Norse News

By Ryan F. The Roland-Story Norsemen ended the season hot with a record of 6-2. With that 6-2 record, they got 2nd in their conference making them eligible for a home playoff game. The last time they hosted a playoff game was 2008, making it 15 years. For the first round, they would play Clarke. The Norsemen started the game off well, with a monumental interception in the endzone by Boaz Clark. This set the Norsemen up with the football as they would score on that very drive. By half, the Norsemen were up 21-0. They would eventually win the game 42-7 with Clarke getting a late touchdown to not go scoreless. It was very easy to see the Norsemen would win with great performances from Sam Knoll who went 6/8, 139 passing yards, and 3 touchdowns. Jonovan Wilkinson had 2 receptions for 92 yards, 28 rushing yards, and 2 total touchdowns. The offense was not the only thing coming easy to the Norsemen, as Charlie Watts and Heston Johnson both combined for 21.5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 1...

By Heston M. Being in the Iowa All-State Chorus is the highest accomplishment a high school singer can hope to achieve. On average, a student musician has an 18% chance of making it; however, Roland-Story goes to Indianola for auditions where all the Des Moines metro schools also audition. These schools are consistently good year after year which translates into tougher competition for RS students. It takes a lot of hard work and talent to be part of the chorus. It's a lengthy process that greatly improves the musician in many aspects with the end goal of making it into the All-State chorus.  It all starts at Wartburg in early August where hundreds of singers go to learn the music over three days. After this, there are a few mini-camps during August around the area where surrounding schools get together to sing and keep getting better. This then leads into the school year where everyone in All-State rehearses together for about two weeks. Then comes the audition to audition. Every ...

By Evan V. The Cross Country season ran to an end recently, crossing the finish line of a successful year. Both the Girls’ and the Boys’ Teams did very well, with many personal bests for the runners. The Girls' Team placed first in their conference. Five runners made All-Conference: Juniors Claire Truesdell and Brooke Thompson, and Seniors Lauryn Kilstofte, Elizabeth Ihle, and Makenna Carlson. Freshman Kara Patterson and, visiting from Italy, Matilde Motta held down sixth and seventh on varsity. At the state qualifying meet, the Girls' Team placed fifth, with runners Lauryn Kilstofte and Claire Truesdell placing 14th and 15th respectively, and qualifying for state. At state, Lauryn placed 50th with a time of 20:36.8 and Claire placed 81st with a time of 21:21.3. When asked about her thoughts on the season, Coach Ashlee Hovel said, “I’m insanely proud of our team! It obviously was a big change having a new coach, a new way of running the program, and just a lot of new to them th...

By Jori W. Being accepted into the Iowa All-State Chorus is a high honor and requires a lot of dedication, not only for the process beforehand but also on the day of auditions. Roland-Story participates at the Indianola High School center. It is a long all-day process filled with excitement, nerves, laughter, and focus. Participants go through many different stages on the day of auditions, all leading up to one goal. On the morning of the auditions, those auditioning for All-State meet at the high school for an optional yoga session at 5:20 a.m. After, there is a group breakfast and warmups. Each group auditioning--whether it be a quartet, group of three, or two--warm up and mark the audition cuts. Audition cuts are the measures people sing for the audition, which are sent out at 5 a.m. The measures people sing are sent out that day so as not to give anyone an unfair advantage. The bus ride to Indianola is about an hour long, in which students are not allowed to sleep to avoid losing t...

By Eva C. On October 19th, the Roland-Story FFA Chapter hosted their annual Farm Safety Day for 3rd graders. This event, organized by the FFA, is one of the elementary’s favorite activities. They love exploring all the stations that the high schoolers have prepared and brought to show them. To prepare for this event, high school students dedicated time during seminar to form groups and conduct research for their assigned topics. The groups included sun safety, MyPlate, Iowa products, fishing and water safety, equipment safety, chemical safety, animal safety, ATV safety, first aid, and grain bin safety. High schoolers signed up to lead these groups and teach the kids. Many elements from previous years have been utilized, with updates each year to improve the stations. For example, the Iowa product station was turned into a game to enhance engagement for the 3rd graders. During Farm Safety Day, the kids are divided into 10 groups. Then, the high schoolers who signed up as group leaders g...

By Lexi V. Every year a large group of Roland-Story high schoolers come together to put on a play, and this year’s fall play will be “Ghostlight,” which is about a high school girl named Garbiela Nettles. She is a new student at a prestigious academy and does not fit in with the other students. Throughout the play, Garbiela tries to get out of the school, but then she starts to hear voices no one else around her can hear. As she investigates the noises, a shocking yet funny story is unraveled.  This year features a very talented group of seniors leading the play. In total, there are 17 senior cast and crew members. A few of the seniors’ roles are Garbiela Nettles played by Jaina Brunscheon, Clovis played by Lucas Wuebker, Colby played by Thomas Tjaden, Kelvin played by Braden Vinson, and Jackson Nettles played by William Licht. There are several other outstanding seniors on the cast and crew.  The Roland-Story Fall Play cast and crew are excited to put on this show for the com...

By Sam B. It is one of the fastest-growing sports in the state and the nation: trap shooting. Many people don’t know much about trap shooting, so my goal is to give you enough information to understand why it is one of the fastest growing.  What most people know about trap shooting is that you shoot guns at flying discs. While this isn’t inaccurate, there is a lot more included in trap shooting. Yes, trap is shooting flying discs with shotguns, but there is more to that than it sounds. It takes necessary technique to be able to go from an accuracy of about 32%, which is average of most shooters 8th grade year, to a 93%, which is what most upperclassmen shoot.  This is what an average practice looks like. When you first arrive to practice at your scheduled time, you first get out all the safety equipment. The first priority of trap shooting is safety. For shooters to be safe, shooters have safety glasses and ear protection for starters. More competitive shooters will buy lenses...

By Ella M. The Roland-Story Marching Band has added another consecutive year to their wins at Carroll Band Days. The band and color guard, under the direction of Kevin and Jennifer Masemann, headed to the competition on Saturday, September 30. This is the 66th year of the event in Carroll, which inspired the parade’s Route 66 theme. The line-up consisted of 12 bands and 40 businesses showcasing their floats. The Roland-Story Band was number 62nd in the parade, marching close to a mile. Unfortunately, conditions were less than favorable, considering the high was just short of 90 degrees. However, you can always count on the RS band to look and sound their best, no matter the circumstances. So the band and color guard performed in full uniform, even for the exhibition. The exhibition, following the march, has been a new addition to the itinerary of the day. This event showcases a game-day halftime routine from each participating band. This has only been the second year that the band has ...

By Brooklyn R. The Roland-Story Claybusters started with a bang on October 3 at the Ames Izaak Walton League. Roland-Story Claybusters is a club that was started by parents trying to meet the needs of students who wanted to shoot that started in 2009. Middle school and high school students compete in the sport. Roland-Story competes with teams around Iowa. The team’s biggest competitors are The Ballard Clay Bombers and The Gilbert Clay Commanders.  On October 3, the Claybusters went up against the Commanders in singles, doubles, and handicap. Singles competition is when one clay comes out from different varying positions. Doubles competition is when two clays come out simultaneously and the shooter has two shot shells to hit the two clays. Lastly, handicap is when the shooter will shoot from the 25-yard line, and shoot one clay. This is very difficult as the shooter has less time to make their shot and the clay target is further away.  The Claybusters finished first as a team ...

By Aurora C. Every year for homecoming the high school students do fun activities throughout the week. From Monday to Friday, they dressed up in various themes such as Pajama Day, Disney vs Marvel, Zoom calls, the first letter of your name, and Norsemen Spirit Day. On Monday, September 25, there was an assembly to introduce the homecoming court, seniors in sports, and fall play. The students got to see the band and the cheerleaders play our school song for them. The second day of the week was the powder puff game, a flag football game that had two teams, the pink and orange teams. The powder puff games were played by the senior girls. They competed against each other, and the pink team ended up winning. Students from the high school, middle school, and elementary watched the seniors play on the new football field. On Wednesday, September 27, was picture day and lunch on the field day, for which students walked to the football field to have their lunch on the track. It was a very nice d...