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Welcome to Year 7 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
The POC Club (People of Color) had its second bake sale to raise money for their Black Educators Appreciation event and the Yo Soy Ella nonprofit. This event will be hosted at Academy High to honor under-represented Black educators and role models. The cakes below show the words “black is beautiful” “equality” and “love." Pictured, left to right: Jazz Jahiel, Jamari Stori and Yara Bajis.
— Rosie Atkinson
ALAH
Ten members from the school's FFA chapter spent Friday participating in the Lincoln Land Livestock Judging Contest at the Taylorville fairgrounds. The members, led by Megan Beckmier, evaluated 10 classes of high-quality livestock. The students not only saw a variety of animals, but multiple other FFA chapters. Senior Ava Binion said: “The livestock judging contest gives members an opportunity to meet people with similar interests and allows someone to explore the different options available through agriculture.” Pictured, left to right: (back row) Logan Beckmier, Lyle Adcock, Brody Louden, Aiden Cazel, Jackson Lebeter, Maddix Sterrit and Calahan Binion; (front row): Ava Binion, Ruby Burton and Abigail Miller.
— Jacob Adcock
Arcola
The track and field teams celebrated Senior Night last Tuesday. Seniors Elian Aguilera, Cristian Ramos, Mitchel Myers, Mikey Gauna, Emma Vazquez, Eva Hopkins, Karina Warfel and Aaliyah Garza were honored. The meet also featured two personal bests in discus by Myers and Gauna.
— Karina Warfel
Armstrong
At the beginning of every month, a bulletin board with a character trait is put up. March’s theme: leadership. Along with a student winning character of the month, there are awards for staff and students of the month for going above and beyond for their peers and make the school a better place. This month's winners: Character — Eli Kennel; Staff — Amy Bailey; Student — Acasia Gernetz.
— Gigi Mulvaney
BHRA
An exciting week for the high school and the village of Bismarck as B-H alum Dylan Dodd made his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves. The school and community rallied behind him in support and made their way to St. Louis to watch last Tuesday's game. Even though a fan bus was called off due to weather, there was a strong showing at Busch Stadium. Mark Dodd, BHRA English teacher and coach, is very proud of his son’s accomplishments and cannot wait to see where he goes.
— Cody Drake
Cerro Gordo
PSAT tests and — in the case of the seniors— SAT tests await students returning from spring break. The week isn’t all doom and gloom, though: On Friday, seniors will be taking a field trip to Six Flags.
— Hannah Copeland
Champaign Central
Girls Who Code met April 4 for a coding workshop hosted by Hack4Impact, a UIUC student group that partners with organizations to build software. Four students from Hack4Impact taught club members how to utilize Figma, a web application that can be used to create logos, websites and product animations. Club members tried their hand at replicating an app layout. Pictured: Hack4Impact members, left to right, Praneeth Guduguntla, Meghna Pillai, Vy Nguyen and Anya Parekh; Parekh helping Central students create the layout; and Guduguntla discussing how to use Figma.
— Janani Pattabi
Chrisman
FFA traveled to Georgetown for Section Livestock Judging, the team finishing in second place overall. Individual placings included Hana Gillaspie (fifth), Hayden Spesard (seventh), and Reese Anderson (10th). FFA members also helped set out eggs for the annual Scottland Easter Egg Hunt.
— Reese Anderson
Danville
The girls' soccer team attended last weekend's match between the Chicago Red Stars play Mexico at SeatGeek Stadium. The trip was filled with great food and an amazing soccer game.
— Josie Hotsinpiller
Fisher
Forensic students have been learning about the use of arson in criminal cases. At the end of their unit, they created houses and buildings to burn.
— Emma McFarling
Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Construction crews worked hard to make the school's new baseball and softball fields playable.
— Izabella Wills
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
Over Easter weekend, a bus load of high school students dedicated their Saturday morning to help a former GCMS teacher, Mary Holsten, clean up after last week's tornado damage. Students picked up sticks, raked pine needles and — most importantly — displayed how much GCMS cares about their community. Holsten was full of gratitude as she expressed how “school is family.”
— Katie Steidinger
Heritage
Before school let out on Wednesday for Easter break, FFA held its banquet on Tuesday night. The chapter officers presented awards to green hand members, three-year members, four-year members, scholarships and a few funny awards the officers made up. The officers and members also gave a big thanks to advisor Emily Sorensen.
— Katelyn Learned
Hoopeston Area
The Cornjerkers hosted the county track meet. Among those who placed: Hunter Cannon (second in shot put, fourth in discus), Brielle Crose (first in 100 and 200), Brylie Cox (second in 1,600), Claire Dixon (second in long jump , fourth in triple jump) and Addison Kelenhofer (fourth in discus).
— Emma Rayls
Judah Christian
Student council had another successful fundraiser selling Krispy Kreme donuts. In total, they sold 180 dozen, making around $1,250. Pictured: Hannah Jackson.
— Bethany Jackson
LeRoy
Last Thursday, 20 high school seniors from McLean and Woodford counties were honored by the SAR General Joseph Bartholomeu Chapter, including an SAR Good Citizenship Certificate. Of the 20, two were selected to receive a $1,000 scholarship to aid with college costs, including Lily Monigold, who plans to attend Millikin University to study molecular/cellular biology and psychology.
— Lily Monigold
Mahomet-Seymour
Drama Club held a dress rehearsal for this year's musical, "Bye Bye Birdie." Performances will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as April 21-23 at the high school auditorium.
— Maddie Grindley
Milford
The Milford National Honor Society hosted its annual induction on April 5. The ceremony included a candle lighting to show the 12 new inductees commitment to the organization. Pictured: inductees Caleb Clutteur, Sawyer Laffoon, Amelia Salinas Sandness, Madison Demarse, Max Cook, Gage Vogel, Mattison Johnson, Cabery Brown, London Clark, Jossalin Lavicka, Carter Borgers and Madyson Bennett and current members Luke Trumann, Jahni Lavicka, Emma McEwen, Anna McEwen, Hunter Mowrey, Jasmine Davis, Brynlee Wright, Kirstyn Lucht, Owen Halpin, Maddie Hardwick and Payton Harwood.
— Maddie Hardwick
Monticello
Spanish Club and jazz band attended last week's Latin Jazz concert at Foellinger Auditorium at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.
— William Ross
Oakwood
National Honor Society had its first trash pickup day. On Saturday, a few students and a couple adults gathered to help pick up any trash located on Bronson Road in Oakwood. Students collected many bags of trash and four bags of aluminum cans that can be recycled in return for cash. Kalie Tison, Kyle McFarland, Taylen Wait, Yelka Layden (not pictured) and Alec Harrison helped in the process. Amy Brant, head of the NHS chapter at Oakwood, is so excited to continue trash pickup days for another 2 weeks and possibly into the upcoming months.
— Kalie Tison
Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Students Ephraim Johnson, Kate Wilson, Ava Reinhart and Gavin Kief attended the Illinois Principals Association breakfast last week. The students were hand-picked by their teachers to represent PBL for their hard work and dedication.
— Kate Wilson
St. Joseph-Ogden
Last week, a mock accident assembly was held outside of the high school. Five students — Ty pence, Madey Cook, Coy Taylor, Kaytlyn Baker and Alyssa Acton — were a part of the accident to demonstrate a real-life situation. All first responders made this scene as real as possible in what was a very impactful event (photos courtesy Veronica Harbaugh and Nora Maberry).
— Alyssa Acton
St. Thomas More
A special assembly took place Tuesday to show a mock car accident. A few students were involved in the demonstration as the Champaign police, firefighters and EMTs displayed what they would do in an emergency situation. After the mock crash, students filled the gymnasium as two guest speakers were welcomed: driver’s ed instructor Tony Martin and Dr. Kelly Barber-Connerty, who each shared their experiences with reckless driving and cautioned the students on being safe and alert behind the wheel.
— Jose Andino Guerra
Salt Fork
The 16-student FFA chapter took first place in the Section 18 Livestock Judging contest. More than 100 students competed. Wyatt DeAth finished in 10th place, Korinne Strickland eight, and Gavyn Siefert fourth.
— Macie Russell
Schlarman
Students celebrated Easter by taking fun pictures with the yearbook staff.
— Lilli Perez
Shiloh
To celebrate the coming of spring, junior high and high school students involved in chorus and band performed for the community. Music instructor Amy Nickell accompanied the chorus with piano and let them sing a mashup from the hit show "Stranger Things." The band also was a hit with their renditions. The turnout filled the gymnasium, Nickell expressing pride in her students for showcasing their talents.
— Lydia Richardson
Uni High
On Saturday night, Sprabitat (Spring Initiative + Habitat for Humanity) hosted its annual trivia night. Various teams consisting of students and parents competed with the goal of raising money for the school Parent Teacher Student Association and Spring Initiative. There were also raffles and concessions, both helping raise money for those charitable causes. Thespian Club team took bragging rights and enjoyed baked goods as prize for their victory. Pictured, left to right: Claire Keenan, Storm Benjamin, Nathaniel Wiesbrook, Navid Tajkhorshid, Vraj Patel and Theodore Kemna.
— Wes Lu
Unity
The baseball, softball and track and field teams traveled on Saturday for their yearly matchups with southern Illinois teams at Carterville High School. The softball and baseball teams both won, the boys' track and field team placed third, and the girls' track and field team placed first for the fifth year in a row.
— Jolie Meyer
Urbana
The Echo and Rosemary Journalism team placed fifth at IHSA Journalism sectionals and will be sending four students to the state competition later in April. Pictured: (front) Juana Diego Juan (state qualifier); (middle, left to right) Mia Ruiz-Almaraz, adviser Felicia Tufano, Kate Halbig, Maddy Posey (state qualifier), Sakari Wright, Ruby Pittenger, Jennifer Arriaga-Lopez and adviser Rosie Esparza; (back) Brendel Kuignou, Tyler Marcum, Eisla Madigan (state qualifier) and Santiago Gonzalez (state qualifier).
— Jennifer Arriaga-Lopez
Westville
Andrea Skinner and Chris Nicholson supervised students who were interested in Advanced Science and Technology. They attended both the Beckman Institute Open House and the Engineering Open House at the University of Illinois. Students learned about human health and medical imaging, cleaner energy, greener plastics and even artificial intelligence and insect-inspired robots. Pictured, left to right: Luke Barney, Marshall Schluter, Cade Schaumburg, Faith VanCamp, Drew Wichtowski, Katelyn Callahan, Jackson Priest, Aidan Skinner, Brooklyn White, Jase Miller, Laci High, Isabelle Gillmore, Piper Heiser, Jamie King, and Ethan Richards.
Also, in recent weeks, Westville has focused on its global mission, its Vermilion County mission and its high school mission. The junior class fundraised for Mission to Haiti. The HERD for Hird initiative began when the Class of 2024 spoke to their history teacher about volunteering. The class raised $800 and earmarked the money to buy eight goats for the Haitian families. Changing lives — one goat at a time. Pictured: juniors and Randy Hird; and class officers, left to right: (front) Brooklyn White, Hird and Callahan; (back) Luke Barney, Aubry Jenkins and Cade Schaumburg.
— Irelynn Phelps
