2016 ISSMA Winners!
Last weekend in Indianapolis, four girls from Washington Township competed in the ISSMA Choir competition. Sydney Evans, Jude Connelly, Maddisen Mrotek, and Juna Johnson all received gold medals.
Junior Sydney Evans sang a solo. The song she sang was called “Voi che Sapete” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
She says, “Before I performed I was nervous but excited at the same time!”
Senior Juna Johnson sang “Se Florindo e Fedele” by Alessandro Scarlatti. She says she wasn’t nervous for her performance until five minutes before. Juna says she was confident and ready.
Another Senior, Judith Connelly sang a solo. Her song was called “Homeward Bound” which is arranged by Jay Althouse.
“I was nervous and excited, however, I was just ready to get it over with," says Judith.
Each of these girls sang their heart out and definitely earned their gold medals.
Junior and Senior Shakespeare Trip is Soon
Each year towards the end of the school year the English department at WT takes a trip to Chicago for the day. No, they don’t just get to run around downtown Chicago all day, they actually go to Navy Pier to watch a Shakespeare play performed live. This year the play is called Twelfth Night and is a comedy.
Twelfth grade English teacher Jacob Fisher is in charge of the trip and says he likes to take the trip because “it is a fantastic experience for students to see professional actors bring the text to life as well as see it on a stage that mirrors Shakespeare’s own Globe Theater."
Junior Kaylee Batzek has been on the trip one-time and really enjoyed it. This year she is thrilled to see the play. She enjoys comedies more than tragedies so she is really excited.
“When I found out the play was called the Twelfth Night I looked up the summary and was completely thrilled after reading it”, says Kaylee. After the play is over and the students get to wander around Navy Pier, Kaylee’s favorite thing to do is explore all the stores with her friends.
Abbey Evans Takes Advantage of an Opportunity of a Lifetime
This year, three seniors from Washington Township received the opportunity of a lifetime. They had the chance to win $2,000, direct, and star in a commercial on TV. This experience came into reality thanks to the National Road Safety Foundation and the Chicago Auto show.
Abbey Evans and two other seniors in the class had the top three ideas out of about 100 students around the Chicagoland area. These three students got a chance to record their PSAs about road safety. Once published online, the community could vote on which ones they thought were the best, and the winner would be announced at the Auto Show a few weeks after the PSAs were released. Abbey ended up winning the most votes, won $2,000 and the chance to have her PSA be streamed on live TV.
Abbey says, “My inspiration for the PSA came from the initial research I did over distracted driving. The statistics I found really opened my eyes to the danger of distracted driving, so I decided to include them in my commercial to create the same impact on everyone else." She obviously had the $2,000 idea that voters were looking for.
“I would like to thank the National Road Safety Foundation, the Chicago Auto Show, Allan Weiss Productions, Greg Simms, everyone who volunteered to help, everyone who voted for me and supported me throughout this whole experience," says Abbey.
Teri Barkas is Thrilled for Track Season
Teri Barkas is the secretary for the Middle/ High school. During the spring time, however, she also coaches boys track for Washington Township. She has been a coach at WT since 1991, but a boys track coach for twelve of those years. It is the end of February and she is thrilled for spring.
Right now the boys have been practicing and are ready to run. This year she is really excited to see every event done well with the big numbers they have.
She says, “The freshmen are going to make a difference to the team this season!”
Mrs. Barkas never really ran track in high school but she did in middle school. At Washington Township, she used to coach middle school track with Coach Brower but once she retired she took her position as head coach.
“Before my seniors graduate this year, I would like to say that I am very proud of the leadership and sportsmanship that they show on and off the field!” Mrs. Barkas says.
She hopes this year with the strength of the team and the leadership of the seniors that this season’s team can excel in the PCC tournament.