The Black and Gold Volume 5 Issue 18 January 16th, 2026

Newspaper Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Michaela Copeland

Assistant Editor-in-Chief

Bella Beems

News Editor

Laci Burnett

Reporters

Katlyn Boydston

Grayson Moore

Photographers

Lauraly Lane

Josephine Long

Designers

Ashlynn Bowen

Gunner Delp

Valentine’s Ads On Sale

Find out how to send your friends or partner a Valentine’ Day Ad in the newspaper! -p. 3

MS Scholar Bowl

Check out the buzz about this week’s meet! - p. 5

Learn about Senior Nate Bowen and his future plans! -p. 11

THE BLACK AND GOLD

Tigers Compete in Osborn Tournament

By: Katlyn Boydston

The High School Boys Basketball Team fought hard against StewartsvilleOsborn for the Osborn Tournament on Monday, January 12th, 2026 Their hard work showed in a brutal fight against the Wildcards with a score of 6231

Junior Cooper Wachtel said, “It went well, we only had five people, and for only having that many people we did well.” Cooper’s best moment from Monday night's game was “having effort, and that the team did pretty well.”

“It went well, I thought we did well for only having five guys,” says Sophomore Gage Hartman. Hartman’s best moment from Monday night's game was when he pulled up at short corner and splashed it, and walked back to his spot in the 2-2 half-court zone.

Coach Matthews said, “The boys actually did pretty well, and the score doesn’t indicate how well we played the 2nd quarter at like a 8 point game, we were even within 11 points in the 3rd quarter, we competed well for only having five guys this week, and I didn’t have any complaints about their effort "

The boys played on January 14th with a score of 62-44, and they play again tonight for the Osborn Tournament After that, they have a home game on Tuesday, January 20, against Rock Port Come out and support our Basketball boys and cheer them on.

What to Watch

By: Lauraly Lane

If you like Greek mythology or shows with many action scenes, I recommend Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

This series follows demigod Percy Jackson, who finds out he’s a demigod by fighting his math teacher, who is a Fury His mom then takes Percy and Grover, Percy’s best friend, to Camp Half-Blood. Percy finds out Grover is a saytr, and Percy fights a minotaur with a sword, but the minotaur takes his mom.

Percy meets Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Luke Castellan, son of Apollo, and eventually finds out he’s the son of Poseidon, a forbidden demigod.

Percy ends up on a series of exiting quests with his friends and a number of characters from the Greek pantheon. They try to find his mom, locate Zeus’s lightning bolt, and more.

You can watch the series on Disney+; new episodes come out for Season 2 every Wednesday

What to Play

By: Ashlynn Bowen

If you’re looking for something new to play, then I recommend Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

This is a card game that can be played with up to eight players and can get aggressive. The basis of the game is you take turns laying a card in the center pile while saying “Taco,” “Goat,” “Cheese,” then “Pizza.”

If the card someone lays down and matches what’s being said at that moment, everyone has to slap the pile. The last to slap has to take the entire pile and add it to their hand. The goal is to get rid of all the cards in your hand, like in Uno.

There are even some cards - like gorilla and unicorm cards - where you have to perform special actions before slapping the pile. These will definitely get everyone laughing.

This is definitely a fun game to play with a small group of friends, but make sure to be careful as it can get violent - and maybe trim your nails first!

De Kalb Lady Tigers Compete in Osborn Tournament

By: Gunner Delp

Grace Downing gets some air time in an attempt to “yamm the ball,” according to Freshman Reid Reagn

The De Kalb High School Girls Basketball team has been putting forth great efforts this season, including in this week’s Osborn tournament Their hard work has landed them a spot in tonight’s championship game

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Monday’s game was a crushing win over Winston with a score of 51-22. On Wednesday, January 14 , they claimed another win, this time against Maysville. The final score of the game was 37 - 26, with the girls taking home the win

As the Lady Tigers head into tonight’s championship game, they’ve had some time to reflect Freshman Kaylee Chatman credits Monday’s win to the way the Lady Tigers “locked up Winston’s star player,” so the Redbirds weren’t able to advance the score as much as they hoped. In Wednesday’s game, the Ladies “had great defense, but just have to make some minor adjustments” before heading into the final notes Senior Kenzie Pflugradt

The next game to be played will be tonight against Union Star at Osborn, taking place at 6 PM Head Coach Jackson Rumpf wants to state that he would “Love it if everyone would come and support their friends!”

After tonight’s game, the girls will be looking to rack up another win here at home against Rock Port on Tuesday, January 20th

MS Scholar Bowl

By: Bella

Beems

Thursday, the Middle School Scholar Bowl team played against Mound City. The team won two of their matches, 13090 against West Nodaway and 110-0 against Craig.

Even though they lost their match against Mound City, the score was an extremely close 120-130. This win led to DeKalb being ranked 8th in the Conference right now.

“Everyone pulled their own weight, they did great!” says Coach Taylor. Everyone has improved on jumping to answer their questions, especially Eighth grader Jackson Wachtel who answered the most questions of the night When asked what he did to prepare for such a feat, Jackson said “I ate a good meal before.”

Their next meet will be at Rock Port on Thursday, January 23. Good luck!

What to Read

By: Bella Beems

As it gets colder outside, there is always a little voice inside my head that wants to watch the entirety of the Twilight Saga. This year I have decided that not only am I going to watch every movie yet again, but I am also going to read the series for the first time.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer follows a teenager Bella Swan, who has recently moved to Forks, Washington, to live with her father after living with her mom in Phoenix all her life. Let's just say Bella does not like it in Forks. She prefers the sunshine and heat, but all Forks has is clouds and gloom. And not only is Forks gloomy, it’s boring.

At Forks High School, Bella is the talk of the school In such a small town, new faces are a novelty. Here she meets a guy, a strange guy, named Edward Cullen. Edward and his siblings were the original talk of the school, between their striking looks and odd relationships. Suddenly, between trying to get along with Edward and figuring out what is so strange about him, Bella isn’t bored anymore.

If you're looking for a fantasy romance novel to get lost in the depth of on a rainy or snowy day, I definitely recommend Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

JayceJones Hisskillsonthe ukelele

What to Listen To

By: Michaela Copeland

During the colder, darker weather, I prefer listening to something soft and calming, so if you would like to explore something similar to folk music, I recommend Townes Van Zandt

This artist was popular during the late 60s and early 70s. Townes Van Zandt never pursued a life of fame, but he gathered a small following and other celebrities and artists such as Steve Earle and Bob Dylan. Steve claims, “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that ”

My favorite song from Townes Van Zandt is “Quicksilver Daydreams of Maria”, featured on the album “For the Sake of the Song,” which was released in 1968. Other popular songs from him include: “Waiting Around to Die”, “Kathleen”, and “To Live is to Fly”.

Townes Van Zandt sadly passed away on January 1st, 1997, because of health issues and substance abuse, but several audiences still appreciate his music by visiting his tribute shows and purchasing his vinyls and albums.

You can listen to Townes Van Zandt on any music platform, such as Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, and Soundcloud

By: Laci Burnett

Courtwarming Dress-up Days

Space jam

Wear your favorite pajamas (must be schoolappropriate).

Cowboys vs. Aliens

Dress as a cowboy or an alien.

in the Dark

Wear your best neon clothing.

Back to the Future

Dress in clothes from your favorite past or future decade.

your black and gold.

FFA Attends Greenhand Conference

By: Grayson Moore

On Friday, January 9th, the Dekalb freshmen FFA members went to Northwest Missouri State University for the Greenhand Motivational Conference According to Mr Medsker, the conference is designed to “encourage new FFA members to be active and excited to be a part of FFA, and they seem to have gotten something positive from the day ”

This year’s attendees included freshmen Analeesa Busby, Kaylee Chatman, Wyatt Griffin, Gage Hartman, Parker Pierce, Jacob Pyles, Reid Reagan, Anaela White, and Laisey Willming.

Gage Hartman appreciated the day: "The purpose was to bring together the first year FFA members, instill confidence, build relationships and become the best My favorite part was the Incredibles play when Mound City’s FFA Director was running around as Jack-Jack and slipped and hit his head on the wall.”

SENIORSPOTLIGHT

byMrs.Powell

Week in the Life