2023-24 High School Confidential: Happy Thanksgiving!
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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 ...
Academy High
On Nov. 12, the school's Caring Crew held their fourth annual Care Fair. There were a variety of fun activities and raffles, including a mummy wrapping contest and pieing a teacher in the face. As donations continue to be calculated, the Caring Crew raised over $6,000 for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, surpassing the previous year's total.
— Eleanor Laufenburg and Cassie Patten
Arcola
As the girls' basketball team got underway against Oakwood, students got to wear their comfiest attire on Pajama Day thanks to the school spirit club, Rider Nation. Additionally, football had its annual banquet to celebrate the players and season.
Armstrong
Art class took a trip to Chicago with teacher Hayley Sutton, visiting the Art Institute of Chicago and enjoying the wonders on display.
— Eli Kennel
Bement
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America students held their annual Foods for Families food drive. They split into smaller groups and collected 1,400 non-perishable food items in Bement, Ivesdale and Milmine. The items were then brought to the local food pantry at the First Christian Church in Bement, where they were counted and sorted. A pizza party was held afterward at Mama T's to celebrate.
— Quinn Flavin
BHRA
The girls' basketball team played its first tournament, finishing 3-1 at the Timberwolf Tip-Off Classic. Senior Ella Myers and junior Beth McMahon were voted all-tournament.
— Krislynn Kizer
Blue Ridge
On Saturday, Scholastic Bowl team hosted and competed in their annual Hendricks Tournament. They finished in fourth place as AJ Johnson was the fifth-place overall scorer. Pictured, left to right: Devin Wrestler, Addison Warsaw, Johnson, Indra Nolan and Brody Soliday.
— Addison Warsaw
Centennial
Library hosted a Japanese Tea Ceremony performed by Kimiko Gunji from the Japan House. Students were introduced to Chado or "way of Tea." They were asked to refrain from using technology and to center themselves within their five senses. Tea ceremonies are focused around Wa, Kei, Sei, and Jaku or "Harmony, Purity, Respect, and Tranquility". When receiving the bowl of tea you are to take it with full Kokro or "heart". It was an amazing cultural and educational experience made possible by Karen Klebe.
— Lydia Shaw
Champaign Central
Last Tuesday, girls' basketball beat Danville 62-44 in a tournament at Paris High School. Pictured: Samara McArthur with a Danville player; both teams after the game; and the Maroons on the bus.
— Samaira Sandil
Chrisman
What better way to relax than baking for the community with friends? Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America students baked double layer pumpkin cheesecakes last week for their fall fundraiser. Pictured: Grayson Strange and Victoria LaBaume.
— Grayson Strange
Cissna Park
The community celebrated the volleyball team's fourth-place finish at IHSA Class 1A state with a parade and reception welcoming them back to Cissna Park. Photos courtesy Ford County Chronicle.
— Brooklyn Stadeli
Danville
On Nov. 13, Madrigals, Madrigal Brass and Cello Choir volunteered at the Festival of Trees at the Ladies Lunch. After serving the meal, each of the groups performed part of their Christmas repertoire as a first look of the 49th Annual Madrigal Dinners on Dec. 5-7. For more information, visit the Danville High Choral Music Boosters Facebook page.
— Isaiah Easton
DeLand-Weldon
Last Wednesday, Ryan Pray's advanced biology class dissected a squid. Students were allowed to either work by themselves or in a group, and Pray provided assistance when needed. Their next dissection will be on a shark.
— Emma Westray
Fisher
Jake Chittick teaches a variety of different shop classes, including welding, automotive and construction. Since the beginning of the school year, his Automotive 2 class has been working on restoring a Mustang GT, and has made a lot of progress. Last =week, his Construction 1 class repaired the roof of the baseball dugouts. His Welding 1 class has also been working on their first project of the year, which is building fire pits by using old barrels. Pictured: Tyler Whitton, Lilian Fortune, Abe Epperson, Construction 1 Class and Automotive 2 Class.
— Jenna Clemmons
Georgetown-Ridge Farm
The girls' basketball team beat Uni High for its first win of what should be an improved season. Pictured: freshman Madi Spesard.
— Ashlyn Spesard
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
On Nov. 17, the girls' basketball team won the championship game at the Lady Falcon Bunny Tip Off. The boys' basketball team started the season by hosting the annual Turkey Tournament through Saturday.
— Rylie Huls
Heritage
On Nov. 14, National Honor Society members prepared their annual Thanksgiving luncheon. Each member provided a Thanksgiving dish and the teachers and members enjoyed the large, delicious meal together.
— Lillian Montgomery
Hoopeston Area
On Friday, Hoopeston had their annual winter Meet the Jerkers night. Wrestling, bowling, cheerleading, girls basketball, and boys basketball teams were all introduced. The wrestling and boys basketball teams had their own scrimmages, and the cheerleaders showcased a routine.
— Emmalee Bruens
Judah Christian
English department hosted its first trial of Burgers and Shakes. Michael Himick and his team of student editors created this quarterly event for other students who want to further immerse themselves in the world of Shakespeare. Students are invited to sign up and enjoy a Shakespearean film with a dinner of — of course — burgers and shakes. This quarter, the movie watched was "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen. Pictured: students getting their food, watching the movie and Grace Maxwell posing with her shake.
— Hannah Jackson
LeRoy
The football team wrapped up the season with their annual paintball outing, which concluded with an award ceremony to honor the many all-conference players.
— Emily Bogema
Mahomet-Seymour
Lexi Tieffel has been singing since she was 7 years old. Last Tuesday, she performed the national anthem at the Illinois men's basketball game at State Farm Center. Tieffel has been singing at UI events for about a year now, and she got into it because, "my dance teacher told me about auditions for the U of I national anthem singers last year, so I went in. They liked me, so they wanted me to start singing at their events, and I have been doing it ever since," she said. Her biggest inspirations when it comes to singing are "Lauren Daigle, Adele and Morgan Wallen. There are a lot of other artists I love, but those are my top three." Singing the national anthem in front of a huge crowd could be a very nerve wracking experience for most people, but Tieffel has a lot of experience. "I sang at The Cadillac for Back the Badge, Stefanie Pratt's 20th Anniversary of Real Estate/Birthday Bash honoring veterans, Mahomet Music Festival, Illini volleyball and Illini wrestling events," Tieffel said, "It's hard to pick a favorite because I love singing at the Illini events, but I also love singing at the private venues." Tieffel has had a fair share of challenges from this experience: "I think the biggest challenge would be making sure I don't mess up the song lyrics. Since everyone knows the national anthem, it's a big stressor."
— Maddie Grindley
Milford
A dress-up week for Character Counts included Dream A Life Without Bullies (PJ Day) on Monday, Team Up Against Bullying (Twin Day) on Tuesday, Character Counts From One Decade to Another (Throwback Day) on Wednesday, Lei Off Bullying (Hawaiian Day) on Thursday and Color the World In Character Counts Colors (Freshman: Green, Sophomores: Red, Juniors: Purple, Seniors: Blue) on Friday.
— Hunter Mowrey
Monticello
On Nov. 13, seven student-athletes — Mady Melton, Catie Swartz, Elle Bodznick, Hunter Romano, Maddux Quick, Ayden McCool and Sully Beccue — traveled to the IHSA Student Leadership Conference in Peoria. A fellow student-athlete, Megan Allen, was also in attendance as the District 15 representative, assisting in setting up and presenting at the conference. She has now been nominated to be a student leader at the national level with the National Federation of State High School Associations.
— Tynley Jackson
Oakwood
Earlier this month, a rowdy pep assembly was held to recognize winter activities, include boys' and girls' basketball, cheer and Scholastic Bowl.
— Lily Chestnut
Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Nov. 17 was turkey for teachers day. Teacher Sally.Ellis and her daughter worked with food classes she teaches and made a homemade turkey lunch for the teachers. They create a menu including turkey, cranberry orange sauce, green bean casserole, broccoli, pumpkin delight, fruit salad and more. The lunch takes place the week before Thanksgiving break to show thanks for teachers. Also, Ellis has her classes make notes and letters for the faculty in the building so when they come to get their food they can pick up their cards to be reminded how thankful the students are. Among those pictured: Students in Foods class, Evie Ellis and Sally Ellis preparing the dishes and food; and (left to right) students Gray York, Theresa Domingo, Peyton Duffin, HaleyJo O'Neill, Brooke Letner, Lily Anderson, Alma Matamoros and Kamryn Suhl, who stayed all day to prepare the food alongside teachers.
— Rebecca Lackey
Rantoul
Winter sports participants were recognized at Meet the Eagles last Friday. During this week, there were dress-up days as well. A group of students went and read to the younger set at the Gifford Grade School. There also was a pep assembly on Friday where games were played and sports teams and academic accomplishments were recognized. Finally, National Honor Society held a food drive for Thanksgiving.
— Ashlee Freeman
St. Joseph-Ogden
The school's Constitution Team practiced for the Illinois We the People State Finals last weekend at the Champaign County Courthouse. Finals are Jan. 12 at Chicago Kent Law School.
— Mya Bott
St. Thomas More
Juniors and seniors went on LOGOS, a spiritual retreat in Springfield, where students enjoyed a restful weekend with faith-filled activities and good food.
— Suhani Garg
Salt Fork
National Honor Society members served at the Danville homeless shelter for this semester's service project. Students helped poor drinks, hand out dessert and clean up at the end.
— Macie Russell
Schlarman
The varsity Scholastic Bowl team placed third at the Mike Hendricks Memorial Tournament as junior Paul Hurley was the second overall top scorer. Pictured, left to right: Dillon Hemker, Wrigley O'Brien, Paul Hurley, Anna Lehmann, Cheyenne Lutz, Maya Jenny and coach Rebecca Payne. Also this week: The 55th annual Topper Classic tournament with the championship on Saturday.
— Anna Lehmann
Shiloh
The fourth- through sixth-grade ecology group met at the Douglas Hart Nature Center in Mattoon on Nov. 14. A delegation of sixth graders went to the meet and took a variety of test topics in raptors, bears, and natural disasters. Members included: Lily Grise, Bryer Cummins, Keagan Grover and Devan Rose. The team placed in the top 10 overall and was served lunch.
— Lydia Richardson
Tuscola
On Nov. 19, the National Honor Society hosted its annual Induction ceremony. These students have displayed the four pillars of NHS throughout their high school careers: character, scholarship, service and leadership. There were a total of 21 juniors inducted. Pictured, left to right: (top) Alex Lin, Nathan Klie, Andrew Spillman, Brayden Taylor, Aiden Devlin, David Hornaday, Thomas Bennett, Jackson Berlew and Andrew Bennett; (bottom) Allison Pettry, Ayla Deliva, Carleigh Kleiss, Lia Patterson, Kenna Clodfelder, Ava Rauguth, Olivia Wallace and Jocelyn Ford.
— Brayden Gough
Uni High
Statistics class took a trip to Booker T. Washington Elementary School to show kids their carnival games they had been working on during October and had already presented to the school in a Uni High Stats Carnival. The Illineks interacted with students on what BTW calls a Fabulous Friday, where many visitors from outside their school come to teach fun lessons and interact with students.
— Knox Mynatt
Unity
Student council wrapped up their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, using money raised at district schools and local businesses to feed almost 300 people in 78 households. They spent Friday sorting and boxing the food, which was then delivered to families last weekend. Also, Drama Club's performances of "Clue" entertained the community for three performances on Thursday and Friday nights and a Saturday matinee. Over 20 students participated on stage plus many more people helped behind the scenes.
— Tatum Meyer
Urbana
Students took advantage of the warm temperatures, learning some new outdoor skills. Engineering Club (led by Nathan Westerman) designed and built raised garden beds for Yankee Ridge Elementary School. The Outdoor Adventure Club (led by Alex Riley) met at Carle Park to practice leaf identification.
— Eisla Madigan
Villa Grove
On Nov. 13, students learned a lot and had a great time at the IHSA Student Leadership Conference in Peoria. Pictured (left to right): Piper Kiser, Hayden Thomas, Carly Eads, Kaleb Langellier, Kurt Zimmmerman, Cooper Clark and Lucas Shadwick.
— Alex Brown
Westville
On Nov. 14, student council participated in a scavenger hunt. The students met at the high school for dinner at 6 p.m., then split up into groups to drive around and collect canned goods and toiletries for the school's food drive. Student council collected over 200 items. Also, Tiger Esports team meets daily to practice games such as Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Their coach is Christopher Nicholson, who is pictures with Lania Schlunaker, Aeris Poston, Jase Miller, Layden Fox, Josiah Schlueter, Jacob McCool, Payton Pratt, Alaina Mahoney and Tyler Mahoney.
— Olivia Troglia
