Fall Play: High School Musical
At Hobart High School, the theater program is a vital part of many students’ lives. The productions are looked forward to by the active theater members, as well as the rest of the students, families, friends, and staff. This year’s fall production is High School Musical. For those who are not aware of what the play is, it is a musical about a young guy named Troy Bolton who tries to balance school, basketball, and theater all at once and how everyone is there to support one another.
The message of the play is to teach people not to be afraid to be their true selves and to do what they really want to do in life. The cast members include Corbin Barassas as Troy, Jasmine Miller as Gabriella, Tristan King as Ryan, Jessica Sherrard as Sharpay, Garrett Barassas as Chad, and Aleena Popp as Kelsi. There are also thespians (other actors and actresses) who will be playing the parts of all of the different cliques featured in the play such as the jocks, the brainiacs, the cheerleaders, and more. The musical will be at Hobart High School’s auditorium. If you plan on attending, enter through the Performing Arts Doors on November 13, 14, 15, 20, and 21 at 7:30. Ticket sales are to be $6 for students and $8 for adults.
Homecoming: Excitement Throughout the Week, the Pep Rally, and the Dance
Hobart’s looked forward to Homecoming week recently took place at the school, bringing much excitement along with it. Multiple fun activities are planned for the students and staff throughout the week. One of the main things that take place every day is the dress up themes.
Starting on Monday, September 21st, the theme was mix and match, Tuesday was famous duo day, Wednesday was college super fan day, Thursday was favorite superhero day, and Friday was purple and gold day. All of the grades compete to get the most participation points. The classes get one point per student that dresses up on that day, and teachers and other staff get five points and get to choose which class they give their points to.
There is also a Girls’ Powder Puff football game that takes place on Wednesday night. The junior girls and senior girls who signed up, play each other for bragging rights. The senior class had previously won two consecutive years in a row, making it no exception for the senior class this year. They took the title for Powder Puff champs. Both classes played well and portrayed a tremendous amount of sportsmanship. Friday consists of a shorter class period schedule to fit in the pep rally at the end of the day.
During the pep rally, the students are separated in the bleachers by class. There were moving lights and music playing as soon as one walked into the gymnasium. There was a performance by a handful of teachers dancing and lip singing to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and “Blank Space”, as well as throwing in the “whip” and “nae nae”. There are class cheers that take place and a challenge between the classes.
Cheerleaders performed their half-time routine, and the fall sports athletes get recognition for their hard work, especially the senior athletes. Finally, the class brick is awarded to the class with the most points for winning multiple competitions throughout the week. The results were close this year’s fall pep rally by one point. The juniors won the brick, ending the class of 2016’s three-year winning streak.
That Friday night, the football team played the Lowell Red Devils, losing the game, but they held their heads high and were ready to focus and get back to work. On Saturday evening, the Homecoming Dance took place, ending the week on a high note for all of the students.
Senior Nights
October 2nd was the football players’ senior night. The night before the game consisted of the players’ rooms getting decorated or destroyed. The team played Munster and won 34-0. The boys played extremely well and received a ton of love from the student section and fans. The other fall sports have had their senior nights or are about to have their senior nights. Boys’ and Girls’ soccer, as well as cross-country recently celebrated their athletes. Volleyball is celebrating theirs later in October. The seasons are coming to an end, and overall, all of the sports had a pretty successful year.
Food Pantry
Every year, Hobart High School’s clubs work together to help with the local food drive. The Hobart Kiwanis receives a donation from Strack and Van Til for grocery bags. Clubs including Key Club, Psych Club, Team Lead, JROTC, and Deca all worked together for about a week to staple fliers onto the bags. Kiwanis also asked the clubs to pass them out door to door around Hobart. The day of the drive tons of students, food drive workers, Kiwanis members, and local volunteers meet to get into groups.
Some students and adults will stay to wait for the bags and help sort through them and separate the vegetables, fruits, soup, etc. There is also a group labeled “runners” who will most likely consist of students from the high school and a Kiwanis member. They will go out and have a specific section of Hobart and collect any bags left on the doorsteps of people’s homes. Once the group has a full car or once they have finished their section of Hobart, they come back to the pantry and help with sorting out the donations. The pantry workers offer breakfast and lunch for all of the volunteers, and the donations they make usually will last until spring when the next food drive will be.
Student Shoutout: Breanna Pardus
Every season at the High School, an athlete is awarded as athlete of the month. One of the students to receive this award this season was a junior, Breanna Pardus. She plays on the girls’ soccer team. She plays center mid which is the position where you pretty much have to control the field and be able to transition from offense to defense. She has been playing the sport she loves for almost 14 years!
Breanna has previously been awarded first team all-conference, pride, hustle, desire, and she is also going on to be a captain next year for the team. The season this year could have gone better, but there were many positive factors that contributed to the team as a whole. The team improved throughout the entire season.
The girls, not including the seniors, look forward to next year, and Breanna is confident that they can make it farther than past year experiences(sectional championship, regionals, etc). As long as everyone continues to work to the best of their ability, give 110%, and keep working to get better in the off-season they will have all of the capability in the world to achieve this goal. Asking Breanna what she loves about playing soccer, she enthusiastically said, “I love the game, everything about it. I love the intensity, the connection you make with others, and just the game in general”.
Hobart is proud to have such a well-rounded individual to be a part of this school system.
Dig Pink Night
Dig Pink Night is a night dedicated to raising money for cancer research. The Hobart volleyball team hosts a Dig Pink game every year. The night consists of a bake sale with pink treats, a basket raffle, and a fifty-fifty raffle. The players on all three teams: C team, JV, and Varsity all wear pink jerseys, pink socks, pink headbands, and pink ribbons in their hair to show their support for the cause.
Before the game took place, cancer survivors that are close family members or friends to some of the players were announced and walked out into the middle of the court. Also, a handful of individuals whose lives were taken from cancer were recognized, and a moment of silence was dedicated to them.
After that, the girls played Kankakee Valley. At the beginning of the season, they played KV and had lost in three sets. This game, though, there was an energy that was not there before. Hobart won the game in three sets. Both teams played hard that night. More importantly, though, all of the teams took away from the night that others fight for their lives on a daily basis, so each and every one of us need to fight through adversity throughout our entire lives.