GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Wheeler High School accomplishing great feats

What’s recently happened?

The Academic Super Bowl was held April 21 at Wheeler High School (WHS). Teams from around the area showed up to compete in English, math, science, social studies, and fine arts. Students are able to be in two of the teams at once.

“I’m on the Fine Arts team and the English team. I love both subjects,” said Senior Luke Richardson.

Leading the English team to first place, Richardson stayed in the competition the entire round.

“I’m part of the Social Studies team, and it is by far my favorite subject. I want to be a middle school history teacher in the future so this is my scene. I love it,” said Sophomore Samuel Mooney.

Within the competition, teams answer 25 questions and the team with the most correct answers, or most correct in a row if there happens to be a tie, wins. The winners of the certain subjects have the chance to make it to the state competition if they beat other class levels.

The Math team will be heading down to the state competition at Purdue University.

“I’m so proud of our team. I knew we would do well, but making it down to state is incredible. We have been working hard and it is definitely paying off,” Senior Christian Cutka said.

Not only did the Math and English teams achieve first place, but the Science team did as well. The Social Studies team received second place, and the Fine Arts team received third place.

“We may not have reached the top, but we were super close and we worked for what we got,” Senior Clara Davis said.

All the WHS teams dominated in the competition, and every student should be proud of their accomplishments. This was a phenomenal turn out to a tough Super Bowl.

What’s coming up?

Prom Week is this upcoming week. This is an exciting week with lots of preparations to be made. The spirit days to celebrate include: Meme Day, Mathletes vs. Athletes, Dress for the Wrong Occasion, Anything but a Backpack, and Pajama Day, respectively. The nominees for prom prince, princess, king, and queen have just been announced.

Prom prince nominees are Erik Diaz, Logan Fox, Daniel Causing, Triston Lowe, and Blake Laba.

“I was pumped to see my name on the list,” Laba said.

Prom princess nominees are Julia Pearce, Matea Ramirez, Reese Luedtke, Laylah McNamara, and Julia Newsome.

“Everyone on the court deserves to win. I’m having a hard time choosing who to vote for, and I’m on the court,” Pearce said.

Potential prom kings are Tyne Vettickal, Christian Cutka, Jude Richardson, David Diaz, and Titus Parrish.

“I was nominated for prince last year, but I didn’t win. Let’s see if I’ve got it this year,” Parrish said.

Finally, prom queens nominees are Bella Smith, Mia Pagone, Sadie Bolan, Reese Reittinger, and Liv Widner.

“As prom princess and homecoming queen, and with my sister winning queen last year, I hope I carry on the tradition,” Widner said.

The winners will be announced at the Grand March held in the WHS Auditorium at 5 p.m. on May 1. 

Staff spotlight:

Jay Hanaway, the theater director and a teacher at WHS, has spent many hours and years bringing his love of the arts to his students and cast members. This year, he began teaching a new class: theater workshop.

“I love to be able to immerse the kids that can’t necessarily stay after school for rehearsal into the world of theater that they might not see otherwise,” Hanaway said.

He recently put on the production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Hanaway brought together elementary, middle, and high school students for this musical.

“Working with all ages to put on one show is inspiring. The younger kids look up to the older kids, and the older ones reminisce on their beginning years in the theater,” Hanaway said.

With many more shows to come, Hanaway will continue to inspire the new generation of theater-lovers.

Student spotlight:

Brianna Yankauskas is a junior at WHS. She loves the theater and spends a lot of her time learning new songs and improving her acting skills. She recently starred in “The Wizard of Oz” at the Bearcat Theater Company as Dorothy Gale.

“I was so honored to receive this role. I loved every minute of it,” Yankauskas said.

Yankauskas has been part of the theater since she was in kindergarten. She fell in love with dancing and music, leading to her interest in performing.

“My first show was ‘Seussical the Musical’ and I was a little Who,” Yankauskas said.

She has grown immensely since then, and will continue to improve. She hopes to inspire younger kids to try new things and be confident in their skills.