2023-24 High School Confidential: Week 23
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Welcome to Year 8 of High School Confidential, powered by Danville Area Community College. It's an award-winning project made possible by aspiring student journalists from every corner of our circulation area. Each Thursday through April, they'll tell us what's happening in their hallways at news-gazette.com.
At least once a week, we'll also hand over our Snapchat account (News-Gazette) to our correspondents for behind-the-scenes tours.
Feedback? Email N-G/VP Jim Rossow at jrossow@news-gazette.com.
On to this week's report, a shorter Spring Break edition ...
Arcola
The Drama Club performed its spring play — "Romeo, You Idiot!" — on Saturday and Sunday. Starring Alex Hawn and Bianca Arguelles as Romeo and Juliet, a preview of the play was shown to the high school on Friday. On Saturday, the softball and baseball teams had back-to-back games. Photos courtesy Nancy Rairden.
— Bianca Arguelles
Armstrong
The school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes club, run by Amber Cluver and huddle leaders, hosts weekly huddles on Wednesday. Students fellowship over a devotional and a prayer while sharing breakfast. Last week, donuts were donated by local churches and organizations. Pictured: huddle leader Christine Bailey; Anniyah Gray enjoying breakfast.
Bement
Multiple assemblies have taken place the last few weeks. Kicking things off, Bement was joined by DeLand-Weldon and Cerro Gordo high schools as Tim Ryan and Jennifer Gimenez-Ryan spoke about the effects that drugs, vaping and alcohol have had on their mental health. At the second assembly, Brayden Strack was named Student of the Quarter, and Jackie Compton spoke to students about her experiences in various careers including music education, catering, the legal system, business owning as well as being the director of Toast of Champaign Sweet Adelines.
— Quinn Flavin
BHRA
At last weekend's annual spring musical, a cast and crew of over 30 high-schoolers put on Xanadu Jr., which follows the journey of a Greek muse during her time in Venice, Calif., in the 1980s. Lead performer Lily Kiser said her favorite part of the experience was "working with everyone. We have a lot of new people, and it's just a great experience all together."
— Krislynn Kizer
Blue Ridge
The Farmer City Chamber of Commerce recognized and awarded three teachers and three students last week for their contributions to the community. Student of the Year winners were Addison Warsaw, Peyton Roy and Joey Cole. Teacher of the Year winners were Karisa Yeagle, Emily Weiler and Stephanie Price.
— Addison Warsaw
Centennial
Last week, 50 staff and students traveled abroad. Their trip started March 7 in the parking lot as they loaded up the buses to O'Hare Airport. After a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, the travel party arrived in Italy, where they visited Genova and traveled by train to Cinque Terre. In Cinque Terre, they spent time in two fishing villages. After two days in Italy, they took a bus ride to France where they enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Monaco and the rocky beaches of Nice. After France, it was a nine-hour bus ride to Barcelona, where three days were filled with a city tour, monastery visit and free time to wander. This amazing experience was put together and held together by Kyle Jackson.
— Lydia Shaw
Cerro Gordo
Softball and baseball seasons kicked off with games against Decatur MacArthur. In a 22-16 softball loss, senior pitcher Haylei Simpson had three strikeouts, and freshman Jillian Durbin had two hits and two RBI. The baseball team won 14-3 as sophomore Kayden Waterhouse had six strikeouts and Brody Summers had three hits and four RBI.
— Haylei Simpson
Chrisman
Every year, there's one 11:50 a.m. dismissal for team pictures. The day was made more interesting: After pictures, students gathered to support the cast and crew of this year's musical and enjoyed a few teaser scenes of "Stealing Shakespeare" put on by the Cardinal Thespians. This got people interested in seeing the full production over the weekend. Additionally, Nicole Brown's Foods 2 students prepared a delightful meal for staff, working from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to prepare and serve spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, fruits and cookies. Pictured: student Logan Chambers learning how to cut parsley for his spaghetti.
— Grayson Strange
Cissna Park
The Scholastic Bowl team participated in last week's Iroquois County Tournament, going undefeated in four matches to finish first for the third year in a row.
— Brooklyn Stadelli
Danville
On Saturday, the school hosted the 2024 IHSA Sectional Drama and Group Interpretation Tournament. Schools from across the state brought their speech teams to compete in the Contest Play and Group Interpretation divisions. Danville's speech team competed with its own production titled "Dr. Horrible's Evil Sing Along Blog." It was Danville's first time hosting the speech event with the hope of continuing to foster an environment for the performing arts on the state level.
— Isaiah Easton
DeLand-Weldon
Next year, the middle school and high school buildings will be combined. At Friday's practice run, middle-schoolers will have classes in the high school building, and high school classes will be moved to new rooms.
— Emma Westray
Fisher
During spring break, members of the football and soccer teams put in early morning work in the weight room, which is run by Jeff Palmer.
— Jenna Clemmons
Georgetown-Ridge Farm
The softball team won its home opener 13-0 against Heritage. Pictured: pitcher Chloe Stephenson and catcher Chloe Winslow.
— Ashlyn Spesard
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
At Friday's Postsecondary Exploration Day, representatives from colleges, the military, businesses and trades visited to interact with students through both a career fair and breakout sessions. The goal: Help students not only gather information about opportunities for their future, but also build a positive framework regarding the role of work in their lives — no matter what they are doing. Thanks to Josh Carter for putting together a great event.
— Rylie Huls
Heritage
Last Wednesday, the ACES team drove to Eastern Illinois University to compete in the Academic Challenge Sectional. After each individual completed two tests, the group ate lunch and enjoyed the nice weather. Photo courtesy Lauren Hopper.
— Lillian Montgomery
Hoopeston
Members of the FFA traveled to Springfield to meet state Rep. Chris Miller last week. They also had the chance to meet state Sen. Chapin Rose. Students talked to the politicians about agriculture and what FFA contributes to our community.
— Emmalee Bruens
LeRoy
The music program presented "Sweeney Todd" on Friday and Saturday nights. Students and their roles included: Matt Stuefert (Sweeney Todd), Izzy Pray (Mrs. Lovett), Colin Dunafin (Anthony), Emma Wiechman (beggar woman), Tate Sigler (Judge Turpin), Henry Thayn (Beadle), Thatcher Ross (Pirelli), Addi Creech (Tobias) and Gabe Sutter (Fogg). Many other students participated in the production with roles such as ensemble, sound, lighting and stage crew.
— Emily Bogema
Milford
Student put on the musical "Fame Jr." on March 9-10. Cast and crew included, front to back, left to right: Brian Zecher, Zackery Moore, Anna Mann, Noah Brittenham, Elyse Bulla, Hailey Rieches, Lilly Carter, Jason Moore, Preston Janssen, Joshua DeBolt, Kara Harwood, Olivia Leppard, Hannah Shelton, Hallie Scott, Hunter Mowrey, London Clark, Brycea Brown, Molly Coffey, Kena Clark, Peyton Cluver, Kaleb Kuester and Braden Bulla.
— Hunter Mowrey
Oakwood
The talented and driven drama department put together "The Curious Savage" to show to the community with performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
— Lily Chesnut
St. Joseph-Ogden
Marshall Schacht's "We The People" students held their annual "We the Pickle(ball)" tournament last weekend. This competition helped students raise money for their trip to Washington, D.C. Pictured: seniors Rachel Harris, Cameron Dressen, Caleb Ochs, Schacht, Chloe Burkhalter and Samantha Beetz.
— Mya Bott
Salt Fork
The second signing ceremony of the year featured senior Macie Russell, who will continue her academic and athletic career running track and cross-country at Eastern Illinois University.
Schlarman
Ahead of spring break, juniors and seniors took a field trip to learn more about the first American saint, viewing the movie "Cabrini." The sophomore class joined in on the history fun, listening to a presentation from a local historian about Vermilion County.
— Anna Lehmann
Shiloh
The Envirothon team went to Lake Land College on March 7 with science adviser Kendra Saddoris and FFA sponsor Emma Ennis. Science team No. 1 placed second overall and won both the aquatics and forestry categories. Pictured, left to right: Lily North, Will Dudley, Charlie North, Clay Kibler and Shaylun Christenberry.
— Lydia Richardson
Tuscola
It's scholarship time, seniors seeking additional financial aid to pay for their college expenses. Pictured: Seniors Addisyn Pettry (right) and Addyson Ring (left).
— Brayden Gough
Westville
The Tigers and Danville Area Community College teamed up for success. DACC's Lisa Rudolph and Monica Torres visited to give the DACC Placement Test as 65 students took the required sections to get into their desired classes. Ten students attended the DACC Health Professions Day for hands-on experiences. Pictured: Rudolph proctoring the placement test; hanging with the dire departmental and students in the cadaver lab.
— Olivia Troglia
