John I. Burton competes at wrestling sub-regions

On Friday, February 7, 2014 John I. Burton's Wrestling Team participated in the sub-regions held at Eastside High School.  Teams at sub-regions included: Castlewood, Chilhowie, Honaker, Patrick Henry, and Northwood. Overall, Burton's team had three individuals place: Brandon A., 126-weight-class, placed fourth, Sam S., 145-weight-class, placed 3rd, and Daniel C., 170-weight-class, placed 4th.

While everyone did not place in the top four, all Burton competitors walked away away with a medal. Isaac S., 132-weight-class, walked away with a fifth place medal; Jesse S., 138-weight-class, walked away with a sixth place medal; and Alex P., Heavyweight, walked away with a sixth place medal. Later this week, Burton wrestlers will be visiting Rural Retreat for regions.

Brandon A. lost his first match by pin and lost his second match by 2 points. Isaac S. lost both of his matches by pin. Jesse S., lost his first and third matches by pin and won his second match by medical default. Sam S. won his first match, lost his second, and then won his third and fourth. Daniel C. won his first match 12-8, lost his second by pin, won his third, and lost his fourth. Alex P. lost his first match by pin, won his second by medical default, lost his third by pin, and lost his fourth by pin.

Raiders and Bears face off with Warriors over a racial slur

Recently, several students from John I. Burton were involved in a dispute on Twitter with rival students from Central.  The argument began after two social media accounts were developed on Twitter, following a competitive basketball game.  The first account developed dubbed the Warriors: "Walmart Warriors." In response, a second account was created which contained discriminatory language targeted at Burton students. Although both accounts were removed by Twitter not long after their creation, these accounts fueled a dispute between students.  Union High School stepped in and sided with the Raiders against the Warriors.  On February 1, 2014 the Union Bears took on the Central Warriors. JIB joined forces with Union and a huge student section was formed in reaction to the racial slur on the Twitter account.  Did this conflict result from cyberbullying? The clearest answer is: yes.  Some people may have found these events amusing, but this situation was in fact a perfect example of what we should try to avoid. 


According to a recent survey held by the students here at Burton Press, 45 percent of JIB students spend two to four hours a day online. In a week’s time, this adds up to 14 hours or more. Some students even indicated that they spend more than six hours a day online. In this day in time young adults feel it is essential to be connected at all times. I, for one, could not imagine starting my day without checking my Twitter account first. Cyberbullying is a word we hear often, but most of us wish to turn a blind eye to the possibility of such activity occurring at our close knit community.  Unfortunately, it happens more often then we would like to believe. Even here, in John I. Burton, we are affected by those who choose to bully others on social media sites. What can we do to stop it? First, we must understand what cyberbullying is and the affects it can have on individuals.  

Book Club: Read all about it!

Yesterday, Tuesday, February 4, marked the start of the first book club meeting! The club is lead by Mrs. Brooke Bias and Mrs. Jennifer Reed.  Members meet once a month to discuss a novel that they have read in the past month -- members get to select their own novel, but it must be on a high school or college level. The Book Club's current membership is at 12. Members are: Heather C., Olivia D., Madison F., Sopie P., Charisma H., Nikki M. Alexus R., Austin S., Megan S., Ashley S., Kierstien S., and Alexis S.

The most popular areas of discussion were: The "Divergent" series,"The Fault in Our Stars," and "Flowers in the Attic".

The club is currently making plans to visit a large bookstore in Knoxville, Tennessee during the month of May.  They also plan to visit the movie theater to see "Divergent."
                                                                                                                     

Teacher report: all about Mrs. Cline

Even though Ms. Cline has endured a recent personal hardship, she has not let it affect her job or her relationship with students.  She is always joking and keeping everything lighthearted and happy in her classroom.  Ms. Cline just simply loves her job and her students. 

In addition to the love of her students, Ms. Cline has other loves in life. One of her main loves is her daughter. She is currently attending law school at the University of Tennessee.  “I’m counting on her to make a lot of money, so I can retire”, she jokes. Ms. Cline has 3 cats that she adores. She also  loves to read, shop and travel.  Her favorite book is “To Kill a Mockingbird”. 

Ms. Cline attended J.J. Kelly high school and college at Carson Newman in Jefferson City, Tennessee.  Her influences to teach were her high school teachers Frances Howard and Connie Clark. They were her favorite teachers.   Ms. Cline decided to teach because she was married and believed that it would be a good second income for her future family. She also loved the idea of having summers and holidays off.  She has taught for a total of 15 years, and teaches English. Ms. Cline chose English because she was always good at it, and it came naturally to her. Her favorite grade to teach is 9th; her favorite part of teaching is when she has a student in her class who hates to read and when they finish her class they enjoy reading. She says books like "To Kill a Mocking Bird", "Of Mice and Men" or "Speak" are usually the books that get kids interested in reading.  Ms. Cline states that she tries to keep class fun by cutting up with the kids and developing a personal relationship with them, so that it seems lighthearted and fun. She says that when she gets a kid that is a bit shy or closed off she tries her best to make the student feel at ease with her silly jokes.  According to Ms. Cline , she loves all of her students, so picking favorites is not really a problem. Ms.Cline disciplines students by warning them multiple times before giving them a referral form.

According to Ms. Cline, she loves her job but teaching is not a job that you can just walk away from, it’s something you take home with you.  She says she’s always thinking about her students.

Good luck!

The Burton Press would like to wish the JIB Scholastic Bowl team good luck as they travel to compete at Radford for the the Regional 1A West competition!

         Good luck Raiders! 

Burton takes down the top

This game was played on January 31 at John I. Burton.

Eastside came into the game undefeated in our district and ready to move up their record to 7-0. Regardless of Eastside's record, the Raiders came ready to play. At the very start, both teams scored evenly not letting each others gain a lead. Then Raiders got an eight point lead against the Spartans and kept it into halftime.

Eastside did not give up easily. The third quarter was full of constant scoring back to back. The lead got cut down a couple times but the Raiders worked to bring it back up. Late in the fourth quarter, Eastside seemed like they were about to make a comeback, but the Raiders played intense defense and did not allow a comeback. Eastside is no longer undefeated in the district. The final score: 63-54.

Ervin B. played an amazing game on Friday. He led the team with 26 points.  The rest of the team were balanced scoring: averaging 6 points each. Ervin had to guard a player who could make three's pretty well. He defended him well and did not let him start scoring. Ervin's offense was insane as well. When Eastside was coming back and the rest of his team couldn't score, he easily scored.

Teacher report: All about Robert Fultz

Mr. Robert Fultz is a mathematics teacher here at John I. Burton. He teaches math from the start of school to the end. His subjects are Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. Mr. Fultz has enjoyed teaching for thirty years. In his early teaching years he considered himself strict, but as he gained more experience he became less strict. I asked him, "How do you deal with bad students?" his response was, "Anything to get them to do better. I've tried assigning work, disciplining them, and just about everything -- I just do my best to help them learn." He also rewards his good students. For example, when I was in his class he threw us pizza parties. His advice to upcoming students is, "Get ready."

Mr. Fultz is 53 years old. He was raised in Norton and still lives in Norton. Mr. Fultz is happily married with three kids. He  is also a pastor at the Freedom of Worship Church and a small business owner for inflatables. When asked how being a pastor affects his role as a school teacher, his response was: "Coming back to the high school classroom after being a pastor has probably caused me to be a bit more sympathetic. So many students deal with so much outside the classroom and I can't seem to ignore that. I find myself being a bit of a cheerleader. I suppose that's not terrible." He taught at many places before coming to Burton. These schools include the Wise County Christian School, Appalachia High School, Pound High School, and Coeburn High Schools.  He also taught many college classes at MECC and UVA Wise - in fact, he still teaches one for UVA Wise. In addition to teaching, Mr. Fultz has had a variety of work experience in his life. He has been a janitor, pumped gas, worked as a general mechanic, made pizza, fried burgers and fish, made Pepsi, worked in coal mines, and set up tents and inflatables.  All in all, I think Burton students consider themselves lucky to have a such a well-rounded instructor.

Weekly Announcements

SENIORS

• Senior without quotes: Tevin A., Sarah A., Zach F., Elliot G., Tyler G., Alex G., Brain H., Breanna H., Jacob K., Rusti M., Dillen R., Andrew S., Kelly T., Kevin V., Nathaniel W.
• New scholarships are available in the guidance office.
• The following seniors need to see Mrs. Carter about attending the prom this year:  Tevin A., Nathan F., Zachary F., Alex G., Brian H., Maritza M., Teddy M., Dillen R., Anthony S., Kiana V.
• Financial Aid Workshop is February 11, 2014 sign up sheet in guidance.

JUNIORS

• All Juniors must have prom fees turned in to Ms. Carter by February 28, 2014. Juniors who do not pay fees will not be permitted to attend prom.
• The following juniors still owe prom money - see Mrs. Carter if you need to know how much:  Christopher A., Aleksander B., Vanessa B., Jakub B., Keaton B., Isaac B., Heather C., Daniel C., Honest C., Justina E., Tiffany E., Noah F., Madison F., Alexander K., Daniel M., Tristan M., Garry M., Nikki M., Eryk N., Benjamin P., Dustin P., Deshawn P., Alexis R., Karissa R., Aaron S., Christopher S., Dakota S., Ryland S., Breannah S., Christopher S., Devon W.

SPORTS

Tennis 

• Yummy... Last day to order your rich and creamy donuts!! They will be delivered fresh and ready to eat this Friday!! So find a girls' or boys' tennis team member or come by Mrs. Beauchamp's room and order yours today!!
• Attention Boys and Girls tennis teams - you have a mandatory meeting on Monday at 3:05 in Mrs. Beauchamp's room. Bring your doughnut orders and money. Everyone must attend!
• There will be no girls tennis today after school. You will meet Tuesday at 4:45 in the weight room

Softball

• There will be a softball meeting for students and parents on Thursday, February 6 at 6pm. Location: John I. Burton High School. Please attend if you wish to play softball.

CLUBS

• Attention Book Club Members: You will meet on Tuesday February 4, 2014 at 3:30 - snacks are cancelled.
• Sucker Sale!!!  The Key Club has lip suckers for sale for $1 each. Please see Mrs. Reed or any Key Club member to make a purchase.

PIE A TEACHER

Want to pie a member of the faculty?

This week a box will be in the office in the mornings and afternoons and on the lunch duty table for students to raise money to pie some of our favorite teachers during the pep rally.  You have the opportunity to pie the following teachers on February 14, 2014:

Mrs. Reed -- $25

Mrs. Farmer -- $50

Mrs. Carter -- $75

 Mr. Fultz --$100

Mr. Roop -- $125

Mr. Walker -- $150

Coach Stidham -- $175

Mr. Lobiondo -- $200

Coach Smith -- $225

Coach Dales -- $250

 Coach Williams -- $300

Coach Helton -- $400

If students are able to raise $400, all of the listed teachers will be up for auction to the highest bidder during the pep rally on Valentines Day.

Make sure you bring your extra change!

Students have raised $70.12. Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Farmer will be auctioned off on February 14, 2014.