What’s recently happened?
Riley High School (RHS) has its annual Hallway Halloween on October 29, 2024. It was open to all RHS feeder schools. There were games, candy, and lots of decorations.
Kids got to go around and “trick-or-treat” around the halls of RHS, hence the name. Hallway Halloween is always an exciting event for all ages. Many of the tables with candy are run by clubs.
On Halloween, students get to dress up for the price of $2. Students must buy a ticket and follow the guidelines. Halloween is always something to look forward to for many. People love to dress up at school for Halloween.
There are many fundraisers for RHS and these are just a few of them that could be supported. RHS cares for its students and faculty, making sure each and every individual is accounted for. Students are treated more than just numbers, being checked on by teachers and counselors.
RHS has participated in the Friday Night 5G Lights Hometown Sweepstakes. RHS has won $1,000 and $5,000 so far and have moved on to the next round for $25,000. RHS is giving staff members signs to support their hometown team.
RHS yearbook is collaborating with Chipotle for a fundraiser. The yearbook staff encouraged students and their families to go eat at Chipotle to support the RHS yearbook.
The seniors of RHS have a lot of planning to do for their graduating year. They have a senior trip and graduation night at Six Flags Great America, they have their gear to go buy, and they have their meetings with their counselors to make sure they are on track to graduate.
What's coming up?
Speaking of the senior trip, the official sign-ups for Six Flags Great America have opened up for the class of 2025. They make four payments of $40, leading up to the trip.
It's an overnight adventure where students leave at 7 p.m. and return at 6:30 a.m. They get to have dinner at an all you can eat buffet, and the event lasts throughout most of the night, as the students leave at 3:30 a.m.
Winter sports season starts very soon for RHS. The basketball season has started for the RHS Wildcats. They recently had tryouts and have many practices and games ahead of them.
The Girls Wrestling team had tryouts for the season ahead. Even if students missed the main time to try out for the team, they still have opportunities to join.
College visits continue for juniors and seniors interested in the colleges that are coming.
Senior year is a very important year for students. It’s their last year before heading out to their future. Some students fear what's coming, while others look forward to it.
Staff spotlight:
Tara Naumowicz, a teacher at RHS, is a huge fan of Halloween. Naumowicz has a big passion for it. She decorates her classroom for Halloween, always going above and beyond.
“I always like the fascination of dressing up. You can be anything you want to be,” said Naumowicz.
Everyone who celebrates Halloween has a different way of celebrating it. There are many simple, and very involved ways of celebrating Halloween. Naumowicz has a very fascinating view on Halloween - one she thinks is very inspiring.
“Everyone should be able to experience it, no matter how young or how old they may be. People find a way of embracing Halloween – It's amazing how deep a simple holiday can be, even a holiday that seems to be all about dressing up, eating candy, and partying can be more than that,” said Naumowicz.
Naumowicz makes sure to incorporate Halloween into her teaching every year. She uses authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
“I had a skeleton in the closet, and he is the first thing I put up every year if I move classrooms, and he’s the last thing I take down every year. It's my tradition,” Naumowicz said.
In the first classroom she’s ever had, the previous teacher had left him in the closet.
Student spotlight:
Misael Gonzalez Aldaba has gotten the MVP award two years in a row for soccer, along with second team all state. He is a very committed individual.
“What I love most about soccer is when I am on the field, everything goes away,” Gonzalez said. “All my problems exit my body and head because soccer is the most important thing at that moment in time.”
Having a supporter is very important to keep going. Having someone by your side means more than people would think. Having someone by your side means having support by someone you care about. For Gonzalez, his biggest supporter is his brother.
He grew up playing soccer because his dad used to play soccer a lot, so Gonzalez and his brother followed and started playing soccer together around the area.
Soccer is very important to him, it is one of his biggest passions. He also loves theater, dancing, singing, writing, and creating music. He seems like a very motivated person.
“What I really love about dance is that you can take any emotion, any story, and make it your own, and express it,” Gonzalez said.
He expresses his emotion through movement, especially dance. Expressing his feelings is what motivates him to do dance.