Manitou Seniors finally don their togas
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by The Prospector Staff On Thursday, April 15th, seniors finally got the chance to partake in the Manitou tradition of wearing togas to school for Homecoming. Homecoming was postponed in the fall after fall season sports were postponed due to COVID-19. The infamous college toga parties that are portrayed in movies of the 1980s often come to mind when most people think about togas today; but togas began in Ancient Rome. According to English teacher Dr. Moen, “The history resides in the status of the garment. Only elite citizens were allowed to wear them in Roman culture, so seniors are the elite citizens of our halls.” According to Angela Gieck, graduate of MSHS and PHC Student Liason, the senior tradition of wearing a toga goes back to at least the 1980s. Traditionally, “the Thursday of Homecoming Week, only seniors would wear togas. Typically, groups of seniors would all go to an early morning breakfast before school that day as well,” Gieck said. This Manitou tradition is still strong today. For seniors at MSHS, wearing the toga is an honor. According to Senior Class Vice President Caden Harris,
“Wearing the toga is tradition. It’s fun and a great experience reserved for seniors but it also represents the honor and responsibility we have all accepted through high school.” Wearing the toga is also a symbol of the unity for the senior class. “Wearing a toga means you get to be the seniors that you always looked up to. You get to fulfill that one part of being a senior, as a reward for all you’ve gone through. You trust in the sheet that is wrapped around you, and when you see your friends in them, it’s so much easier to not feel ridiculous because you all went through it all together; it’s a celebration of being united in the success of the last year,” said Student Body Vice President Dana Gutierrez. The wearing of the toga brings the senior class together, but it also has a more personal meaning for some seniors. “Wearing the senior toga represents all the growth I’ve gone through for me,” said Senior Class Secretary Grace Trahey. “I remember being a freshman and looking at the senior class as they wore their togas to school during spirit week, and thinking ‘that’s gonna be me one day’ but never really expecting that day to come and suddenly there it was. It felt sort of surreal.” Senior Class President Sophie McKeown feels that “wearing the toga
for Homecoming week represented our class’s dedication and love for our last year at MSHS. It was the first sign of things going back to normal and served as our light at the end of the tunnel.” While the history of when and why the senior toga tradition began in Manitou remains a mystery, one thing is certain. Seniors look forward to the day when they don their togas as a class.
Although MSHS did not have a traditional fall Homecoming this year, they made the best of Homecoming in April. Many doned their togas, went to breakfast with friends, and came to school. With one month left of school and Senioritis setting in the togas took on a new menaing. This year, According to English teacher Mr. Gillard, “They’re an absolute physical manifestation of Senioritis.”
MSHS Journalism photo file
Senior STUCO Goddesses. Sophie McKeown, Grace Trahey, Chloe Donegan, Dana Gutierrez, and Mahlia Glass model their togas on the Thursday before Homecoming. These ladies worked hard this year to keep the student body engaged.
MSHS Journalism photo file
Strutting Seniors. Senior boys Mike Vanderwerff, Caden Harris, Nathan Hass, Wally Hoehne, Geroge Cerneck, Thor Flett, Brian Blake, Jesse Jorstad, Joah Armour, Lars Marquardt, and Isaiah Thomas enjoyed dressing up in their bedsheets for Spirit Week. The days was full of muscle baring and toga adjustments.
Bella Kuzbek Swims to a State Title by Ayla Flett
The senior swimmer Bella Kuzbek achieved something that has never happened at Manitou Springs High School. Kuzbek won the Class 3A championship in the 100-yard breaststroke on March 16th, 2021 with a time of 1:07:36. Kuzbek was just four years old when she started to swim. Her first official swim team was with the local Valley Swim Club when she was eight. When she began middle school, Kuzbek joined an allyear competitive swim team called the Colorado Torpedoes (CT) to stay in shape over the winter months. During her high school years she decided to stop swimming with Valley Swim Club and only swam with the CT and the high school swim program. In March of 2020, Kuzbek decided to join an even more competitive swim team with Pikes Peak Athletics. With all of this background in swimming, Kuzbek has gained lots of talent and skill that helped her win the Class 3A Championship.
year due to COVID regulations, but Kuzbek and her team didn’t let that get in the way of having an incredible season. “Throughout the season everyone had amazing energy and continued to work their hardest, despite COVID,” says Kuzbek, “All the girls are so close so it just felt like one big family, everyone was so supportive and kind”. When she joined the high school swim team for the first time, Kuzbek described it as exciting because she had only swam with club teams and never experienced this type of environment before. Each year she would improve and grow alongside her teammates.
let the nerves get to her. After the race, when she came to the realization of At the state competition, her win she explained the Kuzbek reflected on her feeling of being extremely past four years in high proud knowing that school, as well her lifetime every year, every team, of swim competitions. every practice, and every Kuzbek realized how far competition paid off. With she has come and how all of this said, she was she can go even further. extremely proud of herself Knowing all the hard for the dedication she has work she has put into had for this sport over the swimming over the past years. Kuzbek was able ten years, she believed to achieve this title with Like many other activities, that she could win. Before her family, coaches, and the 2020/2021 swim season the competition, Kuzbek closest friends all there to looked a lot different this stayed focused but didn’t celebrate her incredible
Photo Courtesy of Bella Kuzbek
accomplishment. Ever since 6th grade Kuzbek started to take the sport seriously and during her junior year she decided she wanted to continue swimming after high school. Kuzbek realized how much this sport meant to her and she wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. At the beginning of the second semester of her senior year, Kuzbek committed to swim with Roger Williams University in Rhode Island to swim
for their team. This is a huge step for her swimming career and an incredible opportunity to improve her skills. Throughout high school and previous experience, Kuzbek has gained so much knowledge about swimming and being on a team. Although Kuzbek won a state title in an individual race, she could have never done so without the wonderful people that have supported her all her
life. Kuzbek has brought a new sense of pride and celebration to a year marked by change and disruption, and her legacy will remain in MSHS. “Don’t compare yourself to the swimmers who’ve been swimming for years, just focus on you and what you need to work on, and try to enjoy the team atmosphere!” says Kuzbek, giving advice for future swimmers to come.
