On Monday, Nov. 13, Tim Weidenbach of Parkston came to Woonsocket to speak to all high school students in grades seven through 12. The students from Sanborn Central were bussed over for the presentation, as this is a hot topic with all law enforcement trying to get people to cut out distractions and drive safer. 

Weidenbach gave some of his background as the owner of Higher Power Sports out of Parkston and that he works with athletes from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell and the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He trained a dog to be a therapy dog, named Gracie, but she is now reaching an age where she can no longer travel with him, so he brought his new dog, Remme along for the ride. Remme is well-trained and is working on the therapy dog part of her training as she is still rather young.

Weidenbach stated that he has been giving this speech for over seven years and has done it about 500 times, but it doesn’t get any easier and the statistics are still ridiculous. He informed the crowd that 25 percent of all accidents are caused by someone texting and driving; 60 percent of all accidents are caused by someone doing something on their cell phone. He said that the strange statistics are that 94 percent of people state that they know it is dangerous, but 70 percent of them say it’s dangerous for other people, but not “me.” 

…Read on and see a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!

On Saturday, Oct. 14, the oral interp teams from both Woonsocket and Sanborn Central worked together to host an oral interp contest at Woonsocket High School. Students from Woonsocket, Sanborn Central, Wessington Springs, James Valley Christian, Lake Preston and Mitchell Christian attended the contest. Each student performed their piece three times to three different judges and then received an average score to determine their award placing. 

Lisa Snedeker and the Dakotaland Federal Credit Union also provided goody bags for each oral interp student who competed.

The results for Saturday’s contest are as follows, from Woonsocket: McKenzie Baruth received a superior in oratory; Kyla Terkildsen earned a superior in duet; Emilie Lindgren received a superior plus in humorous reading; and Jalyn Grassel earned a superior in serious reading and a superior in duet; from Sanborn Central: Sean Bitterman earned an excellent plus in humorous reading; Olivia Conrad received an excellent plus in oratory; Temperance Salathe earned an excellent plus in storytelling; and their readers theatre team of Sean Bitterman, Parker Ettswold, Clay Moody, Grant Edwards and Erick Melendez received an excellent plus for their performance.

For the students from Sanborn Central, this was their first time performing for this season, and for Woonsocket team members it was their second performance. Next up for the Sanborn Central team is Sioux Falls Washington’s Circle of Courage meet on Friday, Oct. 20, and the Woonsocket kids will be in Huron on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

…See the Sanborn Central students who competed in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!