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May 2021 800
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Westminster Christian Academy www.thewildcatroar.com
V o l u m e I I I I s s u e X
May 2021
The Seniors take the trophey for Spirit Week 2022! Image: Maddox Rosenburg
AND THAT’S A WRAP OF SPIRIT WEEK 2022 A UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL 2022 SPIRIT WEEK RECAP MAGGIE LINDSTROM Managing Editor-In-Chief This Spirit Week may not have been 2021’s Covid-precautionary outdoor Spirit Week, but the week (or two half-weeks) were still anything but conventional. Every Westminster student can agree that Spirit Week is the best week of the school year-the community comes together and goes to war all in the same week while dressed in anything but plaid or beige. But this year, Spirit Week had a snow day interruption which some thought would disrupt the high
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spirits of the week. Westminster students, though, proved that this community can shake off the snow and come back stronger. On Monday though, more shocking moments occurred when the freshmen boys poms was disqualified at Community Night and the sophomores had nothing to show for a film project. But a surprise for the better occurred when it was revealed that the middle school team won the Art Board! Finally, to bring back some conventionality and tradition, the seniors got their moment to celebrate at Big Night after being presented with the 1st Place
Florence Trophy. That’s a wrap on Spirit Week ‘22, folks--now enjoy the best moments from the best week of the year!
Read about the big night game Pg. 3
That’s a wrap on Spirit Week‘22,folks-now enjoy the best moments from the best week of the year!
The Winners! Pg. 8-9
Spirit Week Photo Gallery P. 15-16
2/9/22 12:00 PM
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MANAGING EDITOR IN CHIEF MAGGIE LINDSTROM, SENIOR
EDITOR:SPORTING
CONTENT EDITOR
BROOKE HIGHMARK, SENIOR
EMMA HARRIS, SENIOR
PAWPRINT LIAISON
FEATURE EDITOR
HOPE LINAM, SENIOR
BROADCAST LEADER
IZZY TROST
ELLIE JONES, SENIOR
BROADCAST LEADER
ABBY JOHLER, SENIOR
BROADCAST LEADER
BROADCAST LEADER
ANNA FREGENE, SENIOR
TRISTON SCALES, SENIOR
Staff Writers STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
MADDOX ROSENBERG, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
ELIJAH SCHMIDT, FRESHMEN
LUCY KNERR, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
SYDNEY BRADLEY, JUNIOR
STAFF WRITER
JACOB BROWN, SENIOR
STAFF WRITER
NOLAN JONES, SENIOR
STAFF WRITER
POPPY MCCAULEY, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
ALEX WITTENAUR, SENIOR
DREW CAHILL, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
AMILA PIERIS, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
WILLIAM JINKINS, SOPHOMORE
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Being a respectful competor There is something always to be said about being respectful. Competing in a competition is no fun when their are sore losers or even sore winners. Being respectful to one another is very important when it comes to having fun in the competition. So, at the beginning of this Spirit Week, the seniors released a call to action on the WCAToday live broadcast. But did they up hold that? In school, yes to an extent, but the TP’ing and the parading about with objects stolen from said properties was a bit far. Just like it is a bit far for the over censoring of an instagram account due to a grade being offending and a grade breaking the rules. Even though this Spirit Week was split up and dis jointed, tensions still ran high and the passsion still burned. But, with that being said, let’s just remember that at the end of the day it is more important to be respectful competitors then anything else. Sincerely, 800 News
CHECK OUT SPORTING ON THEWILDCATROAR.COM!
STAFF WRITER
ANNA GRACE LIKES, JUNIOR
CHRISTINA ENGLISH, JUNIOR
STAFF WRITER
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MIA SCHUELEN, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
SAYVA PHILIPS, SENIOR
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EVAN KOHN, SENIOR
STAFF WRITER
LUKE RYAN, JUNIOR
STAFF WRITER
ALLI BISHOP, JUNIOR
STAFF WRITER
RILEY HEIRONIMUS, SENIOR
STAFF WRITER
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FOLLOW US ONE INSTAGRAM OR TWITTER! INSTAGRAM: @800news
WILL DANA, SOPHOMORE
STAFF WRITER
LAUREN BORCHELT, SENIOR
STAFF WRITER
MEGAN MOREY, SENIOR
TWITTER: @800_news TikTok: @800_news
2/9/22 12:01 PM
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2022 GAME RECAPS UPSETS, BIG PLAYS, AND MATRESS SURFING PJ MCCAULEY,EVANKOHN Staff Writer During Ultimate Chicken, the lower school had an uneventful game as the eighth graders took home the easy win. The seniors destroyed the freshman en route to a championship. The championship was between the seniors and juniors, Alex Wittenauer and Ben Broadhurst, seniors, had some electrifying touchdowns to win it. The juniors put up a valiant effort and I would like to shout out Max Mentel for trying his best! Seniors on top. Mattress surfing did not deliver the nail-biting conclusion we were craving, as there were two clear blowouts. The seniors and eighth graders easily took home a win. The juniors and seventh graders both struggled to put it all together as a team. Ben Gustafson was the only one to nail a half court shot for the juniors. Casen went up to take the shot but the crowd was chanting “We want Jack Lemp” so Jack Lemp went up and completely airballed, not even hitting the net. The ball did not even go above the rim. We still love him
either way. Many people were close but only the juniors were able to make a half court shot. In the lower schools match of Chariot Relay the freshmen took home an easy win. In the upper school game, the seniors fell behind quickly as Ben Broadhurst took a tumble in the first 10 feet of the race. As the race went on, the sophomores and juniors were neck and neck with the seniors trailing behind. In the second half of the race the juniors slowed down tremendously, leading them to claim last place. The seniors, however, found a spark in the second half of the race, one that propelled them to swiftly take the lead and win the race. Tag Royale started slow with not as much action at the beginning of the game. As the circle tightened, flags started to get pulled with the Juniors claiming their first victim. Through the Juniors’ strategy in putting their flags behind their back, they were able to have the upper hand on the competition and take home the victory in Tag Royale.
Read about the big night game on TheWildcatRoar.com
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A BATTLE FOR THE AGES LIP SYNC PERFORMANCES WORKED THROUGH THE CHALLENGES TO PUT ON A DAZZLING SHOW THIS SPIRIT WEEK. ANNA GRACE LIKES Staff Writer Spirit Week’s big events are anticipated all year–from dancing to art to film, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. But perhaps the most highly-competitive event is lip sync. With practices starting in early January to prepare for Spirit Week, this event takes immense amounts of preparation. Each grade works on their routine multiple times per week after school leading up to Community Night and Friday’s assembly. “Things get more serious about a month away from spirit week, at this point[...]we start by making the music and then make up the dance in a few hours,” said Maegan Fleming, junior lip sync leader. The planning for lip sync is serious, and choreographing can take anywhere from hours to days. Usually, the leaders have theme and song ideas in mind in the weeks leading up to finalizing the dance, but coordinating everything still takes immense time and effort–especially for the
upperclassmen. “I do feel like the stakes are higher senior year. Everyone expects seniors to be the best as they have had the most amount of experience, but this does give us the opportunity to go all out,” said Lily Johnson, senior lip sync leader. While there is high competition between all grades, the most intense battle is between the juniors and seniors. The upperclassmen, after years of tradition, are expected to choreograph the most elaborate routines with the majority of the grade’s girls (and even boys) involved. In past years, the seniors’ elaborate routine themes have included iconic Disney movies, exciting musicals, and lovable childhood favorites, from The Greatest Showman to Rio. This year’s lineup is no exception, with showstopping routines coming from all grades. In the middle school, 7th graders are doing a fun, colorful theme of “Vacation,” while 8th graders are putting on a new rendition of a classic in
Cruella. The freshman class is starting out high school strong with a vibrant, retro decades theme, and the sophomores are taking on another iconic story in Annie. Finally, the most highlyanticipated dances: the juniors and seniors. 11th grade has an energetic high school theme of Bring It On—The Musical while the 12th grade is going for the glitz and glam of the roaring 20s in The Great Gatsby. All grades have prepped for weeks now, and all dances are vastly different, making for a high level of excitement and competition built up in each grade. With part of Spirit Week getting moved to the following week due to three snow days during the regularly-scheduled week, lip sync and boys poms performances were pushed back a week. This meant that the routines had not been practiced for at least a week before Community Night performances. This, though, did not stop each grade from putting on an impressive show.
“I completely think that lip sync in general has brought the girls together[...]we all focus on lip sync and the girls put in so much hard work; they are so amazing to work with, and they always bring so much enthusiasm,” said Arianna Henderson, Freshman Lip Sync Leader.
RESULTS:
1st: Sophomores 2nd: Juniors 3rd: Seniors 4th: Freshmen 5th: 8th Grade 6th: 7th Grade check out the wildcat roar!
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2022 FILM PROJECT RECAPS RECAPPING THIS YEAR’S FILM PROJECTS, AND SHOWCASING THE CREATIVITY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. ELIJAH SCHMIDT Staff Writer
Every year at Westminster students get to showcase their talents in the arts, athletics, and videography. One of these creative events is Film Project, a competition where each grade produces a four minute film within a set theme, and this year’s theme was Sitcom. The first film shown as always was the Freshmen’s “In the Halls”. Set at Westminster, this film showcased an unlikely group of students figuring out how to get past the locked doors. An all too familiar situation that students at Westminster deal with daily. On the whole this year’s Freshmen came out strong in their first year with witty lines and quirky characters. Next up were the Juniors, and their fresh take on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”. With an entire opening song and sequence the Class of 2023 played well on the basic sitcom structure. With a relatable problem and plenty of jokes, the Juniors created a hilarious and nostalgic film. And finally the Seniors had their film shown, ending the film showcase with a bang! Their “The Millers” was certainly creative and followed the theme well. Not only that but this film had a sense of melancholy for many of those who worked on it. “It was bittersweet to edit this year because I’ve been doing it for three years now and I’ve had so much fun making memories and really finding out what I really love to do with my friends but it’s so sad knowing this was my last year working with my talented peers!” Triston Scales, Senior. Overall this class will definitely be missed by Westminster for their creativity and spunk. This year although the Sophomores were without a Film Project certainly showed that Westminster fosters creativity and a love of the arts. From the witty Freshmen to the hilarious Juniors, this year’s Film Projects will not fade in the mind of the Westminster Community.
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ARTBOARD 2022
THE 7TH AND 8TH GRADE CLAIMED THEIR ONLY BIG EVENT VICTORY WITH A RE-CREATION OF ‘WRECK IT RALPH’ POPPY MCCAULEY Staff Writer
This year’s all-around Spirit Week theme was “Childhood Animated Movie” and our talented teams did not fail to disappoint! Artboard has been a challenging and creative aspect of spirit week since coming to the new campus. With a sea of chicken-wire and basic wooden frames, each grade must use materials such as paint, cardboard, and a lot of tissue paper to design a masterpiece. The sheer size of the canvas can be quite overwhelming for teams, but junior Lydia Scull takes it on as a challenge. “You don’t really get the chance to make stuff on this big of a surface most of the time, so you can do a lot with it.” WCA students rising up to meet a tricky proposal and high-stakes competition is not unusual. Everyone can agree that spirit week brings out the animal, dare say wildcat, in us all. Barbarous boys pom, loutish lip sync, and ferocious film projects are bound to show up every year. But artboard is a surprisingly calm, united tide in the brash stormy seas of spirit week. “I think artboard is very different compared to all the other competitions… because a lot of times we work together,” Katie Huang, an experienced senior, said. Most people on board agreed that there is a secret-artboard-code of community and helpfulness! Florence Sarra, sophomore, explains that “so much excitement and energy is put into organizing the final result, which really makes the process enjoyable.” This year’s theme was able to bring so much imagination into Westminster’s hallways. Seniors built a beautiful tribute to the beloved movie Up. The juniors created a Peter Pan showpiece, closely sitting next to sophomore’s Alice in Wonderland artboard. The middle school entry paid homage to Wreck it Ralph. Last but not least, the freshman constructed an Inside Out display! Artboard as a whole are quite proud of the masterstrokes, including the most iconic statement
SILVER
D L O G
“Art board allows for an encouraging, supportive atmosphere amidst all the stresses of preparation.” -Florence Sarra, 10th grade.
BRON
ZE
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EVERYBODY WAS IN FOR THIS YEAR’S BOYS POMS SENIORS AND BLACK PANTHER FOR THE WIN! LUCY KNERR Staff Writer Spirit week is one of the biggest events of the school year, and as such it needs even bigger events to back it up. Being one of the big three, Boys Poms is highly anticipated to bring the heat this 2022 spirit week season. All of the boys’ poms leaders have been working incredibly hard these last few weeks to bring their ideas to life on the stage. “Being one of the choreographers, it has been a little difficult coming up with dance moves that I think are fit for a boys poms dance. It has also been exciting seeing what I can come up with and putting everything together” said Shiloh Banda, freshman. “I am in 9th grade. Last year in 8th grade NONE of the boys in our grade did boys poms, I am already glad that some boys chose to do boys poms this year as that is already progress for our grade. Since we are in high school,
I think we need to step it up a bit compared to middle school years”. This event is also one of the biggest scorers towards the overall scores per class in the race towards the title of spirit week champs. As such, each class has stepped up to make the most of this event. Besides the competition aspect of this event, there are also great community building opportunities. It is a unique event for each class, as it is one of the two (besides lip sync) that each class can come together to create something great along with some funky choreography. It is one of the only times of the year in which the entire class can collaborate on something without being separated by different classes, sports or otherwise. “Leading is fun because I’m doing it with Libby and the boys are crazy,” says Kate Wessels, a junior boys poms leader.
“I am looking forward to the boys just having fun with the choreography and hopefully placing something that isn’t last” -Shiloh Banda, 9th grade
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``I’m looking forward to just having a boys poms whether we do good or not.” No matter who you’re rooting for this spirit week season, Boy’s Poms will always be an iconic symbol of school spirit, fun, and community.
Results: 6th - Freshmen 5th - 7th grade 4th - 8th grade 3rd - Juniors 2nd - Sophomores 1st - Seniors
I’m looking forward to just having a boys poms whether we do good or not - Kathryn Wessels, 11th grade
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Seniors W
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ors Wins!
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1st
-RESULTS-
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OF ART-BOARD
7th/8th Grade
2nd
3rd
Seniors
Sophomores
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5th
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1st
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-RESULTS-
FILM
Seniors
Juniors
3rd
2nd
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1st
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LIP SYNC
Sophomores
2nd Juniors
3rd
4th
5th
Freshmen
8th
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Seniors
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1st
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-RESULTS-
BOYS POMS
Seniors
2nd
3rd
Sophomores
Juniors
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5th 8th
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-RESULTS- FINAL
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1st Seniors
2nd
3rd
Juniors
Sophomores
4th
5th
8th
7th
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And that’s a wrap on Spirit Week 2022
To the maintenance staff, Mr. Shultz, and The Wildcat Roar staff, THANK YOU. But especially, THANK YOU Student Life, STUCO, and the WCA Admin for figuring out a way for the show to go on! We’re so glad you made it happen despite the snow!
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