Homecoming 2014 by The Black Hawk Times

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Black Hawk Times HOMECOMING 2014

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It’s the End of the World as We know it… Story By Emily Priddy and Haley Bikman

veryone had thought about it, but no one really believed it would happen… little did the students of GHS know that their dreams, or rather nightmares, would come true: The Apocalypse had come to Grafton. The 2014 Homecoming theme surprised and excited many students, most of whom were guessing the theme was going to be “Just another cliche Homecoming.” Under the Sea, Around the World, and A Night Under the Stars are just some of the most popular ghosts of Homecoming’s past. Student Council wanted to take a step back from the cliche themes and create something brand new, a new series of original ideas to separate GHS from other area schools. So the student council chose to use something more recent, more relevant in our lives today: the dreaded “armageddon.” Though this wasn’t the first idea to come into the students’ minds when they thought of homecoming. Senior Emily Priddy said, “We went all over the drawing board from Time

Travel, Broadway, Hunger Games and Divergent themes to the social media’s #Homecoming2K14, but none of them seemed to click just right. We started talking about the end of the world and right then and there we knew we found the perfect theme for this years homecoming.” After figuring out a theme, they had to create the bigger picture and layout the frame work to what would be the most original homecoming theme that Grafton has seen in a long time. The first task was to figure out what scenario each grade would have. Inspired by The Walking Dead’s famous walkers, the theme of Zombie Infestation was awarded to the Senior class. The Juniors were given the Invasion of the Aliens, and the Sophomore’s were given Technology Takeover or as they like to call it, Revenge of the Robots. Finally, what better way to introduce the Freshman to the ways of the homecoming tradition than to give them the concept of Biohazardous Mutation. “Rise Above” was the official title. Mr. Ken McCormick said, “We wanted to overcome the idea of the Apocalypse rather than succumb to the monsters and the idea over all.” With that in mind, Grafton High School overcame the inevitable. Coming together as a school and creating a unified bond between grades, the student body “Rose Above” the end of the world.

Inside the Issue

2-3 Theme 4-5 Hallway Decorations 6-7 Dress Up Days 8-9 Laugh Olympics 10-11 Powderpuff 12-13 Football Game 14-15 Dance Front Cover: Senior Sam Miller jumps to catch the football in the Homecoming game. Back Cover: Sophomores go against the Seniors in a game of Tug Of War during The Laugh Olympics.

Photo by Seth Herlinger 2

Homecoming 2014

Photo by Sarah Corner

Photo by Noble Burrow Photo by Molly Lutz Photo by Molly Lutz

Photo by Molly Lutz

Photo By Seth Herlinger Photo by Noble Burrow Rise Above

HALLWAY

PHOTO BY: Molly Lutz

FRESHMEN

The Competition Begins

By: Sarah Corner With hallway decorating coming first, Homecoming kicked off with a bang. Decorating was a long, three hour process Sunday afternoon with the help of students from each of the grades. At the start of the hall, the freshmen laid out their laboratory. The Freshmen set up their place of operation at the very start of their hall, and worked their way around with purple and black crepe paper up and down the hallway. Paper crafts commenced, including an elaborate drawing of a mutated dog that would later be trapped in a DIY cage, and a cardboard creature on the wall near the second-floor bathrooms. The species of this animal is still unknown, but both creations still fell

under the category of the overall theme of biohazardous mutations. According to freshman Justin Pryga, his first year of hallway decorating was “Ok”. Coming up next were the Juniors, sporting caution tape that framed either side of the hallway entrances for their alien invasion theme. Green balloons were used as extraterrestrial faces and attached to each of the classroom doors. The largest of their projects consisted of a massive sign written in duct tape on the wall announcing, “WE DO NOT COME IN PEACE”, a piece done by Cassidy Klug. Gold glitter crafts were created, and scattered throughout their hall as well, adding a sparkly touch to the junior theme of alien invasion. Following the Juniors, the Sophomores had the task of building a futuristic hall. Along with

SOPHOMORES

PHOTO BY: Sarah Cor-

4 Homecoming 2014

PHOTO BY: Sarah Corner

PHOTO BY: Kaitlyn Larsson

DECORATING

PHOTO BY: Sarah Corner

JUNIORS

large cardboard robots guarding the entrances, silver was a common theme throughout this corridor. A prominent prop used were Barbie dolls, some of which were spray painted solid silver and strung up on the walls or hanged from the ceiling in flying cars. Rounding the final turn, viewers approached the Cemetery, otherwise known as the Senior hallway. In order to make their final homecoming amazing, they gave hallway decorating their all. Confident of the seniors’ abilities, senior Brittany Cassel said, “We’re gonna kill it this year. Literally.” Grave stones were set up in the start, written in black Sharpie the (fake) deaths of fellow science teachers. Zombies were placed in coffins against the walls, and a skeleton hung from the ceiling. Beyond that was the makeshift bunker, consisting of a tent, sleeping

PHOTO BY:

Molly Lutz

bags, and a vast collection of canned foods. Senior Sam Miller brought in a coffin made of wood, and placed it in the caution tape maze and bloody sheets. Looking back at the end, the words “DO NOT OPEN DEAD INSIDE” and “R15E ABOVE” are painted on bed sheets. In the end, judging determined Sophomores were 4th for their robotic hallway, Freshmen were 3rd for their biohazardous mutations, and Juniors were 2nd for the out-of-this-world hallway decorations. Seniors rose above all in the end, and arrived in 1st for their undead decorations.

SENIORS

PHOTO BY: Sarah Corner

Hallway Decorating

Homecoming - Dress up Days Story by Emily Welsh

What’s better than showing up to school on a Monday morning in your pajamas? “My favorite dress up day is probably pajama day because you can just roll out of bed and be comfortable,” said junior Ariel Berry. Homecoming festivities are meant to bring excitement and cohesiveness to the student body. The week before the homecoming game the student body is invited to participate in various theme related days. This is done with the thought that the students can leave their normal appearance behind and simply join in the fun with the rest of the school. Although a perennial favorite of students is the pajama day, this year Grafton High School’s

Homecoming 2014

student council created a new day, “ Lumber Jack Day” This day also had a lot of participation. It was the ease of dress – a simple plaid shirt, jeans and boots that made this themed day a new favorite. Sophomore Brittany DeGroot said, “I liked lumberjack day because it was different.” Some themed days are more popular than others. Many are easy to participate in because the clothing choice is a simple that can be scraped together from home or even at a low cost place like a Goodwill Store. Some of the more outlandish theme’s tend to not bring much participation. In the end whether it be staying cozy in your PJs, showing your outdoorsy side as a lumberjack or pretending you are a zombie for the day, Spirit Days are for all to enjoy.

Dress Up Days

Firsts and Laughs Story by Rachel Place and Brandon Schmidt

As the student body moved into the gym on Friday it was apparent who the Freshmen were. Their faces expressed their mixed feelings of intimidation and excitement about what was to come, whereas the rest of students radiated a steadfast confidence. Unlike previous years, the Freshmen were quick to volunteer. According to Katie Lamb she was forced into participating by her friends, “I did the orange pass. I gave into peer pressure. My friends were pushing me down there, but it was still fun.” The ninth graders only won one game, but that did not dampen their spirits, or the competition. They remained in a close race for points with the Sophomores and Juniors. They quickly understood the event and stood on the bleachers and participated in the chants like the rest of the student body. This reflected the ultimately positive experience they had, even though it was a lot to take in. Freshman Keegan Lipke explained his own views on the event, “It was kind of what I expected, more

Homecoming 2014

silly than funny.” When asked what their favorite game was, both Brielle Tauer and Gabby Sparapani agreed that the tug of war between the senior powderpuff team and the female teachers was the best. “It was funny to see the teachers get involved and compete against a bunch of their students,” said Tauer. Whether the Freshmen were forced into playing games by their peers or volunteered on their own, at the end of the afternoon the common conclusion from the ninth graders was that it was a fun way to bring the school together and a good way to end Homecoming week. “I had fun. I just want to win more,” said Ava Schimmelpfenning. With time, this years’ freshmen will be seasoned veterans, laughing at the freshmen in future years to come. “I think it’s rigged,” said Lipke.

Photo by Molly Lutz

Photo by Juliana Galarza As part of court, Alec Weinhold and Rachel Ruona excitedly talk about the cross country season so far.

Seniors Rachel Wiedner and Kaytie Lighthighzer laugh hysterically while attempting to pass an orange between them.

Photo by Brandon Schmidt

Photo by Sofie Green Photo by Molly Lutz

Photo by Brandon Schmidt

Senior Emily Nielsen marches proudly with the Dance Team.

Sam Bucheger beats on the drums with the Pep Band.

Thursday and Friday Events

Seniorsvs. Senior Tori Alexander said, “The refs didn’t allow there to be trash talking and threatened us with penalties when we did...”

Homecoming 2014

Pride??

Senior John Grams said, “Even though we started down by 2 and had 5 penalties, I still believe we played with pride.”

Referrees?? Coaches??

Senior Kathryn Fischer said, “Our coaches were super intense and it motivated us to be intense on the field, but it also made me a little nervous to mess up.”

Junior Luke Benzchawel said, “They only called penalties on the seniors, plus we saw Maney’s legs for the first time.!

Junior Katherine Hunt said, “Our coaches were not serious at all, well except Nic Fullington, he lost his voice.”

Junior Kaitlyn Larson said, “Juniors acted with more pride because when the seniors would talk smack we would ignore it and just play.”

Powderpuff

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Juniors

And the Crowd Goes Wild... Story by Adele Danner

On Friday night the football stands were filled with black and orange sported by the Grafton High School students, excited to take on Port Washington for this year’s homecoming game. Despite the cold, Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors all came out to cheer on the school. “It was a lot of fun,” said freshman Sarah Schmitz. “It was kinda chaotic, but it was a good chaotic.” The student section was on fire cheering with homemade posters, fatheads, jerseys and cheers and confetti shot into the air as touchdowns were made throughout the game. There was not a single moment the students were not cheering on the dance team, band, or football players. “I liked to see all the bands, and all the dances and the cheerleaders. The energy on the team itself was just crazy- they did so well,” said junior Monica Wenten. For the seniors it was a bittersweet night, being their last homecoming football game. But it ended well. The Black Hawks overcame Port Washington, meeting the hopes and expectations of the student body, 25-6. “The weather sucked but the crowd was still here. We were still there. We won, so it feels great.” said senior cheerleader Tori Alexander. 12

Homecoming 2014

The stands were filled with cheering students after the victory against Port Washington

Tom Pipines standes with the Grafton students. The homecoming game was voted to be the Fox 6 Blitz Game of theWeek

1. Players watch egerly as the team plays school rival Port Washington. 2. Seniors Sam Miller, Joe Fugate, Brandon Steen and Adam Cibulka. 3. Grafton takes down Port Player! 3 2

For the Senior football players this final homecoming game against Port Washington proved to be bittersweet. As the seniors prepared they realized how close the end truly is, as this was the last home game of the season. “It’s more hyped up for us, and we have more of a responsibility to win our last homecoming game,” said s1enior Brandon Steen. The hype of the game is always apparent in the fan filled stands showing their Black Hawk pride. The highlight for senior Adam Cibulka was “seeing the whole community at the game, and just having everybody be super loud.” As role models for the younger members of the team the senior players are expected to make good choices all

the time. “I think we are role models because the underclassman are basing the rest of their high school career off of us, so one day they’ll be like ‘remember those seniors from our freshman year?’ We just try and be positive influences whenever we can,” said Senior Joe Fugate. Senior Matt Pfannerstill had a different view of the field on October 3. In the first half of the first game, he went down in a hard tackle. The verdict, a broken right clavicle that cost him the remainder of his senior season. “It is the worst feeling ever because I can’t play the game that I love,” Said Pfannerstill. The team defeated Port Washington 25-6.

Leaving It All on the Field Story by Abigail Valerius Football Game

All About that Dance

Story by Sofie Green

When entering a high school homecoming dance, it’s expected that there will be mostly songs from today’s Top Billboard 100. But when dance-goers stepped into the dark cafeteria, they got a blast from the past. The DJ hired for this year’s homecoming experience was A-Jay, a middle aged man who boasts 30 years of experience and endless school-appropriate radio edits. While he played current hits such as Taylor Swift’s new song “Shake It Off,” the room was filled with songs that took listeners back to middle school, including dance hits “Crack That Soulja Boy” and “The Cupid Shuffle.” He even asked the students for feedback, asking them if they liked

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the song he was currently playing. That was quite possibly the best feature of the night, a DJ that genuinely wants to know if the student body is really feeling the music. The romance of the night was set by slow dances like “Wanted” by country music star Hunter Hayes, and “White Horse” by Taylor Swift. Not everybody was down with the flashback music, however. Sophmore Cody Raebel said, “They played Party Rock Anthem. I’m not about that life.” “I like how they played music from Grease. Old school classics are good, middle school classics, not so much,” said junior Julia Fischer.

smile photobooth fun

Homecoming Dance

HOPE WE PULLED YOU IN...

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Look for the next issue of The Black Hawk Times in NOVEMBER.