The senior class, junior class, sophomore class, and the freshman class at New Haven High School were working against one another to win the first annual door decorating contest, sponsored by FBLA! Each class was competing to win not only spirit points, but also a piece of candy too.
October 27-29th at New Haven High School was Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is an event that informs students about the dangers of doing drugs and the consequences that follow.
"We have red ribbon week to spread awareness of drugs and the bad things that will happen to you if you do drugs," commented Patricia Weatherly. “Red ribbon week is to inform people that drugs are bad and that we should say no." stated Zoie Mathis. It’s that time of year again! The days are becoming cool and crisp, leaves are changing colors and falling to the ground, and the New Haven High School FBLA chapter has been anxiously planning its drive-by raking event for this year. Drive-by raking was held on October 30 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. after the half day of school.
The Marching Shamrocks have finished up their season of marching, and it wasn’t a boring season at all! Band director Mrs. Koch stated, “I believe the Marching Shamrocks did an amazing job this year. We started the season off with a lot of new members, and honestly, I was a little nervous about the season in August. However, the leadership in this band is something to be commended, and the new members really stepped up and made a huge impact on our overall strength.” This is what Mrs. Koch had to say about the Marching Shamrocks success during this year’s marching season. It really showed by how many first place trophies (8) were brought home. The band had its strengths; however, there are some things Mrs. Koch feels still need to be improved on before next season. “The Marching Shamrocks have always been known for their unique marching style, and to say the least, we dominated the marching captions this year... most by 20+ points. Our goal for next year is to focus on the ensemble sound of the band.” Based on the scores, music wasn’t far behind, but there was almost always another band who was able to win over the judges with their musical style.
According to Mrs. Koch, next year you should expect it to be “an incredibly strong year.” In 2015, the band will only be losing six seniors and the auxiliary. “Many of our section leaders this year were juniors who will be returning next year as senior section leaders.” Mrs. Koch also said that the marching skills were sharpened this year, which will give them a better focus on music next year. “I only foresee our scores improving.” After marching season, the band has to get ready for the conference basketball games with pep band music. This year, pep band will be playing 8 new songs for the crowd’s enjoyment. When Mrs. Koch was asked if anything was going to change with pep band this year, she stated, “Nothing logistically will change; however, the band is excited to play a few new selections this year in addition to all our other favorites.” After band, one can constantly hear throughout the day Cameron Pritchett and Tim Prussener singing the “Immigrant” song by Led Zepplin. During band class, the players are always begging to get out the pep band folders so they can spend the class period playing modern music, which seems to be more enjoyable than playing concert music to some. When the band isn’t working on pep band music, they are working on concert music. “The concert band music for the Christmas concert will include some of our typical holiday favorites. We were able to order a few new selections featuring some movie themes: Polar Express, Nightmare Before Christmas, Charlie Brown's Christmas,” Mrs. Koch stated. The band members may not be too crazy about this because they are excited for pep band at the moment. However, not all of the members like pep band the best. Michael McKernan prefers concert band simply because he just likes concert band. Those are not the only things to look forward to in concert band this year. Like last year, in the spring concert, all the bands from 5th grade to high school will be performing a song together. “It is also fun and exciting for our audience to hear all the band members. Our next concert band selections will focus on district concepts because we will be preparing the band for District Music Festival in March this year; these songs will be more traditional in style and sound.” “The high school band will be performing at the District Music Festival this year. New Haven has not participated at the district level with the full band for many years. I would love to bring this tradition back and show everyone in our district that New Haven can be just as strong of a concert band as we can a marching band.” Each year, individuals have been able to take a solo or ensemble to be rated on by one judge. They also have the option to take a three-person ensemble, commonly called a trio, up to a group of 8. This will be the first time in five years Mrs. Koch will be taking a whole band to districts. The band is given a score at the festival that shows their skill of sight reading and being able to properly play a prepared piece. “First, the high school concert band will prepare several pieces to be adjudicated by three different judges on the day of District Music Festival. The judges will rate our band as I, II, III, IV, or V. I is the highest rating a band can receive, and V is the lowest. Second, the band will sight read a selection of music and be adjudicated on the same scale; this shows judges how well the students can read music without preparation, truly testing their musical skills.” This year will definitely be more challenging and involved. The members will have more playing opportunities, and this makes for more experience to better their playing skills. Everyone is welcome to these events. The band always enjoys an audience of faces they know. -by Abby Perdue Every year, at the end of September, the high school choir buckles down for the All District Choir Auditions. Long days of singing the same song over and over again to get it right contribute to the success of the candidates’ auditions. Although there are only a few students who choose to go, those students are hard-working, devoted, and practice almost everyday, hoping to get a spot in the choir.
This year two choir students attended the auditions. Freshman Britany Willimann and sophomore Anna Miller are those students. These ladies must know their parts and pitches to get every measure of the music right. “The overall experience was great,and I think it helped me as a singer, “ commented Britany. Another large part of the score is sight reading. There is really no way to prepare for sight reading, given that the judges do not provide the audition piece to the candidates until they walk through the door of the auditioning room. These pieces are totally random, and the scores are based off of the student’s ability to read music and match pitch just by reading the music for the very first time. These auditions were held on Monday, September 29, 2014. Anna and Britany left school at 1:00 p.m to make their way to Hillsboro. "District choir was fairly fun but hard. I wish I would've practiced more," commented Britany. Anna Miller made it through the auditions and is now a part of the All- District Choir for the 2014-2015 school year. Congratulations, Anna! -by Karissa Durbin Anna Miller, a sophomore at New Haven High, is attending district choir for the second year in a row! Last year, as a freshman, Anna went to districts, and it is rare for a young singer to achieve such a goal. When talking about her previous experience, she said, “Last year at districts was amazing. The director was phenomenal, and it was an awesome feeling to know I was surrounded by people who loved to sing as much as I did. I also was glad I got to experience district choir with Maddie because she is such a big inspiration to me.” Mrs. Taylor also commented about the director, “The clinician is an awesome director and is usually very educational and entertaining.” When questioned about what she hopes to get out of this experience, Anna said, “I hope to be able to meet new people and have fun as well as learn new techniques and warm ups.”
Luckily for Anna, she and Mrs. Taylor will be meeting each week until mid-November to work on Anna’s music. Mrs. Taylor has been teaching Anna since she was in her younger elementary years. Mrs. Taylor said, “I noticed Anna's musical ability at age 9.” Anna’s mom,Mrs. Miller, also says she noticed Anna’s talent around the same age, during a school concert. Now, on Anna’s 15th birthday, she received the news that she’ll be attending districts. During the morning announcements, Anna was in gym class, and when she heard her name announced, she jumped with glee! When explaining this, Anna giggled, “What a great birthday present!” For Anna to achieve such goal, she had to go through auditions, which included sight singing. Sight singing is when a singer is given a piece of music and is expected to sing it without preparation. The performer does this in front of a handful of judges who are facing in the other direction. When discussing the topic of districts, Anna was asked if she was nervous, and she laughed and said, “Nervous is an understatement. Auditions were all I could think about for the longest time.” Once Anna arrives at districts, she’ll be taking part in a large, select choir from high schools in the area. After the nerve-wracking auditions and weekly practices, in November Anna Miller will be at districts performing with students from several surrounding schools. -by Paige Adams This weekend, the Marching Shamrocks were able to bring home three first place trophies. They were unable to bring home an overall first place trophy but were able to score in the caption awards. Caption awards are the sub-awards, such as, drum major, drumline, auxiliary, marching, and music.They scored first place in drum major, marching, and drumline. The Shamrocks were really feeling good about this weekend, even though there were many things that shouldn’t have happened.
This weekend at the Washington marching festival, the New Haven Marching Shamrocks proved that practice equals perfection! In a previous interview, Megan Shockley, Mackenzy Vedder, Josh Lindley, and Mrs. Koch all said that the same thing, “marching,” is what needed to be improved. This is exactly what happened at this past weekend’s competition!
The Shamrocks were supposed to start the parade at 9:15 a.m., but since other bands were not prepared, they stepped off at 9:05. Every year for this parade, all the Shamrock fans wait at the corner by Dairy Delight to watch the band march by. This year, they were taken by surprise--the Shamrocks were ahead of schedule. The band was supposed to be the last one to step off in their class, but ended up being one of the first. Maybe this helped with their scores since they were prepared. After they passed dairy delight, they passed another judge to find themselves in the middle of the parade. Each time they got to the corner of a street, they did their famous Texas turn. Other bands have their own turn, but the Marching Shamrocks’ turn is unique. Each time they would walk past the judge, it was a quick change of posture and a horns up! The drums would start off, and the auxiliary performed their routine to the music. After the song ended, the band became uniform, but the drums were the only ones performing. As the Shamrocks were finishing the parade, they marched up a hill leading to the buses to go home. On both sides of the streets were people from other schools cheering them on because not every school marches up that hill. “I love that other schools encourage us to continue on. They were cheering and saying ‘Go New Haven!’” said Hannah Kruse. Instead of losing to Vienna, as was previously the case, the Shamrocks brought home two trophies to add to the four from Sullivan. They placed first in their class overall and first for marching in the whole competition. Vienna placed sixth in music; New Haven placed second. “The judges from Washington definitely thought the band was doing a lot better than Vienna when comparing the scores,” Mrs. Koch stated. During marching season, they have always been New Haven’s biggest rivals. “You guys did great today, good job!” Mrs. Koch said. In the marching rank, they were placed first by 60 points! As a band, their rank was first by 6 points. The drumline still did very well, even though they got third place with a score of 114 points: first place drumline had 120 points. Finally, the auxiliary got second place in their class, losing to Osage County R-2 by 4 points. Regardless of what the scores were, “I think we did pretty well,” Keven McDowell, the drum major, said. Saturday, October 11th, the Shamrocks leave for their last competition of the season. During this last week of practice, they are determined to perfect their music and still hold the lines while marching. The band hopes to see another first place trophy, along with a first place in music and marching! -by Abby Perdue On September 19, 2014, the New Haven High School Music Boosters held a barbecue to raise money for the New Haven High School Band and Choir. The stand opened at 11:00 A.M. in the Save-A-Lot parking lot and sold food until they ran out. The items sold included bratwursts, a selection of pork steaks, mustard potato salad, German Potato Salad, beans, and Pepsi products.
The reason the music committee was raising money this year was for new band uniforms. They also intended on using any leftover money on needed equipment for both band and choir. While they had no set goal for money, they intended to make at least one thousands dollars. The big benefactor to those barbecues are the businesses in town who placed large orders from the stand. An issue this year for the barbecue is the price of pork. The past year, a virus swept through pigs and drastically decreased the amount of pork on the market this year, which increased the price of pork. Even though there was an issue with the prices, the barbecue was a success, and they managed to sell out this year as well. -by Robert Cichon The drum major has lead the Marching Shamrocks into their first competition this year at the Sullivan Marching Festival. This year, the band is up against the same competition as last year. Vienna is the one who shot the Shamrocks down last year at this event, causing them to take second place overall in their class. This year, determined to win, the NHHS band went over the judges’ reviews before the festival. They wanted to understand what they did and didn’t like. This year, they are being judged by the same people as last year.
In the past, New Haven Marching Shamrocks have been known for how well they march, and not necessarily their music style. Last year, that was a reason they lost to Vienna. As Mrs. Koch had said in a previous interview, as of last Friday they still had a lot of work to do before the competition this weekend. The music is still strong, but their marching still needs work. After the parade, the Shamrocks were feeling confident about their performance. Later that afternoon, they came and played for New Haven’s balloon festival parade. Around 5:30 that evening, Mrs. Koch sent out a tweet giving details about how the band scored. The tweet read, “Sullivan Today: 1st place Drumline, 1st place Drum Major, 1st place Auxiliary, 2nd place overall!” The New Haven Shamrocks received second place, falling eight points behind Vienna. However, this year the whole band is scoring a lot higher than they were last year around this time. Mrs. Koch agrees that this weekend was a very successful one. Some of the section leaders were interviewed before the parade to see what they thought of their section and the band as whole. Hannah Kruse, saxophone section leader, says,”The saxophones definitely know their music and are strong marchers,” when asked about how well her section was doing. Hannah, Mackenzy Vedder, Megan Shockley, Erin Scheer, Aaron Penning, and Josh Lindley all agree on one thing when it comes to what the band can improve on-- marching. When the section leaders were questioned about what the band as a whole will do this year, they agreed again. The band will do well. Could this be the trick to beating Vienna? On Saturday, October 3rd, we will find out. Once again, the Shamrocks will be put to the test of Vienna at the Washington parade. -by Abby Perdue Each year, New Haven holds the Balloon Festival, where FBLA seeks the opportunity to make a bit of extra money for this year’s chapter. FBLA sets up two games--a bounce house and an obstacle course. The games were inflated at 1:30p.m on that beautiful Saturday afternoon. As soon as the bounce house went up, children started rushing towards it, with parents running after them. They were informed that the prices for one child to have a turn on either one was $1, while the wristband was $5, which came with unlimited turns.
Overall, Mrs.Strickland said about the money FBLA made, “I think we did pretty well today.” She went on to explain that she doesn’t know how much the inflatable games brought in for FBLA, due to the fact the bounce house and obstacle course still have to be paid for. Megan Shockley said, “ The members that signed up to help were just supervising the games to make sure there are not too many kids on it at one time. Some of the members also took money and distributed wristbands.” Two high school FBLA members stood outside the entrance of the bounce house, keeping time of each kids’ turn to jump; seven kids could jump at once. Meanwhile, volunteers at the obstacle course directed kids to hop onto the course and race through it. Two other students stood at the end of the slide to make sure kids got off the slide safely. Once her shift was over, Lexi Nixon proclaimed, “I felt so bad having to tell kids they couldn’t get on the ride if they hadn’t paid yet.” Luckily, there were no injuries for the children or volunteers! The inflatable games provided the kids at the balloon festival endless entertainment and fun and a fundraising opportunity for FBLA. -by Paige Adams On September 24, 2014, the FBLA door decorating committee met before school to discuss what they wanted to do for the event. It occurred to the committee to have different themes for the doors, depending on the holiday. The first theme that they wished to do was Halloween. The members of the committee decided that the four grades would decorate the doors of their class sponsors for the year. Instead of receiving prizes, the winning class would receive spirit points, which would help them get one step closer to winning the pizza and ice cream party at the end of the year.
Beth Schenck, a senior at the New Haven High School, came up with the idea of having a door decorating contest. When asked about how she got the idea, she stated, “ I saw that the idea was pretty common among other schools when I attended the officers’ leadership convention this summer, and I remember how fun it was when we did it in middle school around Christmas time. So, I’m looking forward to some decorative doors and hallways.” When asked how she thought the students felt about it, she responded, “ I think the students and teachers will like and hopefully continue it in the next several years.” In conclusion, for Halloween the New Haven High School’s doors and hallways will be filled with decorations and wonder. -by Jennifer Alvarez On September 16, 2014, the Nation Honor Society held a committee meeting for the 5K run. The committee is made up of students that have been selected to be in the organization. Part of being in Nation Honor Society is coming up with ideas to fundraise money for the New Haven High School or to help out members of the community. This year, the officers came up with the idea to do a 5K run around New Haven.
Mrs. Oelrichs, the sponsor for National Honor Society, thought the idea of doing a 5k was great. When Mrs. Oelrichs was asked why they decided to do a 5K, she responded, “ Well, the officers thought of the idea at the end of last year and said that they wanted to do it this year.” Mrs. Oelrichs commented, “ I will be looking forward to this because I like seeing the groups working together and having fun with it.” A member of the committee, Emily Moreno, said “ I signed up for it because I thought it would be fun and I know it will make people happy because it’s raising money for charity, which is a good cause. I will also be looking forward to the possibility of having hot cocoa.” When asked how she thought the students felt about it, Mrs. Oelrichs replied, “ I think they will have fun with it because it will be a Christmas theme.” She hopes to do similar projects in the future because, “ I think its for a good cause; for example, this year we are doing it for the track project. Later on, we could do fundraising ideas to help out our members of the community.” In conclusion, the National Honor Society Committee hope to raise money for the New Haven Track Project that can later on be used by the elementary and middle schools students. -by Jennifer Alvarez Bright and early on Wednesday, September the 17th, students began to enter Mrs. Miller’s classroom for the first Family Career Community Leaders of America meeting. The meeting was brief yet informational. Each member had to sign up for at least one committee: community service, t-shirt, gift exchange, hospitality room, or field trip. This year, the club is going to hold a Halloween Costume Contest and go on a field trip.
“It’s okay if someone missed the first meeting. It isn’t too late to join,” Jenny Alvarez, the FCCLA president says. “For someone who isn't sure of joining, I would tell them that it is a fun experience and you get to do so many fun things and not just sit or come to meetings.” Mrs. Miller, the teacher in charge of FCCLA, says, “This year we have 20 members signed up. That is a little lower than last year, but people are still coming to join.” This school year, the club hopes to do more community service than before. During the meeting, Julie Moeckli, the vice president, shared some of her ideas to help the community. She brought up reading to kids at the children’s hospital and volunteering at the local food pantry. Like Mrs. Miller said, “FCCLA helps students connect with their peers and help out their community,” That is what FCCLA intends on doing this year! -by Paige Adams The New Haven Marching Shamrocks are back at it. Marching season has began once again! The students have had countless hours of morning rehearsal and sectionals. This past Friday, they proved that they are ready. Who agrees? Does their band director, Mrs. Koch, think they are? Keven McDowell, the drum major who is in charge of leading the band into the paths of competition, says “The song is there, and most of the sections are ready.” To prove that they are ready for the Sullivan competition, the band had their annual preview parade through town.
Mrs. Koch believes that there is still room for improvement before their first competition Saturday, September 27th, in Sullivan. “There were never any perfect moments from any aspect Friday; therefore, we will continue to work on all concepts in which we will be judged, including marching alignment, individual marching technique, music, and overall confidence in our performance,” she commented. They will leave early that morning to make that performance, then hurry back to play in the Balloon Festival. This year the band is playing Any Way You Want It by Journey. Each year, Mrs. Koch gives the musicians the choices of music they can play the following year. Originally, the band was going to play two songs, the other being Forget You by Cee Lo Green. She decided on not playing this song because of all the new band members they acquired this year. The marching band goes to four competitions each year. This year, they are only going to participate in three. Mizzou Homecoming is the competition they will not be competing in since the band attended Mizzou Band Day. At each competition, they play their songs while they march and get judged by different judges. Each judge will give them a score, and they get compared to the other bands in their class. After each band has performed, the drum majors from each band all wait to receive the awards their band has won. The band gets judged on many elements at competitions. There are seven types of judges. Two are judging the music: music overall and music general effect. Two others are for marching: marching alignment and marching general effect. The last three types of judges are for the auxiliary, drumline, and drum major. For each category, there is a trophy for the top three bands in each class. New Haven Marching Shamrocks are planning on having a very successful season. Even though there are so many new members, they think they can make the season one filled with many first place trophies. -by Abby Perdue It was an early and exciting Saturday morning for the New Haven High School Marching Shamrocks. The Marching Shamrocks left the high school at 7:55 A.M. After a fun bus ride to Columbia, they arrived at the Mizzou campus at 9:35 A.M. Not only was it an interesting morning, it was also a fun-filled day. Along with the New Haven marching band, there were 24 other bands. Some bands were from Bourbon, Blair Oaks, New Bloomfield, and the Missouri Military Academy. With all of these bands, there were 1,400 students total.
During halftime of the Mizzou vs. South Dakota State football game, all of the bands took the field to perform the halftime show and played “Marry You” by Bruno Mars with the Mizzou marching band. The flags and color guard were positioned in the back. In front of the flags was the drumline, then the Mizzou marching band. In front of Marching Mizzou were the poms and baton twirlers. To the left of Marching Mizzou were all of the brass and woodwinds. The New Haven colorguard got to rehearse with the Mizzou color guard for an hour. There was a mix up with the New Haven Shamrockettes; they did not have a routine made for them. While every other part of the band was practicing, the Shamrockettes were trying to make up something to perform. Before the game started, the Shamrockettes managed to come up with a routine. The majority of the band members agreed that this event should have been planned a little bit better. The Mizzou members were altering the schedule of the day and the placement of the schools during that day. All of the Shamrockettes unanimously agreed that they should have been given a routine to do during the halftime show. They are hoping to get that figured out and ready to go for next time! Mrs. Koch said, “We will do Mizzou Band Day every four years. We are a parade band, not a field band. It is a good experience, but not a competition where we get judged.” This game was on opening day for Mizzou. There were 60,589 people present watching the game and supporting the team. After every touchdown the Mizzou football team scored, they shot fireworks off, and the fans went wild. After a long day, it ended up being successful with Mizzou winning the game 38-18 against South Dakota State University. While it was successful for Mizzou, it was also successful for the New Haven Marching Band. This was the first year New Haven went to Mizzou Band Day. New Haven performed well on the field with Marching Mizzou and the other bands. -by Kathleen Jasper Please welcome our new business teacher, Mrs. Strickland! She has replaced Mrs. River, who retired at the end of last year, and she is teaching classes such as Accounting, Business Tech 1&2, Keyboarding, Computer Applications, and Advanced Accounting. This is Mrs. Strickland’s first teaching job. Mrs. Strickland decided to teach here at New Haven High School after seeing the business department. She was very impressed with it, and she felt comfortable in the building and with everyone she met. Mrs. Strickland’s time here so far has been enjoyable. She says that the students are great. Although being a first year teacher can be overwhelming, all the support from other teachers has made it a lot easier. Mrs. Strickland thought that teaching here would be overwhelming, but Mr. Hoener was very helpful, and any questions were answered. She also expected being in an open environment, which means having her own way with how she teaches her classes, along with the students doing what was needed for them to do, and so far this has been the case.
Mrs. Strickland’s single favorite thing about New Haven High School so far is the sense of community. She has been impressed with the students and staff that are involved in education and other activities. There is also a strong sense of support from outside the school and the community. Therefore, even though this is her first teaching job and sometimes it can be a lot for her, Mrs. Strickland enjoys her time at New Haven High and looks forward to teaching here. -by Robbie Cichon The first Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) meeting of the 2014-2015 school year was held on September 3, 2014. When the clock hit 7:40 Wednesday morning, a line started to form down the hallway from the band room. Students from all classes were lined up excited, not only for doughnuts, but to see what FBLA has to offer this school year. The officers introduced themselves, just like every year. Papers were passed out to sign up for drive by raking, the balloon race, and to sign up for committees. The FBLA dues were announced, which are $13 this year. She and the reporter, Hannah Kruse, were asked a few questions after the first meeting.
Mrs. Strickland stated that after the amazing legacy Mrs. River left, she was a bit nervous taking over. Mrs. River retired this past school year, but that doesn’t mean she left Mrs. Strickland without any advice. She told Mrs. Strickland to just be a manager of the club and to rely heavily on the officers to get the ball rolling for the committees and activities. Hannah Kruse, the reporter of FBLA this year, is excited to introduce the Halloween Door Decorating Contest. Hannah also wants to encourage study groups for FBLA competitions. This allows the competitors a specific time to study, instead of brushing off much-needed study time. Mrs. Strickland and the officers plan to make the school year of FBLA go over quite well. The officers have experience with the club, and Mrs. River is always a phone call away if Mrs. Strickland needs some assistance. -by Paige Adams ¨If music be the food of love, play on.¨~William Shakespeare.
Music has been around for many centuries, making people smile, laugh, or shed a tear. What some people don’t know is that one can have a strong passion for music. A passion like this shows how much music means to a person and gives people an idea of how serious one is about music. After talking to the students in choir, it can be noticed how they get into music and how serious they are about taking the class. Why Students Join Choir. ¨Music is not what I do. It’s who I am.¨~anonymous -Choir allows me to express myself. -After a while, being a part of the choir brings us together as a family. -To make new interesting friends. -Just to sing with a group of people. -Most people like to sing. Why Mrs. Taylor Became A Choir Teacher. Mrs.Taylor expressed that ever since she was younger, she always had a passion for music and different musical themes. Mrs. Taylor loves seeing the faces of new and old members of her high school and elementary choir. Mrs. Taylor believes that music is so involved with our everyday lives that it makes it hard to not want to be involved in a musical class. As we continued to talk about music written in different languages, she stated that she thinks it helps kids learn a little of a new language and opens their minds to a new kind of music. For most people, choir is a big part of their lives. To some, it means the world to sing and be a part of the musical world. -by Zoie Mathis |
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