Art students fare well in contests

Every year in the month of May, one of the Frontier league schools hosts Art League. This year’s host was Paola, with Gardner Edgerton, Eudora, Ottawa, Louisburg, Spring Hill, DeSoto and Baldwin as attendees.

Baldwin has been competing in Art League for a few years now. The only thing different with this year was their new Visual Arts Instructor Christy Carlisle.

The Baldwin artists attending were seniors Jennifer Katzer, Charlotte Nelick and Ashley Bennett, juniors Lindsay Roberts, Lacey Langrehr and Stephanie Minor and sophomores Dani Houser, Louis Joslyn and Tucker Brown.

There were many guidelines that the competitors were responsible for following. Only ten representatives were allowed to attend, and they were to be divided into three teams. The first team had to complete an 8′x8′ chalk drawing in front of the school themed “Monsters attack the school, mascot saves the day.” The second team had the challenge of painting a 30″x40″ acrylic painting that had the theme of “Impressionism with a twist,” and the third team was instructed to design a kite. The school was also allowed to show 25 pieces of artwork for the individual competition that was chosen by Carlisle from her students in her advanced classes.

One huge factor was that all the competition was to be completed in two and one-half hours and it was all outside.

“I think we did very well,” sophomore Dani Houser said. “It was my first time and I had fun, I’d do it again. But next year I will wear some sun screen.”

Baldwin won an on-site award for the painting competition. A ribbon of excellence was presented to the team of Katzer, Langrehr and Joslyn for their excellent performance.

“It was the first time I attended League Art and I thought it was fun,” Joslyn said. “Also, after the competition was over, Mrs. Carlisle took the group to a gas station and bought us all drinks.”

As far as individual awards, Baldwin raked in many awards for their work. Freshman Cassandra Flory and sophomore Max Venable achieved a Ribbon of Merit in drawing. Senior Lottie Nelick was awarded with two ribbons; one was a Ribbon of Merit in Painting and another Ribbon of Merit in mixed Media.

“I thought this year’s League Art was very successful,” Minor said. “Not knowing what to expect going into competition the group came out with new expectations for next year. We also came out with five ribbons! It was the best Baldwin had done in a couple of years and gave the other schools a great surprise with all our involvement.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased with everyone’s hard work,” Carlisle said. “At the end of the day, everyone was tired, dirty and sun marked, but it was a good day.”

Story by Sarah Kramps, BHS Journalism

79 seniors to graduate on May 22

Graduation is a few short weeks away for 79 seniors, and the excitement is building every day.

Many seniors are thrilled that graduation is coming up and are ready to begin their new lives next fall. The graduation ceremonies will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, in the BJHS gymnasium.

“I’m very ready to be done with high school and move on with my life,” Mason Johnson said. “I can’t wait to go to KU next year and start working on my future.”

“I’m excited to get out on my own and learn more about the real world,” Charlotte Nelick said. “I’m going to be going to Johnson County to learn about phlebotomy.”

Along with the seniors, graduation is usually an exciting time for the staff as well.

“Graduation is generally a fun time for the staff,” assistant principal Bret Jones said. “It’s nice to see four years of hard work finally pay off.”

“It’s a rewarding time,” teacher Kit Harris said. “We get to see the culmination of students’ efforts to prepare themselves for all their future hopes and dreams.”

Others are excited for the future but will miss some of the aspects of Baldwin High School.

“I’ll really miss all the kids in our school because in this school it seems like you know everyone, which is nice,” Camdon Schwartz said. “Still, I’m excited to get to go to all the college games and be in the student sections because in high school I never really got to experience that.”

According to Jones, the school will miss the class of 2010 as well.

“I think this class has stood out from many others,” Jones said. “There are so many top quality students. There are some extremely bright kids, and some incredible leaders. Especially for as small as the class is, you don’t see the kind of talent that they have as a whole very often.”

“This is one of the smallest classes we’ve had in many years, but they still had a lot of success stories in academics and activities,” Harris said. “They have a lot to be proud of.”

Some seniors don’t have future plans set in stone, but are still excited for the conclusion of their high school career.

“I’m super stoked about graduation,” Megan Michael said. “I want to go to Hawaii University to be a marine biologist, but I think I’m going to start off with classes at Johnson County.”

After their last day of school on Tuesday, May 18, 34 boys and 45 girls will walk across the stage on Saturday, May 22.

The ushers will be Megan Hazelwood, Colby Soden, Ryan Ward, Nate Growcock, Colton Lowe, AnnWallsmith, Alison Howard and Heather Karlin. The two Processional Leaders are Chelsea Turk and Carson Barnes. These students were elected by the senior class.

The graduation speaker will be Dr. Amy Wintermantel, a current professor at Baker University. Wintermantel is a former teacher in the USD 348 school district, and is a graduate of Baldwin High School.

Speaking for the class will be Kaylin McCrary and Brian Lamoreux, and president Connor Twombly will present the class gift.

“I feel honored to be nominated by the senior class to lead their procession at graduation,” junior Chelsea Turk said.

Parking for graduation will be an even bigger hassle than normal, because 40 of the spots will be taken up for the building of the performing arts center. The district is going to attempt to set up a shuttle bus system, where people can park at the intermediate center, and then be shuttled over to the junior high for the ceremony.

Story by Brandon Kraus, BHS Journalism

SR Awards Assembly set for May 21

The annual Baldwin High School awards assembly will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 21, in the BJHS auditorium.

It wll be slightly different this year. In years past, all students in grades 9-12 attended and were presented academic honors and recognitions by BHS staff members. However, due to the reduced school year, students in grades 9-11 will be taking finals at the time, so the assembly will only be for seniors and their families.

BHS counselor Melody Hoffsommer and principal Shaun Moseman will present academic awards and honors to seniors from the class of 2010.

Immediately following the assembly, the seniors will participate in the graduation rehearsal in preparation of the commencement ceremony to take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, in the BJHS gymnasium.

Two BHS seniors place in essay contest

Two Baldwin High School students were honored recently for their entries in the Douglas County, Legal Essay Contest. Senior Molly Bostwick placed second and senior Lauren Barnes placed third.

The topic for this year’s competition was “The Constitutional Limits of Search and Seizure in Public Schools: What Should They Be?” The essay had to be between 500 and 1,000 words. First place received $1,500, second earned $1,000, and third was awarded $500.

Bostwick was overwhelmed, but her hard work paid off.

“I didn’t know much about the subject of the essay so I had to do a lot of research,” she said. “I got $1,000 for winning second place, though, and I will be using it for books for college.”

A panel of lawyers judged the essays and the students authoring the top three essays were invited to attend the Law Day Luncheon.

Barnes was excited to see her results.

“It was a really cool experience getting to hang out and eat with some lawyers from Douglas County,” she said.

BHS teacher Kathleen Sigvaldson was the students’ sponsor for the essay. She was very pleased with their success in a difficult competition.

“I thought they did absolutely fantastic,” she said. “It’s a hard thing to do.”

Story by Myranda Behrens, BHS Journalism

(in photo, Lauren Barnes on left, Molly Bostwick on right)