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WHAT’S UP // ENTERTAINMENT Lady of the Rings

COMBINING JEWELRY AND WOOD WORKING

Story and Photos By Eleanor Peterson

The scent of wood dust fills the room as the sound of a drill whirls away in the background. Students mill about the room making pens, boxes, and other traditionally wooden things. But junior Megan Bouma is making something different. She’s making wooden rings. “It was during woodshop club last year. I started a ring because I saw a couple other people doing it,” Bouma said. “We make rings with an opal inlay. I already made a pen with an opal inlay, and it was pretty cool, so I wanted to try a ring.” The process of making a ring is a long one that can take up to two weeks according to Bouma. They start with a drill press and drill a hole into a piece of wood which they then trim down to the right size. Then a small channel is inserted that will hold a piece of wire which helps prevent the brittle wood from snapping. Finally, the opal is added to the channel, they add some shine, and voila! A wooden ring. Although, it’s not quite as easy as it may sound. Of the many rings Bouma has made, she has only had four successes. “There’s a lot of failed ones,” Bouma said. “It’s possible if your ring isn’t perfectly aligned that the channel will go in all wonky and then you need to scrap it. Some woods are especially brittle and will just snap on you. Other times, the opal doesn’t Junior Megan Bouma making a ring for her cousin. get in right and you can see the wire underneath, and that’s not the same.” While they may be difficult, it’s all worth it to Bouma. “They’re just really pretty and they always sparkle all nicely,” Bouma said, “and it’s something you yourself have made.”

The Show Must Go On

WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM THE WINTER TALENT SHOW THIS YEAR

To the great disappointment of many students, last year’s winter talent was held online. Students who wanted to perform sent in videos of them singing, dancing, and even drawing. These home videos were then compiled into one video that was shown to the advisory classes and can now be found on video production teacher Matt Boase’s YouTube channel. Many people were worried that we would have another online talent show this year, but fortunately for WAHS students, that is not the case. This year, the winter talent show will not only be in person, but will be held in the new auditorium. But one drawback of having it in the auditorium is that it’s not big enough to fit the whole school. According to junior Spencer Madsen who is running the talent show this year, some classes will have to watch a recording or livestream of the talent show from their classrooms. Nonetheless, students can be excited for all the exciting performances to come. “I’m pretty optimistic about it,” Madsen said. “All the performances so far have been just amazing. There’s not much to say without spoiling it, [but] I’m really excited for all the acts and I think it will definitely rival last year.”

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