Meet the authors behind The Urbandale Times
Chloe McFarlane
Chloe McFarlane is a UHS junior with a passion for writing. She enjoys fashion, makeup, and spending time with friends. Some of her proudest moments are apparent in her time spent with the Academic Decathlon team, as well as beginning her own Embroidery Club sophomore year.
Chloe grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa and began attending Urbandale schools in the seventh grade. As a child, she enjoyed biking and swimming with her younger sister.
In her free time Chloe and her friends love watching movies, embroidering, and baking. Though recently, they have been trying to learn to skate. When asked what her favorite movie is Chloe instantly stated, “My favorite movie has to be Little Miss Sunshine”
Along with movies, Chloe also has an interest in music, “I would describe my music taste as eclectic. I like pretty much anything except for modern country. I would say I can pretty much bop to anything. I like Heart, Fat Night, and The Lemon Twigs.”
This semester in Journalism, Chloe is striving to develop her writing style. She says that her current style is something she is still experimenting with and to truly get an insight into her writing, she needs an outside perspective. Though she has no strict methodology, Chloe writes with purpose.
“When I’m writing for journalism I want people to feel that Urbandale is a community. I want people to learn about other sections of the school. I want my writing to create a more unified culture for students.”
The Team Player
Hannah Richardson is a 5’7 senior at Urbandale High School. Hannah joined Mrs. Oda-Lawler’s journalism team in August 2019. Even though she originally took the class for the credit, she soon learned to love the writing. Hannah became a vegetarian in 2012 after seeing a video about animal cruility, “ I think I just fell into it, I did not choose to.” Because of this Hannah says she loves Panera for their simple recipes and how it is easy to chose from the menu.
Hannah says, “To live by your own rules” because when things get tough you have to do what you know is right. Hannah is known to be a team player and is willing to step in where ever she is needed. When one of Hannah’s friends could not attend Sunday service to sing Hannah took her place even though she had never done something like that before.
Hannah’s favorite color is blue-green, she enjoys watching hockey, and is a movie fanatic. Much like the beloved character Jess, on the show New Girl, Hannah enjoys Dirty Dancing. Hannah is a well-rounded person with many interests and is an important part of the UHS Journalism team.
Clarisse Vannoy
Clarisse Vannoy is an adventurous person. She can be talkative but her friends love that about her. She is a sophomore with a big mind and heart. She loves being in journalism but coming into it she was scared of the writing. Clarisse enjoys painting and she has a talent for using recycled clothes and making them into beautiful outfits. She has a lot of talent and she only 15 years old. Clarisse doesn’t have a job now, but when she turns 16 she going to start working with a family and their daughter that has special needs. The first time, she spent time with her she knew she wanted to do it again. Clarisse is a busy sophomore she dose cheer, track and she coaches cheer for special needs kids and she loves every second for it. Clarisse describes it as “the best part of my day.” It’s very hard to find someone who really likes what they do and does it well. She cares and that’s hard to find, she one of a kind.
The Life of John R. Legler
If you stumbled upon an ice rink, any ice rink in the metro area, you’d find John Legler. John and his self proclaimed “mullet in progress” bring an enthusiasm to a lesser celebrated sport. Even in Des Moines, Iowa one of the northernmost states, the macho game of hockey brings smaller crowds. This doesn’t stop John from competing against the best of the best around the midwest.
“(I) get out there one the ice with my boys and just tear it up a lil… a lil rip… a lil skateskee,”
A Pittsburgh Penguins fan for life, John identifies with the burley crowd that steps on the ice every day after school. 2 miles away from Urbandale High, the Capitals practice at the self proclaimed “Madhouse,” Des Moines Buccaneers arena.
“Every night is ‘dress like a chair night’… because we look up into the stands and only see chairs… we have a Youtube live stream though, we get like 175 views. We still play hard and still play fast, that’s what the boys want,”
When John gets away from the ice in the summer, he likes to toss around the weights. Last summer, in the dog days of the hockey offseason, John decided to teach himself a new trick.
“During the summer I decided I wanted to pick up a new skill to pick up girls with, so obviously I decided on juggling. (I) started off 10 minutes a day with practice, (I) used to drop the balls a lot, now I never drop ‘em,”
John enjoys showing people his juggling skills. When pressed to show the journalism class his talent, John pulled three purple bean bags out of his backpack, tossing them around for their enjoyment.
John left the interview with an 8 letter quote. This quote gives a glimpse into the life that John Legler strives to live through sports.
“Good is not good when better is expected”
Empty crowds won’t stop John from achieving his goals and having fun on the ice, he doesn’t need people to watch. John lives and breathes the game of hockey for himself and his teammates, and when you love the game that much, it shows on the ice.
Max Yoder
Born right here in the heart of the midwest, Max Yoder brings a lively presence to the dark corners of Urbandale High School. The junior at Urbandale is a music enthusiast who writes songs and is the lead singer in a band named Urban crowns, who performs every month.
“I used to get nervous performing on stage but now it’s exhilarating performing in front of people who came to see you.”
Yoder’s favorite song as of now is “Gone, Gone/Thank you” by Tyler the Creator.
Outside of music, Yoder likes to run and even participates on the track team.
“No drug can ever give me the same kind of euphoria as a runner’s high gives me.”
running is important to Max Yoder and he does not intend to give up on it soon.
Other than running and music Yoder likes to spend time outdoors playing cornhole or driving around with top down down on his car. In fact Yoder is super good at cornhole. He says he is willing to challenge anyone to a round.
In all, Yoder is a very bright student at Urbandale and has a lot to look forward to in his lifetime. Yoder plans to go to Russia and visit iconic scenes of the Russian landscape in the near future. Yoder also says he wants to be seen as a father like figure in a scary world. Overall this is just a small glimpse at Max Yoder’s big world.
Get to Know: Mikayla Delaney
Mikayla Delaney is a creative and generous UHS junior. who has a passion for writing. Growing up in Des Moines along with her younger brother, Nathan, Mikayla became interested in writing through school. She continues her love for writing by creating articles for the UHS journalism team. Mikayla makes her articles her own by mixing her passion for art and creativity with her writing. In the past, she has shown her unique taste by taking great pictures for her articles and drawing the members of the journalism team for The Crapper Chatter. Her goal is to enlighten readers on important topics such as politics and mental health.
“I’m working on having my own unique voice. I’m still developing it, and this class (journalism) really helps me with that.”
Outside of writing, Mikayla spends her time drawing and reading fantasy novels. She can often be found skating or getting coffee with her friends.
“I was in a studio art class last semester, so I did a lot of painting, drawing, and exploring different mediums. It was really fun.”
Mikayla enjoys the movie “The Little Hours” for its dark comedic voice. Her diverse music taste includes Rico Nasty and The 1975.
Mikayla is currently taking her third semester of journalism. Flexibly and constantly writing is what keeps her interested in journalism. Mikayla finds value in regularly writing and continuing to hone her journalistic skills. In the future Mikayla sees herself living in Chicago with a career in psychology, social work or in the medical field.
“Writing is supper therapeutic and relaxing for me so I’d really like to continue it as a hobby.”
Mikayla Delaney is an integral part of the journalism team because of her distinctive perspective and passion for writing. Her unignorable talent will allow her to achieve her bright future with ease. Mikayla and her thoughtful personality are sure to make an impact on the world.
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