Norse News

By Lily E. In Large Group Speech, participants work in small or large groups to rehearse a piece, then perform it at a contest in front of judges and an audience. While called Large Group, those groups range in size from three to 15 people. Individual Speech does not officially begin until after Large Group speech, but participants in Individual Speech are already preparing for their independent performances. This year, there are around 15 students in Roland-Story’s Large Group Speech. Each week, these students meet for three hours to rehearse with their coaches, Mrs. Ferrell and Mrs. Hull. The different performances that they will be having this year are one readers theatre, two short films, two improv groups, and a group mime. The students have their first competition on January 20 at West Des Moines Valley. This is their district competition. If the teams get a Division 1 rating, then they get to advance to state competition on February 3 at Ankeny Centennial. Although Individual Sp...

By Charlie W. The Roland-Story esports Overwatch team has started the season off cold. After finishing 4th at state last year, they have started the season 1-2, losing to both Williamsburg and Centerville 0-3 in each loss. This shift in competitiveness is likely due to a loss of three of the five starters from the previous year.  Overwatch is a 5v5 shooter where two teams fight for control of an objective, and the game relies heavily on team coordination to out position the other team, while picking characters that play well against the other team.  That is why having over half the team being a new player can impact the success of a team, but there is still time for this new roster to gel and make it back to state since there are still four games left in the regular season. If the team were to win out, they would finish the season 5-2, and would make the play-ins for state. Play-ins are where you play a match against another team for the opportunity to go to state.  Coach...

By Connor M. The swish of a net, a basketball hitting the floorboards in rhythmic patterns, and the crowd chanting and cheering the players on. Shoes squeak under the pressure of ten young men in a fierce battle for victory.  This is basketball at Roland-Story High School. The Roland-Story Boys Basketball Team started their season with a scrimmage game for charity on Saturday, November 25th, against Denver High School in Parkersburg, Iowa.  As the game started, both teams got off to a rocky start, but soon it was evident that Roland-Story had the upper hand. As the first half ended, it was Roland-Story with a 35-20 lead over Denver. Coming out of halftime, Roland-Story started strong and ended up beating Denver with a score of 73-40. Boaz Clark and Jonovan Wilkinson both contributed greatly to the win. Clark scored 22 points and Wilkinson scored 19 points. Although these two players scored most of the points for Roland-Story, the win was a team effort. Cody Long, Trevor Britte...

By Wes H. On December 16th, 2023, Roland-Story Wrestling held the 51st annual Jim Kinyon Wrestling Invitational. Jim Kinyon was the head wrestling coach at Roland-Story for many years, as well as a middle school teacher, husband, and father. After retiring, he spent many years supporting Roland-Story wrestling in many ways.  Jim Kinyon passed away in May of 2022, but his memory and contributions to the wrestling program live on through this tournament each year.  Nineteen teams and over 200 wrestlers from around the state attended, with schools from three different classes. Roland-Story competed very well and had seven kids place in the top 6. In the 106-pound weight class, Konnor Blume placed 6th with a great showing as a freshman. Caiden Latch won at the 113 weight class,  beating two wrestlers who were ranked in the state. Kade Blume won the 138 weight class, and also got his 100th career win during the tournament, a huge milestone for high school wrestling. Logan Powe...

By Jack B. On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, Roland-Story High School is hosting a Pink Out night against the Nevada Cubs in basketball. This event is going to be a mega night, where all the teams of both boys and girls (JV2, JV, and Varsity) play their games. All proceeds from this event will go to support the Bliss Cancer Center in Ames. The things going on to raise money include guessing jars, raffle tickets, pom poms, and donations. The Roland-Story girl's basketball team has had a great start to the year. They are undefeated in conference and also overall. The Norsemen have conference wins over PCM, Saydel, Greene County, Perry, and West Marshall. Their two non-conference wins have come against Gilbert and Spirit Lake.  The Nevada girl's basketball team is not bad, with a tally of five wins and three losses. Their losses have come against South Hamilton, West Marshall, and Boone. However, the Cubs have beaten Greene County, Saydel, Iowa Falls-Alden, Perry, and Hampton-Dumont-...

By Issie B. This year, Roland-Story is hosting the pink out game against Nevada. There will be raffles, prizes, and fun activities that go along with it. The Roland-Story Key Club is in charge of all the activities that go along with the game. This will be a tough game, and the players are giving it their all in practice to prepare.  Mrs. Lettow is in charge of Key Club, which organizes the pink out game events. She is super excited for the event. The pink out game happens every December. The RSHS and Nevada Key Clubs are collaborating with each other. There will be t-shirts, raffle tickets, accessories, candy guessing jars, and much more. All of the proceeds are going to the Bliss Cancer Center in Ames, Iowa. This is one of the biggest events for the basketball season.  Mrs. Lettow is very passionate about the pink out game. She says, “I believe everyone's lives have been touched by cancer in a way.” The proceeds will help raise money for people who can’t afford treatment. De...

By Madi R. DMACC has been offering the CNA class since January 18, 1976. So what is a CNA? CNA stands for Certified Nursing Assistant/Aide. What do you do as a CNA? As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you provide basic care and safety to residents as well as assist them with activities of daily living.  Daily tasks are given to CNAs by the RN. RN stands for Registered Nurse, often referred to as the Charge Nurse. A few common daily tasks of a CNA are assisting residents with personal hygiene and appearance, which includes providing oral care, bathing, and making sure residents are comfortable. One of the most rewarding things when working as a CNA is being able to help residents and see the smiles on their faces when they are able to feel like themselves again.  How long does the class last? For this year, class started on August 23, 2023, at Story County Medical Long Term Care. Story County Medical Long Term Care was the old hospital in Nevada. The classroom was in the basement...

By Addy S. Formally known as J-Term, Norse Term is the new and improved version. Norse Term will now take place during the middle of February, starting on Tuesday, Feb. 20th, with presentations on Friday, the 24th. Students will still have the opportunities to engage in topics and activities they feel strongly about. Projects can range from woodworking, baking and cooking, or job shadowing. The possibilities are endless. Principal McQuillen has worked to get the new proposed idea to the community and students. Something this event offers is for community members to walk through the high school building on the last day of Norse Term to view student projects and to buy products from those who decide to learn about entrepreneurship. Students selling items donate at least half of the proceeds to a charity. Presentation day also gives parents a chance to see what their kids are passionate about.  I spoke with one of the students, Rylee Wolff, to show an example of a successful Norse Ter...

By Garrett N. On Friday, December 15, the Roland-Story boys basketball team beat the Saydel Eagles. The Norsemen boys were red hot coming into the game with a perfect record of 4-0, while the Eagles were only breaking even with a record of 2-2. The previous four wins have included a triple overtime thriller against Gilbert and three blowouts against West Marshall, Perry, and Greene County, with an average margin of victory of 25 points. The boys showed no signs of slowing down against Saydel, cruising past them scoring 68-37.  Senior Brett Schmitz had a breakout game with 15 points (all coming from beyond the three-point line), three assists, one rebound, and one steal. Boaz Clark had another good game as well with 15 points, six assists, eight rebounds, and two steals. Superstar Jonovan Wilkinson yet again had an amazing game with 20 points, three assists, nine rebounds, and one steal. Riley Larson, Tristan Anderson, Cody Long, Trevor Britten and Jake Berggren all contributed to t...

By Emily K. FCCLA has been delighting families across the Roland-Story community with the creation of enchanting Elf on the Shelf kits. In recent years, the profits have just gone to A Way for Will. This year, profits will be going to A Way for Will and The Bridge Home, a homeless shelter located in Ames. In the past years, FCCLA members have created different scenarios for the parents to put around the house every morning. This is a great way to get into the Christmas Spirit and have the kids get connected during the holiday season. There are 10-day and 25-day Elf on the Shelf kits. These kits make the parents' lives easier during the holidays. The FCCLA delivered the kits to parents on November 27th. The FCCLA students spent hours on these awesome kits. The seniors helped out a lot throughout the holiday season, by getting these kits together and making goodies for the community.  Mrs. Eley, the new FCCLA advisor and FCS teacher, is a great contribution to the Roland-Story distri...

By Marissa O. This past Monday, the Roland-Story Choir had a 9-12 vocal concert. Along with the vocal portion of the concert, there was a band section. This concert was the Christmas Concert, and six different ensambles sang. Many Christmas classics were sung, leaving many filled with joy and ready for Christmas. To start off the concert, the Chamber Choir performed, which is an auditioned ensemble that consists of 32 people who meet every Monday and Thursday at 7 a.m.. They sang two songs, one being “Goodnight Dear Heart” by Dan Forrest. Following that group, the Treble Choir performed, which is the all-girls non-auditioned ensemble. They also performed two pieces. The first was “Bring a Torch,” and the second was “Gloria Kajoniensis,” which featured two violinists, along with Lucas Wuebker playing the bongos. The next ensemble that performed was  the Valkyries, which is a nine-person all-female ensemble. Prior to performing at the concert, the Valkyries performed (along with Thor...

By Bradey H. On Saturday, December 9, the Roland-Story Jazz Band competed in the SCIBA Jazz Festival at Winterset High School. Put on by the South Central Iowa Band Association, this competition determines which schools in the district make it to the Jazz Championships. SCIBA Jazz can make or break a band. The top two bands automatically make it to the Jazz Champs, while the third-place band is put into a drawing that will give them a chance to play at State Jazz.  To begin the season the Roland-Story Jazz Band started practice at the end of October. After an extended marching band season, the jazz band was a few weeks behind on practices. By the second week of practice, every part had been filled. Sections are:  Trumpet: Skylar Blagg, Owen Johnson, Brooke Thompson, Kara Patterson, and Kaylee Koppes Flute: Samantha Warnick Trombone: William Licht, Cole Olson, Bradey Haberl, Evan Voga, Dash Isebrand, and Cecilia Slifka Saxophone: Wrigley Propp, Samantha Sanderson, Aiden Tom...

By Peyton J. As the 2023-2024 school year has started, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has had twice as many high schoolers attend on Sunday nights. Last year 20 students attended and this year around 40 to 50 people join FCA on Sunday nights. Darrin and Jess Berggren started to host the club three years ago. Almost every Sunday, the group meets. During the warm months, the group meets at the Berggren household. In the winter months, they meet at the high school. The night starts with playing fun games and ends with a bible study led by Mr. Berggren. FCA is a great opportunity for students to connect and grow their faith.  FCA has a series of fun events throughout the year. Fields of Faith is an annual Gilbert High School football field event. Iowa State athletes give their testimony and encourage high school athletes. This event always has a great turnout from many schools in the area. In October, the group had a pumpkin carving contest, and friends got into groups and ...

By Alyssa J. Last year, Roland-Story’s girls basketball team had an overall record of 12-11. One highlighted non-conference win was a 49-45 victory against Spirit Lake. One highlighted conference game was a 57-52 victory against Prairie City-Monroe. Against the Heart of Iowa Conference teams, the Norse went 10-4 and placed second behind West Marshall. After some time off, the 2023-2024 girls' basketball season is here with Coach Maddie Gelber in her third year as the head coach.  At the end of each season, there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done in the offseason, starting with mandatory weights twice a week. During the summer and fall, the schedules look similar. There are a couple of open gyms each week, which look a lot like practices. There are also team camps at different schools. This is when the team scrimmages different schools from around the area. In the summer, the girls' basketball team went to Dallas Center-Grimes to scrimmage other teams. During the fal...

By Isabel H. Every year, Roland-Story’s color guard travels to Wells Fargo to perform at the Iowa State Dance Team Association (ISDTA) State Color Guard Competition. Roland-Story’s color guard consists of 12 girls, coaches Jennifer and Kevin Masemann, manager Jori Witthuhn, and assistant choreographer Lauren Hansen. Talented performers from all over the state come to showcase their skills in both group routines and solos. All of the performers put countless hours into their routines--choreographing, practicing, and perfecting every last detail in hopes of taking home first place.  Two Roland Story soloists were able to perform at state this year. These were senior Emma McGuigan and sophomore Kaylee Koppes. Emma placed fourth overall in class 1A and Kaylee placed fifth. Every soloist is extremely talented. Not only do they have to perfect their routine, but they also have to create their whole routine themselves. This year ISDTA changed how they do solos. Instead of everybody gettin...

By Paige C. The Roland-Story basketball teams took on West Marshall on Friday, December 1st. The girls and boys teams were looking forward to improving their records: 3-0 for the girls and 2-0 for the boys. The Norsemen played in State Center with the theme being pajama night. On November 28th, Roland-Story previously played Gilbert. At Gilbert, Jonovan Wilkinson had a total of 44 points and 15 rebounds. In the girls game, Matilde Motta had a total of 22 points and 7 rebounds.  The first quarter of the West Marshall boys game was not as great as what the boys had hoped for with the score being 13-10. However, the Norsemen had the lead. At halftime, the Norsemen still had the lead with the score being 29-23. Lead players from Friday night were three seniors: Jonovan Wilkinson, Boaz Clark, and Tristan Anderson. Jonovan Wilkinson had 28 points throughout the game. Tristan Anderson had a total of 6 rebounds.  Boaz Clark had 4 assists in the West Marshall game. The final score at t...