RHS Grant Page 2
A Culinary Classic Page 7
Raytown Sports Pages 7-8
Free complimentary copy April 17, 2015 • Volume 2, No. 26
www.raytowneagle.com • 75¢
RHS Senior Signs Letter Of Intent With Pittsburg State By Brian Lee The gritty unsophisticated gym where Raytown High School senior Seana Young has trained for the last two years, today, has been festively decorated in Pittsburg State Gorilla colors, emblems, and banners. Her family, friends, and teammates have gathered for Seana’s Letter of Intent signing to run track at Pitt State. Seana is seated behind the signing table, her father and grandmother accompany her on either side. Her personal trainer Chris Roberson conducts the event, and requests attendees to come forward and say a few words. The occasion was emotional for all, as all who have shared in Seana’s quest call to mind the blood, sweat and tears they’ve shed together. The unassuming 18 year old senior, two years prior, really never imagined she would be receiving a scholarship to run track. Since the 8th grade when she started running track she has always ran well and has been faster than most with whom she competed, but her times had not really been exceptional. With regard to the 300m intermediate, she explains “for a long time I was stuck at 47 seconds. I just thought that was the best I could do.” In a 4 year span she had 4 different track coaches, with only very little noticeable improvement. By the end of her sophomore year, she had the good fortune of making acquaintances with personal trainer Chris Roberson who agreed to take her on as
Left to Right front: Seana’s father,Steve Young, Seana, and grandmother, Cynthia Young. Left to Right back: Trainer Tony Dawkins and Trainer Chris Roberson. a client, even though track & field had not been his area of expertise. After much research and analysis of her running style Chris found adjustments she could make, and in the meantime worked on increasing her strength. During the track season of her Junior year she went from running a personal best
of 47 sec in the 300m hurdles to 46 sec at the KU relays, 45 sec at District competition, and 44 sec at State competition, dropping 3 sec in just a few weeks time! Normally most girls are somewhere above 50 seconds. Really fast high school girls are around 45 to 48 seconds for local races. She now holds the
RHS school record for fastest time in the 300m. She is confident she will improve on that time this track season. Though many other schools had recruited her, Seana decided to go with Pitt State where she feels most comfortable due to jiving with the track coaches and having
optimal training conditions to help her excel. Seana will study Psychology as her major. Chris Roberson relates, “She spent more time visiting with the Psychology professor than she did with the track coaches, talking about all kinds of stuff I couldn’t understand!”
Two Talking Bluejays Achieve Top Prize At Show-Me District Congress Tournament On April 11, 2015, Raytown High’s Talking Bluejays debate team competed at the Show-Me District Congress Tournament. Sophomore Romeo Bagunu took first place in Congress House 4 to earn his qualification. Junior Israel Hanke, who served as Presiding Officer, took first place in Congress House 3. Bagunu and Hanke will join Senior Tamela Hill, who qualified
in Lincoln-Douglas Debate after taking first place in the championship division in January. The Talking Bluejays Debate team finished third. This year marks the 24th consecutive year of 34 years overall that Raytown High’s debate team will be represented at the national competition. The Talking Bluejays are coached by Mark Harris.
From left to right: Coach Mark Harris and Senior Tamela Hill
From left to right: Junior Israel Hanke, Coach Mark Harris, Sophomore Romeo Bagunu
“If You Don’t Like Your Fate, Change It” By Christi Neal Thus were the words that Aida sang to Radames as he lamented the chains constraining him in his journey to become Pharaoh. Students of Raytown South Departments of Theatre and Music are changing their course as they strive toward a continually higher standard of performance as evidenced by their presentation of “Aida: The Timeless Love Story School Edition” on April 9-11. 2015. Directed by Brent Martin, South High’s theatre instructor and Teacher of the Year, the 85+ member cast and crew of “Aida” presented unforgettable performances which were consistently outstanding. Martin stated that he was “honored to work with
such a talented and hard-working group of young artists.” Written by Elton John and Tim Rice, South’s production of “Aida” featured a large range and deep pool of talent in the students. Senior Jacquelyn Price demonstrated such command of her character, Aida, both vocally and visually. Her rich voice gave depth to Aida’s emotional struggles between love and responsibility to her people. Junior Zach Flanery McDowell sang with confidence and conviction as the Egyptian soldier struggling to keep from loving Aida. Sophomore Gabby McDuffy wowed the audience with her vivacious and flirtatious portrayal of the iniContinued on page 2
Amneris (Gabby McDuffy) singing “My Strongest Suit” surrounded by her entourage of slaves