Feb_March Shield

The Girls Varsity Basketball program went from being a bottom-feeder to a powerhouse in a matter of a few seasons. The 2011-2012 squad made the sectional finals thanks to a group of then-sophomore girls that had success as a group go-ing all the way back to middle school. That nu-cleus, along with seniors Porsche Griggs and Whit-ney Vanden Bos, helped the team get to section-als. The Lady Warriors fell to Seton Academy at the buzzer and they wanted to prove that they could get past that point. The loss of Vanden Bos and Griggs did not let the Warriors down going into the 2012-13 season. In fact, the addition of freshman forward Mad-die Versluys replacing Griggs’ strong, down-low presence, added to the leadership of the new juniors. Those juniors included CourtneyGnan, McKaila Hays, Claire Speweik, Kins-

ley Donahue, Libbie Atchison, Christina Cu-sumano, Emma Anderson, and Liz Meschewski. The team had another 20+ win season and also amassed an 18-game win streak along the way, not to mention, they won the conference title.

Soon enough, regional play began. More and more fans started showing up at games. Dona-hue loved having support from fellow students. “It was awesome to have people come. Matt Swing’s Facebook group showed that students

Two weeks and one dedicated best friend- that’s all it took for the extraordinary to hap-pen to one of Westminster’s own students. Sophomore Rachel Knox has been going to WCS since she can remember. Being enrolled at WCS for 10 years, it has been like a second home. She never would have thought that she would have to leave until this past January. Rachel had to be taken out of Westminster because of financial issues; it was a sudden shock. In a matter of two days, she would be transferring from WCS to Burlington Cen-tral. The differences between high schools

was overwhelming. “You know how private schoolers always want to see what’s on the other side? Take it from me, they don’t.” She knew that there was no way possible for her to even think of coming back to Westminster. Rachel went to school, did her homework, and came home. “I knew I had to suck it up and just try to get through each day as best I could,” said Rachel. But what was going on back at Westmin-ster was a mystery to Rachel. One of her best friends, Lindsey Vanden Bos, was forming a plan to get Rachel back to WCS. It all started with a Facebook page and a willing heart. “I felt that God was calling me to do something bigger, and I believed that this was what it was,” said Lindsey.

Westminster Christian High School Newspaper feb-march 2013

Westminster ShieldVol. 5 Issue 5

Curious Savagebrings laughs and memories(page 2)

Looking ahead to softball and baseball seasons(page 7)

Getting to know the new kids on the WCS block(page 4)

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERintendent!

The Girls Basketball team celebrates their Sectional Championship.

Starting off this new year, Westminster was pleased to welcome Rev. Elliott Anderson as the new interim Superinten-dent. What does interim Su-perintendent mean, exactly? Well, Rev. Anderson will fill in for the temporary su-perintendent position for a sixth month period, until the board finds someone to per-manently fill the job. Rev.Anderson plans on being the

interim Superintendent for the rest of the year, but he says he also applied for the permanent job. So why did Rev. Anderson have to fill the job for Mr. Bertsche? In the summer of 2009,

Mr. Patrick Bertsche left his family business, Camcraft, to become the Superinten-dent of Westminster. Mr. Bertsche loved working at Westminster, but he needed to return to Camcraft full-time. The school board knew Rev. Anderson had the right

(continued on page 4)

(continued on page 7)Rachel is thankful to simply be back at WCS.

(continued on page 2)

Return of Rachel Lady Warriors deliver up record season

Superintendent Anderson at his desk.

Photo by Mick Johnson



school news page 2

On March 1-2, the high school fine arts de-partment put on the spring play, “The Curious

Savage.” This play was full of laughs and a meaning that stays in your head for a while; however, there’s more to it than that. The mak-ing of this production was a time full of laughs, bonding, and overall fun on and off the stage for the cast and crew. Ask anyone involved in this production, and they could tell you that this play was no different as far as when and how things came together. According to Con-

nor McAuliffe, “It came together last minute; I didn’t think we would be ready.” I had a few minutes to talk to Mrs. Chapman about her thoughts

on the production from start to fin-ish. “I was very pleased with the camaraderie of the cast, as well as the character development. I was glad the play was humorous with a meaning,” said Chapman. While talking with some cast members about the play, I got to see what they thought. Kyle Loske com-

mented on the groups’ amazing team-work. Hannah Rodgers said, “Getting to know each other and being with friends is enjoyable.” Alivia DeHaan, who played an excellent upset and mischievous mother with clever sarcasm and trickery, summed up her experience with this play, “I’ve had a good time; I love the feel of a small cast.” Kyle Loske, Alex Newton,

and Erin Nowakowski played her children who were even crazier than Alivia’s character. Yong Un Kim played an amazing doctor. Also, Stephanie Lum really stepped out and showed

the school what she could do. Joy Guge had people laughing throughout the entire play with her one-liners, hilarious antics, and an overall lovable charac-ter. Even though it was sad to know that this was the last time that Joy, Alivia, and Yong would perform in the theatre, it was awesome seeing the freshmen adjust and the soph-omores and juniors step-up.

WCS drumline continues, pumps up crowds

As some of you may remember, last year’s October issue of the shield contained an article that discussed the beginning of Westminster’s

drumline. Since then, Westminster’s drumline has been performing at several places such as sporting and fine arts events. In fact, their first performance was at the girls varsity basket-ball sectional championship game on Thurs-

day, February 14. The students at the game were encouraged by the drummers’ enthusiam, and the basketball players’ confidence was raised by the constant drumming and cheering. Recently, Westminster’s drumline also made

an appearance at this year’s choir concert, in performing a couple short pieces. I was able to in-terview one of the drumline’s members, senior Travis Battle, to get an inside look at what it’s like to be a part of Westminster’s drumline. When asked why he joined the drumline, he replied, “I thought it would be really fun.” The drumline’s performance at basketball games has been his favorite. Lastly, I asked how the drumline’s team works together, in which he responded, “Every-one in the drumline is rhythmic in

their own way; each person brings something different to the table.” Overall, Westminster’s drumline is doing an excellent job with their performances, and if anyone wants to join the team, he or she most certainly should join.

Seniors’ legacy shines in the Curious Savage as new talent surfaces

Super (cont. page 1)gifts and skills to fill this need. Rev. Anderson states that his favorite part of being interim Superintendent is “the diversified leadership and the ability to teach and counsel students.” He stated that his least favorite part is the unending demand that this job entails. None-theless, he has stepped up to the challenge. One thing people wonder: why is his of-fice so mysterious and dark? Don’t be afraid! Darkness calms him and helps him focus. He has ADHD and sensitivity to artificial light causing him to arrange his office so that natural light shines on his desk. Rev. Anderson has loved pick-ing up where Bertsche left off and enjoys seeing the school dis-cover, develop, and display God.

Westminster’s Drumline makes its first sporting event appear-ance at the Girl’s Sectional Championship game.

Superintendent Anderson using his excercise ball chair.

Seniors Joy Guge and Alivia DeHaan bring their high school acting careers to a close; sophomore Matt Swing steps into leading roles.






For a few years now, Dr. Bill Marsh has gen-erously hosted a Bible study for the seniors of Westminster. This Bible study is held every Friday in Dr. Marsh’s room during lunch time. During these meetings, Dr. Marsh and the class unpack the meaning of a variety of scriptures, one verse at a time, and discuss the topics the Word generates. As an example, last week’s discussion was over men and women’s respec-tive roles in marriage; the scripture in question was 1 Peter 3:1-7. Having only a few verses to review ensures that people can feel free to ask in-depth questions without fear of holding up the study. Seniors should feel free to ask any questions they may have about specific scriptures or the topic in general. After all, the whole point of the study is to, “Learn and ex-plore God’s word, growing together as a class,” according to Dr. Marsh. The turnouts for the studies have been adequate, but there is always room in the discussion for any seniors will-ing to participate! When asked why he started

the study, Dr. Marsh replied that there is never enough time in Bible class itself to fully delve into certain scriptures. We only have him for a little bit longer, so let’s utilize this time we have left with him and jump on that Bible study!

Winter event success: “Best Snowcial Ever!”

page 2 page 3 school news

This year’s Sadie Hawkins was quite dif-ferent. Actually, it was not even called Sadie Hawkins, but, Snowcial! Student Government and Mr. Scott Sevey coined the brilliant title “Snow-cial.” Mr. Sevey person-ally liked the new name. “The term ‘Snowcial’ is a great representation of the purpose of the event, which is to provide stu-dents with a social op-portunity where they can gather together in fel-lowship with each other in a formal setting,” he said. Some students agree with him. How-ever, some students had different opinions. Freshman Joe Franco said, “Sadies was the original name. It’s a tradition to keep the name.” Junior Logan Hopp has a simi-lar opinion: “Everybody calls it Sadies anyway.” Despite different thoughts about the new term, students who attended the Snowcial en-joyed themselves and were complete-ly satisfied. This year’s Snowcial consisted of dinner at Maggiano’s and an improvisation performance by Greenroom. There were many fasci-nating foods, but interviewees loved the Choc-olate Zuccotto Cake the most. Some liked the Chicken Florentine and Kiddie Cocktail. The

performance of Greenroom was the highlight of the night. The Greenroom performers borrowed students’ cell phones and made conversations out of their text messages. In another event, they

pretended that they were stuck in North Korea and had to scuba dive to America for work. Ju-nior Annika VanNoord remarked, “Greenroom was the best part. I laughed for a long time.” Other people loved the Snowcial for different reasons. Mrs. Erica Schwartz loved it because

she liked “to see kids having a fun time and get all dressed up.” Senior Bailey Oleskow added, “My favorite part of the event was when we con-vinced everyone that it was my birthday, even though it wasn’t.” Whether students loved dressing as flappers or taking pictures with their

friends, all attendees of the Snowcial were sat-isfied, and they recommend that everyone par-ticipate next year!

Cousins, Woodhouse and Brandon, enter Judson basketball program

Sophomores Sam Carani and Whitney Woodhouse enjoy their dinner at the Snowcial.

Snowcial winter event food was delicious.

On March 6, seniors Wil Woodhouse and Co-lin Brandon had their official signing into Jud-son University’s bas-ketball program. Even though they have both decided to attend Jud-son, their choices were made individually. As good friends and first-cousins, Wood-house and Brandon are excited to once again

play basketball together. Their Westminster coaches, Bruce Firchau and Rich Engle, are also very excited and proud to see their team captains enter into the Judson basketball

program coached by Joel Cotton and Jordan Delks. Sally Woodhouse says that she’s very happy her son and nephew are teaming-up in the college basketball level. Part of Wil’s decision was based on seeing a great atmosphere of Christian based people and athletics.

Senior Colin Brandon decides to sign into Judson University’s basketball program on March 6.Senior Wil Woodhouse signs into Judson Univ.

Study with Dr. Marsh



Photo by McKaila Hays



“I want people to grapple with the text and the implications for their lives,” says Marsh.

In these last couple months, Westminster wel-comed three new students into our family: Jack-ie Calabrese, Jessie Sutter and Paul Ellerbusch.

Jackie The first student to arrive was freshman Jackie Calabrese. Jackie transferred from St. Edward’s to Westminster to escape distractions and meet new friends. She says that the people were very welcoming, so it wasn’t very hard to make new friends. Jackie’s favorite thing at WCS is the sports program. She says, “Sports here are a lot more fun, but also competitive.” She plays vol-leyball, basketball, and softball. When asked if the Christian aspect was different, Calabrese re-plied: people are genuine with their faith and it’s noticeable that this is a Christian school. Com-ing from a Catholic school, Jackie had mass at her school, but says she likes chapel much better, and, “it’s actually fun to go to chapel.”

Jessie Sophomore Jessie Sutter came to WCS second semester from St. Charles North to receive a better education. Jessie said the biggest difference coming to WCS was the size. She said, “You’re not con-fused everywhere you go.” She

likes how Westminster is not as overwhelming as North and the people are a lot more welcom-ing here. Accompanied with many inquisitive looks, she admits that because of our small size, she got a lot of attention as a new student.

Paul Junior Paul Ellerbusch transferred to West-minster from St. Charles North second semes-ter, chiefly due to the wishes of his parents. He was pleasantly surprised that he liked West-minster more than North. He said, “At North usually the new people sat alone at lunch, but here no one let me sit alone.” He said that it wasn’t that hard starting over because the students here were so welcoming and didn’t exclude him. Paul hopes to get involved in basketball and football next year. The biggest change for him was also the size. However, the size ended up being one of his favorite changes. Ellerbusch thinks it allows everyone to get to know each other better and be more sociable.

page 4feature

Rachel Back (continued from page 1)

Student Profiles: three students find their way around Westminster

Over countless prayers and discussions with her parents, Lindsey knew this was what God

wanted her to do. The next step for Lindsey was to think of a way to get others involved to

make this plan actually work: Facebook. Ev-eryone in the whole school could see the page

and get involved whether it was in the form of dona-tions, prayer, or support. “It had a slow start, and then I became hesitant. I didn’t really know how this could actually raise enough money, but I had to try!” said Lindsey. She brought in cookies and donuts, and asked for donations of $10 from students. Over $900 was raised from students alone, but with the help of other big donors, Rachel was able to come back.

Little did Lindsey know that not only would this achieve her main goal to get Rachel back,

but also unite the school. “I think when some-one faces a trial, people want to be a part of something bigger and support whatever is go-ing on,” said Lindsey. The school came togeth-er and was able to get Rachel back. The fund-raiser raised over $6,000 which was more than enough for Rachel to finish the se-mester at WCS. She responds, “I think the cool-est part of this all was feeling the love and support from the whole school. People I didn’t even re-ally talk to sent me messages and texts saying, ‘Praying for you,’ and other encouraging things,” said Rachel.

Lindsey and Rachel enjoy their choir class together.Alexa Pedersen and Lindsey VandenBos love having their Rachel back.

Photo by McKaila Hays Photo by Mick Johnson


Photo by Mick JohnsonPhoto by Mick Johnson

Jackie Calabrese playing catcher at softball practice.

Jessie Sutter painting her artwork.

Junior Paul Ellerbusch finishing homework in history class.

page 4 page 5 Feature

Portillo’s Hot Dogs becomes favorite new fast-food addition to Elgin

Recently, Elgin has been blessed with the opening of a Chicagoland original fast food restaurant, Portillo’s. This delicious hot dog and burger place was started by Mr. Dick Portillo in 1963. The restaurant started out as a small trailer hot dog stand and is now a franchise that includes 48 locations. Although each restaurant may be different in appear-ance, for example, the two restaurants near Schaumburg have a retro theme while the Elgin location is more of a farm like barbeque feeling; they all are equally delicious. Just like many companies

say, “New look, same great taste.” As soon as I heard that a Porti-llo’s was opening close to home, I could not wait to visit the restaurant

and enjoy a mouth-watering Italian beef or some crispy, gold-en fries. But I am not the only one; senior Shirley Irwin was so excited to hear that Portillo’s was opening in Elgin, IL.“I had only had it a couple times in my life and I was disappointed that there weren’t any nearby,” said Irwin. Since the opening of the new Portillo’s, I have eaten there at least five times; I cannot get enough of the delicious fast-food. And even though the service may be stressful at times, they always deliver satisfying food.

I urge you to visit Portillo’s if

you have not already, and support this delec-table new franchise. I am certain that you will not be disappointed. Senior Yong Un had heard about how good the Portillo’s hot dog was, but he never really understood what that meant until he recently tasted one for the first time. “It was the best thing I had ever eaten,” he exclaimed. So go on out with some friends and experi-ence “the best thing you have ever eaten!” And don’t forget to try their famous cake shake!

Junior Mallory Richardson enjoys her Portillo’s Hot Dog’s feast.

“It was the best thing I had ever eaten,” explains Senior Yong Un when he recently ate at Portillo’s for the first time.

This year (as usual) the Westminster stu-dents that attended Snowcial looked remark-able. The incredible night of cameras, carbs, and comedy was undoubtedly the best win-ter event I have attended, and along with the great atmosphere and food came great outfits.

The guys’ outfits ranged from suits and bow ties to sweaters with Nike’s (thank you, Chase). Khaki’s, button ups, and dress shoes were other tasteful choices. I even saw some Sperry’s (YES)! The young men of Westminster really looked nice. The ladies’ gorgeous getups also reflected the latest trends. Many pastel lace and floral

dresses were worn, giving the girls a classy, feminine presence. I also noticed a lot of boots, earrings, jean jackets, and waist belts, which gave the softer dresses an edgy flair.All in all, the Snowcial was a huge suc-cess. Everyone looked stunning, but more importantly, we made great memories with our friends that we will surely never forget.

Fashion scene at Snowcial: Several students steal the spotlight

Alivia DeHaan mixed it up with a dashing blouse, skirt, neon tights, and heeled combat boots. Loved it!

Looking extra preppy in a sports jacket and Sperry’s, Colin Brandon looked like he walked out of a Polo catalog.

Courtney Gnan pulled off a classic look pairing a simple dress with an edgy jacket and wedged heels. Very Pinterest!

Perhaps my favorite out-fit, Chase Woods wore a classy striped sweater with jeans and some rockin’ Nikes. GENIUS.

We can always count on Emily Beachler to look gorgeous! She wore a pale dress with high boots and a jean jacket.

No surprise here! Con-nor looked sophisticated as ever in khakis and a bow tie; a suit jacket was the perfect final touch.



Photos by McKaila Hays

Oz was as weird as it was confus-ing. With its horrible C.G.I. effects and its weird jokes, Oz was not the movie of the year. I think the movie went wrong when they decided to cast James Franco as Oz. This bothered me because James Fran-co usually plays in a lot of drug movies, making the movie seem like a sequel to Pineapple Ex-press. There were also characters that were left without an ending. Joey King plays a living china girl who lives in China. She was not only confusing as to where she belonged in the story, but also quite bossy. Zach Braff plays a flying monkey that helps Oz do all these great things (including carrying Oz’s bag for 85% of the movie). At the end of the movie, nothing tells us where the monkeys end up. When I get reminded of a “Flying Monkey,” I im-mediately think of the Wicked Witch of the West’s evil minions. Mila Ku-nis played the Wicked Witch of the West. I can only tell you one thing

that will make you not want to see this movie. Mila Kunis does not look good in green. The plot is well written, in-cluding a few hints to foreshadow the

characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This movie is not worth money. I would recommend viewing it when it is On Demand, or maybe a dollar at Redbox. I give this movie 3.5 stars out of 5. Its casting was not the best and its script was alright, but the plot definitely kept you awake. It also had a great black and white transition to color in the beginning of the movie.

For teenagers everywhere, music is an ir-replaceable part of daily life. Driving, re-laxation, and even homework can be im-proved by the seemingly magical powers of a good song. But, what is good music? Everybody has their own ideas. There’s no such thing as “normal” tastes in music. Junior Logan Hopp considers the Beatles, Streetlight Manifesto, and Less than Jake to be his favorite bands, while freshman Jackie Calabrese enjoys hearing Justin Beiber, Mack Miller, and Taylor Swift. Senior Stepha-nie Kleczynski listens to Christian, Disney, and country music, while freshman Ryan Sears pre-fers metal, rap, and screamo. As I write, I am listening to a combination of Irish and Motown. When people have such different prefer-ences of music, I have to wonder what draws people to certain types of music. This is an-other question that cannot be answered easily. Here’s the opinions of eight high school stu-dents when questioned about their music tastes. Junior Annika VanNoord likes Lecrae, Björk,

and AWOLNation. “I feel each of them are incredibly lay-ered and complex and unique.” Ed Sheeran, One-Direction, and Jus-tin Beiber are just some of sophomore Claire Bauer’s fa-vorite artists be-cause “They sing songs that I can jam out to.” Popular music is another controversial topic. Nicki Minaj, OneDirection, and the other art-ists are loved by some and hated by others. “I love it. I think it’s great,” says senior Me-lissa Kees on popular music. Others take more moderate approaches. Se-nior Mikaila Conforti remarks, “I don’t mind mainstream, but I wish there was more variety.” “It’s good for awhile, and then it drains out and

gets old,” explains freshman Justin Rasmussen. But no matter what else people think, every-body agrees that music is important. “I think music can express our many feelings and emotions,” says junior Nicolle Gaudette. Senior Danielle Wesley agrees. “It could help you change your mood.” Freshman Dhamar Torres sums up the major-ity opinion of the school: “It’s just a way to get out of your mind and not stress about things.”

Students speak out about music

page 6entertainment

Psych continues in season 7 Review: Oz creatively confuses viewers

To many people’s delight, Psych, starring James Roday and Dulé Hill, returned with its seventh season on the USA network on February 27. The show, which follows Shawn and Gus on

their crime fight-ing adventures with their psychic detec-tive business, contin-ues with new, intense crimes to solve and relationships that are continuing to grow between Shawn and his romantic inter-est, the lovely Juliet. With the exception of a few intense ac-tion scenes and some mild language, the program is rather clean and is perfect for the entire fam-ily. Psych will have you laughing hysteri-

cally, while at the same time, sitting at the edge of your seat in suspense, and sometimes (very rarely though) crying. I highly recommend it to everyone; it is a great show and will make you want to go out and start fighting crime on your own!

Sample of 33 random Westminster students; 15% of student population.

Photo from Google Images

Photo from Google Images

page 7 sports

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game,” Babe Ruth once said. This quote is used by many softball and baseball play-ers, and most defi-nitely by your own Westminster Warrior softball team. Assis-tant coach Joe Fitz-patrick, who is new this season, has seen good things so far. He wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, but what he did wit-ness was “a group of well-rounded girls who will be ready to have a break-through this season.” Rachel Fugiel, one of the team’s pitchers, said the team’s goals are “To win a regional game and to ultimately win more games than we lose. I think these goals are absolutely achievable!” She also sees the team growing and making it further than they have in the past, and glorifying God while do-ing it! Their team verse is 1 Corinthians 20:24-27. When asked what will be different this season, assistant coach Kirk Hodge responded, “There will be better games with more experience, and the girls will understand the game more. They will be a closer team and attain better records than last season. You can really tell the girls want it.” Head

Coach John Wedell says, “I am excited to see how we play our conference schedule. I know we will be so much better, but you never know how ev-eryone else is doing. All we can control is how we play.” It will be a good season, so come out and

support your Lady Warriors at Jockey Field this spring. This year’s base-ball team also plan on having a success-ful season. Sopho-more Tyler Mam-rot says, “We are most excited for our spring trip and bond-ing as a team.” The team’s goals are to beat their big rivalry, Dundee Crown, and win regionals. Phi-

lippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Many of the players on the team play their game using this verse. Their coaches include Tim Dunderdale, Tom Polka, John Greene, and former alum, Ben Palmer, who made it to state his junior year. This year they will be taking an annual trip to Southern Illinois and playing a series of games. “It’s a nice way to get out of the normal season and play teams we would never play in a normal season,” said sophomore Brendan Ruffalo. Many boys are looking forward to this trip because it takes the rust off and shows the season is really beginning.

Softball and Baseball teams build foundations

page 6

Madness of March

About this time every year, avid sports fans get riled up for one of the best sport-ing events in the nation: the NCAA bas-ketball tournament. Filling out a 64-team bracket is unlike anything else in sports; however, this year’s tournament results may be harder to predict than ever before. A number one seed, or the field? Could this finally be the year a sixteen seed beats a number one seed? Who will be the national champion? Most years, these questions can be answered in the blink of an eye, but after the craziest regular season in years, this year is a toss-up. Filling out your brackets this year, you may be asking, “Who is going to win it all?” Well, you have your number one seeds, who will most likely be Indiana, Gonzaga, Duke, and Kansas, but I don’t believe any of these teams will win. Honestly, if you were to ask me who is my favorite team to win the national cham-pionship this year, I couldn’t tell you. How can you predict a national cham-pion when 6 out of the last 8 weeks, the number one ranked team in the nation has lost? Two weeks ago, every team ranked in the top 5 in the nation lost. There is no dominant team in NCAA basketball this season, which could create quite the tournament this year. When junior Connor Rejman was asked who he thought would be the national champion, he said, “It is re-ally hard to pick a winner this year. I guess it depends on the brackets, but I would say either Michigan or Florida.” I believe the most legitimate contender for this year’s tournament would be a team from the Big Ten. I believe that Michigan, Michigan State, and Indiana have the best shot at taking home the hardware this year. Those are my picks to win it all, but I would not be surprised if we see a ma-jor Cinderella story in this year’s tourna-ment. You could see VCU make it to the final four again, or a surprising run by St. Louis to take it all. Basically, this year’s tournament is going to be very interesting and is practically impossible to predict.

Junior Rachel Fugiel practicing her infield play on March 7.

Girls Basketball (continued from page 1)were rallying around us.” The team beat Harvest and Christian Liberty to advance from regionals. The girls then advanced to sectionals. The War-riors showed why they play well at home win-ning against Providence St. Mel, and advancing to the sectional final. Then, the Warriors completed their mission to win sec-tionals by easily beating Morgan Park Academy.Our Warrior girls played (Freeport) Aquin in the super-sectional final on Feburary 18. The winner would advance to the state semifinals in Normal, Il-linois. The team started off strong; Claire Spew-iek drained a three to extend the Warriors lead

to 10-5 after the first quarter. Speweik said she, “loved making the three-pointer over (Aquin star) [Sophie] Brunner. It gave the team a big boost.” The team would see their lead evaporate quick-

ly. They ended up losing the game 57-39, and Aquin went on to win the state title. Although the team did not advance to state, Hays individually advanced to the state 3-point contest. Speweik, who advanced to 3-point sectionals, said she was “excited and proud for [Hays] to make it to state.” The best part about next season is that all the players are returning. The team, due to their success, will play up in the 2A division. Donahue said, “We are disap-pointed to not take advantage of 1A. We have not given up the dream, but it will be harder.” That is an accurate statement about next season. The Warriors will play hard, strong, and tough, and that is exactly what they should expect in the 2A division.

Junior McKaila Hays drives to the basket in Super Sectionals.



page 8opinion

It is that time of year again. While most people are ex-cited for spring break in one week and summer vacation in two months, seniors are becoming more stressed than ever. For us, it is crunch time. Within these next two months, we must work on senior projects and, not to mention, pick a school where we would like to spend our next four years. Needless to say, we have plenty to do, yet not much time to do it.At the beginning of the school year, I could not have been more relieved that it was my senior year. I thought this was going to be an easy year. Let me be the first to break it to you, se-nior year is not what it seems. This has been one of the most stressful years of my life. From papers to college vis-its, I was constantly overwhelmed.Because I was constantly overwhelmed with school work or sports, it made it

harder to hang out with friends or to do stuff I wanted. Eventually, it got to the

point where I would occasionally not do homework because I felt as if I had bet-ter stuff to do. Without even realizing it, soon everything became more im-portant than homework – watching TV, eating, even taking a nap. To sum it up, I became lazy. My wardrobe completely changed as well. Instead of waking up at 6:15am in order to do my hair, make up, and to pick out an outfit, I started waking up around 6:40am. I just had

enough time to quickly put on sweats and some foundation and mascara.

Now, some of you underclass-men may say, “Oh, I already have senioritis!” I was one of those un-derclassmen who constantly said this. But, there is a huge differ-ence between not wanting to be at school and senioritis. I can’t explain it in words, but I’m sure my fellow seniors would agree. Once you’re a senior, it hits you hard: extreme lack of motiva-tion, laziness, and utter disgust of anything that has to with school.Needless to say, I’m counting down the days until my last day

and, not to mention, graduation. I could not be more excited to move out of high school, but I will say this: enjoy every day you have here at Westminster. Make the most of your high school experience because even though now it may seem like you’ve been in high school forever, make sure to embrace every class, give it your all in sports, and have fun with friends; it goes by faster than you think.Peace and blessings.

The Senioritis article I’ve been waiting four years to write

StafF

By Scott Sevey It is spring of your senior year. You have worked hard to get to this point, and let’s face it; graduation is just around the corner. And now is when all your teachers start harping on how seniors have “senioritis,” and how they are “checking out of their class-es.” You know, for all the experiences that your teachers have, you would think that they must have skipped over the excitement and fun of spring semester of their senior year entirely. Isn’t it funny how teachers don’t seem to understand? I mean, this is how se-nior year goes. You work your tails off and pray your way through finals in December, and then when you hear the baseball bats cracking on the north field, you lay back and coast into graduation. If we are honest with ourselves, most seniors get obnoxious enough (at least at moments,) that the teachers are just as excited to see them graduate and move on as the students are to be graduating and moving on. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we love you

any less, and they certainly get excited when you come back to visit after hav-ing a summer between you and them. So, in all actuality, what does it mat-ter if your English grade (which usu-ally is a B,) drops to a C-? You are still going to graduate. And, you have al-ready been accepted to your college or university of choice…(screeeeeeach). This conversation just slammed on the breaks. Seniors, as your guidance coun-selor, I love you dearly, and you need to read this…

University Sends ‘Fear of God’ Letter to Students with Senioritisby Tanya Caldwell

College-bound seniors beware: If you slept through your classes this semes-ter and have the failing grades to prove it, your university may soon threaten to rescind your admission this fall. For students admitted to Texas Christian University, a notice infor-mally known as the “fear of God let-ter” will read something like this:

“Dear Joe: We recently received your final high school transcript. While your over-all academic background continues to demonstrate the potential for success, we are concerned with your perfor-mance during the senior year, particu-larly in calculus. University studies are rigorous and we need to know that you are prepared to meet T.C.U.’s academic challenges. With this in mind, I ask that you submit to me, as soon as possible but no later than July 31, 2012, a writ-ten statement detailing the reasons sur-rounding your senior year performance. Joe, please understand that your ad-mission to T.C.U. is in jeopardy. If I do not hear from you by the above date, I will assume you are no longer interested in T.C.U. and will begin the process of rescinding your admission. Please realize that your personal and academic successes are very important to us. I look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,Raymond A. BrownDean of Texas Christian University”

Your friendly, neighborhood guidance counselor’s 2-cents

shield

Senior Tim Rodgers sometimes feels the sting of Senioritis.Photo by Mick Johnson

Documents

Feb_March Shield