HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS LIFE
A BIG SPLASH Seniors Ella Whitehouse, Elyssa Smith, and Klaudia Blaszczyk, and alumnus Madeleine Chaffin, are winners of the “Splash Into Cash” annual bottled water label art contest sponsored by Riverside Public Utilities (RPU). Keep an eye out for their artwork on 15,000 RPU water bottles this year!
funding futures This September we hosted the second annual Royals Legacy Gala Financial Aid Fundraiser. Celebrating over 70 years of WCS history, alumni Krissy DiNicola (’10) and Alfredo Ramos (‘04), along with former parent, Alvin Davis, shared what WCS has meant in their lives and their children’s lives. Together, $60,000 was raised for the Royals Financial Aid Fund!
NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALIST
THEATER: “BAH! HUMBUG!”
The Drama Department has done it again in their outstanding performances of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Family and friends enjoyed the story of the mean-spirited Ebenezer Scrooge (played by junior Garrett Haun) as he was visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. As one of the largest Fall season productions in WCS history, the cast and crew totaled 47 students ranging from grades 3-12. While many were returning to the stage, there were 17 students performing in a school drama for the first time.
A few outstanding debuts came from senior Silas Sheffer (Scrooge’s nephew, Fred), senior Matthew Stoffel (Mr. Fezziwig), and bright-eyed 3rd grader Aiden Kelley (Tiny Tim). Their remarkable performances were heartwarming and enlivening as they captured the heart of audience members. Mrs. Bickett also praises Garrett’s (Scrooge’s) performance saying, “He was in every single scene, never got a break, and he had an incredible amount of lines to memorize. Plus, he had to completely change character midway when Scrooge’s transformation took place. His ability to be a new and different Scrooge was incredible.”
“This is an unusually high number of first-timers,” says WCS Drama Director, Teresa Bickett. “They did an amazing job,” she says.
Be sure to witness the magic as the Royals Pavilion transforms into an underwater grotto for the Spring play, The Little Mermaid, coming March 2020.
08 | HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS LIFE
WCHS senior, Ella Whitehouse, has been chosen to be one of 16,000 semifinalists from 1.5 million applicants in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program! She is on track to earn one of the 7,600 scholarships worth more than $31 million.
