Awards:

CTE:
AAUW Scholar in Technology – Kristina Savelesky
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Quinn Anderson
Thompson & Kreitzberg Scholar ($500) – Mattie Smyth
Business Student of the Year – Melissa Nelsen

History:
Pride in Excellence: Madison Elmenhurst

English:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500 split) – Quinn Anderson & Groover Snell
Excellence in English Award – Quinn Anderson

Science:
AAUW Scholar in Science – Jaslyn LaCome
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Kelsey Gabel
Outstanding Science- Groover Snell, Rachel Schueller and Anna Pettyjohn

Social Studies:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Madison Elmenhurst

Math:
AAUW Outstanding Female Scholar for Mathematics- Ashley Cornia
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500 split) – Laura Hewitt-Adams andAlexander Pickel
Delta Y Award for Courage and Success in Mathematics- Armando Torres

Arts:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Olivia Hemenway
Russ Larsen Scholarhip (Choir) – Christina Swanson and Courtney Griggs
National Arion Band Award – Sam Gentzler
John Phillips Sousa award Band – Rachel Schueller
Best Actor – Nathan Loomer
Best Actress – Mary Beth Jones
Drawing and Painting Award – Dylan Newman
Pottery and Sculpture Award – Anthony Arellano

Foreign Languages:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Julia Cosma
German – Groover Snell
French – Madison Elmenhurst
American Sign Language – Melissa Nelsen
Spanish – Rachel Schueller

English as a Second Language:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Berenice Banales-Sanchez
Blue Devil College Cup Scholarship ($1,000) – Berenice Banales-Sanchez

AVID:
Pride in Excellence ($500 split) – Viviana Castillo and Marilyn Melgoza

PE:
Pride in Excellence Scholarship ($500) – Zane Henderson

12 Season Award Winners:
Dean Atkinson
Logan Reardon
Paul Gilmore
Quinn Piver
Rachel Nelson
Zach Gilvey
Zach Anderson

Lehnan Award:
Tori Crawford
Dominique Cox

Lawrence Jacky Award:
Andrea Golden

Brown Trophy:
Zane Henderson and Logan Reardon

Senior Alyssa Bertelsen was nominated by counselor Carrie Lujan for her leadership role in Culinary Arts. “I’m a new student so I wasn’t really expecting to win anything, but I did try very hard,” Bertelsen said.

Junior Joshua Lancaster was nominated by science teacher Peggy Payne but was not present.

Sophomore Anna Aspostolidis was nominated by her by business teacher Scott Reardon for holding the second highest grade in class and for a lot of participation. “I was a little more surprised when I won student of the month last year, but it was still exciting,” Aspostolidis said.

Freshman Andres Garcia was nominated by AVID adviser Peggy Payne for his outstanding participation in AVID and his organization.

For the list of nominees, click here.

Senior Samantha Case was named a Washington Scholar. The Washington Scholars program recognizes the accomplishments of four high school students in each of the state’s 49 legislative districts, three Washington Scholars and one Washington Scholar-Alternate. Washington Scholars recognition is based on academic achievement, leadership, and community service.

Case plans to attend Washington State University and major in history. She has been accepted into WSU’s Honor program. With a GPA of 3.984, Case is ranked 10th in her senior class. She is in choir, National Honor Society, Future Farmers of America Floriculture Team, and was a member of the Link Crew her junior year.

Stinebaugh placed 1st in the Computer Problem Solving event. “Competing at state was an awesome experience,” Stinebaugh said. “I was shocked to hear my name called to come up to the stage — they call the top 5 to the stage in each event — because I didn’t think I would place at all. But to actually win, I was astounded.”

Stinebaugh learned the skills that his competition required in a class at Wa-Hi. “[Computer Problem Solving] entailed having a knowledge of many various computer and network related areas, in addition to troubleshooting,” Stinebaugh said. “I went in and did practice tests like with business calculations, but the main reason I knew so much about computers is because of the training I have had in Mr. Debroeck’s Computer Tech class over the past few years, which helped me immensely during preparation. I don’t think I can say I was ‘studying’ for this competition in Debroeck’s per se though, so it’s hard to quantify how many hours I spent studying for the test.” Stinebaugh also placed 5th in the Business Calculation event.

Junior Lea Davidson placed 1st in the Client Service event. “Competing at State was so much fun not only [because of] the competition aspect and getting to see all your hard work, but also getting to spend time with your teammates and meeting so many new people,” Davidson said. “I was shocked when they called my name. State is extremely competitive, and I completely wasn’t expecting it. It was an extremely gratifying experience to stand on the stage and look out in the audience to see my team go crazy when I won; we’re really lucky to have such a close team with great supportive people. That was probably the best part. It took awhile to sink in, but once it did I was really happy, not only for me but my teammate Travis who I’m really proud of for placing in not one but two of his events, one of which he won.”

In the client service event, Davidson had 10 minutes to prepare for a scenario in which she had to help a “disgruntled client” and smooth over the problem. “We have study sessions for a couple hours almost every Sunday, and we met at those as much as we could,” Davidson said. “Mr. Reardon is the best advisor, he dedicates so much time and helps us with whatever we need, so a shout out to him: thank you so much. The day before Mrs. Schaub acted as our judge and did an extremely ridiculous interpretation of multiple different situations, which was helpful practice but in all honesty was really just super fun and helped me and our other competitor Kayla [Crain] feel more confident.”

These 1st place wins automatically qualified Stinebaugh and Davidson for entry into the National Leadership Conference held in Anaheim, Calif., on June 27-30. “In the past seven years, I have had a total of two FBLA state champions,” FBLA adviser Scott Reardon said. “And then suddenly, in a matter of 30 minutes, I had two more. Lea was shaking when she got back to her seat, and Travis was one big grin from ear to ear. To march up in front of 1,500 kids and get your name called as a state champion is a big deal. The response from everyone in our group was overwhelming; there was a lot of whooping and hollering going on.”

Ten other Wa-Hi students competed at the state level over the weekend: senior Brenda Lopez, juniors Catherine Feistner, Hannah Hampson,  Elli Rassbach and Perla Villegas, sophomores Emily Atkinson, Crain, Tanya Esquivel, Jennifer Lara and Russell Skorina.

Approximately 80 schools and 1,500 students attended the conference, competing in 73 events. “First of all, the performance and professionalism of all the Wa-Hi participants during the conference was truly outstanding,” Reardon said. “I think all of the students had a great experience at the conference. And with only two seniors, the rest of the chapter members will have an opportunity to return to the state level next year in Seattle.”

At the National Leadership Conference, Stinebaugh and Davidson will participate in their competitive events and have access to workshops, seminars and networking opportunities with students and business leaders from all over the country. The National Leadership Conference is the culmination of FBLA’s school year, as thousands of students converge to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event. Reardon will accompany these students to the conference.

The prepared dishes were given a score by the judges, based on the overall quality and taste. Each respective competitor’s scores are sent to Chicago, Ill., the last city competing in the tour.

The winner will be announced on May 18, in Chicago. The grand prize winner will receive a free trip to Washington D.C. and will spend the day cooking with the head chef at the White House. The student receiving the highest score in each school will earn a trophy and a set of knives in order to further facilitate their future cooking careers.

Normally, I am against stringent dress codes. In many cases, they truly do restrict creative freedom. Placing strict rules on what students can and cannot wear tends to force everyone in a school to dress in a similar manner, which can be all sorts of awful for people who prefer to express themselves through their clothing. However, despite protests and complaints, the Wa-Hi dress code is not as severe as it could be. There are very few rules, and although some of them seem outdated and – to be honest – a bit silly (such as the fact that it is forbidden to wear clothing that is all one color), most of the rules are in place for student safety.

For instance, shoes must be worn by all students at all times. This is meant to prevent students from stepping on a sharp or otherwise dangerous object and injuring themselves. After several years of working in the auditorium, where staples, screws and nails are sometimes left on the floor after a setbuild, this rule is of obvious importance.

Many of the restrictions are also defenses against inviting gang violence into the school environment. According to the Walla Walla Area Crime Watch website, there were 173 gang-related incidents in Walla Walla in 2010 alone; this means that bandannas and gang colors are banned for good reason. There is a rule only against gang-related tattoos (they must be covered up); other piercings and tattoos are acceptable unless they are a danger to self or others, or vulgar in some way. The same ban applies to clothing with racist, sexist, or otherwise disgusting slogans or images, as well as advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

Of course, there are also rules dealing with modesty and decency; tank-top straps must exceed two fingers’ width and shirts may not bare midriffs or breasts. As a girl I cannot explain this away as a matter of safety; it is simply to stop other students from being distracted by the bodies of the people around them. In a perfect system this would not be necessary. We do not exist in a perfect system. Thus, no matter how hot the weather becomes or how much one might want to show off one’s cute new outfit, certain strict rules apply. I can only assume that these rules do not apply to boys, since I have in the past observed male students going shirtless at school with no repercussions.

All in all, the dress code has more advantages than disadvantages. It provides a baseline for clothing choices that allow for both modesty and safety, without compromising more creative freedom than necessary. I absolutely agree that adjustments need to be made, but until that happens I can settle for what is already here.

Against dress code: (Ivye Hurley)

The dress code policy has multiple rules and regulations about what students can or cannot wear. The purpose of it is to reduce disruptions to educational process, promote healthy and safe learning environment and develop school to work transitional skills. It does have its necessary aspects, but some of the rules in the dress code policy are unfair.

“To promote healthy and safe learning environment,” as it says in the dress code is a little dramatic. I can’t think of something that a student could possibly wear that would affect one’s health. There are possible attires that could be deemed distracting, for instance having really tall hair. Most students, however, are paying attention to what they’re learning in class rather than what someone else is wearing. Clothing is not a weapon, it can’t really be “unsafe.”

Another statement made in the dress code policy is that certain attire can result in injury to self or others, such as chains and spikes. It does have a reasonable side, but what could someone wear that would actually result in injury? Wearing a spiked belt isn’t exactly dangerous. Normally the spikes on a belt are dull, so they couldn’t actually hurt anyone. If people wear chains, it’s usually attached to something like a wallet, and they definitely aren’t sharp.

The dress code policy also states that you cannot wear all of the same color or almost all of the same color. I can see how in a sense it could be gang related, but the majority of people don’t wear the same color for that reason. If there were a group of people dressed in all one color, then this rule could be necessary. One person wearing a color isn’t hurting anyone. Especially because it states you can’t wear “almost all of the same color.” Many people dress in almost all one color just to match.

Students should have the ability to express themselves through what they’re wearing, or feel comfortable and or confident in their own clothing. It is fair that we have some restrictions on what we wear, but we could use a little more freedom.

The main character of the musical, Birdie, has been drafted into the army for two years, so before taking leave he appears on the Ed Sullivan show. There, one lucky winner has the chance to kiss him goodbye as part of a publicity stunt orchestrated by his agent, Albert Johnson, played by senior Cougar Henderson.

Kim Macafee, played by junior Mary Miller, is the lucky winner of the contest, and although she feels she has outgrown Birdie’s childish allure, realizes the opportunity is too perfect to pass up.

The musical culminates in a touching display of misappropriated adolescent romance and heartbreak along with a musical number that effectively highlights the shortcomings of 1950s children.

Birdie amasses a large following based on his music, but it is shown as being intentionally bad, thus revealing that his fan-base is based purely on his attractive appearance. This underlying message is actually quite applicable to today’s boy-band-obsessed youth.

Each musical number was pretty catchy and well-choreographed, with a fair amount of activity going on behind the scenes. Although some numbers were repeated profusely, they never lost their initial charm and effect. The orchestra did a great job of accentuating the action during the emotionally driven scenes.

The costume choice and designs were all great fits for the characters, especially Birdy, whose personality and odd behavior was reflected very well in the flashy and garish outfits. The other costumes all did well to fit the 1950s theme, with the expectedly clichéd dresses, brown suits and ponytails.

Overall, Bye Bye Birdie is an excellent production that obviously had a lot of work put into it. The acting, music and choreography was all well-executed and the story was very fun to watch unfold.

If you’re feeling like collecting things rather than tossing them out, yard sales can be one of the best ways to get valuable goods for a huge discount from sticker price. Unlike antique stores and thrift shops, yard sales usually have a diverse pricing structure and invariably have a much more random selection of goods. If you’re in urgent need of a transistor tester, someone’s probably got one.

In the peaks of the yard sale season there can be upwards of 40 sales every weekend in the Walla Walla area, which means that our local paper can be invaluable for yard sale hunting. The classified section gives a comprehensive list of every yard sale worth its salt. It’s definitely a more effective strategy than driving around randomly while repeatedly glancing out of the car window, looking for signs.

Many weekend sales, however, start Friday morning, which can be a pretty big bummer for students hoping to beat their fellow yard sale connoisseurs to the punch on the really good stuff. There isn’t really any way around this, unless you happen to have the school day off. Once the school year is over, there will be plenty of opportunities to camp outside of someone’s yard for hours while they set up.

Sometimes, when a few members in a  community comes together to realize that they all have similar piles of junk in their houses, they may decide to organize a neighborhood yard sale, one of the easiest way to accrue a lot of junk in a short amount of time. With 10-30 families contributing items towards a singular sale, it becomes the perfect destination of easy finds with minimal travel.

Hunting for good deals can also expose you to a lot of culture that you would otherwise be oblivious to. Some yard sales, hidden deep within flagpole driveways or alleyways can expose you to people and situations that you never knew existed within your uninteresting town. If a man is selling eight 1950s vending machines, he’s probably got an exciting story behind it.

Whether you are looking for old Beatles records, a sealed copy of Earthbound for the SNES, the ever-elusive Lewis and Clark peace medals or just a good-looking outfit for the next school dance, each week of yard sales holds something for everyone.

Three students from Wa-Hi have volunteered to participate in a competition that tasks them to produce three unique plates of a contemporary, American entrée to present and feed to the judges. There will be a camera crew present in order to document the event for the Food Network.

The three participants from Wa-Hi are junior Ian Davidson and sophomores Brandon Williams and Zachary Newby. Davidson will be grilling a quail, Williams will be making halibut, and Newby will be baking a seared salmon.

To prepare, the participants have been mentored by a professional cook that lives and works in the Walla Walla area in order to prepare a technique for their dishes.

“I’ve made the dish about five times so far, and I’ll definitely be making one every day until the competition,” Newby said. “I’m nervous about being under so much pressure, since it will be on TV, but also excited to have the opportunity.”

The prepared dishes will be given a score by the judges, based on the overall quality and taste. Each respective competitor’s score will then be sent to Chicago, Ill., the last city competing in the tour.

The winner will be announced on May 18, in Chicago. The grand prize winner will receive a free trip to Washington D.C. and will spend the day cooking with the head chef at the White House. The student receiving the highest score in each school will earn a trophy and a set of knives in order to further facilitate their future cooking careers.

Chauhan will be cooking dinner at the Marc on May 10 while she is here, separate from the competition. Tickets are $95 and only 100 are available.

“Nothing like this has ever happened at Wa-Hi before,” Culinary Arts instructor Barbara Buttice said. “Events like this are always great learning experience for the cooks, and it will really help them if they decide to pursue cooking as a career.”