The
Gowrie News
Award Winning Newspaper, Commissioners Special Award for Excellence in Traffic Safety
Celebrating
Wednesday, December 4, 2019 GOWRIE, WEBSTER COUNTY, IOWA
Since 1889
VOL. 130 NO. 49
on the 14th of December, and have their first
postseason meet, their League Champion-
ship, in Fort Dodge on January 18th. Come
support Southeast Valley Robotics and see
this unique competition for yourself!
Southeast Valley R botics Team
Sets World Record for most points
By Parker Johnson
Southeast Valley Robotics competes in a program
called FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). Each year, FTC has
a new task for students to try and accomplish in an alliance
format, meaning it’s two teams against two other teams.
Because of this, students need to be prepared to work with
people they’ve never met before. This makes FTC a very
unique competition, especially in high schools. The new
game this year is called Skystone, and has alliances com-
peting to stack the most stones on different foundations.
The Southeast Valley Robotics teams are having great
success this year. After making the decision to split into a
freshman-sophomore (the Gear Heads) and junior-senior
team (the JagWires), both teams are still seeing great suc-
cess. Last Friday, on November
22nd, the Southeast Valley
Robotics teams
traveled to Waukee for
By Shari Everhart
When someone in small-town America needs help and
support, the community rises to the occasion and gives
their all. So is the case of Lane Popp Jones, a junior at
Southeast Valley High School.
When diagnosed with malignant bone cancer, students
at the school and residents of the surrounding community
began rallying around the teen and his family. Fundraisers
and benefits to support them began.
The Southeast Valley Youth Sports Foundation (YSF),
which is comprised of Southeast Valley 5th and 6th grade
football players, hold an annual fundraising game at Burn-
side. This year, it was decided to donate their proceeds
locally and close to home, specifically to the Lane Popp
Jones family. Their “Gold Out Tackle Football” game was
held early in October with team players all wearing gold
socks in support of their cause. Proceeds from the conces-
sion stand were given toward the childhood cancer cause
and Lane Popp Jones in particular. A total of $240 was
realized from the event.
During Southeast Valley’s homecoming pep rally and
at the homecoming game, monetary donations were being
received for Lane Popp Jones and his family to cover trav-
el, medical expenses and incidental expenses while he was
taking cancer treatment in Iowa City
Lane’s fellow junior classmates held a skating fund-
raiser, a Halloween party at the Wheels of G.Y.C. skating
their third meet of the year.
The matches started off great: both teams were in the
same alliance! They won the first match 54-17. After that,
the Southeast Valley teams were pitted against each other,
and the JagWires came out on top. Throughout the whole
day, the JagWires only dropped one match (5-1), and the
Gear Heads lost four (2-4). The big story, however, was
at the end of the meet. The JagWires were matched with
the Circuit Breakers from Waukee, one of the best teams
in the world. Together, the Circuit Breakers and JagWires
won their match 118-17. 118 is the current world record
for the most points scored in a Skystone match!
After the updated league standings came out, the
JagWires are now in 6th, and the Gear Heads in 10th of
their 27-team league. Looking forward, the JagWires
have one more regular season meet in Humboldt
Pictured with Lane are fellow junior classmates.
Lane Popp Jones Support continues on page 16...
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