Congratulations to the November 2022 monthly contest winners!

The November monthly contest had 142 entries submitted. The school earning the most awards is Mill Valley High School with a total of eight awards. Lawrence High School came in second with six total awards.

Video News

1st Place: Sydney Lampkin, Stahley Sears, Haley Barnard, Kinsley Morrison from Maize Career Academy
2nd Place: Logan Sheldon, Hayden Houts from Lawrence High School
3rd Place: MVTV Staff from Mill Valley High School

Video Production

1st Place: Ava Williams from Blue Valley Southwest High School
2nd Place: Alivia Ozbun from Blue Valley Northwest High School
3rd Place: Miles Edwards, Vince Stallard from Maize Career Academy

News Page Design

1st Place: Noel Mohamed from Shawnee Mission South High School

2nd Place: Fletcher Knowles from Shawnee Mission South High School

3rd Place: Adya Burdick from Shawnee Mission East High School

Academics Photography

1st Place: Carly Bohlken from Marysville High School

Second-grader Trayce Musil hides under the wheel well of a tractor during grade school ag day on Nov. 4. High school students talked to younger kids about the limited view a farmer has around big equipment. “We also taught the kids about PTO’s, hydraulics and how to hook up three-point hitches,” said sophomore Matt Tjaden.

2nd Place: Kiara Nissen from Blue Valley West High School

Steady Hand. As junior Rachel Park allows a minute amount of alcohol to seep into a pink solution in AP Chemistry, lab partner junior Katie Kwon looks on in awe, and senior Kevin Xu watches. Precise measurements were vital to the experiments’ success, and the students’ grades. “I was so nervous, this was our third try,” Park said. “And Katie was laughing. Oh my gosh, I’m just so glad, we got it.”

3rd Place: Julia Higares from Maize South High School

SMILING THROUGH THE STRUGGLES Working on a handout for AP Biology with her peers, Olivia Kira, 12, smiles through the work of her last year of high school. “I find this year, my senior year, to be such a struggle,” Kira said. “I cannot find the motivation and drive, and I’ve never struggled in school. This year I am struggling though.” Photo by J. Higares

News Writing

1st Place: Gabby DelPleash, Emma Clement, Avery Gathright, Kate Haney Ally Sul from Mill Valley High School
2nd Place: Bridget Johnson from Maize Career Academy
3rd Place: Zana Kennedy from Lawrence High School

Photo Illustration

1st Place: Delaney Johnson from Bishop Miege High School

2nd Place: Nathan Wituk from Maize Career Academyl

3rd Place: No award given

Sports Writing

1st Place: Gabby Delpleash, Luci Guess from Mill Valley High School
2nd Place: Tessa Collar from Lawrence High School
3rd Place: Alena Gillespie from Bishop Miege High School

Sports Photography

1st Place: Bailey Thompson from Blue Valley Northwest High School

The varsity football team was defeated by Gardner Edgerton High School, 28-19. “The last football game is going to stick with me my whole life, because our team has been working for that game for four years. We had countless mornings and practices with the goal to win playoff football games,” senior Chase Wernimont said. The Huskies fell to the Trail Blazers in the KSHSAA regional championship game, ending their season, Nov. 4.

2nd Place: Hiba Issawi from Blue Valley Northwest High School

Seconds after hearing their team’s continuation into the 6A KSHSAA Cheer State Competition, senior varsity cheerleaders Julia Moser, Janie Mandry and Kate Newby celebrate their accomplishment Nov. 19. “When the judges called our name, a wave of relief came over me,” Newby said. “It is the best feeling knowing our team put everything on the mat and the judges recognized that.”

Third Place: Addison Smith from Olathe West High School

Player Cooper Novacek anxiously watches the replay with his teammates during the game for Regional Champions on November 3rd against Blue Valley High School. The game ended in 42-20, Blue Valley beginning with the lead, but ultimately making Olathe West the Regional Champions, and placing them 3rd in the Sunflower League.

Infographics

1st Place: Asher Wolfe, Jackson Green from Lawrence High School

2nd Place: Katie Kennedy from Blue Valley High School

3rd Place: Amy Bontrager from Lawrence Free State High School

Multimedia Storytelling

Yearbook Layout

1st Place: Andie Rau from Olathe West High School

2nd Place: Sydney Boydston from Lawrence High School

3rd Place: Natalie Ovington from Blue Valley Northwest High School

Yearbook Copy

1st Place: Madelinn Smith from Blue Valley West High School
2nd Place: Kate McGuire from Bishop Miege High School
3rd Place: No award given

Portrait

1st Place: Kiara Nissen from Blue Valley West High School

Wet WR. Taking in the scene of the Regional Championship football game, junior Kaden Sheline waits for the offense to retake the field. Sheline and the other Jagaurs defeated the Olathe North Eagles 28-14. As a wide receiver, Sheline did not expect to see a lot of action on such a rainy night but became a popular target for senior quarterback Zach Darche with nine catches for more than 60 yards.

2nd Place: Lauren Myers from Bishop Miege High School

Monotonously churning butter during the opening scene of “Oklahoma,” junior Bianca Bair gazes thoughtfully into the distance. As the the older character of Aunt Eller, Bair played her first main role in a musical. “Aunt Eller can be sweet and tender, she can be funny, and she can even be wise. It was fun to be able to play it all,” Bair said. “Getting to play her was just a whole new world.”

3rd Place: Casey Cunningham from Mill Valley High School

Hitting the high note in “Take Back Your Mink,” Adelaide, played by junior Grace Cormeny, plays to the crowd in a dress rehearsal of “Guys and Dolls” Tuesday, Nov. 8. “Musical theater is so important to me. I love the shows, the rehearsals, the costumes, the lights. It’s part of who I am,” Cormeny said.

Feature Writing

1st Place: Sophie Lindberg from Shawnee Mission East High School
2nd Place: Miguel Lara from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
3rd Place: Anna Zwahlen, Avery Gathright, Emma Clement from Mill Valley High School

Student Life Photography

1st Place: Lydia Coe from Shawnee Mission East High School

Dance-Junior spirit officer Laynie Manning dances alongside Lancer Dancers as they perform their hip-hop routine at the state championships.

2nd Place: Ashley Weber from Blue Valley Southwest High School

Claiming the trident, Ursula, played by senior Emma-Kate Salin, celebrates her defeat of King Triton during the “The Little Mermaid” dress rehearsal on Nov. 16. The theater department moved the mainstage musical from the spring to the fall to be considered for the Blue Star awards.

3rd Place: Liz Summa from Mill Valley High School

Despite the rain, senior Jameson Fisher completes 14 pushups after the football team scores its second touchdown of the game Saturday, Nov. 26. After each touchdown, Fisher does the same amount of pushups as the score, and he totaled 70 in the 5A state championship after the Jags beat Maize, 28-14.

Opinion Writing

1st Place: Regan Simeon from Blue Valley Northwest High School
2nd Place: Luke Wood from Mill Valley High School
3rd Place: Maggie Condon from Shawnee Mission East High School

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