As the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year wraps up, many noteworthy moments come to mind. Let’s rewind and look back at monumental highlights in sports, fine arts and spirit. 

Sports

Sports are an important part of student life at LHS, and the 2023 fall season did not disappoint. Boys and girls golf teams both competed at sectionals after strong seasons. Girl’s tennis sent three athletes to state, seniors Taya Breslow and Hadley Warren, and junior Lena Dogadalski. Girls and boys cross country teams both competed in sectional races, finishing the season strong. 

The girls volleyball team made an impressive run, winning both regional and sectional champion titles. Girls swim and dive ended their season with state finishes from senior Ally Humbert, who placed 8th for diving, and Sofija Tijunelis who placed 5th in the 100 backstroke.

“We were resilient,” sophomore Blaise LaVista said. “Early on in the year we had a tough loss to Warren… but we came together and came back and picked up some more wins.”

LaVista attributes this to the dedication of the team, along with the guidance from seniors and upperclassmen on the team. 

“We were lucky to have an insanely dedicated group of seniors that every single day put in the work,” he said. “They led as an example to the younger guys.”

Creating a disciplined routine, and community within the team, the Wildcats were able to end the season with a record of 5-5. Football was just one of many teams to implement a new weight room program this year, which helped contribute not only to their success but also the sense of family within the team.

“Everyone wanted to be there,” LaVista said. “In the weight room, you would always be together and even outside of football people would hang out.”

Most sports at LHS have a distinctive sense of camaraderie, even when the season doesn’t go how one might want it to. Hopefully, this carries over to next year for another fall of successful sports. 

Fine Arts

Another instrumental part of the fabric of LHS is the fine arts programs. One of the first things to happen within fine arts during the school year is marching band and drumline. Raising spirit and energy at football games, and playing in classrooms during homecoming week, the band program works hard to prepare before school even starts.

“The marching band is [one of] the most spirited parts [of LHS],” senior John Nelson said, “It gets the school hyped up for the sports season and occasionally we [do a] state send off.”

The next major event in fine arts was the annual musical, which this year was “The Drowsy Chaperone”. One of the things that makes the musical such a big deal is the collaboration across all fine arts that it allows for. Band students play in pit orchestra, choir and theater students act and sing in the show, crew helps with set, costume, lighting, and just general production.

“It’s so much fun to do singing and acting at the same time,” sophomore Eva Thomas said, “and just meeting all these new people and seeing everything [come together] is fun.”

Concerts are another important part of fine arts at LHS, with orchestra, band and choir having at least two this year. Orchestra started off its year with Fright Night, their annual Halloween themed concert, which happened in October, with choir also having their first concert around the same time.

Each program also had a festival, in which middle schoolers from Oak Grove, Highland and Roundout spent the day making music together here at LHS under the direction of a guest conductor. 

Rounding out the year for theater is One Acts, a collection of student-directed plays, and the annual holiday concert.

Wildcat Spirit

From spirit days to dances to assemblies, Wildcat energy is always unmatched, and this year was no exception. Students went all out when it came to events, embracing silly spirit days and unleashing the competition between grades. As always, the excitement and tension between grades bubbled over during color wars, where the school erupted into a rainbow of blue, purple, red and green. 

At the homecoming assembly, students watched performances by the cheer and dance teams, classmates engaging in musical chairs, a very heated karaoke contest that required the use of a decibel meter, the seniors winning the spirit cup, and, of course, students voted for their Homecoming Wildcat. The 2023-2024 homecoming court presented us with short videos about themselves, displaying each of their unique personalities. 

Henry Calsin was this year’s Homecoming Wildcat, a very memorable part of his senior year.

“It was definitely something I was not expecting, but it was really cool,” Calsin said. ”I always look forward to the opportunity to represent my grade.”

Even after homecoming week, Student Council works hard to encourage student involvement. The yearly canned food drive collected approximately 15,000 cans. Dr. Kreutz’s first-period class won the school-wide competition, donating around 600 cans and getting to enjoy a pizza party. Mrs. Naslund’s class came in second. Dressing up as cans and condiments, Student Council members frequented many second-period classes to get them excited and motivated to donate. 

Junior Molly Shinnick, a Student Council executive board member, reflected on the food drive and STUCO’s efforts to generate interest and partciaption.

“[STUCO] was wearing [the outfits] in the hallways and teachers [were] wearing them in class and going above and beyond,” Shinnick said.

Overall, the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year has shaped up to be an exciting time for Wildcats. The enthusiasm and spirit from students is exceptionally high as we move into 2024.