High School

Another School Year Coming to a Close

Gary Bedigrew, High School Principal

I was sitting in my office late the other night and realized this school year is rapidly coming to a close. Then I realized, raising my anxiety level, that this will be my 50^th time experiencing another school year coming to a close. As this school year comes to a close, I would like to recap for you some of the high school’s recent and future happenings.

We sent 74 FBLA students to the State FBLA Leadership Conference in Topeka, Kansas on March 27^th and 28^th. The conference was very exciting and eventful. We placed 22 times and had two events qualify for Nationals. We also have two new state officers from JCN; Matthew Finley, Vice President and Beth Anne Brickell, Historian.

Senior Projects were presented on April 4^th after a long process beginning in September, 2007. Students successfully met the following deadlines:

Project/Paper topics – Sept. 14^th
Parental Consent Form – Sept. 28^th
Thesis Statement – Sept. 28
Resumes due to Mentors – Oct. 12^th
Job/College Application – Nov. 2^nd
Two Reference Letters – Nov. 30^th
Senior Paper Rough Draft – Dec. 7^th
Senior Paper Final Draft – Jan. 9^th
Senior Project Information Sheet – Feb. 15^th
Workday for Project – March 13^th
Presentation Date – April 4^th

State Tests in the subject areas of Math and Reading have been completed and we are in the process of taking Science and Social Studies. The Freshmen and Sophomores have also taken the National MAP Tests in Reading and Math.

We had two fairly important dances for high school students in recent months with the King and Queen of Courts in February and Prom on April 5^th.

Complete Music DJ’ed both dances, and the students had a great time.

The Band took their bi-annual trip to Dallas, Texas this year. The students raised the money for the trip through fruit sales conducted each school year. It was a fun and educational time for them. Following are the highlights:

o Fort Worth Stockyards – walking tour with a live reenactment of a Texas Cattle Drive

o Billy Bob’s Texas Tour through the Cultural District

o Texas Rangers ballgame versus Baltimore Orioles

o Ripley’s Believe It-or-Not

o Palace of Wax

o Sixth Floor Museum – Exploring President Kennedy’s Assassination

o Resistol Arena – Mesquite Championship Rodeo

o Majestic Theater – Band Performance

o Six Flags over Texas

o Home – early Sunday Morning

The performance at the Majestic Theater was a great warm-up for the State Large Group Music Contest the following week on April 16^th, receiving three one ratings. The solo/ensemble qualifiers will compete at Southeast of Saline on April 26^th. The qualifiers are as follows:

Molly Lyon & Sara Navinskey – Vocal Solos
Jackie Schrick – Flute Solo
Devin Gigstad – Trombone Solo
Flute Trio
Sax Quartet
Brass Ensemble
18 Students

The Forensic Team competed in the DVL Tournament on Monday, February 11, 2008 at Horton High School. Seven out of fifteen entries qualified for finals and their finishes are as follows:

1^st – Molly Lyon – Humorous Solo Acting

2^nd – Molly Lyon/Emily McFarland – IDA

3^rd – Laura Wallace/Shelby Pyle – Duet

4^th – Shelby Pyle – Prose

6^th – Callie Barnett - Poetry

The team also held its annual Forensics Invitational Tournament at JCN on February 23^rd.

In Art news, congratulations to Brendan Stevens who received best drawing at the Washburn art show. We also tied for First Place in the DVL Art Contest.

Some milestones in athletics were as follows: