2023-24 High School Confidential: Week 25

Apr. 4—***

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 .

At least once a week, we'll also hand over our Snapchat account (News-Gazette) to our correspondents for behind-the-scenes tours. This week, Monticello's Tynley Jackson has it for a soccer game day.

Feedback? Email N-G/VP Jim Rossow at .

On to this week's report ...

Members of the Women Empowered Club volunteered at United Way of Champaign County last month. They participated in a restock of the Bottom Line Diaper Bank, which is dedicated to making sure families have enough diapers to keep their baby healthy. The group packed over 2,000 diapers. Pictured: Edith Angelo, Zoe Angelo, Porter Milling, Ray Scifres, Julia Stafford, Aurora Johnston, Eleanor Laufenberg, Phoenix Langley, Sophia Popescu and Hayden Jenks.

Bilingual seniors took the Seal of Biliteracy test. It was offered to senior-year students who have shown a higher level of proficiency in Spanish. If able to show high skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in Spanish, students will receive a seal on their high school diploma and a cord to wear at graduation. Additionally, many basketball players were voted to the LPC all-conference teams, including first-teamers Kacie Sisk, Jacey Kessler, Jackson Miller and Braden Phillips and second-teamers Kelsey Moore, Gerardo Alanis and Tanner Thomas.

LifeSavers set up Easter Egg Lane and learned about some of the history of the tradition. Community member Karla Bradley was able to tell stories about her and her friends and their fond memories of it as children.

A couple members of the school's Key Club spent their Saturday morning volunteering for the annual Bismarck Men's Club Easter Egg Hunt. Tasks included throwing eggs around the field, keeping kids inside of the boundaries and helping clean up after the event was over.

Congrats to the March Exemplary Knights, an award given to teachers and students who go above and beyond for their job. The teachers for March were David Kramer, Corissa Small, April Griffen and Tonya Evans.

Hard-working students in Journalism Club discussed articles they were going to write on various topics in addition to a mini-lesson about titling articles. They will be publishing these articles in the school newspaper, The Centinal (thecentinal.org), on April 11.

Chrisman

Students enjoyed a sweet surprise before enjoying spring break. The Kindness Club hosted a golden egg hunt on the last day before break. There were 10 lucky winners, including staff and students. Those who found eggs had to solve a spring-related riddle in order to get their prize.

Seniors recently put on a career fair for economics class. They each created a poster board about their future career, dressed the part and had handouts for visitors. The students each created an activity as well. The event was open to the school and community — a great experience for all involved.

On Spring Break, the vocal music department traveled to New Orleans. Students discovered how jazz music came to be, learned about the cultural collage of the city — including local traditions such as voodoo — and performed four pieces of music before boarding a steamboat on the Mississippi. Students also experienced New Orleans culinary traditions as they explored the French Quarter. At one dinner location, students were invited to play percussion instruments alongside the live jazz band. The group also went to Tulane University for a vocal workshop.

The trip marked the end of an incredibly successful show choir season. All of Danville's choirs won the title of grand champion in their division this year. The Executives won one time, the Contemporaries won twice, and Delegation won three times. With a total of six grand-champion trophies, it was the most successful season in recent memory.

The girls P.E. classes played a game that teacher Laura Collins came up with. Much like volleyball, in nitroball, players have to get the ball over the net in three hits or less. However, the ball is allowed to bounce before you pass it, and the game is played with the nets low on the ground.

FFA President Gwen Happ won the State FFA Environmental Science Proficiency Competition. She competed with her record book that included her small business called "Gwen Happ's Pollination Station," where she sells pollinator plants and seeds. The record book also included her pollinator garden and the Native Plant Festival she organized. Next stop for Happ: nationals.

Seniors traveled to Puerto Rico for a missions-based trip. In both Ponce and San Juan, the students had a variety of opportunities and experiences. Throughout their time on the island, seniors went snorkeling, put their Spanish skills to the test, did missions work at a school and a soon-to-be children's home, participated in a Puerto Rican church and youth group, and got to know more of the island's beautiful culture and land.

Freshmen Mentor Program classes held their annual Spring Games. Each class participated in various games throughout the week — such as dodgeball — and went against other classes to determine an overall winner. Both the freshmen and the mentors participated.

Congratulations to the newest inductees into the National Honor Society program: Olie Beatty, Christina Schriner, Sophie Newman, Zackery Moore, Lillie Harris, Sesilia Salinas, Braden Bulla, Aiden Frerichs, David Bell, Jason Moore, Eva Brown and Lily Dluzak. Pictured: (front to back, left to right) Caleb Clutteur, Gage Vogel, Jossalin Lavicka, London Clark, Cabery Brown, Amelio Salinas, Madison DeMarse, Emma McEwen, Anna McEwen, Mady Bennett, Hunter Mowrey and Mattison Johnson.

Student council ran the second blood drive of the school year last Thursday. Members volunteered time and brought snacks for donors to enjoy after giving blood. In total, 40 students signed up to give.

For advanced culinary classes on Friday, a University of Illinois food employee ran a chopped challenge. There were judges, and each group had to make a meal out of the ingredients the woman brought. Also, baseball player Ross Gawenda was named Athlete of the Week. Gawenda also played for the basketball and fishing teams and will golf next year at Quincy University.

Seniors Colin Wayland, Tanner Jacob, Addy Martinie and Addison Frick competed in the High School Fed Challenge hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The group represented SJ-O in a multi-state competition evaluating students' abilities to formulate and defend a monetary policy proposal regarding controlling inflation using interest rates.

Family and school captains have been elected. Congratulations to the following students:

* School captains Mary Katherine Kluesner and Christian Garcia (pictured); St. Elizabeth: Reid Craddock and Gabriel Yallaly; St. Kateri: Jack Rentschler and Paige Stark; St. Michael: Addison Kerr and Rebekah Taylor; and St. Peter: Ryan Daley and Abigail Vavrik.

Student council attended the KDASC district convention on March 23. The event was held at the Illini Union by St. Joseph-Ogden's council. Seniors Emily Milburn and Briana Reese retired as members of the KDASC board. Freshmen Ahylssa Garwood and Ali Cash were voted to uphold positions on the new board. Linus Blankets was selected as this year's charity of choice, and each council made blankets to be donated. Shiloh made approximately 62 blankets. Cash, Garwood, Reese, Emily Milburn, Maggie Milburn and Lily North were recognized as being honor delegates. Emily Milburn was honored as the first Shiloh recipient of the North Star Award. The whole organization also received the Kannekuk award for a council of distinction. Adviser Dorene Boland said: "It is amazing everything they accomplish." Pictured, left to right: (front row) Ahylssa Garwood, Ali Cash, Ella Bennett and Tayler Hepburn; (middle row) Lydia Richardson, Kennedy Brown, Lily Brown and Lily North; and (back row) Charlie North, Emily Milburn, Briana Reese and Maggie Milburn.

With the retirement of coach Tim Kohlbecker, Michael Rosenbaum is the new varsity girls' basketball coach. Rosenbaum has served as the junior varsity coach for many years alongside Kohlbecker.

The softball team traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a weekend tournament. The Rockets played Halls High out of Knoxville, Tenn., Upperman High of Baxter, Tenn., and host Soddy Daisy High on Friday, followed by a Saturday game against Boyd Buchanan High of Chattanooga. The team played great ball and bonded with lots of fun in their downtime.