Congratulations to the February 2022 monthly contest winners!

The February monthly contest had 135 entries submitted. Schools earning the most awards is a three-way tie between Blue Valley Northwest High School, Mill Valley High School and Shawnee Mission Northwest High School all receiving five awards each. Bishop Miege High School was next and earned four awards.

Video

1st Place: Sam Greer from Wichita Southeast High School
2nd Place: Hayden Houts from Lawrence High School
3rd Place: Donovan Powell from Wichita Southeast High School

News Page Design

1st Place: Delaney Johnson from Bishop Miege High School

2nd Place: Julia Moser from Blue Valley Northwest

3rd Place: Quinn Franken from Mill Valley High School

Academics Photography

1st Place: Anna Kratochvil from Blue Valley West High School

Honey, Honey. Setting the plot line of the musical, Mamma Mia!, senior Gracie Hernandez and Sophia Cary sit on either side of junior Lily Seitz as her character plots to have her mother’s old boyfriends come to a wedding. The song, “Honey, Honey” gave all three performers solos and set up a contrast to the song “Money, Money, Money” sung later in the show by the older characters. “This show was the highlight of my life so far,” Hernandez said. “I’ll never forget it.”

2nd Place: Hiba Issawi from Blue Valley Northwest

Juniors Brett Oplotnik and Tori Endicott participate in a chemical reaction lab in their fifth hour chemistry class Feb. 1. “We were mixing two clear chemicals and all of a sudden they turned dark blue,” Oplotnik said. “It was really cool to me.”

3rd Place: Jacqueline Suter from Trinity Catholic High School

Illustrating the importance of learning new life skills, junior high students Julio Segoviano (7) and Asa Kirk (7) learn to sew buttons on to pieces of cloth in health class. “I learned that needles are sharp,” said Segoviano.

News Writing

1st Place: Kristopher Long from Manhattan High School
2nd Place: Megan Yates from Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place: Francesca Stamati from Shawnee Mission East High School

Photo Illustration

1st Place: Quinn Franken from Mill Valley High School

2nd Place: Alexis Baty from Maize Career Academy

With the help of a well known logo, large brands such as Adidas, Nike, and Vans sell products for high prices to people as young as sixth grade. As the prices of these brands skyrocket, students are pressured to buy the expensive clothes, giving brands the opportunity to build logo loyalty.

3rd Place: Ayesha Khan from Blue Valley High School

Sports Writing

1st Place: Shaylee Jacobs-Wilson from Olathe West High School
2nd Place: Avery Inman from Manhattan High School
3rd Place: Alena Gillespie from Bishop Miege High School

Sports Photography

1st Place: Lauren McCaffrey from Silver Lake High School

Looking for his next move, senior Justin Rakestraw wrestles in the championship match of the Regional tournament on Feb. 19 for his last season. Rakestraw describes his final matches, “It was hard to think about, after wrestling for 13 years, that I only had a few more matches left in my career. Although, I cherished every last second with my teammates.”

2nd Place: Erica Sengthavorn from Derby High School

The tears began flowing for Derby sophomore Amara Ehsa as soon as the official slapped the mat, signifying the pin. Ehsa was a jumble of tears and jubilation after winning the Class 6-5A 101-pound wrestling title at Hartman Arena on Feb. 24. In the beginning I was nervous at first because she took a good shot and she got two and then I pulled a move, a freestyle move. I pulled a little trick out my bag and pinned her,” Ehsa said.

Third Place: Charlie Trent from Blue Valley High School

In their last school performance before Cheerleading Nationals in Orlando, Florida, junior Sofia Bain and her stunt group hit a new stunt which includes a difficult basket. “I’m pretty confident that we won’t drop any of our stunts even though some of them are pretty tough,” Bain said. “There is no better feeling than nailing a clean stunt at a competition.”

Infographics

1st Place: Grant Waggoner from Maize Career Academy

2nd Place: Mary-Kathryn Wert from Bishop Miege High School

No Award Given

Multimedia Storytelling

Yearbook Layout

1st Place: Danie Eaves from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

2nd Place: Carly Craft from Maize South High School

3rd Place: Danie Eaves from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Yearbook Copy

1st Place: Elinor Engel from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
2nd Place: Allison Seck from Mill Valley High School
3rd Place: Marissa Buffon, Maddy Graff from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Portrait

1st Place: Katelyn Lang from Seaman High School

Sophomore Anja Lampe-Martinez plays her trombone during the SHS band halftime show on Jan. 18, 2022, while playfully smiling towards sophomore photographer Katelyn Lang. Lampe-Martinez also participates in Seaman junior varsity cheerleading, causing her Tuesday and Friday nights to be packed full with events – cheering at the JV game at 4:30, and moving to the band section at 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. Lampe-Martinez states, “My schedule is pretty crazy but I don’t regret participating in both of my activities.”

2nd Place: A’myrah Cheadle from Bishop Miege High School

While learning to observe the conductivity of different solutions, sophomore Hampton Thompson cleans off the conductivity meter with a bottle of distilled water. In the chemistry lab, Thompson categorizes solutions by testing for electrolytes, non electrolytes and strong electrolytes with help from science teacher Angela Lueckenotto. “In everyday life we have different solutions that are around us and we should be able to know how to identify those things to help us use these solutions,” Lueckenotto said.

3rd Place: Tyler Bichsel from Silver Lake High School

During a basketball game against Osage City, junior Taylor Ross prepares for a free throw after a foul in the first period with three minutes remaining. “These are the points that could be the thing that win or lose the game,” Ross said.

Feature Writing

1st Place: Katie Murphy from Shawnee Mission East High School
2nd Place: Greyson Imm from Shawnee Mission East High School
3rd Place: Avery Gathright, Emma Clement, Sophie Sena from Mill Valley High School

Student Life Photography

1st Place: Norah Alasmar from Blue Valley Northwest

Senior spirit leader Drew Kaufman leads the student section during a close game against Blue Valley West, Feb. 8. “I have been really happy to see our school really showing out to all the games and making the games a great atmosphere for fans and players.” Kaufman said.

2nd Place: Ashley Broils from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Putting on makeup, junior Savannah Miner gets ready to perform Feb. 14 in the dressing rooms. Miner played as Aunt March and was one of the Publicity crew heads with junior Autumn Posey. “Theater has become such an important part in my life, I don’t know what I would do without it,” Miner said. “I love seeing all the hard work, dedication and teamwork that it takes behind the scenes to make magic on the stage for our audiences.”

3rd Place: Caydence Boor from Trinity Catholic High School

Demonstrating her threading abilities, Mrs. Bergkamp helps Hope Hughes (8) and Mary Sanchez (8) create Trinity-colored beaded keychains to promote school spirit. Arts and crafts were among the many stations Trinity students participated in Feb. 4 to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.

Opinion Writing

1st Place: Arien Roman-Rojas from Lawrence High School
2nd Place: Lizzie Lively from Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place: Nikolas Shay from Derby High School

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