By Cole Jorgensen

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo courtesy of Keloland.com

An old joke about South Dakota is that it has four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction. While the latter has remained true, the past few months where winter is the norm have felt more like spring. Around the state, records are being set for warm temperatures and lack of snowfall.

In fact, some areas will break the top five for warmest winters on record. Although the winter months continue through February, Watertown, Aberdeen, Sioux Falls and Pierre are already ranked among the top 10 warmest winters on record. Even on Monday, when the skies delivered a wintery mix of snow and rain, the temperature was still above average for the month of February.

Snowfall, or lack thereof, contributes to the absent feeling of winter. 43.2 inches of snowfall was the prediction given by Scot Mundt of Keloland Television in November. We are now almost through the winter months and have a grand total of 9.1 inches of snow. January saw the greatest total of snowfall with a whopping 6.8 inches. Although this number is above average for the month of January, it has not made much of an impact on the absence of winter.

We citizens of this great state have been given the gift of a slack winter with high temperatures and little snow to shovel. In fact, there is only one downfall to having such a winter: no snow days! West Central has not been forced to close school due to weather yet this year, but I am still hoping along with other students. Junior Sydney Rechtanbaugh stated, “This winter has been really warm, but I’m hoping we’ll get at least one snow day before it’s over.”

By Emily Stahl

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo Courtesy of Examiner

High school is stressful. At least for students who actually care about their grades. It’s surprising that we don’t all come out of it with gray hairs, with all the future planning we have to make. Sometimes it feels like we need to get everything figured out: college, a career, living situations, etc., before we even walk out the door with our diploma in hand. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like 24 hours in a day is long enough. However, one big stress-point for students, their GPA, might not be as essential as some may think.

Sure, grades are important. You can’t fail every class and expect to get into a top-notch school that will prepare you for your dream career. Maybe I’m wrong and you can. But let’s just say, for this article, that you can’t. However, you shouldn’t kill yourself over getting all A+’s and a 4.0 GPA. Most colleges don’t even count half the classes you take in your GPA. They strip it of all the electives and focus on the core classes: math, science, English and social sciences. Plus, they would prefer you take harder classes and get, heaven forbid, a B, rather than take classes a toddler could pass and get an A+.

I’m not saying grades don’t matter at all. I’m just saying that you need to be a well-rounded student. People skills, communication skills and experience are essential, too. If you want to have a job or go to a college badly enough, they will more than likely want you over the other guy with good grades who’s not willing to go the extra mile. You need to go the extra distance, do job shadows, go to beneficial camps, volunteer, intern, do whatever it takes to make yourself an asset to society. You’ll find that these things are much more important than a good grade and no social life or experience.

By Jacey Jira and Jessica Sandahl

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo Courtesy of Green Earth Bamboo

As teenagers go through high school, there are many factors in their lives that lead to stress and lack of sleep. This prevents students from performing at their best in the classroom and extracurricular activities. While the average teenager needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night, most students sleep only around six or seven hours. Students are forced to juggle school, sports and jobs–all while attempting to get an efficient amount of sleep.

Did you know oversleeping is the primary cause of missing school or being tardy? A lack of sleep causes students to become less focused in the classroom, and it is harder to concentrate on daily work and tests. Sleep recharges your internal battery and helps you to be successful and focus in school. Electronic devices and televisions can be a major distraction while trying to fall asleep. Putting phones and iPods away and turning the TV off 20 minutes before bedtime will help teens fall asleep faster and get more sleep. Over 30 percent of teenagers have two or more caffeinated drinks a day; caffeine causes both teens and adults to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. A lack of sleep affects concentration, memory, reaction time, and can even lead to depression.

As students mature and become more independent, they start wanting to make money and have extra cash to spend. Many teenagers work at fast food restaurants, clothing stores and daycares. It helps them to manage their money and learn how to spend it wisely. Some teenagers put their paycheck in a savings account, college fund, or use it for spending money. Although it is hard for students to balance a job with so many other factors in their life, having a job teaches teenagers lessons and puts some extra money in their pocket.

Along with trying to get a good amount of sleep, going to school and working, many teenagers are in after-school sports and activities. Sports usually take up anywhere from an hour to three hours of a student’s day. Along with time, many students have to wake up a few extra hours early to make it to practice, or they get home very late at night from a practice or game. This gives them less time to do homework, sleep and live their teenage life. Sports and other extracurricular activities are a great way to interact with friends and learn many life lessons, but they also take up a lot of time and often cause teenagers to lose sleep.

Although it is quite a challenge to manage all of the factors of a teenage life, many students learn to cope with the daily tasks and trials that come along. Teachers, coaches and bosses tend to be somewhat lenient because they know teenagers have a lot on their plate in high school. When it seems as though you want to give up at times, keep pushing; the more involved you are, the more it will reward you in the future!