Memorial High School, 2225 Keith Street, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701 (715) 852-6300

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Eau Claire, WI 54703

MemorialHigh School -

51 years ofexcellence!

SUMMER 2009

Fifteen-year-old student drowns

By Josh Kroeninger About 7:00 p.m. Saturday, May 23, 15-year-old Freshman Divontae Swearagene and five of his friends were crossing the Chippewa River, near South Michigan Street. Swear-agene slipped and fell under the water, dragged by the strong currents the river is well-known for. Despite desperate attempts by those with him, he was dragged under and not seen again until an hour later when rescue workers found his body 60 feet from where he fell in, under 20 feet of water. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Sacred Heart Hospital. His death was a great shock to all who knew him. His mothe had moved her family from Chicago’s south side so they could live in a safer town and attend a better school. A few of his favorite artists included Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne, and he especially enjoyed dancing to the former. Swearagene was a young, eager student on the fast track to a great future. He was described by his teacher Dan Wilson who says, “He was full of energy and always looking to make people laugh.” His fellow classmates say he was outgoing and very artistic. His dream was to some day own a restaurant, as he was very interested in culinary arts and wanted to go to tech school to become a chef. Two Memorial High School students have died in the past year. Willow Stoeklen died in a car accident in Carson Park July 20, 2008, the summer before her senior year.

More than $13 thousand raised

Relay for Life a success By Beth Ellingboe

Memorial High School’s annual Relay for Life, which took place on May 15-16, was a definite success this year, raising more than $1310 for the American Cancer Society. This fun, and exhausting, event was put on by the National Honor Society (NHS). Members of this club are responsible for helping with the fundraising and logistics of Relay. To start the evening two cancer survivors who have ties to MHS, Claudia Niemuth and Rich Johnson, spoke about their recent experiences with the disease. After they finished their speeches, the two led the participants in the first lap around the auxiliary and game gyms. The theme for this year’s relay was “Lights, Camera, Action, Cure!” and some of the clubs really got into it. French Club’s site featured a replica of the Eiffel Tower while other clubs had decora-tions for movies such as “Harry Potter,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Prizes were also given out to the boy and girl with the best costumes for their theme, as well as prizes for the most decorated site. Although the participants were confined to Memorial for an extra twelve hours, the relay had many fun events going on in addition to walking around the gyms. Volleyball and battle ball were played in the game gym, while in the wrestling

ipants could purchase bags and write the name of someone they know who has either survived, struggled, or died from cancer. After all of the sales were done, they put they bags in a hallway and had lights glowing in each of them. A lap was then taken in honor and in memory of all of those people whose names were on the bags, and everyone else who has survived cancer, is currently diagnosed with the disease, and anyone who has lost their life to it. This lap was a somber one, with the steady footfall on the gym floor creating what sounded to be

a heartbeat thudding from the ground. Many people go into putting together the MHS Relay for Life, aside from the obvious. Other than NHS, the custodial staff, the physical education department, Dairy Queen, Fast Stitch, Nelson Cheese Factory, Mancino’s, Green Mill, and the Chippewa Valley Eye Clinic all contributed to the assembly of this year’s relay, whether it was through a monetary or food donation, helping to set up the event, or loaning play equip-ment for games and activities.

room, relayers could play Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Also, two shows by the Improv Team and a live music performance featur-ing some of Memorial’s own students were given throughout the evening. With all of these fun things going on, it was sometimes hard to focus on the main reason people were walking: to fight cancer. But this was solved by various speeches given by the student coordina-tors of the event, as well as the luminaria something. During the first couple of hours, partic-

Andrew Sandberg, Dana Gallagher, Sarah Majkowski, Megan Gross and Megan Abel hang-ing out at the French Club’s Relay for Life site Friday, May 15. The event lasted twelve hours and raised over $13,000 from fundraising. Photo courtesy of Virginia. Pearson.

Senior Laura Fleming with her piece “Mothers Meatloaf.” The Memorial High School Art Department purchased the piece from Fleming for $100, and it will be hung in the school next year, in an effort to beautify the school. Purple Wings photo By Bailey Berg.

Senior Ashley Voss competed in the recent 48 Hour Video Project sponsored by Eau Claire Local Independent Film Makers. At the May 14 Awards Show, Voss won awards for “Most Creative Film Idea” and “Best Use of a Prop.” Purple Wings photo.

The Old Abe Marching Band kicks off an exciting 2009 Memorial Day Parade Monday, May 25. See story on page 3. Purple Wings photo by Christian Phelps.

Tus qib kaum ob lub neej,Nplooj 7

Senior profiles,Pages 7-10

Mock car crash,Page 9

News & Activities2

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Amnesty—year overviewBy Christian Phelps

Amnesty International is a club whose goal is to promote and stand up for human rights around the world. This year, the group was very active and purposeful in their meetings and events, and felt like they made a difference and had fun. During the past school year year, the group led and participated in events like the Global Write-A-Thon in December, where Amnesty members and other people gathered to write and sign letters to prisoners around the world giving them their support and active proposals to better their treatment for good. In a few cases, Amnesty members have received letters back after events like this, giving them their thanks, proving that Amnesty Interna-tional has done their job. Another event that Amnesty led was a Darfur-awakening experience in the Little Theatre. At this event, classes of MHS students were led around stations and taught about the treatment of victims of the Darfur genocide, promoting action to end the tragedies in Africa that occur today. This was a new event for Amnesty and they were glad to be given the opportunity to send their message of human rights support to the school. As the spring moved along, Amnesty led Jamnesty on a Satur-day. Members almost decided not to do it but were glad that they were able to experience the enjoyment of initiating it this year. Amnesty, with its new and returning members, has very ac-tively kept the rights of all people throughout the world in their thoughts and events, changing their lives, the school, and the world for the better. The group hopes to elaborate on their suc-cesses of this school year in 2009-2010.

Jazz Band returns triumphant

By Brittany Landorf A joyous look dons the face of each and every returning member of the jazz band, their victory held sweet in their hands. The members of Jazz I are the proud recipients of a top-three finish in the Essen-

tially Ellington contest in New York City. Be-sides the unmis-takable prestige

that comes along with the fruits of their hard work, the appearance of famed musi-cian Wynton Marsalis was the cherry on top. Director Brad Hering could not contain his delight with the band’s success and their placing of third out of the top fifteen high school jazz

bands in the country. In addition to placing third as a group, several band mem-bers received highly esteemed awards. The individuals singled out for their exquisite command of their material and instrument were Athena Petanitis, Honorable Mention Tenor Sax; Karl Markgraf, Outstanding Banjo; Pat Kuehn, Outstanding Bass; Mark Van De Loo, Best All Purpose (Vio-lin, Bass, Trumpet, Trombone); Cheng Cheng, Outstanding Flute; and Erik Olson, Out-standing Trombone. All band members performed exceedingly well and were a commendable representation of the Memorial Jazz Program. Band directors Brad Hering and Eric Dasher have been an instrumental force in forming the band program and driving it to its position of excellence. Previous to this year, Jazz I has performed in the Essentially

Ellington contest a stunning total of six times in the past ten years. Beginning in 1999, the band has qualified every two years; 2009 is the first consecu-tive year of qualification by the jazz band. Each year they qualify to at-tend, the band must rely on the community to help raise des-perately needed funds in order to travel to New York. Band parents as well as the surround-ing community of Eau Claire have been extremely helpful in raising the necessary amount as no funds are appropriated from the school district. Memorial High School and Jazz I alumni, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, was the guest musician at the benefit concert for the most recent trip. The energy generated at this reunion concert was kept alive by the band even as they traveled to New York and became the most successful jazz band to walk

the halls of Memorial. When asked what attributed to the incredible success of the band, Hering replied, “Practice, practice and more practice. We have been playing the music for the concert since Novem-ber.” Their practice obviously paid off, as the many talented musicians in the band met both during the school day and on their own time in sectionals. Reactions from band member Athena Petanitis, a junior tenor saxophone who received an honorable mention award, mea-sured the amount of excitement she still feels, even a week after returning. She eagerly described the collaboration they experienced with other bands and the camaraderie that was shared with the two other bands from Wisconsin. “It was very exciting and unexpected to win, but we did feel that we had definitely earned it,” she said regarding their win and her

own solo. In addition to the concert in which they performed with Wynton Marsalis, the band practiced with sections of the other 14 competing bands. During these collaboration sessions, some of which took place over lunch and dinner, the bands made friends and exchanged music tips as well as Facebook and email addresses.

Many of the members are in touch, Petanitis is friends with several herself, “Meeting new people who enjoy music like I do was one of the best parts of the trip.” Senior trombone player, Gar-ret Bluemn agrees. “It was just incredibly cool to talk to people who were as crazy about play-ing music as we are,” he said.

Hering

An exultant Jazz I led by director Brad Herring celebrates their success after placing third place in the Essentially Ellington Contest. Band members left to right first row: Katie Johnston 11, Kelly Rinehart 12 and Mr. Herring. Second row: Kevin Harp 12, Cheng Cheng 12, Kate Seymour 11, Athena Petanitis 11, Ryan Vande Linde 11, Bill Scherkenbach 12, Charlie Rohr 11 and Pat Kuehn 11. Third row: Andrew Morgan 12, Thomas Morgan 11, Garret Bluemn 12, Erik Olson 11, Leo Strei 11, Mark Van de Loo 12, Karl Margraf 12 and Kelly Banks 12. Fourth row” Elliot Wachs 11, Jake Peterson 11 and Luke Dovre 11.

Physics trip to Six FlagsBy Kelly Kemper

Physics students who at-tended the Six Flags Great America trip could not have asked for better weather. Senior Tess Newhouse states, “The sun was shining, the tempera-ture was perfect, and the lines were short.” Three buses carrying North and Memorial students depart-ed from the Memorial parking lot at 5:30 a.m. The bus ride to Six flags lasted around five hours. “On the way down Mr. Robaidek and I chatted about physics and did some calculations,” says Senior Will Weggel. “The bus ride home was less productive. I caught up on some Pokemon Silver Gold Edition 4 on my Gameboy.” Physics students were as-signed a ride to collect data

from. Data was collected by wearing a vest with a sensor in-side, which detects the position and acceleration of the ride. Once data was collected and downloaded students were free to roam the park. Six Flags has a ride for every-one. Superman seemed to be the popular ride among physics students this trip. The ride consisted of winding turns, fast accelerations and unexpected loops. Once all the riders were prop-erly fastened into their seats, the cars turned downward, so riders face down and their feet are dangling, which makes for a more intense ride. “Although Superman was awesome,” Weggel states, “I would have to say the two story carousel was my favorite.”

Editorials

Purple Wings is a publication of the journalism class at:

Memorial High School, 2225 Keith Street, Eau Claire, WI 54701

Class members include: Steven Anderson, Tyler Anderson, Bailey Berg, John Classen,

Beth Ellingboe, Kelly Kemper, Josh Kroeninger, Brittany Landorf, Nicole Lindell,

Christian Phelps, Nikki Sell, Joe Short and Mitchell Thompson.

Letters to the editor must be signed by the au-thor. Provide your telephone number for editorial verification. Purple Wings’ editorial staff reserves the right to edit lengthy letters depending on space availability. Letters which appear to be libelous will not be printed. Typed letters may be submitted via email to Mr. Niemuth, Purple Wings adviser or given to any member of the newspaper staff.

3

A “Hidden” Duty Student, staff, faculty giving acknowledged Charity is defined as liberality to the poor and the suffering, to benevolent institutions, or to worthy causes, as found in Webster’s Dictionary. Taken in a literal sense, charity is the act of giving, whether it is time, money, or a helping hand. Recently, I witnessed an interaction between two Memorial students in the hall. There was nothing unusual about it, merely one student gathering the books and belongings of one of the many special education students enrolled here and helping her to her classroom. This definitive charitable action happens every single day at Memorial and yet it is often overlooked, and swept under the rug by outside viewers. Students at Memorial are not unique in their actions, they view them as something that everyone does and has a duty to do. That is the reason why the $3,558 and 2,947 hours spent on various charitable institutions throughout the Chippewa Valley is not a number broadcasted to the general public. It is the culprit behind the unassuming manner of

the organizer of the many Uganda events, Mrs. Ziegers, who along with her World Studies and Civics students was instrumental in raising $3,300 for the children in Uganda. Memorial is home to hundreds of unpretentious, giving students and teachers. This undeniable fact is evident by taking a glance into our classrooms, checking up on the activity board or viewing the various club activities, which are all centered on giving back to the community that supports them. There is only so much one can say about the prodigious nature of the Memorial student body; the students themselves would admit that after awhile it becomes redundant. To list all of the charities that Memorial students have raised money for, walked for, cleaned, cooked and donated would require a list rivaling that of a young child’s Christmas list—never-ending.

Each year Memorial raises more money and more volunteers in order to strive and create a better world for people who are struggling. This is not an auspicious goal; rather it is the product of realizing the influence and ability

to foster good through their actions and the actions of their peers. Even if a student is not organizing an event,

they will participate by going and listening to a charity concert or attending an event. Memorial supports not only its own, but its community and the millions of people around the globe who are suffering and for whom life seems too much to bear. The many charitable actions occurring at Memorial must be recognized, not with a fanfare, but with a gentle nod of acknowledgment of a desire to help that is cultivated in the depths of each and every person.

Commentary by Brittany Landorf

News & Activities

Student assignmentsAll students have been assigned several stories for this, the final edition of Purple Wings for the school year 2008-2009. Each staff member was responsible for a minimum of three senior biographies selected from a bucket filled with slips of paper bearing student names. Addition-ally, each student had a minimum of one other story to write. Each piece required a picture as well. Incomplete assignments have not been printed.

French Club end-of-year reviewBy Beth Ellingboe

French Club ended the year off with numerous fun things, including a trip to Madison to see the opera Faust, as well as participating in Relay for Life. Before they went to see the opera, the French Club mem-bers jaunted off to Café Soleil, a French café in Madison. According to Jocelyn Hill, a freshman who went on the trip in May, said that “Everything

there was very pristine, the walls were painted a light shade of yellow, and the

tables were perfectly set.” About the food there she adds, “I didn’t have all that much to eat, a chocolate crois-

Hill

sant, but from what I saw of what other people got, the food was also very well presented.” After about an hour of eating, they headed off to the Madi-son Opera House, which was breathtaking, according to Hill, “by the chic architecture of the Opera. There were glass panes instead of walls and beautiful chandeliers.” Although the opera was entirely in French, projection screens displayed translations of the dialogue and songs. Hill summed up the ex-perience by calling it both “fan-tastic” and “amazing!” “There was never a dull moment, even though at times the songs were difficult to understand.” The club also attended Relay for Life, where their campsite featured a replication of the Eiffel Tower, painted silver, as well as red, white, and blue streamers – the colors of the French flag – and a tent.

Model Railroad Club from an adviser’s perspective

By Joe Short Model Railroad club adviser Mr. Buchholz’s favorite things to do include organizing the club room, providing an opportunity for kids to take up this hobby and just learning a new skill. Buch-holz has not always done model trains, but when he was in grade school, he did model airplanes. He actually started after he moved to Eau Claire and came to the Model Railroad Club to help his son. When the former club adviser retired he took over so the club would not die out. He has been club adviser for three years and plans to continue for years to come. He ended this year with the Menomonie show in April. Students who enjoy train shows are invited to join the MHS Model Railroad Club next fall.

Annual Memorial Day festivities

Memorial leads paradeBy Christian Phelps

Eau Claire woke to the perfect spring morning — a mellow breeze freshened the comfortable air under the sun and clouds; it felt like a holiday already. As hundreds of indi-viduals and families ventured to Owen Park Monday, May 25 to watch the Memorial Day Parade, they were reminded of the talent that MHS possesses. The festivities started prompt-ly at 9:30 a.m., led by the Me-morial High Marching Band, entertaining the crowd with their well-rehearsed music, proud performance of patriotic tunes and in-step choreography. Their song selection also re-minded the audience along the

street of the meaning for Me-morial Day—the remembrance of those who fought and died in their attempts to preserve the beliefs and freedoms of the United States. Bands from MHS, as well as Northstar, DeLong, South, Regis, and North High School, were joined by local veterans and Gold Star Mothers, proudly waving the flag of the country and reminding us of all that they and their late comrades did for each of us. Memorial’s freshman march-ing band held up the center of the parade, playing and marching as well as they could ever have hoped, keeping the

Annual Art Show, Pops Concert are big hits

By Bailey Berg Three hundred and sixty piec-es of two- and three-dimension-al art was displayed Wednes-day, May 6 at Memorial High School’s Annual Student Award Art Show (SAAS). Renowned local artist Allan Servoss acted as juror for the art show, selecting three pieces from the collection that he called “most interesting.” The overall winner was sophomore Simone Fiore’s “Self Portrait,” a piece which was still wet from last minute touch-ups when put on display earlier that day. Three other works of art were chosen by Memorial art teachers Mr. Palm, Ms. Ruder and Mr. Ingersoll. These three pieces were purchased for $100 from the student artists and will be hung throughout Memorial in an effort to brighten up the school. The purchased pieces

include work by sophomore Erin Carr, senior Jade Weber and senior Laura Fleming. Fleming’s piece depicted a bent and twisted fork which the art-ist called “Mother’s Meatloaf”. Running concurrently, just down the hall, past the long rows of tables set up for the pie feed, and into the auditorium was the Annual Spring Pops Concert. The concert featured the music of The Old Abe, Concert, Eagle and Freshman Bands as well as the musical stylings of Jazz I, II and III. Each band played one, two or three songs. Theywere directed by veteran Memorial Band in-structors Eric Dasher and Bruce Hering. The evening started out with the combined Eagle Bands playing a song from the Broad-way musical Rent, followed by what they called an “Eighties Flashback,” a song which in-

cluded with snippets from Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” and Survivors’ “Eye of the Tiger.” This was not the only band that played songs from hit mov-ies. Concert Band played work from the movie “The Dark Knight,” the combined Purple and White Freshman bands played “Pirates of the Carib-bean” and Old Abe Band did music from the movie “En-chanted.” The concert was put on by over 200 band students, and for 52 of them—the graduating seniors—this would mark the end of their musical careers at Memorial High School. This was also the last concert for the 21 juniors and seniors of Jazz I before leaving for New York to compete in the Essentially El-lington Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York City. See related story on page.

entertaining event filled with talent and fun. As local groups like Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H, churches and political organizations dis-played their messages for the day (and always remembered to toss candy to the young, excited kids around), Memorial continued to make the parade what it was. To bring up the rear, students of many ages from MHS played U.S. tunes of their own with passion and the same festiveness as the atmo-sphere had always been. The 2009 Eau Claire Memo-rial Day Parade was a reminder of the duties and sacrifices of American soldiers - past and present, an exciting and fun event for all Eau Claire citi-zens, a display of MHS’s talent and an addition to the holiday feeling of that enjoyable late-spring day.

Eagle Eye4 Eagle EyeNEW IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTSFOR students enteRing 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th & 12th gRades

FOR the 2009-2010 schOOl YeaR

Changes in the Wisconsin Student Immunization Law now require two different vaccines for middle and high school students. Parents/Guard-ians are required to have their children vaccinated or claim a waiver. grades 9 and 10 tdap vaccine (1 dose)

grade 6, 7 and 12 tdap (1 dose) and Varicella (2 doses)Tdap is the adolescent combination vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). The varicella vaccine protects against chickenpox (previously only one dose was required).

What tO dO:

If your child has not already received the Tdap and/or the second va-•ricella vaccine, please contact your medical provider or the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.

When your child receives the vaccine, or if your child has already re-•ceived the vaccine, give the date(s) of the immunization to your child’s school if you have not already done so.

If your child has already received a tetanus-containing vaccine within •the last 5 years, they are compliant and a Tdap is not required. Please notify your child’s school of the date and type of vaccine re-ceived.

If your child has had the chicken pox disease or shingles, they do not •need the varicella vaccine. Please notify the school of the year your child had the disease.

To claim a waiver for health, religious, or personal conviction rea-•sons, please complete a Student Immunization Record and return the signed form/record to your child’s school.

For more information on these immunizations and/or for a Student Immu-

nization Record, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Health Services

website at http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/immunization/reqs.htm. Childhood

immunizations are available free of charge at the Eau Claire City-County

Health Department via the Vaccines for Children Program.

For dates and times of the Health Department’s immunization clinics, please

call the Eau Claire County Immunization Line at 715-839-2876.

Yog koj xav tau kev pab txhais cov ntawv no los yog tsis totaub thiab xav paub ntau tshaj no, koj hu rau peb cov txhais lus nyob tom koj tus menyuam lub tsev kawm ntawv lawv mam pab txhais rau koj.

Por favor consultar con uno de los BEA’s (ayudantes bilingües) de su escuela para ayuda en leer este folleto.

Attention parents! Please contact the MHS registrar if there is any change in your home address, email address, employment location/phone number, emergency contact person or medical information. The Memorial administration and student services need this information in order to contact parents in the event of an emergency or other timely communication. Phone Memorial at 852-6314 and ask for the registrar, or email at arzepiejewski@ecasd.k12.wi.us

FIRST-TIME EAU CLAIRE MEMORIAL ATHLETES Sunday, August 2, 2009

WHO: Any student who has not previously participated in a sport at Memorial High School and wants to try out for a fall sport

must attend this meeting with a parent.

WHERE: Memorial High School Auditorium

WHEN: 5:00 PM SHARPPlease make every attempt to attend the August 2nd orientation meeting. First-time athletes who miss the orientation meeting on August 2nd must watch a videotape of the meeting with a parent/guardian AND must schedule a meet-ing with the head coach before the athlete will be allowed to try out or practice. Athletes accompanied by a parent can do the video make-up on the following dates and times:

Monday, August 10, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. in the Student Services conference roomMonday, August 17, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. in the Student Services conference room

What to Bring WIAA physical card signed by a licensed practicing physician or nurse1. practi-tioner. The cards are available at Memorial and clinics. Physicals on file in the athletic office must be dated after April 1, 2008 to allow athletes to compete this school year.

The name of your health insurance carrier, athlete’s insurance policy number, 2. and emergency phone numbers.

Check to pay Athletic User Fee - payable to Memorial High School3.

AGENDA

5:00-6:00 Parents and first-time athletes -- Meet in Auditorium with the athletic director for code orientation.

6:00-7:00 Parents and first-time athletes -- Report to Commons to pay Athletic User Fee and turn in required forms.

7:00-8:00 Indivdual Sport Meetings -- Coaches will explain try-out proce-dures and provide information about the season.

Spiritline Coach Schroeder Back GymCross Country Coach Johnson Commons Room 1820Football Coach Kling Auditorium Room 1305Women’s Golf Coach Spanish Room 1288Women’s Swim/Dive Coach Green Choir Room 1320 Men’s Soccer Coach Kite Little Theater Room 1310 Women’s Tennis Coach Litscher Library Room 1850Volleyball Coach Chapman Game Gym

RetuRning EAU CLAIRE MEMORIAL ATHLETES Sunday, August 2, 2009

WhO: any student who wants to try out for a fall sport must attend this meeting with a parent to hear try out and specific sport information.

WHEN: Individual Sport Meetings Begin at 7:00 pm. WHERE: Spiritline Coach Schroeder Back Gymcross country coach Johnson commons Room 1820Football Coach Kling Auditorium Room 1305Women’s Golf Coach Spanish Room 1288Women’s Swim/Dive Coach Green Choir Room 1320Men’s Soccer Coach Kite Little Theater Room 1310

Old Abe Baseball

Women’s Tennis Coach Litscher Library Room 1850 Volleyball Coach Chapman

Game Gym

What to Bring WIAA physical card signed by a licensed practicing physician or nurse1. practi-tioner. The cards are available at Memorial and clinics. Physicals on file in the athletic office must be dated after April 1, 2008 to allow athletes to compete this school year.

The name of your health insurance carrier, athlete’s insurance policy number, 2. and emergency phone numbers.

Check to pay Athletic User Fee - payable to Memorial High School3.

AGENDA

Coaches will go over 1. try-out and practice information, rules, and team expecta-tions.

Coaches will go over the 2. athletic code changes since last school year, and parents as well as athletes who have not signed this year’s code will then sign the code.

All returning athletes report to Commons to pay Athletic User Fee and turn in 3. required forms.

Please make every attempt to attend the August 2nd Individual Sport meeting. Athletes and parents who miss the Individual Sport meeting MUST schedule a meeting with that head coach. The coach must go over the 2009-10 athletic code changes with the parent and the athlete before the athlete will be allowed to try out or practice.

Parking permits will be sold Monday, August 31 and Tuesday, September

1 from 7:30 am to 3:15 pm.

Parking permits will not be sold during orientation. Parking permit

forms can be found in the attendance office.

Congratulationsparents of graduates!

5Post-graduation PlansAmerican Musical and Dramatic Academy (New York City, NY)Anthony LaGuardiaArizona State University (Tempe, AZ)Caitlyn SpicklerBismarck State College (Bismarck, ND)Carson AxnessChippewa Valley Technical College (Eau Claire, WI)Cory BauerAndrew BluemAlexis BrownMarc DeLeoEmily EnnisKristen EskewJohn FellenzMegan GoodenMarcus HoltmanAndrew JohnsonRandi JohnsonRon JohnsonStacy StaglianoTalon KendziorMorian KinlIvy LanniganDavid LauerTorien LeathJessie LoweAngie McCannCarlie MooneyAshley NerisonTess NeuhouseCamille NiemuthKate PadjenAshley RhodesDylan RowanSamantha RussellJoe SchiefferAlicia SpiekingGabrielle StantonAmy SturzNolan WagnerCamden WesleyCody WilsonMatthew XiongTom XiongKeng YangFlorida State Univeristy (Tallahassee, FL)John AgensGlobe University (Eau Claire, WI)Bailee CarlsonNikki DeanNicole DeanLauren EvansRachel FreyHamline University (St. Paul, MN)Madeline RozeskeLake Superior State University (Sault Ste. Marie, MI)Häns RiedelLawrence University (Appleton, WI)Kate SiakpekeMacalester College (St. Paul, MN)Emily HumphreysErin O’LearyMadison Area Technical College (Madison, WI)Jeff CampbellMarquette University (Milwaukee, WI)Joesph DetrichMinnesota State University (Mankato, MN)Michelle CallaghanSamantha GrosskopfJimmie MattsonMontana State University – BozemanKate EbertTyler HeinzNorth Central College (Naperville, IL)Hannah StarrNorthern Kentucky University (Highland Heights, KY)Gennie GalfanoNorthern Michigan University (Marquette, MI)Paige LaPointNTI (Eden Prairie, WI)Daniel HepburnOklahoma City University (Oklahoma City, OK)Rachel WrobelProfessional Hair Design Academy (Eau Claire, WI)Heidi SmithSouthern Illinois University EdwardsvilleKylie SpannSouth Mountain Community College (Phoenix, AZ)Will Fadness

St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, MN)Khrystine CarlileJon CollinsRyan DigneyScott GuiteMitch HunsleyGarrett JulsonAlexandra KarrTess SlaggieSt. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)Lauren AndersonUniversity of Alaska - Anchorage (Anchorage, AK)Erin O’BrienUniversity of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)Samantha GiehllUniversity of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)Alexander AyresUniversity of Minnesota – DuluthJoe AckermanJake DavisDominic DelVecchioCorrie HegwoodKyle StaffSteven VoldJake WebberUniversity of Minnesota – Twin CitiesGarett BluemnShelise DecalJulie GilasevitchRachel HaydenBrianna NicoletLeah O’LearyJames PiersonGeoff RasmussenSam ReidEmma RichieBryan RineckKelly RinehartJessica WarffuelUniversity of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)Dylan MolitorUniversity of Northern Colorado (Greenly, CO)Karl MarkgrafUniversity of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)Anna HilgedickCandace SvomaEric WeberUniversity of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)Maya JohnsonUniversity of Wisconsin – Barron County (Rice Lake, WI)James GumbertUniversity of Wisconsin - Eau ClaireMegan AbelShelby Babl Mitch BrownKatherine CarterBrittany CramerJenny GearyJordan GlennaJordyn GoldbackThea GutschElizabeth JurmainJohn KonzErin KrienerLogan LeskeSheng LorLauren LubeMeghan LynchFlorent MarcoElise MartyKatrina MateskiMitch MilesTaylor PieperAllen SandbergChelsie SchneiderRyan SchorbahnAmy SiresSelena StanleySamantha ThompsonAlex WidstrandUniversity of Wisconsin - Green BayLauren AnibasJenny GumzJenny LumpUniversity of Wisconsin – La Crosse Erin ButhMegan GrossPaige HaydenNora ReinbacherLeah RushCali SchultzElizabeth SteigerwaldJanessa Welke

University of Wisconsin – MadisonLaura FlemingAllison GilmoreKate GutkowskiLexi HandrickKevin HarpJohn IdsoTony LorShannon PhillipsJoelle RendonJoe ShockMolly TaylorChristina WiedbuschMelissa XiongUniversity of Wisconsin – MilwaukeeAndrew JohnsonEmily KlugLindsey LevasseurNolan MurphyBritlyn NeumannShelby O’ReillyClara OehlertDan TainterJacob TioDanielle VoepelJake WagnerTrinity WhitneyUniversity of Wisconsin - PlattevilleAndrew CarlsonUniversity of Wisconsin – River FallsCourtney DeetzSamantha HarknessSamuel HetzelKinsey PastUniversity of Wisconsin – Stevens PointBetty MartinezJosi SchultzAshley VossUniversity of Wisconsin – Stout (Menomonie, WI)Austin JohannsenJosh LruzScott MahlerAshley PetersonBrooke PinkstonCollin PorterDylan RussellTim SaxeCourtney SchoenbergerDerek WeninoUniversity of Wisconsin - SuperiorTyler LattimoreWestern Wisconsin Technical College (La Crosse, WI)Adam WinistorferWinona State University (Winona, MN)Dana GallagherAnna GregoryAndrew KasmarekRita LudwigSarah MajowskiSarah McCarthyKeegan MeierJoe ProckValparaiso Univeristy (Valparaiso, IN)Kaitlin ForkeViterbo University (La Crosse, WI)Aaron HansonKyle Spencer

MILITARYUnited States ArmySkylar MadsonUnited States NavyBlake HoweSteven Wishnak

WORK FORCESteve AndersonCory BassettDavid FaresRita GottungJerry HerrickKhalid Moustafa

UNDECIDEDDonald CallaghanAdam EmbkeKasey LeeKyle McIntyreDerek PhillipsNick SchaeferSam Sires

6

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Cory BauerBy Steven Anderson

“Take advantage of your time here, it really goes by fast,” says Senior Cory Bauer. Bauer

is a very interesting guy. He plans to go the Chippe-wa Valley Technical College in the fall, where he

will enter their transfer pro-gram. Bauer hopes to get most of his general courses out of the way through this program and eventually move on to a four-year college like the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Before Bauer begins at the tech he plans to work as much as he can to save up for college. He currently works at Chicken Unlimited. Bauer has been in Memorial’s wrestling program for three years and was on the varsity squad for all of them. Bauer says the University of Colorado Buffalos football team is his favorite sports team.

Garrett BluemnBy Brittany Landorf

With his characteristic easy-going personality, Garrett Bluemn reflects back on his

high school career and points out that although it was good he is “very excited and eager to leave as

soon as possible.” He will be leaving behind four memorable years, saturated with experi-ences, not the least of which was the New York jazz trip. Garrett has been playing the trombone since middle school and was enamored with the atmosphere he encountered at

Nick SchaeferBy Nikki Sell

Senior Nick Schaefer has big plans after Memorial High School. He will attend the University of St. Thomas and major in business. His favorite memories at MHS were the teachers. “They were always ready to help and

were a lot of fun, some of them. My favorite teacher is Mrs. Rush because she

was always ready to help.” Schaefer’s worst memory was homework. “Most of the teach-

Bauer

Bluemn

Schaefer

In his spare time Bauer really enjoys swimming and hunt-ing, whether it’s with a gun or bow. Bauer learned a lot about school and life during his fresh-man year when, he claimed, he always got into trouble. Sometimes he would get one or two lunch detentions a week, but said he really learned a lot that year and never got another lunch detention since the begin-ning of his sophomore year. Also, during Bauer’s fresh-man year, he took a trip to Florida. He went to Disney World and now says that trip to Florida was the greatest vaca-tion of his life. Of any superheroes in the world, Bauer would choose Superman as his favorite. When Bauer is just hanging out and wants something to listen to, he will listen to a wide variety of things based on what kind of mood he is in that day; any-thing from country to rock to (sometimes) even rap. Bauer has really enjoyed his time here and just wants to tell everyone that they need to cherish their time here and have fun in everything they do.

the jazz competition in New York, “Everyone was alike in that they all really enjoy play-ing music, especially jazz, it didn’t matter what skill level they are.” In addition to his tenure in the jazz and concert bands, Garrett also participated in hockey and football as well as Key Club. When he graduates, Gar-rett will be venturing into the fast-paced city lights of Min-neapolis at the University of Minnesota. A math whiz who enjoys taking classes such as AP Macroeconomics and AP Calculus, he plans to double major in finance and marketing. Besides the frenzied studying he will have to take on, Garrett plans to continue with his love of jazz in the numerous oppor-tunities offered in the cities.

ers just gave busy work and it was really pointless.” Asked if his experience at MHS was a positive thing, he was quick to respond. “Yes very, I got into the college I wanted and managed to hold a good GPA. I think most of my classes and teachers prepared me for the world after high school.” Schaefer sees himself in ten years a college graduate with a career and income. He isn’t sure yet about family and kids but will think about more in the future. When asked if he had any ad-vice for the incoming freshman he had a lot to offer, “Enjoy it. You always hear it goes by fast, and it’s true. It goes by so fast, I can’t believe it. Be involved and have fun. You’re only here for four years so make the best of it. Go out and enjoy being young.”

Brooke PinkstonBy Christian Phelps

Brooke Pinkston is a cheerful Memorial senior with a positive viewpoint on virtually all situa-tions and a way of bringing hu-

mor along with her every-where she goes. As she re-flected on her high school years

and looked to the years ahead, she smiled and laughed at the thought of each event, know-ing that she has enjoyed nearly everything and plans to keep it that way. One memory that Pinkston will carry with her throughout her life from the MHS years is Spirit Line. For the past two years, she has enjoyed the com-petition and camaraderie that being on the Spirit Line team has provided. This year, they traveled to Minnesota for com-peting purposes and eventually advanced to the State competi-tion where they placed sixth. Pinkston was proud and excited to be a part of the success. One thing about her senior year she has been enjoying

Heidi Smith By Brittany Landorf

A lively blonde, Heidi Smith has spent more then one favorite moment in the halls of MHS. She looks back reminis-cently on her days as

a young, naïve frosh and recalls those first tentative days to be her best. Smith herself is one of the lucky teenagers graduat-ing from Memorial without any significant embarrassing memories, which is not some-

Kate EbertBy Beth Ellingboe

It’s normal for seniors to be excited about the indepen-dence that comes with moving out to college and Kate Ebert is no

exception. Her greatest fear about living on her own: “I’m kind of worried about my cook-ing,” she says. “I don’t make much except for microwave-able food.” Ebert is headed off to Mon-tana State University where she will participate in the pre-med-ical program. Although she is unsure of what to specialize in, Ebert says that she is interested in oncology, whether it is radi-ology or surgical. She toured the university over winter break, and says that location factored into her decision. It has “a lot of recreational stuff

that I was interested in,” she said about the area, mentioning the ski resorts and hiking trails that were nearby the campus. This summer Ebert is plan-ning on working a lot to cover the costs of tuition, as well as traveling to Peru for the Span-ish Trip. Ebert spent her time at Me-morial on the swim team for four years, which she counts as, “My main thing in school.” She also was in academic decathlon, and really likes Spanish, although she didn’t participate in Spanish Club. Her favorite memories of high school include the dances. “I try to go to a lot of sport-ing events,” Ebert also said. Although she did participate in many activities in school, Ebert’s greatest regret about her time here was that “I wish I would’ve gotten into more activities freshmen year.” While she is excited to meet new people, she says that she’ll miss “seeing all the people that I’ve grown up with.”

thing many can attest to. She describes her tenure at Memo-rial with a succinct, “Chaotic,” a one word description that is full of immersed memories and fond recollections. According to Smith, her big-gest change throughout high school was, “Becoming more responsible and getting ready for college.” As she continues on the next stepping stone in her journey, the PHD Hair Academy in Eau Claire, Smith points out that the hardest thing about leaving Me-morial forever will be, “Seeing all my friends because we are all getting separated and going to different colleges.”

Smith

Pinkston

is her Business Co-Op class. She works at Northstar Middle School at the end of the day. She feels like it has been a beneficial and pleasurable experience. On a social level, MHS has created a much larger circle of friends for Pinkston. She has met many people she didn’t know or talk to before by talk-ing to them in classes and at-tending school dances. “I think it makes high school more fun if you get involved and go to dances and things,” she said. This summer, Pinkston plans to relax and prepare for the year ahead. She looks forward to babysitting for experience and money, as well as just spending time with family and friends close to home. Next school year, she will be attend-ing UW-Stout. “I think I’m prepared. I’ve had good teach-ers and good friends here at Memorial and I’m ready,” she explained. As someone who has always loved helping and spending time with kids, she has decided to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education. Overall, whatever she ends up doing in the future, Pinkston is leaving Memorial with nothing but fond memories and positive experiences—and a smile on her face.

Ebert

Senior Profiles

Josephine SchultzBy Nicole Lindell

Josephine “Josi” Schultz has at-tended Memorial High School for the last four years and,

as any senior, appears bitterly anxious for what-ever lies ahead.

Josi plans to attend

UW-Stevens Point this fall for basketball, where she is think-ing of majoring in education. Memories of Memorial will forever linger with her.

Like peas with carrots and X with O, Josi Schultz matches with basketball. From the smell of a freshly-victorious locker room to the feel of the hardwood gymnasium Josi has centered herself, for the most part, around the basketball court. Here is where she has experienced euphoric highs to tear-jerking lows; it is where she has some of the best, and some of the worst (but mostly best) memories.

She loved being with her teammates and considers those some of the finest memories of Memorial. One particularly grand memory of Josi’s took place just one year ago when she was suspended. Her junior year, she recalls, “pantsing” a certain sophomore in the gym-nasium, “I only meant to pull down his shorts!” Josi says.

Through the years Josi wasn’t a fan of high school drama, and spent the majority of her time with her friends and playing sports. She is saddened by the thoughts of her last bas-ketball game at Memorial, but is looking forward.

Josi says “Clubs are my biggest regret, if I could go back and do it all again I would—it’s just hard with all the sports.” Josi is currently working at Ken Vance Car City and is anxiously counting down the days to graduation.

Jordyn Goldbach By Beth Ellingboe

Most people are not fortunate enough to say that they were accepted into both of their top schools, but Jordyn Goldbach is one of the lucky few. Both

UW-Eau Claire and Uni-versity of Min-nesota (UM) have accepted Gold-

bach; now she is left with choosing between the two. “I really want to be in a big city,” Goldbach said, although she notes that while Eau Claire isn’t necessarily big, she’s heard that UM is different than what she’s been exposed to in our town. Before heading off to one of these schools, she plans on spending the summer having one last hoorah with her group of friends. She says that “I’m the kind of person that has to be around others.” Goldbach dances at

a dance studio and spends time with her two nieces. She doesn’t belong to any sport teams or clubs, but says that she really likes math and sci-ence; “I’m a big nerd,” she said. Looking ahead Goldbach says, “I would love to run a hospital, either that or be a surgeon,” and she would like to live “somewhere warm; I don’t like winter.” Along with this, she wants to study abroad in either South America or Africa. Her favorite memories of high school include going to the football and basketball games, as well as the school dances. About leaving MHS, she says that, “I don’t know if I’ll miss this school in general – I’ll miss seeing everyone everyday.” She also says that while she is excited that she won’t have the rules of living at home anymore, she is nervous about having to pay bills and other responsibilities. Her last words for the MHS student body: “Everyone [should] be ready for quite the catwalk by me and Emily Klug on graduation day.”

Goldbach

Schultz

Khalid MoustafaBy Josh Kroeninger

Khalid Mustafa is a friendly, optimistic senior who is excited to enter the real world. He was born in Egypt where he also attended elementary and middle school, before he and his fam-ily moved to Wisconsin. After attending Menom-onie High School, he spent his last two years here at Memo-rial. Like many other seniors, Mustafa says he enjoyed high school and cites math as his favorite subject. When he graduates he plans to enter the work force, preferably working in retail or something similar. For fun

he likes going out to eat and hanging out with his family. He has one sibling, an older sister, but no pets. He doesn’t play or watch any sports. Instead he enjoys reading, especially about animals. He likes music of all kinds, but particularly likes country. Someday, Mustafa hopes to someday travel somewhere out-side Wisconsin. He would most like to go back to his homeland of Egypt to revisit all the places he used to know. He’d also like to see other parts of America including Minnesota and New York.

If he could meet anyone, dead or alive, it would be President Obama, but the person he looks up to the most is his teacher Mr. Schemberger, because he is kind, smart, and fair about everything. His biggest goal is to become a U.S. citizen sometime after he graduates. Khalid says the thing he en-joyed the most about Memorial were the teachers, citing all of them as great. He feels pre-pared for what the real world and the work force have in store, and feels great things can be expected of him.

Moustafa

Senior Profile

Feuecheeh Vue By Steven AndersonI don’t know if you

will meet a nicer senior than Feuecheeh Vue. Vue is a very big film fan; earlier this year Vue entered the community’s

24 or 48 hour film contest. He hopes to one day be-come a film director.

Once he gradu-ates from Memo-

rial Vue plans to go UW-Eau Claire for either a semester or year and check out some film classes. From Eau Claire Vue plans to either go to Chicago or the west coast, mainly Seattle, to further pursue film and art schooling.

Vue said that one of his favorite things or memories at Memorial was the Japanese program. Vue has been in Japa-nese all through high school and even has done some extra curricular activities through Japanese. With the Japanese program Vue has visited vari-ous elementary schools to teach Japanese.

In his free time he enjoys being around music, whether it is listening or practicing for the orchestra. Vue was in the Orchestra program at Memo-rial where he played violin, but wasn’t able to continue

Mailee Xiong By Steven Anderson

Mailee Xiong, or “Merit” as she is known at school, was born in Thailand. She moved to Eau Claire from Thailand in 1992. Xiong and her family are very big into Hmong tradi-tions. Every month Xiong and her family go to a festival in the Twin Cities, and every year they go to a very big New Year festival at UW-EC. During these festivals Xiong wears her traditional Hmong dresses and other traditional possessions. In her free time, Xiong loves gardening and just being out-side enjoying the nice weather while she is in the garden. Xiong also enjoys watching Hmong movies from Thailand that she buys in the Twin Cities when she goes to the Hmong festivals. She loves to spend time with her family and can’t wait to be able to spend more time with them once she is done with high school. Her favorite movies are love stories from Thailand and her favorite music singer is “Mai”- a Hmong singer. Xiong says her favorite color is yellow and she loves when her family has rice and chicken, which is one of her family’s traditional meal. Xiong says she will always remember all her friends here at Memorial, but she will definitely never forget joking around with all of her teachers, especially Mr. Schemberger.

Tom XiongBy John Classen

“Friends” was the first thing that Tom Xiong said when he was asked about what he will miss the most

about high school. “I’ve made a lot of good memories with my

peers and classmates and will be sad when we part ways.”

The path that Xiong has chosen to take after high school is a good one because he will not only be develop-ing new qualities but will be helping other people in community as well. After Xiong graduates from Memo-rial High School he plans to go into law enforcement and hopes to become a police or law enforcement officer someday. Xiong, like many others, has developed many talents other than his dancing skills. “Some of the qualities I made during high school was learn-ing to be myself, and, above all, not being afraid to show other people who you really are,” stated Xiong. These qualities were noticed in some of the clubs and activities Xiong took part in throughout his high school career. Xiong has participated in clubs such as the Multi-Cultural Club and has partici-pated in school events such as the No Snow Show where you might have seen him show off some of his difficult break dancing moves. When he wasn’t there, you might have seen him by the entrance of door nine just before school ends with his friends busting out some of those moves. If there is anything that Xiong will not miss the about his high school years, that thing would be lunch. “I don’t know, the lunch here was never really appealing to me.” Also, Xiong was never a fan of homework. “I didn’t like homework, but when I go to college I will be able to take it more seriously because it will help me become the cop I want to be when I enter law enforcement.”

Joe Schieffer By Brittany Landorf

Responsibility is the foun-dation behind Joe Shieffer’s success at Memorial. Accord-ing to this computer obsessed senior, Me-morial has taught him to be, “Responsible, organized and respectable,” Shieffer also describes his four year high school experi-ence as, “Fun and relaxed,” with an emphasis on the fun. There is no doubt that Joe did not share in many amusing mo-ments, from watching his friend accidently pull one of the safety showers in science class to try-ing out for hockey his freshman and sophomore years. As the school year draws to an end, Joe is preparing himself for attending a six year IT networking program at Chip-pewa Valley Technical Col-lege (CVTC) in the fall. For a technically-inclined student, this is a great opportunity for him to do something he loves, “The program is a CISCO certi-fication that will prepare me for a job in the networking field.”

Jenny GerryBy Bailey Berg

Senior Jenny Gerry was a very active part of Memorial over the last four years- yet she’s sad to leave everything

behind. Gerry participat-ed in Peer Pressure Club that talks with fourth graders

at elementary schools, and is also an active member of Na-tional Honor Society (NHS), Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), choir, and Partners Club which Gerry called a “highly beneficial experience.” Outside of school Gerry is an active member of her church, where she sings and plays guitar in a college church band.

Gerry

Xiong

Vue

Tom XyoojLosntawm John Classen

“Phoojywg” yog thawj los uas nws teb thaum nug txog nws tias yam dabtsi uas koj yuav ncot-shaj nyob rau hauv high school. “Kuv tsim tau ntau txoj kev nco nrog kuv tej phoojywg thiab tej uas nrog kuv kawm ntawv uake thiab nws yuav yog ib qho tusiab heev thaum peb sibncaim.” Txoj kev uas Tom twb xaiv tau thiab yuav taug tomqab high school yog ib txoj zoo rauqhov tsis yog nws yuav tsim dua ib yam tshiab thiab zoodua tab tsuasyog yuav pab lwm leej lwm tus hauv lub zej lub zos. Tomqab Tom tiav hauv lub tsev Kawmntawv Memorial lawm nws yuav nkag mus rau kev tswj kevcai thiab ciasiab tias yuav dhau mus ua ib tug tub ceevxwm lossis tub tswjcai ib hnubtwg. Tom, zoo xwsli lwmtus, kuj txawj ntau yam tshajli nws cov tawtes seevcev. “Qho yam zoo uas kuv tau ua lub sijhawm tseem kawm ntawd mas yog kawm kom yus paub yus tuskheej, thiab, tshaj tagnrho, tsis txhob ntshai qhia yus yog leejtwg rau lwmtus,” Tom hais. Tej yam zoo no tau tshwm nyob rau hauv tej koomhaum thiab kev uasi uas Tom tau koom nrog lub sijhawm uas nws nyob rau hauv high school. Tom tau koom nrog xwlis lub Koomhaum Multi Cultural thiab tau koom tejyam nyob rau hauv tsev kawmntawv ibyam li No Snow Show uas tejzaum koj twb pom nws dhia nws tej kev seevcev – break dance uas covcov ntawd. Thaum nws tsis nyob ntawd, koj yuav nrhiav tau nws nyob rau tom lub qhovrooj cuaj uantej yauv xaus kev kawm ntawv nrog nws tsoom phoojywg xyaum tej seevcev cov uas nyuajnyuaj ntawd. Yog lam muaj tej yam uas Tom yuav tsis nco txog lub caij uas nws kawm high school, qhov ntawd yuav yog pluas su. “Kuv tsis paub, pluas su mas ibtxwm tsis ntximqabkiag rau kuv.” Tom, los, kuj tsis nyiam kawm ntawv hauvtsev – homework. “Kuv tsis nyiam kawm ntawv hauv tsev, tabsis thaum kuv mus rau qibsiab lawd kuv yuav tau rausiabtshaj rauqhov nws yuav pab kuv dhau mus ua tus tub ceevxwm uas kuv pheej ntshaw thiab xav ua thaum kuv nkag kawm kev tswj kevcai lawm.”

Maivlis XyoojLosntawm Steven Ander-

son Maivlis Xyooj, lossis “Merit” rawsli paub nyob rau hauv tsev kawmntawv, yug nyob Thai-bteb. Nws tuaj rau Zos Dejnt-shiab no xyoo 1992. Maivlis thiab nws tsevneeg kuj coob rawsli Hmoob ibtxwm muaj. Txhuatxhua hli Maivlis thiab nws tsevneeg mus koom koobtsheej nyob rau tom Nroogntxaib – Twin Cities, thiab txhua lub xyoo lawv kuj mus koom lub Tsiab Pebcaug loj nyob rau ntawm lub Tsev Kawmntawv Qibsiab Zos Dejntshiab. Nyob rau cov koobtsheej no Maivlis uazam Hmoob thiab lwmyam uas Hmoob ibtxwm muaj. Thaum nws xyeej sijhawm, Maivlis nyiam mus ua teb thiab nyob nraumzoov vim tej huab-cua zoo thaum nws nyob tom teb. Maivlis kuj nyiam saib tej yeebyaj duab Hmoob uas ua tim Thaibteb tuaj thiab nws yuav tom Zos Ntxaib los.

Nws nyiam siv sijhawm nrog nws tsevneeg thiab lajtos txog hnub kawm tag high school kom tau sijhawm nrog lawm ntxiv. Cov yeebyaj duab uas nws nyiamtshaj yog cov ua txog kev hlub tuaj Thaibteb tuaj thiab tus hunkauj uas nws nyiamtshaj yog “Maiv” – ib tug ntxhais hunkauj Hmoob. Maivlis haistias nws nyiam kob daj thiab nws nyiam thaum nws tsevneeg noj mov ntxuag nqaij qaib, uas yog ib pluag mov uas lawv tsevneeg ibtxwm noj. Maivlis haistias nws yuav cimntsoov nws cov phoojywg nyob hauv Memorial tag-nrho, tabsis nws yuav tsis muaj hnub tsis nco tej lus tsodag tsoluag nrog nws tej phooywg thiab tagnrho nws cov xibhwb, tshwjxeeb Mr. Schemberger.

Gerry said that performing is very important to her. You may have seen Gerry earlier this year in the Varsity Show, where she sang “Benjamin” by SDKLGJ:S. Gerry has had numerous gigs, performing at the Lincoln Day Dinner, and has sung at numer-ous weddings. In addition to singing, Gerry plays guitar, violin and piano. Next year Gerry plans to attend University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. She’ll be living at home for the first year, and hopes to be moving out of state or in with friends after that. Gerry will be studying pe-diatric nursing, a degree that she plans on using in overseas missionary work during or after she finishes school, hopefully in Tanzania or Haiti. She would like to work for a non-profit organization or mission work, providing kids with nutrition, working to get them shots, and working on stabilizing hospitals.

Earlier this year Gerry travelled with some members of her church congregation to Haiti on a mission trip, where she worked at Servants of All, an orphanage that 73 orphans’ call home. Gerry said that the experience “taught her a lot about thankfulness.” It was here that Gerry met Jhemson, the little boy that she sponsors every month. Gerry said, “Jhemson isn’t an orphan, his parents couldn’t afford him. Jhemson is such a beautiful boy, and such a bless-ing.” Gerry is currently saving money in hopes of being able to go back to Haiti “for long term, God willing.”

orchestra this semester due to scheduling conflicts.

When Vue isn’t spending his spare time around music, he really enjoys action figures. Vue is a very big Transformers fan and he has many transform-er action figures. When asked if he had a favorite super-hero Vue wasn’t sure, but he said if it counted he would defi-nitely take Optimus Prime from Transformers.

Schieffer

Victor Ikechukwy Chukwuden Oneigbo

By Joe Short Victor’s post high school plans include going to Stanford

University and study-ing an unde-cided major at this point. He is hop-ing by the end of his sophomore

year he will have a decided major. He also hopes to be able to decide who he is and what he wants in life. One of his favorite high school memories is his fresh-men year. “The thing that sticks out the most of that year is Mr. Raney’s freshmen English class. It was very intimidating being at high school and he made it go easier by being there for us students. We had some-one we could feel comfortable with.” In middle school he recalls, “We had what was called Creative Problem Solving. I remember that had helped me a lot.” He also recalls, “We made props and had to act them out at other schools.” From elementary he remem-bers the end of the year parties. “We would play games, sing songs and miss class.” Oneigbo was born in Enaga, Nigeria Jan. 24, 1991. He starts his first term at Stanford Sept. 22 of 2009.

Oneigbo

Although Vue is from a Hmong family, he said that his family has become very Ameri-canized and they only really follow some of the big Hmong traditions, like wedding rituals and funerals.

Vue is one of the coolest people you will meet. I will not be surprised at all if someday we see Feuecheeh Vue’s name as a film director in Hollywood.

Congratulations

to the

Class of 2009

7

Senior ProfilesLaura Schwengel

By Joe Short Born Aug. 26, 1990 in Portage, Wisc, Laura is no

common person. She is a proud member of the FFA, a hobby farmer and a hard worker. She is an officer

of the Memorial High School FFA. Schwegel has lived most of her life on a farm. She moved from Portage to Eau Claire when she was 10. Her first job was working on a neighbor-ing horse farm. When she worked there she would feed horses, cattle, pigs, chickens

Camille NiemuthBy Bailey Berg

Curious who has been in not two, not three, not even four, but a resounding five of the Memorial High School plays, not to mention assistant stage

director in two more, plus four Shakespear-ian plays? That would be Senior Cami Ni-emuth. Niemuth starting

acting last year, and has been in “Antigone,” “White Room of my Remembering,” ”The Hitchhiker,” “Music Man,” and “Crazy for You.” She has also been an assistant stage man-ager for “Steel Magnolias” and “Cash on Delivery.” She does the Shakespeare workshop during the summer that is put on by the Chippewa Valley Theater Guild, where she has been in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Tem-pest,” “As You Like It” and “Macbeth.” Niemuth says that theater is something that she’d like to pursue in the future, but for the time being it’s just a hobby. Niemuth says that she intends to continue preforming long after high school. Niemuth was born in Jackson

Niemuth

Schwengel

Allen MoreBy John Classen

Throughout high school, Al-len More has been a very active person when it comes to clubs

and sports. More has participated in cross country, track, and martial arts. He has also

participated in band and is part of the Young Communist’s Club and the Ghost Hunters Club. One of the things that he has enjoyed the most is also one of the things he will miss: Morp. “I’m really going to miss being able to slack off, chill with my friends and going to events such as Morp,” said More. More has been part of a few garage bands with his friends. “The occasional strumming of guitar chords and goofing around is something I will be able to look back on in years from now and just be able to laugh about the good times,”

More

and llamas. Her main thing to do though was work with the horses. Recalling Delong Middle School one of the best memo-ries she has was when they went to Camp Manitou. “It was so fun. We stayed up late and watched October Sky on a big screen. We roasted marsh-mallows, sang songs, played games, it was just a big end of the year party.” After high school Schwengel is attending South Dakota Uni-versity. While there she will be getting her bachelors degree in agricultural education. Her plan is to become a teacher in a high school or middle school. As she leaves she suggests underclass-men “take advantage of all the opportunities that interest you.”

Hole, Wyo., but also lived in Laramie and Rock Springs, Wyo. before moving to Eau Claire. Over the last four years at Memorial Niemuth has also been an avid participant in Interact Club, which is a club where foreign exchange students and some Memorial students get together and hang out. She’s also in American Sign Language (ASL) Club, and is in ASL II. Niemuth also gives back to the community as much as possible. For the past two years Niemuth has volunteered at the Chippewa Valley Musuem, as well as the Beacon House and Sacred Heart Hospital where she works at the Information Desk. Next year Niemuth will be at the Chippewa Valley Technical College for the university trans-fer program. Although she isn’t sure what exactly she wants to do after that, she wants to con-tinue with more education. When asked if she’ll miss her time here at Memorial, she says, “Yes very much, although I know that it’s time for me to move on in life.” Niemuth’s final words of advice for her peers? “Take all four years seriously and pass all of your classes – it will look good on your high school transcript.”

More said. If there is anything that More said he will miss the least about high school, it would be math. “I’ve been in advanced math all throughout high school and can’t wait until I don’t have to take it anymore,” commented More. After high school, More plans to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where, someday, he would like to become a M.D. or even a para-medic. “I’ve learned a lot of things that I will be able to take with me to college. “Open mind-edness, the ability to do huge amounts of busy work, being able to write a timed essay on a book I didn’t read, freedom from fear of what others think, and function in an academic environment with little sleep are just to name a few,” More stated. “The big thing that is going to be hard about leaving is just letting go of everything that I’ve come to know over the years and the people that made it all worthwhile.”

Hannah StarrBy John Classen

Most people can agree that moving on-ward in life after high school is something that is hard and excit-ing at the same time. “Above all,

I am going to miss my friends. Next year’s going to be really weird without them and I’m expecting I’ll have to adjust quite a bit also,” stated Hannah Starr. Starr plans on going to North Central College down in Naperville, Illinois. There she plans to major in Theatrical Performance and minor in Art. At the same time, she would like to get a job in Chicago area but also take classes at The Second City Improv Company in Chicago. Theatre is something that definitely suits Starr. Her humor and perspective of the people, things, and situations that she come in contact with

Garrett Julsonby Nikki Sell

Garrett Julson was born Dec. 21, 1990. His nicknames are garbear, garry and googly

bear. His dream woman is Jessica Alba’s body with Jesus’ mind.

His idol is Adrian Peterson and his favorite memory is getting

Jenny LumpBy Nicole Lindell

Band-tripping, sports-loving, Fazoli-working, and fun-spiriting are all just tip-of-the iceberg adjectives to describe Jenny Lump. This UW-Green Bay bound senior can describe

her high-school career in one word: Important. Between working, sports, friends and working-out Lump

often attempts to compare her busy schedule to that of Bat-man’s. Some of her finest memories of high-school include her band trip to Hawaii, hockey state, sports in general and great times with friends. She also involves herself with church childcare and a few school clubs. Some of the clubs Lump en-joys are Drama Club, Teen Lit-eracy Initiative (TLI), F.A.C.T. and Interact. She takes many traits from these clubs with her to college such as the ability to build the flats for all different kinds of sets, knowing about many different cultures other then ours, have fun getting to know the students and staying in contact with them, and learn-ing how easy it is for minors to buy tobacco products. She remembers reading “For What it’s Worth” and how it is help-ful. Despite the fact that she has spread herself into almost all corners of the school she still regrets not taking enough chances on different things and different people. Asked the ideal way to start every day Lump says, “With cereal and a glass of apple juice.” She is looking into becoming an athletic trainer for a sports team. For the most part, as she elaborates she loved high-school except for all the drama. She says, “I really enjoyed high-school. I can’t believe it’s almost over, but I’m kind of glad.”

MacKenzy HeineBy Christian Phelps

“I actually liked high school a lot,” senior MacKenzy Heine said. She elaborates on what made her four years at Memo-rial so memorable, reflecting on favorite moments, friends, and various activities and classes proudly and happily. Over the years, Heine has involved herself in multiple school activities and wouldn’t have it any other way. “Try to be involved in anything you

can,” she told incom-ing MHS students. As an underclass-man, Heine participated in swim-ming, soft-

ball, Art Club and band. She benefitted from this wide vari-ety of activities on a social and intellectual level. Throughout her time in high school, she has also become involved in cross-country, DECA, and Young Republicans. Heine has thoroughly enjoyed her partici-pation in each of these many extra-curriculars. On an academic level, Heine has had a successful and no-table high school career. She remembers receiving the E2

Award and the feeling of suc-cess that she experienced when she was one of the few students to earn this award based on her class performance. Classes at Memorial have of-ten been memorable for Heine

Heine

Julson

Lump

Starr

Shelise DecalBy Beth Ellingboe

It would be an understate-ment to say that Shelise Decal likes to sing. During her years

at Memo-rial, she participated in Madri-gals, choir, and show choir for four years. She also cited choir and Mad-

rigals as two of her favorite classes, in addition to all of her English classes, AP Psychology and Sociology. It’s no wonder that the last two are some of her favorites; next year, Decal is planning on studying Child Psychology or Social Work at the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities. “I needed to get away, but it’s not too far away,” she says of the school’s location. For the future Decal says that, “I want to help as many people/ kids as possible with whatever life throws at them. I

Decal

would love a spouse and family someday. But mostly, when I am eighty, I want to look back and know that my life was fulfilling.” This shouldn’t prove to be too hard to achieve for her as she says that she spends her time “mainly making the most of life.” With her time at MHS com-ing to a close, Decal says that her regret would be that “I took too many study halls during swimming, so I was never able to take an art class.” She also advises any underclassmen to “take a lot of pictures and focus on the positives” and “always stay optimistic.” She doesn’t have one specific favorite memory from her days spent here, but says that “there are so many it’s hard to pin down just one.” Although Decal says that she will miss seeing her friends ev-eryday, she is “excited to prove myself by being on my own, but I am scared of big cities. I will have to learn some good self-defense moves.”

as well: “I liked Philosophy with Mr. Kazz,” she said. She also has loved AP Psychology quite a bit and is glad she took Photography—it was a hobby as well as a class. Socially, she has really appreciated hockey games at Memorial. She has always liked attending them with friends and cheering on the hockey team. She also suggests that every student try to go to all of the dances. She adds, “And you don’t have to have a date!” Through these social events, she has made many friends at MHS, many who went to other middle schools or weren’t friends until this year. Heine is an athlete in her spare time. She loves snow-boarding, waterskiing, and roll-erblading as often as possible. She is always trying to spend time outside. She also likes going to Gold’s Gym, claiming that she is “basically either at school or at Gold’s,” laughing. As an interesting side note, but one that she believes is well-known among her friends, Heine loves eating at Bur-racho’s. She works at T. G. I. Friday’s, but eats Burracho’s burritos whenever she gets the chance. When high school ends, Heine plans to attend Arizona State University and major in kinesiology. She likes science and physical activity, so she looks forward to working to-wards this high goal in her next level of education. She will miss Memorial but is excited for what is to come.

and how she reacts to them are what make her special. “Soph-omore year I locked my friend, Megan, in a locker (on accident of course). I didn’t realize she’s claustrophobic and the scream that followed will haunt me forever. We finally had to get Ms. Pierson to get her out because I was laughing so hard. I don’t think that Megan ever forgave me…” Hannah is by far prepared for anything to come in her path. She is a warm; down to earth person that is more than capable of achieving anything. Starr said “freshman year was really a hard time for me but it helped me learn a lot about myself and about life. My hero, Glida Radner, once said something that basically sums up what I have learned. “Some poems don’t rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear begin-ning, middle, or end. Life is about not knowing, having to change and taking each mo-ment and making the best of it without knowing what comes next. Delicious ambiguity.”

arrested for playing in the street with a toy gun. His advice for the incoming freshman is “drop out.”

Julson’s favorite subject is history. He currently works at Mega Food West as a bag boy; he has been there since 2007. His dream job is to become a CEO with a hot secretary and a window office.

Asked what he would do with $5 million, his response is, “I would buy a house, many cars, and then invest the rest.”

Samantha Harkness

By Nicole Lindell Samantha “Sammi” Harkness has fully enjoyed her four years here at Eau Claire Memorial High School and really can’t

recall a single bad memory from her high-school career. Good memories, on the other hand, run on

abundance. Harkness plans on attending University of Wis-consin-River Falls for psychol-ogy or possibly a theatre major. She decided to pick UW-River Falls because of the gorgeous campus and cool environment. Harkness is really excited about going to River Falls. “I’m kinda sad that I won’t be able to see everyone every day, but it will be a good change,” says Sammi. She thinks that by far Mrs. Rapacz was her favorite teacher throughout her entire education this far. Looking back, Sammi remembers freshman year as being the best of all. Being the only freshman on Memorial’s Varsity Dance team, Sammi had a fun and full year. She has since been involved in dance for three years, theatre for two years and has been a DECA of-ficer. She remembers going to Nationals for Dance Team, and will remember that as one of her favorite memories. “I loved bonding with the girls on the team,” said Harkness. In her free time Harkness loves to hang out with her friends and watch movies. Her favorite movie is “Dirty Danc-ing.” “I love Patrick Swayze!” she says, “I can’t believe he is dying!” Harkness currently doesn’t have a job outside of school but is looking and hopes that plenty of things will open up for her this summer.

Harkness

8

News & Activities“I only had a few” - the 2009 mock car crash

By Mitch Thompson

“C’mon guys, I’m fine. Just get in the car and let’s go.” Those were some of the words that would forever end or change the lives of four of Memorial’s 2009 graduating class on prom night. At least, that was the story behind Memorial’s Annual Mock Car Crash, held every year before prom to enforce the importance of sober driving and how driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances. The presentation is put on in front of an expanse of hushed juniors and seniors, very few of whom leave unchanged. The presentation began with nothing but a mass covered in a tarp with a loudspeaker nearby, playing through a conversa-tion held after a party on prom night. A small group of students have had enough of the festivi-ties and decide to head else-where. It is mutually decided that one of the group, played by John Classen, isn’t thinking straight and should let someone else drive. John asserts that it’s his car and that he hasn’t had a lot to drink, so he’s driving. They all reluctantly agree. John starts to swerve, and as someone else tries to take the wheel, the sounds of rending metal and crushed glass blare from the speaker and the tarp is removed. Underneath is a wrecked car, crushed in on all sides. Death watches calmly over the scene as the suited, still body of se-nior Hans Reidel lies facedown near the passenger side window and muffled screams, provided by junior Bailey Berg and senior Randi Johnson, can be heard from the back seat. With a little struggling, Clas-sen manages to escape through the driver side window and unsteadily crawls around the front of the car and attempts to revive his unmoving friend; to no avail. His feeble yells can hardly be heard over the evi-dence of trauma and suffering emanating from the rear of the demolished vehicle.

A police officer arrives on the scene, quick to move forward and remove the drunken, con-fused student from the vicinity of the body. He quickly radios for help and begins to question Classen about the cause of the accident as a fire truck and an ambulance show up. The firemen begin to remove the two wounded girls from the back seat. The formerly rowdy audience, now hushed and so-bered by the scene playing out before them, watch in silence as a helicopter circles around and touches down on the soccer field a few hundred yards away. Classen is placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol as both girls, clad in bloodstained prom dresses, are loaded onto gurneys in the back of the ambulance and driven away. The few remaining survey the scene with sadness as the passenger side student, pronounced dead at the scene, is somberly enclosed in a body bag. A funeral car pulls up to take the body away, and all that re-mains is the deadly still wreck, a few scattered beer cans and

Death surveying his handiwork without emotion. The audience seated on row after row of bleachers, stand-ing, and sitting on the concrete was hushed and silent at the conclusion of the presentation, leaving only the quiet clinking

sound of the wind nudging the scattered beer cans to break the silence. The power of what they just witnessed is blatantly obvious as they stare over the aftermath of the scene with blank expressions and nobody moves.

9

Top left: The corpse of the student in the passenger seat, played by Hans Reidel, lies spread out on the con-crete before the hushed audi-ence. Middle: Bailey Berg is pulled out of the back seat and put on a stretcher as “Death” looks on. Bottom: The emergency rescue heli-copter touches down on the soccer field. Purple Wings photographs by Mitchell Thompson.

Senior ProfilesTim Saxe

By Josh Kroeninger Tim Saxe is an aspiring busi-nessman who says high school

was a good time for him. He’ll be attending UW-Stout in the fall to major in a Market-ing degree. After being

in DECA in his years at Memo-rial, he’ll have what it takes going into the program. Saxe played football and wrestled at Memorial, saying sports are the biggest thing he does for fun. He says DECA Adviser Ms. Friar was his fa-vorite teacher because she was like a friend to him and “took the most interest in me.”

He was never a big reader but says the Brett Favre biography “Favre” is a good read. He likes listening to Alan Jackson and Toby Keith. Some movies he enjoys are “Shooter,” saying it was just “really good,” and “Step Brothers.” He also wishes he could fly. Despite having lots of interests, Saxe, like many other people in the world, has a steady job selling construction supplies for his Dad. He has one sister who is a freshman this year. He had a fish he won at the fair that died recently, after five years. He does not believe in love at first sight and thinks ninjas are far superior to pirates. Asked what he’d miss the most about Memorial, he said it would be seeing his friends every day and football. The ad-

vice he gives to underclassmen is to just “be here to have fun” because it “goes by fast.” With the knowledge the pub-lic education system has given him, Saxe is sure to become America’s next great business-man.

Saxe

Hillarie CarlsonBy Bailey Berg

Hillarie Carlson won’t be liv-ing in Wisconsin much longer.

Starting in the fall Carlson will be attend-ing Taylor University, a private Christian school in Upland, Indiana.

Taylor University has only

about 200 more students then Memorial, so it won’t be that big a change, but one of the biggest differences is that it is across the street from a corn field. Although it sounds modest, the school was voted #1 Midwest Baccalaureate Uni-versity according to Newsweek magazine. Carlson plans to major in International Studies, because it’s a major that she could use in numerous different fields. Carlson isn’t really sure what she would want for a future career, but does want to focus on Africa. In the past four years Carlson has been an avid participant in American Sign Language Club, Fellowship of Christian Ath-letes, National Honor Society and Prayer club. She was also an officer in Key Club, which

proved to be a big job, as it is the biggest club at Memo-rial, with over 100 students involved. Carlson is also in Art Club. She has done Relay for Life with Art Club for the past two year, although she has never

Carlson

had an actual art class in her time at Memorial. Outside of school Carlson stays active as a competitive figure skater. Over the years Carlson has travelled all over America to compete in major competitions.

All students must have ID cards to

checkout textbooks!

Don’t forget your ID cards when school starts in the fall!

Even seniors should get their pictures taken to have an ID made at the end of August.

Golf team brings it in againBy John Classen

and Christian Phelps For the fourth season in a row the Old Abe Varsity Golf team has brought back the Big Riv-ers Conference Championship with Mr. Glassbrenner as their coach. “It feels good to have won conference, but what really made me feel happy were the wins at the Rice Lake and Hay-ward meets,” said junior David Walter. Walter is the number one golfer on the Old Abe Var-

Struggling softball surmounts obstaclesBy Brittany Landorf and

Nicole Lindell Memorial softball has en-

dured a rocky start dur-ing the course of this sea-son with

a win-loss record of 4-14.

Seasoned Coach Chapman notes that the team has been forced to struggle against the

loss of 12 starting seniors who graduated last year. The mantle of leadership has been taken up by senior captains Josie Shultz, Corrie Hegwood and Clara Oehlart, they are also the only three returning starters. The girls’ tough schedule can account for a portion of their problems. According to Chapman the Old Abes are up against five ranked teams, which they play several times. He points out that the girls have improved greatly as a whole

and are beginning to look like a team, stating that his own biggest goals are for, “Learning and understanding where we

are at and building on the positives.” These positives include the relatively

young team that is being constructed and the enormous strides that the team is making.

Sally Schretenthaler, a return-ing junior who has been throw-ing a softball around for over 10 years, is one of the starting players and claims the posi-tion of second baseman. She will be one the players who are the foundation for next year’s team, which she says is, “Go-ing much better, we are finally working together as a team.” Next year should be a prom-ising year for the young team, and they are only continuing to improve as the 2009 season draws to a close.

North vs. MemorialSally Schretenthaler lets one slide during the North vs. Memorial softball game May 7, 2009. The game was a home game for North. North defeated Memorial 19-5. Purple Wings photo by Nicole Lindell.

HegwoodChapman

Old Abes baseball clinches BRC outright

By Steven Anderson The Memorial baseball team has won the Big Rivers Conference outright under first year head coach Dave Sparger. Memorial achieved the title by beating Hudson two runs to zero on Thursday, May 28th. The win gave the Old Abes the top spot in the conference over rivals EC North and Hudson. Memorial wrapped up the conference with a 10-2 record in the BRC and a 19-5 record overall. Memorial rode the pitching abilities of senior Adam Winistorfer and junior Tyler Sparger this year. Senior Winistorfer locked up the conference title for the Abes on Thursday by throwing the first complete game no-hitter in his life. After the game Winistorfer gave all the credit to his defense and said that they made all the plays to make the game a no-hitter. Memorial’s Coach Sparger did a great job of handling the pres-sure of being Memorial’s head coach, especially with the shoes he had to fill. Coach Sparger took over this season for casey Eckardt who left Memorial for an athletic director position. Last year Eckardt led the Abes to an undefeated record in the regular season until the lost their only game of the season in the state tournament. Memorial’s offense has received a lot of help this year from senior catcher Will Fadness who is master of driving in runs and hitting the ball over the fence. It seems that every other game Fad-ness is launching another homer deep. The Memorial baseball team will look to continue their success as they head into the postseason and look to push deep into the playoffs just like last year. Maybe next time you hear about the Memorial baseball team you will be hearing about their trip to state.

Girl’s soccer season strongBy Joe Short

What a game. May 7 was the MHS girls soccer “GO PINK” game. They played against River Falls. Although the game ended in a tie everybody won. They went into double over-time which resulted in a 1-1 tie. Memorial lost the first North-Memorial game 2-0 but still came out in the lead in the playoffs. After the first game Assistant Coach Jeff Som-merfeld said, “Even though we lost we are still very proud of our girls. They did a wonderful job as a team. However we still have something’s we need to work on. The season is far from over and we have lots of oppor-tunity to improve our game and beat North the next time we play them in the playoffs. And I am very confident we will bring home the victory.” The girls are still playing in the playoffs. At press deadline they are still in contention.

Sports

sity Golf team. “Everybody on the team has a rank on the team

based on what they score at the meets. I, for ex-ample, am ranked first so when we go to other golf meets I play all

the other number one ranked players from those team,” com-

mented Walter. The top three ranked players from Memo-rial are junior David Walter, senior Scott Mahler, and junior Scott Mundt. This year Walter and Mahler took first team all-conference, and behind them to take second place all conference was fellow team-mate Nate Webb. In the next couple of days the Old Abes will head to sectionals where, if they win, they will be one more step closer to the state title that teams from all over are wanting

to get their hands on. “I feel pretty confident that

we can get pretty close to that state title,” commented Mundt. “It’s going to be hard and take a lot of ef-

fort, but with our luck we can achieve just about anything.”

Walter Mundt

Tyler Heinz led the Abes’ pack at the Cross-Country State Meet on Nov. 1, 2008. He recently signed a nati-nal letter of intent. Purple Wings photo by Christian Phelps.

Former Green Bay Packer LeRoy Butler at the “Go pink” soccer game. Purple Wings photo by Joe Short.

Memorial vs. North Boys TennisBy Kelly Kemper and Nikki Sell

The boys tennis match against rival North was a success, even with some obstacles in the way. When asked about the excitement leading up the match Memorial’s freshman starter Christian Phelps said, “There was more hype than usual because we were playing North. We knew it would be a challenge.” Phelps was very excited about the 7-0 victory over North. Phelps who went 6-0, 6-2 for the day said, “It was exciting that we were still able to sweep them.” Even with three of Memorial’s main

starters out for the day the Old Abes were still able to sweep the Huskies.

One Loss But One Big WinBy John Classen

It isn’t everyday that some-one can say that they are a winner when they really lost the game. Both Memorial and North High School took part in the annual fundraiser for the Beacon House in Eau Claire. One of two main events to raise the money was the Dash for Cash. A total of six teams, three from each school, were formed. The game was played by having three members on a team, one of which would actually be in a big cart. The school had designated paths for the teams to follow. As they went through the paths, students from all grade levels would toss their loose pocket change, or whatever they had on them at the time, into the carts as they were going by. At the end of the day, whichever school had the most money raised at this event, would be given a two run lead at the annual Memorial vs. North staff kickball game. Last year, the Dash for Cash brought in roughly $580 from Memorial and $660 from North. This year, Memorial raised $913.66 and $419.25 from North, giving Memorial a two run lead to

start the game. The kickball game was the second of the two fundraisers sponsoring the Beacon House. The two run lead at the start of the game gave the Memo-

rial staff a confident start to the game. Throughout the game Memorial and North were neck and neck when North took the lead. For Memorial, the game ended as a sad 6-9 loss.

What was achieved was higher than anyone had antici-pated. The schools raised more than twice as much money as last year. The amount of runs Memorial scored may matter to some people, but the amount

of money raised was far more important. Players, staff, and students from both schools can keep their heads held high. This fantastic achievement is something that everyone should be proud of. As we went into

this fundraiser, we had two different teams. As we went out, we had one. One team that played for the sake of playing, and helped others in need for the sake of helping.

Sports

Phelps

Members of the girls soccer who worked at the commu-nity table as part of their community service commitment April 29. They served 106 meals; 15 of them to children. Pictured above left, from left to right are: David Forke, Jeff Sommerfeld, Asia Laudal, Alexandra Wirth, Kelsey Franko. Pictured above right are Mikaelah Laube, 10 and Ali Quarberg, 9. Team captains this year were seniors

Casey Bresser, Emily Humphreys and Kelsey Franko. Kit Schiefelbein is Varsity Coach. Other seniors are Alexandra Brackenwagen, Emma Richie and Kaitlyn Forke. Photos cour-tesy of Denise Wirth.

The 2009 Memorial Kickball TeamRow 1: Patty Zwiefelhofer, Angie Rush, Lori Bowe and Erin Middendorp. Row 2: Deb Brown, Justine Vernon, Patty Campbell, Lindsay Brandup, Lesa Cramer, Jessie Maas, Matt Palm, Tim Burns, Derek Olson, Christina Schroeder, Stacey Reinke and David Kite. Row 3: Angie Stokes, Eric Dasher, Corey Fritz, Dan Wilson, Kurt Madsen and Don Weber. Purple Wings photo by John Classen.

Congratulations to the Old Abe

spring sports teams

11

All students must have ID cards

to checkout textbooks!

Don’t forget your ID cards when school starts in the fall!

Even seniors should get their pictures taken to have an ID made at the end of August.

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Around the halls and byways of

Memorial High School

The driver in the 2009 Mock Car Crash, John Classen, is covered in blood and gore as he prepares to climb into the car to play his part in the presen-tation. Purple Wings photographs by Mitchell Thompson.

Senior Ted Mentelle “licks the fishbowl” during an Improv sketch called the “Mundane Olympics.” Mentelle had to clean a fishbowl, while being yelled at by individuals from People for the Ethical Treat-ment of Animals (PETA). Purple Wings photo By Bailey Berg.

Text and photo by Joe Short The Memorial High School choir performed a beautiful night of music at Owen Park during their 2009 Pops concert. The concert featured a wide selection of tunes the crowd could sing along to including ”You Are My Sunshine” from “O’ BROTH-ER WHERE ART THOU?”

Performing at the annual Pops Concert are, left to right: An-thony LaGuanrdia, Emily Ashlin, Dan Floren, Kate Siakpere, Joey Lebrun, Andrea Koxlien, Nick Bohrer and Aimee Lace.