Welcome to Year 6 of High School Confidential, an award-winning project made possible by aspiring student journalists from every corner of our circulation area. Each Friday since September , they’ve told us what’s happening in their hallways at news-gazette.com.
Today marks the final report for the 2021-22 school year.
Feedback? Email N-G/VP Jim Rossow at jrossow@news-gazette.com.
This year's panel:
Academy High: William Ding
ALAH: Sarah Rafferty
Arcola: Ariana Carmona
Armstrong: Mattie Kennel
Bement: Addie Fritz
BHRA: Paili Davis
Blue Ridge: Sarah Whitehouse
Centennial: Blake Burr, Montez Dubose
Champaign Central: Lucy Moss
Chrisman: Reese Anderson
Cissna Park: Emma Morrical
Danville: Kedzie Griffin
Fisher: Krista Martin
Georgetown-Ridge Farm: Chloe Brock
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley: Emily Hood
Heritage: Torie Rothermel
Hoopeston Area: Emily Ray
Judah Christian: Lydia Lowry, Abi Tapuaiga
LeRoy: Kelsey Graves
Mahomet-Seymour: Tinley Peters
Milford: Alivia Schmink
Monticello: Clara Rudolph
Oakwood: Madison Doan
Paxton-Buckley-Loda: Sydney Murphy
Rantoul: Mary Cuppernell
St. Joseph-Ogden: Regan Uden
St. Thomas More: Bailey McMahon
Salt Fork: Olivia Birge
Schlarman: Katherine Smith
Shiloh: Josephine Carroll
Tuscola: Amelia Bosch
Uni High: Aakash Vasireddy
Unity: Maddie Reed
Urbana: Park Mitchell
Villa Grove: Molly Little
Westville: Bryce Burnett
On to this week's report:
ALAH
Seniors embarked on the long-awaited journey to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, leaving the high school in Arthur at 4 p.m. and arriving at a Maryland Cracker Barrel the next morning. From there, they visited a zoo, had dinner at Silver’s Diner and finished their first day with a river boat tour.
— Sarah Rafferty
Arcola
In Narratives in Films 2, students are working a documentary about the town’s and high school’s history. Pictured: Karime Esquivel listening to interviews with alumni.
— Ariana Carmona
BHRA
Congratulations to Anthony Martinez, who was the grade 10-12 Artist of the Week winner ($50 gift card and a plaque with his winning artwork on it). “It was very rewarding to see all my hard work paying off,” he said.
— Paili Davis
Blue Ridge
Senior Cameron Phillips enjoyed a different kind of signing day, committing to the local John Deere dealer — Prairie State Tractor — as a tech student en route to Lake Land College in Mattoon. In doing so, Phillips received full tuition reimbursement and more than $7,000 worth of John Deere tools. Pictured: Mark Phillips (Cameron’s father), Amy Phillips (Cameron’s mother), Cameron Phillips, Todd Crowley (Prairie State Tractor) and Paul Kelly (Prairie State Tractor).
Centennial
Last Friday, the Chargers hosted their first Japanese Tea Ceremony in the library since the beginning of the pandemic. In May 2017, Centennial starting hosting the ceremony orchestrated by retired University of Illinois professor of fine arts and local Japan House member Kimiko Gunji. Gunji reached out to Centennial’s librarian, Karen Klebbe, hoping to honor Centennial student Luke Miller, who died in 2017. After an incredible turnout, Centennial hosted tea ceremonies once a month for students and staff until the pandemic halted these efforts. Gunji was awarded the Japanese Emperor of the Rising Sun award for her efforts in bringing global awareness to Japanese culture.
— Blake Burr
Champaign Central
On Saturday, Interact club took part in the Caring Carnival by holding volleyball games in the school’s north gym. Pictured: The winning team of Andrew Lin, Kevin Chen, Aakash Vasireddy, Ethan Mok-Chih, Ivan Favila and Elias Finkleman. Pictured: Club members watching from the sidelines, left to right, Anneliese Schideman, Caroline Hartmann and Clare Smith.
— Lucy Moss
Chrisman
Seniors traveled to Clearwater Beach, Fla., for their annual class trip. It was four days of fun, including a dinner cruise. Pictured, left to right: (back row): John Phipps, Checotah Cook, Marion Cronkite, Maecy Johnson, Clara Wheeler, Karson Lewsader, Dyas Miller, Linkon Snedeker and Ty Woodyard; (front row): Kaylee Keck, Kendl Lemmon, Kailey Phipps, Alexis McDaniels and Kendall Tevebaugh.
— Reese Anderson
Cissna Park
On Saturday, Kaiden Clingapeel was crowned king and KayLee McWethy queen at prom at Sugar Creek Barn in Milford. Dinner and dancing was enjoyed by all. Pictured: Kaiden Clingapeel and KayLee McWethy; seniors and their dates.
— Emma Morrical
Danville
Danville High School hosted an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) fair with the help of the UBUNTU Mentoring group. Students signed up and got to meet with alumni from different HBCUs. Pictured: Imani Brigham and Jaelin Mclain-Wilson; and Tierra Brown.
— Kedzie Griffin
Fisher
Seniors Katie Landers and Dominick Casten presented their business plans at the Prairieland CEO Trade Show.,
— Krista Martin
Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Silas Shirley won the school’s annual spelling bee, collecting $100 and a medal. Second place went to Christopher Clippinger ($50 and a medal) and Gentry Howard was third ($25 and a medal).
— Choe Brock
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
The school’s FFA chapter held the annual Ag Expo, letting elementary and high school students have an up close look at livestock and farm equipment. Pictured: Logan Wilfong holding a chicken, Getty Greer with a duck and Kaitlyn Nolte holding a rabbit.
— Emily Hood
Heritage
Lauren Hopper’s anatomy class dissected cats as part of their muscles unit. Pictured: Katy Learned, Paige George, and Olivia Berry.
— Torie Rothermel
Hoopeston Area
From prom to FFA banquet to National Honor Society induction ceremony, students have been extra busy to close the school year.
— Emily Ray
Milford
At last week’s National Honor Society ceremony, eight new members were inducted (left to right, front row): Emmaleah Marshino, Payton Harwood, Emma McEwen, Madison Hardwick, Jahni Lavicka, Anna McEwen, Hunter Mowrey and Adrianna Chase. Current NHS members include (left to right, back row): Abigail White, Danielle Germain, Ruby Dluzak, Melissa Stimson, Brynlee Wright, Cassidy Mowrey, Caley Mowrey, Alivia Schmink, Megan Mussard, Kirstyn Lucht, Luke Trumann, Owen Halpin, Will Teig and Anna Hagan.
— Alivia Schmink
Monticello
The Sages danced the night away “in Las Vegas” at the first regular prom since the pandemic. Posing at promenade: upperclassmen Lucy Maxwell, Mabry Bruhn, Amanda Dasher, Cora Sowinski and Renni Fultz.
— Clara Rudolph
Oakwood
At Oakwood Night of Fine Arts, students put their artwork on display for anyone to see. Also, the Scholastic Bowl team made it to the Final Four at the 16-team Parkland Challenge Scholastic Bowl Tournament.
— Madison Doan
St. Joseph-Ogden
Prom court consisted of seniors Ella Besson, Coby Miller, Griffin Roesch, Regan Uden, Hope Rajlich, Ramsey Primmer, Jett Morris and Ashlyn Lannert, as well queen Abby Behrens and king Johnny Poulter.
— Regan Uden
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St. Thomas More
To celebrate Decision Day, seniors dressed in shirts that represented their destination in the fall, including Illinois, Notre Dame, Illinois-Chicago, St. Louis, Ohio State, trade schools and the National Guard. Graduation is May 21.
— Bailey McMahon
Salt Fork
At last weekend’s prom at Sleepy Creek in Fairmount, Sam Pearman and Isabelle Kelly were celebrated as king and queen. The fun-filled night included the senior class posing for one last picture.
— Olivia Birge
Shiloh
Spanish classes made churros and Abuelita hot chocolate for a taste of a different culture. Pictured: Lydia Richardson rolling churros into sugar and cinnamon; and Chris Loop and Jack Houlihan preparing hot chocolate.
— Josephine Carroll
Tuscola
Caden Baer and Alyssa Williams were named prom king and queen at last week’s festivities.
— Amelia Bosch
Uni High
On Monday, associate director Karl Radnitzer, senior class sponsor Ben Leff and the Student Services Office (SSO) team consisting of counselors Kristi Deedrick and Amy Han, registrar Courtney Smith and college counselor Lisa Micele, worked together to hold a Senior Volunteering Day for the senior class. Instead of attending class, seniors went to four locations around the community to volunteer: UI’s Sustainable Student Farm, Randolph Street Community Garden, Booker T. Washington Elementary School and ClarkLindsey in Urbana. Afterward, the seniors met at Illini Grove on campus for lunch, basketball, volleyball and visiting.
— Aakash Vasireddy
Unity
It's the fiunal week for seniors, who posted their plans after high school on a bulletin board.
— Maddie Reed
Urbana
The school hosted its annual blood drive sponsored by the journalism department. It's an event students look forward to every year. Pictured: Senior Maddison McKinney.
— Park Mitchell
Villa Grove
The Blue Devils had many participants and helpers at last week’s Special Olympics Spring Games at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. The Blue Devils delivered with eight gold medals, four silver and two bronze.
— Molly Little
