had to fill out three extracurricular forms, because I feel like that’s a lot of needless paperwork,” she said.

So why were so many handed out over the past few weeks? Mr. Cox, the Assistant Prinicipal of PCHS, was able to clear up the confusion.

“We have different clubs that start throughout the year,” he said. “For example, FFA, when they initiate the freshmen and they become new members; when you have spring sports, you have kids who may not have had that signed; drama, with the play and the orchestra.”

Therefore, the Extracurricular Codes were handed out normally, when students who do not technically have permission to be involved in an activity can gain that.

“You just have a lot of activities that start in the spring, and if I go through the list and have kids who haven’t taken one home, they get one,” Mr. Cox said.

He also added that though students may feel as if they have signed the form before, they have not unless they have already been a part of an extracurricular activity earlier in the year.

“If you’re not involved in something at the beginning of the year, you don’t have to fill out one of those or consent to a random drug test [at the time,]” he said.

But despite this information, many are still baffled by the papers they were given.

Local entertainment staple closes

by Rachel Kenderdine

What are the people of Paris going to do?

After almost 100 years in the Paris area, the Paris movie theater has shut down. As of February 6, the theater is boarded up and closed.

The employees of the theater say that the reason the theater closed is not clear, but they do have several speculations.

“We think it’s because we were their smallest theater, and AMC is a big business, so we didn’t matter to them,” said Cayla Higgins, a former movie theater employee.

Alex Sanders, also a former movie theater employee, said that the theater’s profit may also have had something to do with it. “We closed because after we switched over to AMC we lost a lot of business due to our prices going up,” she said. She also said that outdated movies coming to town may have also been a factor in the closing.

The closing theater has also left the employees abruptly without work.

“They told us on short notice [that the theater was closing],” Cayla said. “We didn’t find out too much longer before the community did.”

Alex added, “I was pretty upset about the whole thing. I mean, at first they gave us a two week advance to tell us we were going to be closing, then they decided to change their minds and it was the following Sunday and we were told this on Thursday.”

Cayla also added that the chances of the theater reopening are in the hands of buyers. She said it will not open, “unless somebody buys it and re-establishes it as a theater. It’s up for sale right now.”

And that closing will impact the city. “I think it’s horrible,” said Cayla, “because it’s one of the only forms of entertainment we have in town and it’s going to impact the community.”