by Rachel Jenkins
The bands, orchestras and choirs of South have not been holding back this year. All three went to state at a Blue Valley High school and came back with proud faces.
Three choirs, two orchestras and two bands performed for high ratings. Women’s Choir received a “one” rating, which is the highest possible; Men’s Choir earned a “two,” and the Festival Chorale got a “one” rating.
The Concert Orchestra received a “two,” and the Advanced Orchestra received a “one.” Both orchestra groups played two songs for their performances.
“I’m very proud of both groups. The Concert Orchestra has come a long way and improved tremendously. The Advanced Orchestra demonstrated incredible focus and concentration during their performance by continuing to play while a false fire alarm sounded during their performance,” Greg Ferguson, orchestra director, said.
The Symphonic Band earned a “two” rating, and the Wind Ensemble group received a “one” rating.
Both bands played two songs. One performed by the Symphonic Band was written by the south assistant band director Darren Jenkins.
Though there were a few minor mishaps, “our Wind Ensemble was very pleased with their performance and rating, and our Symphonic Band also played well,” Jenkins said.
The Women and Men’s choirs both sang two songs, and the Festival Chorale went on to perform three songs. “All three choirs did outstanding work and really gave their best,” Cindy Sheppard, choir director, said.
Not one group went below the “two” or “excellent” mark. According to the state judges, the South performing groups this year were “outstanding” and “excellent” and their directors certainly agree.
by Ryan Merchant
If Claire Sundermeyer, the new Junior Class president, can make it happen, there will be “a scary movie night on the football field” next year.
Sundermeyer is one of the newly elected StuCo and class officers that were elected on April 19. These officers will be in charge of many student activities for the coming school year.
The winning candidates in the StuCo election were Lizzy Lothamer as president, Brandon Danford, vice president, Emily Cook, secretary, and Hannah LeManske, treasurer.
Lothamer said she was “super-surprised” to be elected StuCo president. She also mentioned that it was “nerve-racking because there are lots of responsibilities.”
As StuCo president, Lothamer will have many duties. She will be the “overseer of every position.” Not only does she have to oversee every position, but she also has to talk about certain changes to the school that both students and teachers may want.
One of the main activities that Lothamer wants to expand is the “If You Really Knew Me.” Challenge Day. It was an event where students would participate in activities and learn about each other’s experiences. It was mainly focused on stopping bullying and letting other kids know that they aren’t the only ones being bullied. Lothamer really wants to open this to a wider audience.
The new Senior Class Officers for next year will be Riley Brown, president; Emma McCullough, vice president; Zach Wendland, secretary; and Sarah Hanvy, treasurer. All of these people will now have to establish Homecoming, and Graduation.
For the Junior Class, the officers will be president Claire Sundermeyer, vice president Katie Peel, secretary Megan Koval, and treasurer Sydnie Wickliffe.
As class president, Sundermeyer said she is “already full of ideas to make next year amazing.” “junior year is full of stress,” She said her goal for next year is to find ways to release this stress through fun school activities.
And, the Sophomore Class officers will be Elia Hermandez as president, Katie Pelegrin, vice president; Jordan Megles, secretary; and Ashley Reece, treasurer.
In total 24 people ran for StuCo and class offices. Some positions no one ran for during the election, sophomore treasurer and secretary to be exact. According to Jennifer Fales, StuCo sponsor, everyone runs for the position they want, but if people didn’t win the position they run for, then they accept the roles of the positions that aren’t filled.
There were also some positions that only one person ran for. The Senior Class is a good example. Only one person ran for every position, so there was really no competition.
During Election Day, apparently at least one seminar class didn’t end up voting. The reasons are unknown, but all that’s known is that no one voted in that class. One of the StuCo president candidates, Yi-Rui Lye, was very disappointed by this.
Fales has something important to say about this: “It’s important that all seminars are given the opportunity to vote; it’s disappointing if they” aren’t given the chance to vote. A recount could not be called in this election, even if that seminar class did vote; the “gap between the two candidates” was just too large, according to Fales.
Something important to know about StuCo is that they oversee all the meetings in the school, and they plan activities. That’s why there are class elections and StuCo elections. One picks who will represent the students in StuCo, and the other, who will govern the activities for the classes. For example, Junior Class officers have to set up prom and fundraising.
StuCo and class officers will “represent our classes as the voice,” Sundermeyer said. They bridge the gap between faculty and students.
by Julia Florio
Theatre is on a roll this season, rehearsing for three plays back-to-back-to-back this semester.
A cast of 19 students was picked for the show “Almost Maine.” The show was also assigned a stage manager, Rand Anderson, junior, and assistant director, Jessica Danford, senior.
The show is compiled of nine small plays that intertwine together and are set in the town of Almost, Maine.
Each mini one-act tells either a humorous or serious love story. Because of the format, there is no single protagonist, and all characters play as a main focus in their individual story.
“Because of the way the play is set up, we will rehearse three of the individual plays a night, rather than all at once,” said David Hastings, theatrical director.
“Almost Maine” is set to rehearse until the end of February, and will show Mar. 2-3.
Once “Almost Maine” is over, a cast of ten freshmen will begin rehearsing “Searching for David’s Heart.” This full-length show composed of an all freshmen cast and crew, and will be performed the Mar. 30-31.
The last show, “Twelfth Night,” a Shakespearean, play is a comical story of three people caught in a love triangle.
Viola, the protagonist, will be played by Kenzie Clark, sophomore. The other two characters caught in the triangle are Olivia, played by Liz Hicks, senior, and Orsino, played by Jesse Miller, senior.
“Twelfth Night is really a classic comedy love story, and I’m looking forward to working with it,” said Jeremy Walterman, senior, the assistant director of the show.
“Twelfth Night” will show May 3-5. All shows will be performed in the Black Box Theatre, and tickets are available for purchase on the schools website.
by Kate Shuttleworth
The Science Olympiad
Team took ninth out of the 3 teams at state on Saturday,
April 7, which was held at
the Wichita State campus.
The team took fifth place
in the large school division.
The team prepared for
state by using some past
experiences, putting together
notes and tweaking their
build events.
Vikram Lakhanpal,
junior, took second place in
Rocks and Minerals with
his partner, Evan Eschilman,
sophomore.
The competition is a test
where teams of two work
together to identify different
types of rocks and minerals.
Yi-Rui Lye, junior, took
third place in Forestry with
her partner Eschilman.
Forestry is an event where
participants have to identify
different types of trees and
other plants.
“My favorite thing about
today was spending quality
time with my distinguished
scholars,” Lye commented.
Another highlight of
the day was Sarah Hanvy,
junior, taking fourth place
in the event, Helicopters,
which was only one shy of
medaling.
Hanvy made the
helicopter out of bolsa wood
and tissue paper, using
multiple rubber bands to
propel it.
“The best part about being
on the team is achieving
unexpected success,” Hanvy said.
by Marissa Haake
Prom is a night filled with
decorations, dancing and
food. But all of these things
do not just come together
without a lot of background
work.
The juniors have always
put together a committee for
planning all of the different
aspects of prom. A few of
the things they are in charge
of deciding are decorations,
tickets, royalty, favors and
most importantly the theme.
“We have to take into
consideration what everyone
else would want, and we
have to try to make the
seniors happy,” Jill Haake,
junior, said.
The committee takes on
the task of trying to decide
a theme to make the juniors
and seniors equally pleased.
However, they decided that
if seniors are demanding of
a certain thing, they toss out
the idea.
Numerous things go into
planning prom, but for the
kids the most important part
is the theme.
“We basically all agreed
on [a Touch of Class] as the
theme and there wasn’t really
any debate. We wanted
something that wasn’t so
much a binding theme, but
more an overall idea,” Haake
said.
Those students going to
prom this year can expect it
to be really nice and classy
with nothing too over the
top.
“Classy, glittery, lights,
sparkle,” said Ceresa
Schaffer, sponsor of the prom
committee.
After the junior
committee decides on
the details, putting prom
together is mostly up to
the parent volunteers. This
year All Season’s Décor
from K.C. is providing the
decorations to transform the
hotel ballroom into a classy
space. However, parent
volunteers are key to getting
the space looking its best.
Prom typically takes about
20 parents to chaperone at
the dance, and parents can
contact Schaffer for more
information.
Tickets to prom were
sold Wednesday-Friday
during lunch the week
before prom. For the juniors
the tickets are $25 each and
$30 at the door. Whereas for
the seniors, prom is free!
The after-prom is at the
school and will be a Classy
Carnival theme. Afterprom
will offer a variety of
entertainment from bounce
houses, to games and
airbrush tattoos from 12:30-3
a.m. |
