Debate Team Continues its Success in 2018 Page 2
Drew Martin Asks:
Greatest Showman:
What’s your ideal Valentine’s Day?
When Wolverine Goes to the Circus
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The Echo
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BGA’s Student Newspaper
March 15, 2018
Issue 3
Conner Mitchell ‘18 Takes Home Wrestling State Come See BGA Championship Upper School’s The Drowsy Chaperone!
By Emma Wylie Senior wrestler, Conner Mitchell did something only four others at BGA have ever accomplished: he won an individual state wrestling title. Conner wrestles in the 152-pound weight class and won the 2018 Division II State Wrestling Championship against Joseph Vogelpohl from Father Ryan High School. In the final match, tied at 5-5 with only a few seconds left, Mitchell escaped Vogelpohl, and earned the final point of the match, crowning him State Champion. The wrestling season this year, in comparison to past seasons, has suffered from more injuries to crucial wrestlers who score big points in matches. There have also been more eighth grade and freshmen wrestlers making contributions to the team than in past years. The program had 4 TSSAA Division II state qualifiers or medalists returning: Tiy Reed (138 lb.) 4th place, Conner Mitchell (152 lb.) 4th place, Dolan Eckhart (170 lb.) state qualifier and Teddy Holloway (182 lb. 4th place).
By Shea Kelly
Photo from Williamson Herald
Conner Mitchell wins BGA’s first Individual State Title in Wrestling since 2013 The team saw the most improvement among the eighth grade wrestlers: Zac Flores (106 lb.), Trace Alexander (113lb.), Xavier Hylton (113 lb.) and Joseph Shaar (120 lb.). “What is most impressive about
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review By Skyler Fox The release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi had been awaited by millions since the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first of the newest Star Wars series, in 2015. The Last Jedi ended up being the fifth-fastest-grossing film worldwide. According to Plugged In, the film “isn’t perfect, morally, spiritually or aesthetically. But... it’s the best Star Wars film since the original trio.” Screen Rant says that it, “builds upon Star Wars history for a more expansive, highstakes adventure with plenty of fresh – and classic – elements.” In case you do not know the story of The Last Jedi or need to be refreshed, Rey, a young woman who is strong with the force, is trained albeit
apprehensively by Jedi master Luke Skywalker to strengthen her abilities with the force and as a Jedi. At the same time, Kylo Ren and General Hux lead the First Order in an assault against Princess Leia and the Resistance in order to gain power over the galaxy. Although, in my opinion, no Star Wars film will ever top the original trilogy, The Last Jedi did an excellent job at doing all of the things it needed to do as the middle movie in this trilogy. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive at first because I didn’t know how I would be able to like a Star Wars movie without my all-time favorite Star Wars character, Han Solo. However, the film blew me away in its exhilaration and passion. I thought all of the characters were necessary and effective in producing
The Echo Staff Editors: Skyler Fox & Emma Wylie Staff:
Bailey Anderson Alex Pareigis Ridley Randolph Sarah May Drew Martin
the 4 eighth grade wrestlers is that they have all eluded injury throughout the season” says Coach Robert Jemison. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of this season, however, was Dolan Eckhart, junior, also continued on Page 3
Continued on Page 3
Photo from Lucas Films / Disney
the story except for Rose, a mechanic for the Resistance who helps Finn break into the First Order’s ship. I thought her character was an unnecessary addition to the story and took away from it. I think she especially got on my nerves because of her unrequited infatuation for Finn through-
out the whole film. Besides this, honestly, I loved everything else about the movie. Luke Skywalker was my favorite character in this movie because he morphs from an annoyed old man who refuses to help Rey or the Resistance to the brave Luke Skywalker we know who sacrifices himself to
Boys’ Basketball Wrap-Up By Christine Jewell
Mary Kathryn Walt Phoebe Proctor Christine Jewell Allyson Newkirk
The Theatre Department has been producing The Drowsy Chaperone for this year’s spring musical. In The Drowsy Chaperone, the audience is greeted by The Man in Chair (Ray Goodson), an older Broadway show fanatic, who is listening to a recording of 1928 fictional musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” As he listens to the recording, both the audience and Man in Chair are brought into the musical itself. In this comedy, Janet Van de Graaff, the star of the show of Feldzieg’s Follies, played by Madison Knight, decides to end her career for love, and to marry an oil tycoon (Bennett Kesler).
The boys’ basketball team finished with an overall winning record of 15-12, and a league record of 13-5. A highlight was defeating Brentwood Academy, the number one team in the state, and being the only team in the district to defeat CPA during the regular season. Jack Jewell and Garnett Hollis finished their season on the All-Dis-
trict Team. The boys made it to the District Tournament Semifinals with a 79-48 win against Zion Christian Academy. It’s games like this that prompted Coach David Peden to descibe the team’s “resilience and togetherness late in the season.” The team lost in the Semifinals to the Webb Bell Buckle School, who eventually lost by 2 in the State Finals.
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The Echo
The Greatest Showman: A Review By Ridley Randolph
March 15, 2018
Swim Season Wrap-up By Mary Kathryn Walt
The Greatest Showman is a step in the right direction for the movie musical in Hollywood, mixing classic elements from the 1900’s with modern elements from current musicals and films. The score written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is yet another of their masterpieces, perfectly mixing the spirit of Barnum’s time period with the popular music of today. Performances by Keala Settle and Hugh Jackman brought this amazing score to life with their incredible voices and acting. Overall, The Greatest Showman was a spectacle so incredible it could have been designed by P.T. Barnum himself. Composers Benj Pasek and Paul Justin are also the composers of the scores for Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and the critically acclaimed La La Land. Their talents were put to perfect use in this film just as they were in the others. “This Is Me” was created as an anthem for the show, and both the music itself and the message of the lyrics proved to truly embody the theme of confidence and self-acceptance
Speech and Debate Team Season Update By Ally Newkirk Throughout this year, the speech and debate team has been very successful in their ongoing season. I got a chance to speak to their coach, Ms. Kadlecek, to get an update on their season. I first asked about the goals they had set for the season, and she said, “We set a goal for two people from each class to travel to and out of state tournament, five freshmen and sophomores to attend the state tournament, and we want to be a NSDA school of excellence”. Wanting to be apart of NSDA means they want to be one of the top schools represented in the country. I then touched base on how she saw the team moving forward. She said, “I think
seen throughout the film. The song was not only successful as a rousing anthem for the show, but it also allowed the audience to explore who they are, achieving the true purpose of art. The acting in the film was easily powerful enough to match this masterfully composed score. Hugh Jackman was a fantastic P.T. Barnum. Not only did he happen to have the perfect look to em-
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that we will continue to have growth. At the beginning of the year we had fifteen and this year we have gained up to twenty three students go to tournaments. I also think that the group of students are really dedicated to excellence, so not necessarily that they want to win all the time, but they want to give their best performances that they are capable of giving. In my vision, this means that we keep having students guide the way in terms of wanting to do bigger and better things.” The last topic I asked about is what moments had been the best so far in their season. She responded with, “every single person on our team has scored at least one 1. Which means all the twenty three people that have gone to the tournaments have been the best speaker in their round at least once.” The speech and debate team is very excited to continue their season and is looking forward to their upcoming tournaments.
Speech and Debate Team Competes at a Tournament in Gatlinburg, TN
Predators Pounce on NHL By Ridley Randolph With only four more weeks of regular season games remaining, the Nashville Predators have had an impressive season thus far. As of this article, the Predators have won a franchise-record 10 games in a row, and have 97 points this season, leading the Western Conference. Nashville has the fewest losses of any NHL team, and are also leading the central division with 44 wins so far this season. The Predators have an impressive goal differential of +50. Both the Predators’ P.K. Subban and Pekka Rinne were voted to the 2018 All Star Team in Tampa Bay this year. This has been a great year from Pekka Rinne as he also earned his 300th win in the Na-
Universal Studios
body Barnum, but he had the attitude and spirit to match it. His scenes alongside the Barnum family were genuine and intimate as Jackman forged a relationship on the screen that is nearly impossible to be disengaged from. Zendaya and Zac Efron were also amazing additions to the cast as their performance of “Rewrite the Stars” was show-stopping. The intimacy of the
The following swimmers made qualifying times in these events at the MTHSSA Region Championship Swim Meet on January, 26, 2018 at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville: Aaron Desmond (200 Free, 100 Free, 50 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast) Graham Gibson (50 Free), Anna Grisez (100 Breast) Michael Mahoney (200 Free, 200 IM, 100 Free, 50 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Back), Amelia Reiss (100 Breast), Ally Solomon (200 Free, 200 IM, 100 Free, 50 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 500 Free) Mason Robb (Relay Swimmer), Elizabeth Small (Relay Swimmer). All of these swimmers worked very hard throughout the season and Ally Solomon even made it to a state level competition. She performed very well in the two events she competed in while representing bga. Overall the 2017-2018 season was very successful and all the swimmers contributed tremendous efforts to the team.
tional Hockey League on February 22nd during the Predators’ 7-1 win against the San Jose Sharks. He’s currently one of the leading candidates for the Vezina Trophy, which each season is awarded to the best goaltender. Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson currently leads the team in goals with 25 goals. Earlier this month, the team celebrated the return of former captain Mike Fisher, who has been a spark on the Predators recent win streak. So far the Predators have lived up to the bold expectations made of them at the beginning of the season, and we can expect a fantastic post-season to come. The final regular season game will be April 7th, and will be at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ms. Borden: New Edition to the BGA Family By Sarah May Q: What do you do here at BGA? A: I am one of two college counselors for BGA, so essentially working with students to help them decide what they want to do after BGA. For a majority of students that would be go on to college, and some students pursue a gap year, which is a break before they go into a college university. In addition to that, also working with students even in the 9th grade, which makes you aware of things you can do your first year here, which can prepare you for your future. A lot of people think its just seniors and college applications, but it’s more of helping the overall mindset of thinking of what students can do to better prepare themselves for the future. Q: What did you do before you came to BGA? A: Before BGA, I worked on the “other side of the desk”, which basically means I worked for two different colleges and
universities in the admission office. I recruited students to come to my schools that were inside the country. Also outside of the country, that’s actual were I have spent most of my time the past few years. Prior to BGA, I was at a school called Babson College, which is up in Massachusetts. It is a small business school, and I was there for about three years. Prior to that, I was at Elon University, which is in North Carolina and is also my alma mater. Q: What is your favorite part of BGA so far? A: My first thought would be, I love the chicken tenders here because they are so good. I am not a chicken finger connoisseur, but I would say I enjoy a chicken finger or two. More seriously or outside of that, I really enjoy being in an environment where I get to know the actual students, and also seeing them progress through the year. Also, being able to go to soccer games, basketball games, and being able to see students in theater productions. It’s nice to be apart of a community where in just a very short time
The Echo
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March 15, 2018
The Greatest Showman
The Drowsy Chaperone
lyrics combined with the spectacle of the aerial theatre created a music number that was gorgeous and elaborate, but in a way that still felt small enough to feel the emotion of the characters. All in all, The Greatest Showman was an amazing film that not only captured the spirit of P.T. Barnum’s life, but also captured the spirit of the classic movie musical as it has transformed for the modern era.
A frustrated and concerned Mr. Feldzieg (Zach Bankemper) hires two gangsters (Anna Baker and Reed Locke) to stop the wedding and dress up as pastry chefs. He also enlists Aldolpho, (Liam Jenkins), to make an unsuccessful attempt to charm the bride for he had accidentally confused the bride and Janet’s “drowsy” chaperone (Laura Abbott). Throughout the play, the Man in Chair continues to add his own footnotes and shares trivial information about the actors and play, bringing the audience in and out of the fantasy. This winner of five Tony awards featuring songs such as “Show Off”,“I Am Aldolpho”, “Toledo Surprise”, and “As We Stumble Along” will be an exciting, hilarious performance for the BGA community. Come out and support the actors and crew who have worked so hard on this production!
Prom 2018 Coming Soon! By Bailey Anderson
As the trees blossom and the weather begins to warm, upperclassmen begin to think about the upcoming prom. While you don’t know who is going to ask you, what to wear, or how you should ask someone, we do know some basic facts about prom. Mrs. Angola, who is on the prom board, talked to me for a few minutes to help answer some basic questions about prom. This year, prom is going to be at Saddle Woods Farm. It is located in Murfreesboro, around 30 minutes from BGA. It is a 10,000 square feet barn with 36 feet tall ceilings. To get Saddle Woods Farm, there will be charter buses to take people to and from the prom. Dinner will be served, and It will be catered by the same company that catered Denim and Diamonds. For music, there will be a DJ. Tickets fo on sale March 14 through March 21 during lunch. The tickets cost $80 a person. Don’t forget to buy tickets, because prom is April 21!
BGA’s Latest Musical Debuts on April 13th Preview By Shea Kelly
Ridley Randolph
Cast of The Drowsy Chaperone rehearses “Toledo Surprise” in Harlin Center Admission is free for faculty (plus one) and students on April 13th and 14th at 7pm and the 15th at 2pm.
Interview with Ms. Borden (continued from page 2)
are able to know a little bit about many different students, and you can also celebrate their achievements. When you hear things at assembly about the Quiz Bowl success and etc., I really enjoy that, which is like the community aspect of BGA. Q: What do you like to do outside of school? A: I am a big runner, and I am running in the Boston Marathon in about two months, which is crazy! I really like movies. I re-
ally enjoy watching movies on Netflix, and I also go to the movies quite frequently. I like to travel and spend time with friends, you know normal things. I enjoy Sci- Fi and fantasy a lot. I love Game of Thrones, the Walking Dead, and Star Wars. I am a little bit of a nerd in those regards. I am enjoying being down here, and being apart of a stronger music scene. Since I have been down here, I have been to quite a few different concerts. I like getting to know Nashville as well. I get to explore and check things out, and see the different restaurants like I just had hot chicken a couple weeks ago and it was delicious.
Q: What do you binge watch on Netflix? A: Over the winter break, I was addicted to Riverdale. It was so good, and there was a character named Cheryl, which is my first name and there is never anyone named Cheryl! I also enjoy a new show on Netflix called Altered Carbon. I watch quite a few movies on Netflix as well. When it comes to movies, I am a big Marvel fan. I just saw Black Panther, which was awesome. I really like coming of age and Sci-Fi movies and or shows. One of my favorite movies ever is called Life as a House. It is a really sweet and sappy movie.
Wrestling State Star Wars: Championship The Last Jedi (continued from page 1)
placed fifth at 170 earlier in the day. Notable Stats: Team Record: 10-6 Father Ryan Invitational Wrestling Tournament - Conner Mitchell (152 lb.) 6th place & Teddy Holloway (182 lb.) 6th place Dawg Fight Invitational Wrestling Tournament (Briarcrest High School) Dolan Eckhart (170 lb.) 4th place / Teddy Holloway (182 lb.) 1st place / Jaylyn Fri-
erson (HWT) 5th place
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Middle Tennessee Grand Championship JV Wrestling Tournament - Trace Alexander (113 lb.) - 2nd place / Jake Brown (145 lb.) 4th place Middle Tennessee Grand Championship Freshmen Wrestling Tournament - Jack Revere (160 lb.) - 1st place / Iman Lohrasbi (195 lb.) 2nd place
save the Resistance at the end of the movie. The way Luke Skywalker was “killed off” I think really well ended off the movie and his character, especially with the reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s death as he disappears under his cloak looking off into the sunset, a visual callback to the same binary sunset on his home planet when his journey begins. Star Wars: The Last Jedi wrenched my heart out in countless ways, including R2-D2’s playing of Leia’s message from A New Hope in order to get Luke to help the Resistance, Luke and Leia’s sentimental reunion, and Luke’s death scene. As Poe says, “We are
the spark, that will light the fire that’ll burn the First Order down.”
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The Echo
March 15, 2018
“What is your perfect Valentine’s Day date?” Featuring Drew Martin Probably just something chill. Nothing that’s too much. We would go to a restaurant or have a picnic.
Cast of The Drowsy Chaperone Rehearses for the Upcoming Musical Alden Kemmerly
Probably going to Glow Galaxy and going afterwards to watch some Netflix, probably Friends.
Iman Lohrasbi You know, I think I’d just take them to the dog park, man. Every girl loves dogs.
Ricky Klausner BGA students & faculty were divided about the best movie of 2017. The leading vote getter was “Get Out,” which received the Academy Award for Best Screenplay (Jordan Peele). “Dunkirk” came in second with 12% of the vote. The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, “Shape of Water,” only received 3 votes from BGA, which equalled “The Emojii Movie,” which set a new record for the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of all-time (9%).
Bowling and ice cream.
Ava Tashie