Shane SedlakPapillion-La Vista High School

“Throwback day was my favorite because I went as an 1850s western person and it was fun.” - Ethan Free (12)

Page by: Makenzi Zikas, Brianna McCullough & Shelby Jensen

“My favorite day was throwback day because I recently pur-chased a paisley, 60’s inspired dress.” - Nicole Fustos (12)

Burnin’ Up, Chillin’ OutStudents show their “Fire and Ice” themed spirit throughout the week, at the pep rally on Friday, and ultimately at Homecoming on Saturday.

ThursdayWednesday“Throw Back”“BOys Blue, Girls Red”

Monday “Ice Ice Baby”

TuesdayName: Shelby Rule (12)“Member of Kiss”Name: JT Pyle (11)“Rock Star”

Name: Phoenix Luna (11) “Super Man”Name: Sydnie Germany (11)“Cal-Pal”

Name:Michaella Yeshnowski (11)Red

Name: Austin Kneifl (11)“Old Monarch P.E. Teacher”Name: Hailey Weisbeck (11) “Rosie the Riveter”

Name: David Grover (9)

Blue

“Super hero”

Identify yourself: What was your favorite day of spirit week?

While students are bound together by textbooks, late night study sessions, and

rants about the stress of simply being a teenager, it is the school spirit and pride in each student that brings everyone together. Cramming into the halls, as well as into the gym, the record size freshman class contributed to spirit week, as well as gathering in the gym to watch the activities that fall sports athletes participated in. For the freshmen, spirit week was unlike anything that they had previously experienced in school. “My favorite spirit day was the

rock star one because some kid walked around with a boom box,” Nolan Anderson (9) said. Anderson was not the only student that had fun during spirit week. One sophomore found the throwback themed day to be the most fun to participate in. “It was hilarious seeing my friends in clothes from decades ago,” Morgan Eby (10) said. To conclude the week of Homecoming festivities, students gathered in the gym for the pep rally. “The pep rally was pretty fun, and I also liked the chants,” Anderson said.

In addition to all of the noise and enthusiasm, the performances in the event were also entertaining to watch. “My favorite part of the pep rally had to be watching the dance team. They always impress me with how much energy they have, and the moves that they do,” Eby said. Even though it seemed that a majority of students’ shared a favorite spirit themed day, it would be hard to argue that students did not have a great time on the days leading up to Homecoming!

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Dance In Homecoming...?

FIRE & ICE“I was so surprised, I didn’t even see it coming. I had a smile on my face the whole day.” -Remy Esson (11)

“I was just planning on going to play tennis and it ended with a great surprise. Also, having a date my senior year made the experience even better.” -Morgan Davenport (12)

“I got my dress from JCPenney’s and it only cost $50.” - Priscilla O’Dowd (12)

“I got my dress from Free People and it was about $75.” - Abby Petersen (12)

012 Identify yourself: Where did you get your dress?

Homecoming

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PLHS students spend their Saturday night dressed to impress at the Homecoming dance.

Not YourOrdinary King

Overcoming everything I’ve been through, it made me proud and I felt like I had made

an impression,” Nolan Zikas (12) said. Through three years of osteosarcoma cancer, hearing your name called after that long suspenseful silence, and stepping into the spotlight to be crowned as king, is almost as contrasting as fire and ice.

The excitement began for Zikas

when he learned that he had been chosen for the Homecoming court.

“When I heard my name called on the intercom, I couldn’t believe I was chosen,” Zikas said.

When the night arrived, the coronation was only the beginning of the emotions.

“Walking onto the stage, hearing everyone cheer and scream, ‘Team Zeke’ was just amazing and it really hit my heart,” Zikas said.

Some would be angry if they didn’t win, but Zikas remained humble.

“Whoever won, I would have been happy,” Zikas said. “It’s and honor and they all deserved it.”

Those who voted for Zikas

knew his story.“I expected him to be in the

royalty because he’s a good guy and people know he’s been through a lot,” Vinnie Hunter (11) said.

The anticipation of waiting to find out if he had won or not was huge, but when he heard his name called, Zikas said he was in shock.

“I was just embracing the moment,” Zikas said.

Becoming a king means celebrating the victory with close friends.

“I celebrated with a bunch of friends at Cole Childers’ house. I couldn’t have asked for a better celebration and night,” Zikas said.

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As the student section’s ear-piercing cheers are reduced to a murmur, the air is filled and

warmed with the smell of hotdogs and hot chocolate. Then it begins. The Dinkles start moving, the tubas are blaring and the sabers are twirling. This electric moment was created by effort put forth by the marching band in the weeks prior. In order to be successful at a game, the marchers and Color Guard rehearsed each morning before school, and had a Monday night rehearsal each week. This year the rehearsals started ten minutes earlier. “Rehearsals starting earlier didn’t affect me much because this is my first year in marching band. It was hard getting to the field at 6:50 each morning, but I didn’t mind it,” Zach Wynn (9) said. One of the many parts to the band’s success was the rehearsals. There were many other attributes to their success as well. “People cared a lot more this year and we had bigger expectations to meet as well. I feel like it impacted how we performed and scored,” Ambi Anuh-Ndumu (10) said. This year the band and Color

Guard received their best rating in five years, a superior. They were given this rating at the Links Festival and then again at the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association (NSBA) state competition. “Even though the season is long and memorizing drill is hard it was definitely all worth it in the end, especially since we got two superiors,” Anuh-Ndumu said. The marching band traveled to competitions at Millard West, UNO, Papillion-La Vista South, Lincoln High, Omaha Burke and Lincoln East for the NSBA state competition. “Personally, I enjoyed the competitions; they were a lot of fun,” Wynn said. The theme of their show was “Perfectus Bellator: The Perfect Warrior.” The show included selections of “Gladiator,” “KA: Battlefield” and “In Caelum Fero.” “The music was really different from years past. It was fun music for Guard to dance and perform to. Also we were able to use props like the fake spears to relate to the theme of the show,” Jazmyn Yates (12) said. A perfect warrior requires time and effort to rise up in the ranks to become superior.

Picking Up TempoThe band travels to many different

competitions and receives their first superior in five years.

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“The best part of bus rides is definitely hanging out with friends and just having fun.” - Nikki Kragt (12)

“It is a lot of fun to make faces at all of the cars driving past the bus.” - Christine Robino (9)

066 Identify yourself: What is the best part about the bus ride to a competition?

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Christa Rahl (11) Sean Alumbaugh (11) Savannah Schendt (10)

1. Bang Bang. Jake Litel-Smith (10), Donovan Bray (11), and Gavin Maas (9) beat on their drums to warm up for their competition at Omaha Burke. Photo: Kat Keller. 2. Look Like a Beauty, Toss Like a Beast. Sport-ing her silver costume, Jazmyn Yates (12) performs her routine during the Papillion-La Vista South Competi-tion. Yates is a senior and has been on Guard for two years. “I am going to miss all of the girls, and Clayton,” Yates said. Photo: Hailey McGuire. 3. Oooooh Trill ‘Em. Jenna Schooff (12) plays her flute during pregame. The band was preparing for their performance at halftime of the Lincoln Southwest. Photo: Ashten Ark-feld. 4. Ta-Da. Reaching his arms out for a pose, David Brodersen (12) warms up for the Omaha Burke march-ing band competition. The marching band received an excellent rating at this competition. Photo: Kat Keller. 5. Chin Up. Standing proud for the audience, Jessica Epps (9) performs her flag routine. The flag twirlers practiced seven times a week to perfect their routine. Photo: Ashten Arkfeld. 6. Bringing Saxy Back. Kiera Carlson entertains the crowd (9) at the Lincoln North Star game. Photo: Ashten Arkfeld.

Marching Band

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