Olympia High School Student Council Attended the Cenois District Workshop

By Tyler DeVault, OHS Torch Reporter

Members of the Olympia High School student council attended the Cenois District Workshop last Friday, April 10^th, with three other local high schools where they participated in team building activities.

“The purpose of the trip was for students to gain leadership skills, and network with other student council and to elect the new Cenois District of Student Council board,” said OHS Science Teacher and Student Council Co-Advisor Brandi Cooper.

At the conference, students participated in team building activities. The purpose of these activities is for students to get to know each other and think about leadership on the Student Council.

“I thought that they brought the four schools together to work together as a team” said senior Julia Griffith.

While on the trip, the students heard a guest speaker Congressman Andy Manar, from the 48^th district. Congressman Manar talked about the legislative process and answered questions the students had about the state legislator.

Besides hearing Manar speak, they also participated in a business meeting to make decisions about the Cenois District. Also, they elected the new Cenois District of Student Councils board.

“Students said they had fun and they liked networking with other student councils,” said Cooper. Other members would agree with this statement.

This trip was a positive experience for everyone and they look forward to next year.

Student Council to Attend State Convention

By OHS Torch Reporter, Abby Maitland

Olympia Student Council Members are attending the Student Council State Convention from May 7^th through May 9^th in Chicago Illinois near the Woodfield Mall.

Not all members are attending, but anyone apart of the Student Council is allowed to go. These following students are attending this year, David Bell, Jessie Birckelbaw, Reagan Brown, Vittoria Cira, Julia Griffith, Alyssa Halliday, Needhi Jayswal, Maci Pfeffer, Allison Schuette, Bailey Stockhecke, Natalie Stone, and Reed Walters.

The members various from grade levels of seniors to sophomores. All of the members will stay in a hotel with many different student councils from different schools.

The point of the convention is to attend different meetings that speak about changes in the states regulations of Student Council. Jesse Birckelbaw said, “Usually only about ten of us go, but this year there is many more attending from our Student Council.”

Besides the meetings, there is also time for fun. The Student Council will have a chance to shop at the Woodfield mall on Friday, May 8^th.

The only person that will not be able to attend the Woodfield mall is Co-Vice President Reed Walters who is the Credentials Committee. He applied for the position last year and was hired the board to help hire new members for the State Student Council Board.

On Friday, when everyone else at the mall Walters will be interviewing more applicants for the State Student Council Board. This is Reed Walters first year attending convention, but he couldn’t be more excited for it.

Junior David Bell will be arriving at the Convention late because his AP testing date interrupts with the convention dates.

Wizard Of Oz Follows the Yellow Brick Road to Olympia

 

By OHS Torch Reporter Julia Griffith

 

Follow the yellow brick road as Dorothy and all of your Wizard of Oz favorite characters take the stage Mother’s Day weekend in Esquivel Theatre at Olympia High School. Make sure to treat your mom to this special performance when the Olympia High School Drama Department brings to stage The Wizard of Oz during Mother’s Day weekend May 8th, 9th, and 10th.

 

There is no joking when the casting list was posted on April 1st and rehearsals began April 2nd. Best friends Junior Lauren Hostetter and Junior Lauren Horner scored the parts of Dorothy and Aunt Em. Along with Junior Collin Schopp as the Tin Man, Sophomore Matthew Altoff as the Scarecrow, Senior Duncan Kovar as the Cowardly Lion, and freshman Dylan Maris as the Wizard.

 

Junior Collin Schopp said, “Rehearsals are going really well because everyone is really enthusiastic, we just need to start getting it memorized and we are in really good shape.”

 

Not only has the cast been working hard, but the tech crew has also began. Junior David Bell says that “ We have gotten one of two of our big pieces done for the most part and we have gotten donations from the Booster Club and retired Olympia English Teacher William DeLoriea, so we are comfortable where we are at not only budget wise but also production wise.”

 

Little previews of rehearsals have been leaked on Facebook over the past few weeks and many people can say that the production is overall going well and should be a great treat for the audience in attendance.

 

OHS Band director Mr. Brubaker is in charge of this year’s pit orchestra. Senior Tyler DeVault said, “Pit music is always challenging but always worth it in the end. You will find with each book there are some errors in them, but that just adds to the fun of it.”

 

 

Olympia FFA Members Travel to Livestock Judging

 

By JT Schneider, OHS Torch reporter

Friday, April 10, 19 FFA students got the opportunity to attend section livestock and dairy judging in Pontiac, this trip gave students real life experience with livestock judging. Shelby Payne scored highest in the Dairy Judging category, awarding her with 1^st place.  Josh Kindred received 2^nd place in Dairy Judging.

            Of the 19 that attended, the senior members were Bryson Gottschalk, Shelby Gordon, and Jenna Kindred. The juniors who attended were Carson Goff, Genna VanWye, Kelsey Slager, Brian Tackett, Gannon Springer, and Bailey Hoerbert. The sophomores who attended were Andrew Renfrow, Sara Zimmerman, Erin Zimmerman, Wes Israel, Andy Davis, Luke Litwiller, and Laura Rankin.     As for freshmen, those who attended were Brock Gottschalk, Josh Kindred, and Shelby Payne.  

Junior Carson Goff said that the interest levels were higher this year than in previous years. Many participants helped allow their experience to be successful this year. Carson Goff also scored the highest on the team, she does livestock. She helps lead meetings in the morning at 7:40 for participants who are actively involved. The team judges cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Each are placed based on appearance.

            Congrats to Josh Kindred and Shelby Payne for their placements in Dairy Judging!

 

 

               

Last Chance to Buy a Yearbook Approaches

By Alyson Unsicker, OHS Torch reporter

            Hurry up and buy a yearbook by Friday, April 24^th!  That is the last day OHS will be selling them online, in the commons, and by order form.  Forms have been handed out to students who have not purchased a yearbook yet. The cost is $65 and they will be available to pick up next year during Homecoming. Yearbooks are also available online-- www.Jostensyearbook.com.

 

Contact Joel Brigham, yearbook advisor, with any questions.  Joel.brigham@olympia.org

Tyler DeVault Invited to Elite Band

By Grant Ross, OHS Torch reporter

Tyler DeVault, an OHS Senior, was selected for the Bradley University Junior/Senior Honor band.  Tyler will be working with the associate director of bands at Michigan State University, Professor John T. Madden on April 28.  Tyler is excited to go to this very elite and prestige Honor band. It is a very difficult band to be selected to participate with as it is a band for the best juniors and seniors in the state. this band requires a lot of skilling reading challenging levels of music as well as coordination and beat.

Congratulations, Tyler!

OHS Students Sink, Swim and Sail Ships in POT Class

By Ryan Teichman, OHS Torch Reporter

            Olympia High School students in Principles of Technology class recently designed boats out of cardboard; duct tape, and paint, students had to complete a strategic course while in the boat.  Next students tried to see if their creations were actually sea worthy--down in the OHS pool!

            The competition consisted of two classes with an average group size of 4 people; there were 7 groups in the race. The race was an obstacle course, involving picking up an anchor, maneuvering around pop bottles, turning a corner, placing the anchor inside a sunken hula hoop and then racing to the finish. The boat races were held in the natatorium (the OHS pool).

            Only 3 of the 7 groups completed the course, proving the difficulty of the course and the design of boats. The group “Ships n Gigs” which consisted of OHS Seniors Ashton Beachy, Taylor Wilkins, Needhi Jayswal, and Bryson Gottschalk, and Junior Johnny Payton. Ships n Gigs completed ¾ of the course lowering the anchor in the hula hoop, after that water started flowing in the boat taking it down.
            The winning group was “The Floater” which consisted of OHS Seniors Zach Darnall, Logan Darnall, and Tyler Bruner. They completed the course in a fast paced time of 2:23. Their boat design looked like a john boat, a john boat is a boat that is a rectangle with a 45 degree angle cut in the front of the boat to help reduce surface area. The boat was covered in construction tyvek water proof tape.
            Mr. Rackuaskas, the Principles of Technology teacher, said, “I made this project because I wanted to be a pirate and live up to my name Mr.R.” Rackuaskas said, “The kids learned things sink, engineering, buoyancy, weight distribution, and people can’t breathe under water.”

            OHS Senior Alex Ewalt said, “It was nice to get to use the project instead of making it and throwing it away.” Ewalt was a ship navigator for the group “Floating Taco” which completed the course in a time of 3:02. Ewalt’s group consisted of OHS Senior Chance Weise, and OHS Senior Montel Devore-Biggs.
            OHS Senior Logan Darnall said, “The most fun part about this project was destroying the competition.” Darnall also said, “I learned how to calculate buoyancy, and if you want to get beat really bad just hit me up.”
            OHS Senior Taylor Desch said, “The hardest part about this project was the support system and the distribution of weight.” This project was a blast to watch with a crowd filling the upper deck of the pool area and in the hallway which you can see in the pool.
            Rackuaskas said, “Yes, I was extremely happy with the results, and next year they will be better, learning from past results.”
Rackuaskas also said, “If anyone would like to donate an anchor, buoy or small boat for the trophy, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Connor Stine Signs with Witchita State to Run Track

 

By Logan Hawker and Josh Eschbach, OHS Torch reporter

                Senior Connor Stine, son of David and DeeDee Stine,  signed his national letter of intent with Wichita State University in Kansas on Friday, April 17^th. Connor signed on to run track, but said he may be doing cross country as well. 
                Wichita State was Connor’s first pick for college. SIU Carbondale and University of Iowa were Connor’s two other options for college. Why did Connor pick Wichita over the other schools? He said, “I liked the coaches better, it was a bit cheaper and had a better track team than other schools.”

                Connor said he will be receiving a partial ride to attend Wichita State. Connor’s dad and Oly track coach, Mr. Stine, said, “Wichita can only give out 12.5 scholarships to fill a 40 team roster.” Connor will be receiving $3000 for track and $6000 for academics.

Connor isn’t completely sure about his college major, but he plans on something in the biology field. Also he plans on completing prerequisite classes for dental school as well.

                Stine’s main focus in college track will be to run the 800. He stated that depending on whether he exceeds standards or not he will move up or down. Currently Connor runs the 800m and 400m in track.

                Connor began his running career track competitively when he was 8 years old, when he joined a summer track club at Illinois Wesleyan.  He ran 5-6 track meets each summer until he was 12, then he joined the Olympia track team.   In 7^th grade, he placed 7^th at State in the 800m run.  In 8^th grade, at State, he placed 5^th in cross-country, 3^rd in 1600m run and 1^st in the 800m run.  As a freshman, Connor was a member of the school record 3200m relay.  In sophomore year, he was a member of the 7^th place 3200m relay at the IHSA 2A state meet.  The same team placed 6^th during his junior year and he place 9^th for the 800m run at state.   His senior year, Connor placed 1^st in the 800m at the Top Times Indoor Championship meet.

                                “I am very excited to begin my journey in track at the collegiate level,” said Connor.

               

               

“Eleanor & Park” Wins 2015 Abraham Lincoln Award

Brigs' advisory won the Survivor: Island of the Abe’s Reading Promotion competition.

By Haley Staub, OHS Torch reporter

Rainbow Rowell’s novel “Eleanor & Park,” a story of young love at first sight, won the 2015 Illinois’ High School Reader’s Choice Award from a list of 21 other books.

Many other promising novels that were also sure to win awards were “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas, “The Selection” by Kiera Cass, and “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand.

“There seemed to be a Dystopian theme, but that changed this year,” said OHS Librarian Ms. Mullen about the pattern of books the awards were given to. These days, students tend to be drawn towards the stories of ruined and desolated worlds.

Olympia High School participates every year in these awards. The Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award is given to an author whose novel is voted Most Outstanding by participating students at high schools around Illinois.

Here at Olympia, every Abe form filled out and turned in earns points for the student’s advisory for the Survivor: Island of the Abe’s Reading Promotion. The advisory who wins gets rewarded with a pizza party.

This last year, Mr. Brigham’s advisory won with a total of 570 points. Top readers from that class were OHS juniors Marissa Percival and Samantha Pierce.

Rainbow Rowell’s novel won with a total of 266 votes. The books that are eligible must have specific criteria to be entered into the competition. Some of the standards are as follows: it must be first published in the past five years, currently printed in paperback, author must be alive, may not be a textbook of any kind, must be fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, and must be the first book in the series.

The new list for the 2016 Abraham Lincoln Award has been made and is currently up on their website. Some of the novels chosen for the list include: “Between Shades of Gray” by Ruta Sepetys, “The Darkest Minds” by Alexandra Bracken, and yet another novel by Rainbow Rowell: “Fangirl.”

The book who wins will receive the award and the winning advisory here at Olympia High School will win a pizza party! Students truly love the Lincoln Award.

Olympia High School Hosts Ag Day

By JT Schneider, OHS Torch reporter

On Thursday May 7^th, the Olympia FFA and AG department will be hosting its annual Ag day activities, allowing the grade school students to come out and discover more about agriculture.

Students who are in grades 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th, will get the opportunity to come out to the high school and participate in the Ag day events.

Students get to learn about farm and off-road vehicle safety, information about agriculture, and get to see many animals. There will be cows, sheep, goats, ducks, and a horse. Students will even be given the opportunity to milk a goat.

OHS Junior Carson Goff said, “I love teaching the kids about cows and about where the cheeseburgers come from.” Carson will be bringing in one of her cows to help teach students about how and what cows are used for.

Kids will also be given the opportunity to learn about the soil in Mclean County through the Dirt cup that students will be making. Junior Bailey Hoerbert said, “The dirt cup helps teach kids about the profile of the soil here in Mclean County. It allows kids to visually see what each layer of the soil is made up of by using things that interest them like Oreos and gummy worms.” The Dirt cups are among the favorite of all the grade school students.

There will be a tractor also which will allow for the students to see what kind of machines are necessary in agriculture. Collin Loeffler said, “I will be bringing in a tractor and will be explaining to kids about the safety needed to operate it.”

Within the Ag classes there will be leaders that are assigned to an individual grade school class to take them through the different parts of the day. Senior and FFA President Racheal Koch said, “I love being part of Ag day. I believe it allows kids to learn about Ag and have fun while doing it. It’s a fun educational experience for the kids.”

Ag Day has been going on since 1999 which was around the time the green house was built. Before that there wasn’t a formal Ag day but students from the high school went out to the grade school and taught kids about Ag. Today Ag day has evolved into a great experience for Olympia grade schoolers and will continue to grow as the technology of agriculture is forever changing.

OHS Art Classes Get Creative

By Hannah Smith, OHS Torch Reporter

The Drawing and Design Class offered at Olympia focuses on students’ creativity within each project, allowing an array of perspectives from each student and produces an array of unique artwork.

 This class is available to any student who has taken Art 1, whether the student be a freshman, sophomore, or senior. This semester, there are two Drawing and Design classes.

 

Per project, art students follow guidelines but are able to incorporate their own flair and eye for design based on their likes and their strengths. Art teacher, Mr. Michael Morris challenges students to step outside their comfort zone and improve their art abilities with every project.

 5^th block Drawing and Design student, Junior Sara Rathbun, said, “I enjoy this class, it’s a nice way to end each school day. I like to pay attention to detail within each project, it took me a week or two longer than most people to finish my stippling drawing, but it was well worth it, and I like how Mr. Morris didn’t take points off my project, since I requested for an extension on my due date! I felt I could fully finish the assignment how I wanted without stressing for time.”

 The Record Album assignment, which students finished before Spring Break, are currently hanging in the hallways outside the art room. This project was introduced this year and was left up to interpretation by the students and required the use materials such as gesso and blending techniques with colored pencils.

 

 
According to Sophomore Kenny Pleines, this art class is interesting. As for Freshman Hevin Smith, she feels this class is easy. Hevin and Kenny both show exceptional skill within their artwork.
 

Currently, the students of the Drawing and Design classes are working on self-portrait drawings. This assignment requires the use of Photoshop, grids, and attention to detail.

 

Be on the lookout for the occasional display of projects near the lunch lines/outside the art room at Olympia. Also, stay up to date on what art students are producing in class by checking the Art Website, http://olympiafineart.wix.com/ohsart.

Group Interpretation and Contest Play Performs at Sectionals

By Tyler DeVault, OHS Torch Reporter

                The OHS Group Interpretation, Edward Scissorhands, and Contest Play, Steel Magnolias, performed at Charleston High School on March 20th for IHSA Sectional Competition.

                At the Sectional, seven contest plays and six group interpretations were entered. Each production performs for a set of judges and is given a rank. These ranks determine what place each production will receive. Top three group interpretation productions will go on to state competition and top two contest play productions advance. The Group Interpretation placed 6th and the Contest play placed 5th.

                Also, cast members can be nominated to the All-Sectional Cast. The Group Interpretation had two members nominated; David Bell and Lauren Horner. The Contest play had three members nominated; Delia Kerr-Dennhardt, Sarah Marsiglio, and Savannah King.

                "The Group Interpretation did wonderfully. They were on the spot with characters and got laughs at the appropriate times. I was really impressed with the amount of hard work that they did in a short amount of time," said director, and OHS speech coach, Sarah Hughes.

                The same was felt about the contest play. "I felt that the play was a great success.  They actors did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life, and emotions seemed to be felt from the audience near the end of the play when M'Lynn, the mother whose daughter passes away, was grieving her daughter's passing.  There were many tears from audience members during M'Lynn's final monologue." said Contest Play director, and OMS English teacher, Alex Hembra.  

                What makes this competition so difficult is that each production is so subjective. This means that it is difficult to predict what the actual outcome is. "Charleston was a tough competitor because they have a high reputation of success in the past," said Hughes.

                This was Mrs. Hembra's first time directing Contest Play. As an assistant speech coach last year, she assisted with the tech crew in last year's production. "As a new director I learned a whole lot about what I will do in the future and what I will never do again. I believe that I will direct Contest Play again and I have learned a lot from this production that I can use next year," said Hembra.

                Hughes and Hembra both enjoyed working with great casts and had fun doing it. Hughes would like to thank Holly Haines for being the assistant director for Group Interpretation. They both look forward to next year's production.

OHS Softball Team Starts with a Win

by Alyson Unsicker

            The Olympia High School softball games have been going on since March 19^th at many different places that are making the softball team stronger and better at their own game.

            The Williamsville softball team was the 1^st game to start off the season for the OHS softball team. They played 4 innings and than the weather started to get bad, so they weren’t able to finish the game.

            The softball team has had four games get cancelled already due to the weather being awful. The team said they hate when games get cancelled because then they have to practice, and they would rather play a game than practice any day.

            Senior and OHS softball player Taylor Davis said, “Our team has been playing really good this season and we are having a lot of fun doing it.” Davis plays 1^st base and she said she has played there so long that she considers it her home.

            Sophomore and OHS Softball player Kendra Peifer plays shortstop and gets a lot of balls hit to her during games. Peifer said, “Our new coaches are really good at making softball so much fun; because when you are playing softball you should always be having fun.”

On April 2^nd it was wear blue day for Autism Awareness. The softball team took a team picture after their game in their all blue uniforms to support Autism Awareness.

            Senior and OHS softball player Hannah Smith had her mom, Amy Smith take pictures for April 2^nd to show our support for this special day. Hannah said, “I am ready to show my support for Autism Awareness day, but I am also ready to win another game.”

            The OHS softball team has many more games to come and all the players are very confident in their team because they know they can win.

           

Chorus Student Let It Go

By Logan Hawker, OHS Torch reporter

          The choral students at Olympia High School have been learning a medley which contains songs from Disney’s Frozen that will be sung for contest and for a concert in April.

          The Olympia High School students have been practicing song from the popular Disney movie Frozen. The songs are all in one big medley so many of the songs are not the full version.

          The songs included in the medley include but are not limited to Frozen Heart, Let It Go, and Do You Wanna Build A Snowman. The other pieces are primarily Norwegian.

          The songs are written in English with a few written in Norwegian. They range in difficult from easy to hard and some include the whole chorus while others only have the guys or the girls singing.

          The chorus is also practicing some other pieces they plan to take to contest such as Old Abram Brown and Gloria. The chorus had already performed Gloria in a contest, so they just worked to fix a few things on the piece.

          The chorus will be competing in a contest on April 17^th and will also be having a concert at the end of April or the beginning of May. Many students are excited for the contest.

          In the contest all songs must be memorized. With all the difficult pieces, the students have been learning the must really push themselves to memorize the selections.

           

OHS Holds STEM Celebration

 

By OHS Torch Reporters Ashley McCain and Julia Griffith

 Over 365 first, third and fifth graders from Olympia district elementary schools came to OHS for an annual STEM day celebration on Tuesday, April 7th and Thursday, April 9th.

 OHS teacher Jarrod Rackauskas said his favorite part of the STEM Celebration is, "seeing the enjoyment in the little kids’ faces."

 First graders and third graders gathered in various science rooms around the high school learning about science and technology. The elementary students enjoyed a magic show at the very beginning of the STEM Celebration put on by the AP Chemistry students. Environmental Science and AP Biology students taught about plants and the water cycle. All first grade students were building a penguin exhibit.

 OHS Freshman Taylor Yeazle helped with the penguin exhibit, "My favorite part is helping the children and seeing how much fun they have doing this project!"

 There are 171 high school students were involved in this year’s science celebration along with all the OHS Science teachers!

 This year’s celebration was an overall success. The high school students, teachers and elementary students had a lot of fun being a part of this experience.

Meet the 2014-2015 Torch Staff

Spring Torch Staff 2015



Fall Torch Staff 2014
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