Author and photo credit: Felicity Rocco The A-RHS softball team was stacked with talented young ladies. They kept a record of 6-6, lead by senior Bailey Zidek, who secured an offer from The University of Pittsburgh- Bradford to play softball there. She committed earlier in the year to study forensics. Freshman, Madison Butler, was honored as an “AK Valley Athlete of the Week” after she did one of the most impressive things in softball; she hit for a cycle. A cycle means a player must hit a single, double, triple, and a homerun all in the same game. There are very high expectations for the team next year due to the extreme amount of talent within their underclassman. Good luck, girls!
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Author and photo credit: Felicity Rocco The Apollo-Ridge Boys Baseball Team had an outstanding season record of 10-7. They started their season off with three back-to-back wins of 16-1, 18-1, and 15-1. After a tough double header, they kicked back with another four wins, had another loss and another three wins, securing them a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Vikings were eliminated in the second round.
Seniors Bradey Schrock (Captain), Ben Smoyer (Captain), Nathan Kavulic (Captain), Sam Ryan, Connor Mamros, Zach Clawson, and Garrett Calderone have been playing baseball together since Little League, and they will be missed greatly next season. Junior, Brandon Butler, will be playing on Next Level Baseball (NLB) out of Tallahassee, Florida. He will be everywhere from Florida to South Carolina. Brandon will be in the South the entire summer playing with NLB in some highly competitive baseball. He always wanted to head south for college, so he is hoping to look at schools while he is down there as well. Congratulations on a good season, guys! Author: Kate Myers After four years of hard work, the class of 2022 will be graduating! Graduation for the Class 2022 will be happening at Owen’s Grove on June 3 at 6:30pm. The senior baccalaureate and banquet will be held the night before at the school at 6pm and 7pm, respectively. The class characteristics are as follows: CLASS SONG: "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson CLASS FLOWER: Stargazer Lily (Ambition, Prosperity) CLASS COLORS: Heather Gray, Crimson, and White CLASS QUOTE: "Get a little rock and roll on the radio and go toward all the life there is with all the courage you can find and all the belief you can muster. Be true, be brave, stand." - Stephen King (It) Congratulations to the Apollo-Ridge class of 2022! We cannot wait to see what the future holds for each and every one of you! Author: Kate Myers On February 26th, senior Nathan Kavulic and I, along with gifted and English teacher, Ms. White, and her student teacher, Ms. Black, made the trek up to Slippery Rock University to present independently completed science experiments to a panel of judges. This event happens annually and is known as the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, or PJAS.
PJAS was created in 1934 by the Pennsylvania Academy of Science “to promote greater participation in science and mathematics activities among the youth of Pennsylvania” by supporting and facilitating ways for young Pennsylvanians to get involved and interested in STEM. PJAS encourages students to think up and conduct a scientific experiment of their choosing, then create a PowerPoint to present to a panel of judges and peers. Nathan conducted an experiment to observe which paper towel brand absorbs the most water for its price. I conducted an experiment which explored the connection in the brain between audio and visual stimuli in the brain using shapes and made up words. The competition breaks up the state into several regions, with Apollo falling into Region 9. Each region meets at a designated place, usually a university or college, and presents their respective experiments to a panel of judges and peers. Judged on a basis of five criteria, students will receive a place of first, second, third, or honorable mention. Nathan secured a second place, which is an amazing accomplishment for a first time PJAS participant, and I received a first place as well as a small scholarship award. On the weekend of May 15, Ms. White, Ms. Wenckowski, attended the state competition at Penn State’s main campus. I personally have been involved in PJAS since middle school, and I highly recommend this competition to anyone who has any interest in the STEM fields. Besides being given a chase to explore my love of science, I have made amazing memories at the competition. Says Nathan, “PJAS was a fun day. I was happy to have the experience, even though I didn’t move onto states.” Author: Kristian Skovrup The senior class picnic was held on May 12th as a way for the graduating class of 2022 to celebrate the winding down of their time at Apollo-Ridge. Activities at the picnic included games of baseball, cornhole, badminton, a yard Jenga game, and other events. All catering was prepared by home economics students from Foods classes, whose efforts were central to the success of the picnic.
Alongside these food items, Mr. Consuegra also took time out of his day to grill hamburgers and hotdogs for senior class members and other members of the faculty and staff. None of the above would’ve been at all possible without the immense efforts of both faculty members like Ms. Biller, as well as fellow students who deserve our deepest thanks for their work. Author: Kristian Skovrup The championship meet of the Armstrong County Quiz Bowl competition was held here at Apollo-Ridge High School on March 15th. This homefield advantage worked in favor of the varsity team, as they were victorious in both of their two matches, allowing them to become champions for the 2021-2022 Quiz Bowl season. This victory marks the first time Apollo-Ridge has won the competition in the history of the event.
The Varsity and Jr. Varsity competing teams for the 2021-2022 season consisted of the following students: Varsity: Ben Smoyer, Lucas Starcher, Maddie Smoyer, Kristian Skovrup, & Kate Myers Jr. Varsity: Keyvhan McCray, Daniel Dunmire, Gavin McCall, Mirabella Andree, & Anna Sodowsky Author: Kristian Skovrup On April 28th, members of the Apollo-Ridge High School Student Council had the opportunity to travel to the Kavalchick Center at IUP to take part in State Senator Joe Pittman’s Student Government Seminar. Throughout the event, students participated in a simulation of the state legislative process. Aided by a variety of experts and representatives, participants crafted legislation on a wide variety of issues. Students were first grouped based on their selected committee assignments, in which they debated two bills relating to their specific issue in a small group. In committee, students had the opportunity to kill, pass, or amend these bills and then bring them to the floor for discussion amongst all participants.
Examples of debated bills included legislation on the topics of automated vehicles, raising the minimum wage, and open carry of firearms. During general session all but one of the proposed pieces of legislation passed. Recollections of the event from A-R students have been overwhelmingly positive, with senior Kate Myers saying, “I had a great time getting to learn more about our state government and getting to talk to different people who work with or for the government as well as our representatives.” In addition to sponsor Joe Pittman, event attendees included State Senator Nikil Saval of Philadelphia, and State Representative Abby Major. Author: Greg Klingensmith After a successful musical, some of the musical staff announced that this will be the last year they do it. Mr. Andrew Jones has been the vocals coach and piano player for 10 years. His work on the piano is world-class, and he gives insightful knowledge on how to use your voice to its fullest potential. Jones has decided to call it a career after this year.
Another staff member that is retiring is Mrs. Leanne Zelonka. Mrs. Zelonka joined the crew last year and made an immediate impact as she lessened the workload on the other members. She was the dance coach and blocked many scenes in recent musicals. Due to external conflicts, she has decided to not partake in the musical for the foreseeable future. Lastly, the director of this year’s musical, and member of the musical staff for 14 years, Ms. Bethany Greenlee, will be ending her tenure on the musical staff. Ms. Greenlee is a charismatic director and motivates the kids to participate and work hard not only for the musical, but also in everyday life. Thank you, and congratulations to all the retiring musical staff members on a successful career! Author: Greg Klingensmith The 2022 Apollo-Ridge Track & Field team was led by Head Coach, Robert Desiderato. Other coaches included Kara Fair (sprints), Mike Monstrola (long-Distance), Jerry Moore (throws), Dom Schreckengost (jumps), and Matt Ross (pole-vault). This year’s team was a very diverse group of kids that included a very strong senior class and a rising freshman and sophomore class. The Vikings kicked off their season with a scrimmage against River-Valley in which the boys team dominated the field and the track, respectively. The girls team also had a strong showing. The evening included many PR’s and an overall great start to the season.
Over the next five weeks, The Vikings took on non-conference and conference teams to see who the best team was. The boys team finished off the year with a 5-2 record, and the girls team finished the year with a 2-5 record. This record was not good enough to secure a trip to the team finals for either team, but it was still an impressive year for this squad. In addition to the great team performance, A-R sent six individuals to the WPIAL meet at Slippery Rock. The competitors included Greg Klingensmith (discus, shotput), Gavin McCall (triple-jump), Nick Cecchini (pole-vault), Jessica Ross (pole-vault), Nick Curci (discus, shotput), and Darek Baustert (I – long jump). All of them had a great time at the meet, and Klingensmith and McCall secured a trip to the PIAA State track meet in Shippensburg on May 27-28, 2022. Coach Desiderato said about this year: "Congratulations to the 2022 boys and girls track & field team on a successful season." And we say congratulations to Coach Desiderato on retiring from teaching at the end of the 2022 school year! Author: Jessica Tevelonis As the 2021-2022 school year comes to a close, the extracurricular activities are having their final run. This is true for the Apollo- Ridge High School Band as they performed their last concert on March 6, 2022. The pieces performed at this concert ranged from powerful war chants to soft and bittersweet farewells for our seniors. The songs performed in order were as follows:
"Terracotta Warriors": A fast-paced war chant that depicted an army rising from the ground "Bugler’s Holiday": An extremely famous jig performed by bands all over the world "Message on the Rock": Originally featured at the 9/11 ceremony and brought back by popular demand "Good Riddance": A famous goodbye letter to the band seniors leaving us this year "Eagles Medley": A challenging piece combining the most popular songs from the band “The Eagles” There was also a small feature of the newly-formed jazz band, who performed the pieces “The Chicken” and “Valero.” The 21-22 high school band concert went off without a hitch, and in my personal opinion as a band member, smoother than all performances before. We sincerely congratulate all band members who put their all into this performance. If you did not come and witness the beauty of the Apollo-Ridge High School Band, make sure to stop by next year! |