It will be held in the teachers’ cafeteria during all hours on Friday. The price will be one dollar for each item. Items include cappuccinos, hot chocolate, lemonade, and cookies.

“Your donations would be much appreciated by the CCC and everyone the food is donated to,” CCC president Tyler Amble said.

If anyone would like to donate money, cappuccino mix, or cookies, please contact Mr. Poplau in room 208 before or after school.

It will be held in the teachers’ cafeteria during all hours on Friday. The price will be one dollar for each item. Items include cappuccinos, hot chocolate, and cookies.

“Your donations would be much appreciated by the CCC and the Benlon Family,” said CCC president Tyler Amble.

If anyone would like to donate money, cappuccino mix, or cookies, please contact Mr. Poplau in room 208 before or after school.

Girls:

• Savannah Carbajo
• Caitlin Fitzgerald
• Jessi Howard
• Carly Iverson
• Cassie Jones
• Laura Konecny
• Audrey Millard
• Rachel Morgan
• Bambi Pachimsawat
• Stephanie Rupp

Boys:

• Tyler Amble
• Bryan Ayars
• Steve Carver
• Nick Feighner
• Alex Geis
• Kent Hollingsworth
• Spencer Merryfield
• Nolan Parker
• Lippi Souza
• Gregory Wynn

It was an electrifying feeling. Everybody knew the game was over; it was only a matter of time. The Cougars had a 2-1 lead over the number one seed Olathe South Falcons with only seconds left on the clock. Senior Lippi Souza started his victory sprint toward the packed Cougar faithful fan section, tearing off his jersey. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, a Falcon player fell to his knees in disbelief, realizing that his hopes of a state championship had been squashed by the one team that nobody thought stood a chance, the team that continued to defy all expectations.

That seemed to be the theme all year for the Cougars­ — never say never. During summer conditioning, it seemed as though there was an air of uncertainty hovering around the upcoming season; who were going to be the leaders this year? Who was going to step up to fill the shoes of the many seniors that were lost from last year?

“With the group of guys we lost last year, we were just wondering if these guys were going to be able to step up and fill their shoes,” coach Todd Boren said.

After losing an overtime battle to the nationally ranked Rockhurst Hawklets on Sept. 28, the team dropped two more games and seemed to have lost its way.

“You know, that was kind of gut-check time right there,” Boren said. “That was going to be the time that the season was either going to completely implode, or we were going to try to screw our heads back on and get after it.”

The team came together and decided that they would not let the season go down in the record books as a failure. On their way to a third place finish at state, the Cougars upset two number one seeds­­ — Olathe East in regionals 1-0 and Olathe South in the quarterfinals.

“We really came together as a team and realized that we had the potential to be really good,” junior Kyle Moore said.

Throughout the season, and well into the postseason, the NW fans gave a huge boost to the Cougars. At almost every game, the designated fan section spilled over into the rest of the bleachers. The NW fans outnumbered opponents’ fan sections.

“It was really fun going to the games this year. I loved going; there were always tons of people there,” senior Tyler Amble said. “As a fan you could kind of feel the team’s momentum. Every time the team won, we would all go crazy. It was awesome.”

Going into the season, the expectations had been relatively low, which may have contributed to the team’s success. After a shaky start to the season that left the team with a losing record, 5-6, a 7-0 win against SM South sparked a surge of momentum that would carry the boys to the end of the season.

After upsetting the number- one-seeded Falcons, the Cougars went on to the state semifinals to play Washburn Rural High School. Washburn was 17-1 at the time, losing only to St. Thomas Aquinas. The Baby Blues had beaten the Cougars earlier in the year, and the eventual state champions had the speedy and slender team outsized and outmatched.

Despite the largest turnout of the year from the NW faithful, it was the first time in five games that senior Jon Kankam was not able to do a post-game victory back flip, as the Cougars fell 3-1.

Sticking with the theme of the season, the dejected boys wiped away tears of sorrow to prepare for the consolation game the next day. They came out with kicks of fury, beating the Dodge City Red Demons 2-0, and taking home the third place trophy. But after the miracle run they had made in the postseason, third place seemed like a letdown to some of the Cougar players.

“It’s frustrating getting this far and then not getting to the championship, you know, because that’s where everyone wants to be. We began the season with expectations to win the league. That didn’t work out, but we came out in the postseason, and we really started clicking at the right time,” senior Lippi Souza said. “Overall, I guess I’m happy with the result that we got in the end.”

It will be held in the teachers’ cafeteria during all hours on Friday.  The price will be one dollar for each item.  Items include cappuccinos, hot chocolate, lemonade, and cookies.

“Your donations would be much appreciated by the CCC and Ms. Thigpen,” said CCC president Tyler Amble.

If anyone would like to donate money, cappuccino mix, or cookies, please contact Mr. Poplau in room 208 before or after school.

Cougars Community Commitment, also known as CCC, has become a very popular class at Northwest. Ron Poplau, the man who began this class back in 1992, has been a teacher at Northwest since the school opened. He was inspired to start the class just out of the kindness of his heart. A former sociology teacher, Poplau began engaging his classes in community service projects. Soon the requests became overwhelming. That was when Poplau decided to make community service an actual class.

It’s hard to believe that CCC’s first class started out with just 17 students. The class is now packed with nearly 200 students per semester. Many people have their opinions that students take the class just to skip out on school. Poplau believes otherwise.

“What alot of people don’t realize is that there is more to be learned outside of the classroom than inside.” said Poplau.

Every year Poplau chooses students to represent CCC on an Executive Board. This year the board consists of president Tyler Amble, vice president Zoe Phelps, Nick Feighner, Carly Iverson, Jenni Pinkleman, Balie Phelan, and Kent Hollingsworth. These students plan the fundraisers and events CCC will participate in for that school year.

The board has held three meetings this year and have decided on a few fundraisers so far.

September 14-18 we will be having a dollar day.

October 1 CCC will have an Italian Dinner to support Ms. Helgoth.

“CCC is a class that wont only benefit others, it makes you a better person.” said senior Carly Iverson.

The CCC Board is open to any suggestions or ideas for fundraisers. If you have any concerns or questions please call Nick Feighner at (913)-231-6050.