#1StudentNWI: A night of kings, queens, and magical performances at Boone Grove High School

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Instead of a conventional winter concert, Boone Grove High School’s entire choir and band invested three months in creating Madrigal, a two-day production that transforms audience members to the Medieval Ages.

“It includes music ranging in six different languages, food, dancing, and a Christmas sing-along for the audience at the end of the show,” said Lea Nikolov, a senior and member of the choir.

Each student has a distinct role to play: band as court musicians, underclassmen as wenches and pageboys, and upperclassmen as members of the Royal Court.

They began rehearsing around Halloween time and continued until their showings on December 16-17.

“I found out I was one of the queens around halfway through November, so us queens and the two kings began rehearsing our script and royal dance outside of school soon after,” said Nikolov.

The first semester of school is almost over, and there is much to look forward to in the upcoming weeks.

Basketball season is in full swing. The boys began in November and will continue throughout the months of December, January, and February. The same goes for the girls, with both varsity and junior varsity (JV) fielding full teams this year.

“This was my first year trying out basketball, and so far, it’s been great. The team and coaches made me feel super comfortable and I hope to do it again next year,” said Ella Wilson, sophomore and member of the JV team.

School clubs have been busy with meetings and activities before the holidays. The National Honor Society (NHS) is spearheading a coat drive to provide much-needed winter necessities to those in need.

“Along with bringing in cans for game nights, people are going to be encouraged to bring in coats and winter gear,” said Natalie Parker, NHS president.

Athena Welbourne serves as the choir director for both the high school and middle school. She’s been teaching here for quite some time.

“I’ve been teaching since the Middle Ages,” joked Welbourne.

While Welbourne’s original plan was to become a general practitioner, she felt a calling to become a music teacher instead.

Juggling two separate choirs, Welbourne’s schedule is consistently jam-packed.

“I teach three periods of sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade choir at the middle school, then travel to the high school where I teach three periods of high school choir,” said Welbourne.

Lea Nikolov has been a student at Boone since fifth grade.

Nikolov is actively involved in several school organizations, including NHS, the Fine Arts Academic Super Bowl Team, the Student Council, and tennis. Not only is she a member of these organizations, but she enjoys taking on leadership roles.

“I participate in Key Club, which I am the President of, and STEM Club, which I am vice president of,” said Nikolov.

Along with extracurricular activities, Nikolov does Cadet Teaching for sixth and eighth-grade reading classes.

“I love being around the kids in my Cadet Teaching, and I’m learning so many real-world skills from it that I can use toward my future career,” said Nikolov.

Recently, choir has been a huge part of her life. She was selected to be Queen in this year’s Madrigal, and she was honored to take the role.

“I adored everything about being in this position—the acting aspect, learning the royal dance, singing a duet, wearing a tiara, and most of all, making memories with my choir family throughout all of it,” said Nikolov.

Choir serves as a creative outlet for her, and events like Madrigal are her favorite traditions.

“I love how it brings the whole community together to laugh, cry, and sing,” said Nikolov.

Nikolov is also extremely passionate about her family, her future, and the impact she intends to leave behind.

She’s hoping to attend Purdue University and earn her Master’s degree in speech-language pathology. But before she graduates, Nikolov plans to bring Key Club to its full potential, as well as work with her academic team to win State.

“Other than that, I just plan to keep working hard in my endeavors and make memories,” said Nikolov.