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December 19th, 2025
MS Girls Basketball
Hear about the middle school boys fought hard for a win. -p. 4 MC is a bad girl
HS Girls How to Prepare Basketball for Santa
Read about how the girls brutally defeated OSHS. - p. 8
MC eats her boogers
Figure out how to properly prepare for Santa! -p. 10
MC’s bus is here
THE BLACK AND GOLD Volume 5 Issue 16 December 19th 2025
is st
inky
Newspaper Staff
MC is cray cray
MC
MC hates Christmas
MC is smelly
Editor-in-Chief
Michaela Copeland
Assistant Editor-in-Chief Bella Beems News Editor Laci Burnett
Photo Credit: Sara Kimberley Photo Caption: Band performs for Winter Concert.
Band Performs Winter Concert By: Miley Phillips
Reporters Katlyn Boydston Grayson Moore Photographers Lauraly Lane Josephine Long Designers Ashlynn Bowen Gunner Delp Guest Writer Miley Phillips
The DeKalb High School Band held their Winter concert on Wednesday, December 17. They performed three different pieces. The first was Hymsong Varients, a piece that combined different themes. Then they played a song titled Down by the Salley Gardens. This piece was the slowest out of the three, which, despite that seeming to be simple, was the hardest piece for them to learn. Their third piece was titled A Carmen Christmas. This song tied together multiple different Christmas songs in a festive medley. The band started preparing for this concert in November. They put in work every day at school to put together the best performance they could. Junior Bella Beems said, “I feel it went amazing because everyone worked hard and it showed.” Band director Mrs. King said “The best part of our band performance was hearing how much we have improved in just the last couple days and all of the pieces coming together to form the complete picture. All of the little things we've been working on came together to complete the performance.” The next performance for the band is their contest in March. Students will also start preparing to do solos. They will have another concert in the spring to showcase all of their hard work for the community.
MC bites me
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December 19th, 2025
What to Watch
By: Michaela Copeland
What to Listen to By: Ashlynn Bowen
Photo Credit: Pinterest Pictured: Ralphie as pictured A Christmas Story
Due to the Christmas Season, I recommend a classic – Christmas Story. This movie was released on November 18th in 1983. Throughout the movie, the main character, Ralphie, played by Peter Billingsley, reminisces about his childhood in the 1940s, specifically a Christmas when he tried to convince Santa, his parents, and his teacher to buy him a very specific BB gun, but is told that he’ll “shoot his eye out.” Ralphie stays persistent, even daydreaming about different scenarios where he beats off all of the burglars in order to protect his frightened family from a posse of thieves. Ralphie goes to his last resort, the mall Santa at Higbee’s Department Store, and the Santa there tells him once again, that he’ll “shoot his eye out.” Just when Ralphie loses hope on Christmas morning, he was rewarded with his living room full of gifts and exactly what he wanted. I recommend this movie because it’s a nice classic to watch when I need a good laugh and a feel-good movie to get in the Christmas spirit.
Photo Credit: Pinterest Pictured: SZA
If you are looking for a new artist to listen to, then I recommend you SZA. SZA’s real name is Solana Imani Rowe, and she got her inspiration for her name from the supreme alphabet and other popular rappers like RZA and GZA. She started making music in the early 2010s and released her first self-titled EP, Run, in October 2012. She had a breakthrough in her music and was the first woman on TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment). This win led her to release her first commercially successful EP in 2014, but her R & B debut album Crtl brought her the most recognition on Media. My favorite songs of hers are Normal Girl, Ghost in the Machine, and Snooze. What I really enjoy about her music is how catchy the lyrics are and just the general vibe of her music.
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December 19th, 2025
Basketball Boys Shut Down by Stewartsville By: Grayson Moore
Photo Credit: Tiger Booster Club Pictured: Senior Kyle Funk making a free throw
The Dekalb Tigers boys basketball team lost against Stewartsville Osborn on Tuesday, December 17 with a final score of 67-26. Coach Aaron Matthews says “We played okay. I feel like the game could have gone a lot better but there is always room for improvement. I feel like we could have kept ourselves in the game a little longer. I felt like we did some good things, we did good attacking the rim but had some trouble finishing shots, and that's what we are going to work on for the next game.”
“I think I played well. I made some mistakes. I just need to fix the little things.” says junior Cooper Wachtel. The next game is tonight, Friday, December 19th at Dekalb against Northeast Nodaway at home. Come out and support our Boys Basketball team!
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December 19th, 2025
Middle School Girl’s Basketball Last Game By: Bella Beems
What to Read By: Lauraly Lane
Photo Credit: Barnes and Noble Pictured: Book cover of Caraval
Photo Credit: Tiger Booster Club Pictured: Lady Tigers Middle School Basketball
On Monday December 15, our middle school Lady Tigers basketball team stayed home and played their last game against North Platte. “They worked hard the whole season and had a positive attitude while doing it,” says Coach Twilah. The final score was 30-20 with the Tigers winning. “It was great. We won, I think, six games and, I think, we placed 3rd in the tournament.” says 8th grader Ashtyn Novak. This was a fantastic Basketball season, the girls worked so hard and improved daily. Great job girls! See you next season!
One book I recommend is Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This book focuses on Scarlett Dragna and how she wanted to join Master Legend’s Caraval games with her sister, Donatella, for her sister’s birthday. Scarlett sent letters for seven years, and in the seventh year, she gave up with the Caraval games going to Trisdad. Scarlett finally got a letter back and got tickets from Legend to join the games that year. She went to tell her sister and found Donatella with a sailor named Julian. Later, Scarlett was kidnapped by the pair to go to Legend’s island. Julian then pretended to be Scarlett’s fiancé so he could also get into Legend’s mansion. In the Caraval, reality and dreams become one, which makes Caraval a very dangerous place. That’s why people are warned before the games start. In the Caraval Games, people are given clues in the room they are staying in, and only one can win.
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December 19th, 2025
OF THE Jase Hall He is super tuff
Cooper Wachtel
He is always showing love to his friends
Favorite Christmas Dessert
Ea
stb
er
na
W
-M aken
ac htel
ney o M
o u r n, Co
op
Other 13.6% Sugar Cookies 32.2%
Pie 8.5%
Cheesecake 16.9%
Record player esa -Anale Busby
Fudge 10.2%
Peppermint Bark 10.2%
Gifts on your Christmas List By: Laci Burnett
A new purse and new clothes -Presli Punzo
I want my granddaughter to visit for Christmas! -Amy Miller
How Much Snow Will We Get Over Break? 8+ in. 16.4% None 29.5%
Having a Christmas dinner at my grandma's and hanging out with my boyfriend and his family. -Katlyn Boydston
5-7 in. 11.5%
1-2 in. 16.4%
3-4 in. 26.2%
Plans for Christmas Break By: Laci Burnett
To go to the North Pole with my -Wyatt grandpa, Davis Santa
See family -Gretchyn Bowers
Sleep. Sleep. Maybe Sleep. Definitely Sleep. Probably Sleep. -Cane Delp
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December 19th, 2025
High School Girls Trounce Stewartsville-Osborn By: Katlyn Boydston
Photo Credit: Tiger Booster Club Pictured: Girls fighting hard against Stewartsville/Osborn
The High School Girls’ Basketball Team has had a busy week playing at home against Stewartsville-Osborn on Tuesday, December 16th. After working hard on Tuesday, the girls played a tough game against Stewartsville/Osborn. They fought to win, they won with a score of 50-12. Coach Rumpf said, “Thought we were going to attack them on defense and offense which was good.” So this week for practice they are still working on defense and offense. “It went pretty well. We started off with a lot of buckets, we ended with a bunch of good shots and our energy was very high,” said Sophomore Lilly Wagner. Come see these girls work hard at their next game on our home court against Northeast Nodaway at 6:00 and cheer them on.
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December 19th, 2025
Middle School Boys Fight Until the End
What to Play By: Gunner Delp
By: Gunner Delp
Photo Credit: Unknown Source Pictured: MS Boys Basketball Team
The final game of this year's Junior High boys basketball team was played on December 15th, marking the end of this year's season. The boys put forth their best efforts this year and unfortunately lost the last game 51 - 25. Although the boys lost their last game, “It was one of our best games,” says Aric Bramble. To prepare for next season, they have agreed to practice harder and focus more. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this year's season and are already looking forward to their next season. Thank you to our Junior High boys basketball team for the hard work and effort put forward for this season. We are all looking forward to our next season and can’t wait to see what improvement will be made!
Photo Credit: PlayStation Pictured: Stardew Valley video game cover
Have you been in the mood for a calm and relaxing game? In the mood for a little bit of strategy mixed with farming? I have got the perfect game for you! Stardew Valley is an open-ended RPG game that immerses the player in a world of farming mixed with a relaxing atmosphere. The main goal of the game is to make money from farming, mining, fishing, and selling. This is the perfect video game if you’ve had a hard day and need something to help you relax. Stardew Valley is available on the following platforms: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. It is free on most platforms, but a fee may apply for some systems. I highly recommend checking out Stardew Valley if you are looking for something that makes you feel warm and cozy!
December 19th, 2025
How to Prepare for Santa ~ Clear pathways for him to walk ~ Hang Stockings for him to put gifts in ~Leave out milk and cookies for him to munch on ~leave carrots for his hardworking reindeer ~Get cozy by turning on a movie and drinking hot chocolate ~ Cuddle up with warm blankets to Go to sleep and await his arrival
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