Norse News

By Joe R. On March 26, 2025, Roland-Story FFA held its first Drive Your Tractor to School Day. Even though it was pretty cold, for this being the first time for Roland-Story FFA, they had a good turnout: 11 Tractors, ranging from new to old, big and small, and all of the above.  We started at the bowling alley on the west side of Story City, were escorted by police down Main Street, and passed the elementary school. We ended up parking at the pool parking lot to end the escort and to get breakfast. Everybody had a good time doing this, and we are gonna try and do it again next year.

By Lexi B. Spring break of 2025, the Roland-Story Marching Band got the thrilling opportunity to perform at Disney World in Orlando, Florida! The band hopped on a bus around 11 a.m. on March 16th and headed up to Minneapolis to take off on their flight to Orlando. This trip was not just a vacation, but an opportunity to showcase their talent by marching through the iconic Magic Kingdom on their first day there. The band was directed by drum major Kelsey Johnston. The band paraded down Main Street, the students felt excitement from performing in front of families and tourists, and creating memories that they will truly never forget.  In addition to their performance at Magic Kingdom, the band spent the rest of their days exploring the various attractions across Disney World. They visited Universal Studios, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot, getting to experience the truly magical feeling of Disney World. With lots of thrilling rides and enchanting shows, the students experienced some of ...

By Payton C. The National Honor Society (NHS) is based on four main principles: Scholarship, leadership, service, and character. A select number of people are chosen each year to be a part of this society. The official Induction was on Monday, March 24.  The night started off with all of the new inductees and members of NHS taking their seats while everyone arrived. Issac Hall, Kennedy Petersen, Alana Thorson, and Eva Corcoran all spoke in the ceremony as the selected officers. As the night went on, Kurt Erichson spoke about the society and what it takes to be a part of the society. He talked about the responsibilities of each member and what an honor it is to be selected. When he got done speaking, Issac Hall came back up to announce the new inductees.  Each inductee walked onto the stage as their names were called. Kennedy and Alana handed them each a pin and certificate as they shook their hands. Once all of the inductees were on stage, Issac recited the pledge for the indu...

By Mason S. The Roland-Story Jazz Band is in full swing, preparing for the Jazz Championships. They are practicing after school, competing at competitions, and even bringing in university clinicians to work with the students to perfect the music ahead of this year's fierce competition. Their hard work is showing, especially at the most recent competition, the Blue Note Jazz Festival. Blue Note takes place at Waukee Northwest High School and is a new competition both in the state, and that Roland-Story has attended. With around 60 different jazz bands competing, it was an excellent opportunity to see other schools play and learn more about Jazz in general. Waukee NW also brings in a panel of incredibly talented musicians and music teachers to be the judges and clinicians for the bands. On top of that, Blue Note has different classes to take throughout the day to help musicians refine their skills in improvisation and rhythm section collaboration.  “Blue Note Festival is a massive co...

By Lily B. On March 7th and 8th, Roland-Story High School students performed their spring musical titled “Anything Goes.” The two shows were an outstanding success! Everyone has the privilege of seeing the actors out on stage, making the show a magical experience, but the crew often goes unnoticed. There are tons of different jobs on crew, such as costumes, hair and makeup, backstage, props, tech, and even stage managers. The work these kids put in isn’t seen the same as the dances and amazing dialogue. It is just as important to the show.  Props and Backstage work together to get the set ready for performance. This might include painting, building, or just finding the right props for the show. Backstage then moves everything for the scene changes during the show. Hair, makeup, and costumes work to make sure everyone looks well put together and cohesive. Without these people, the show would not come to life the way it does. Tech also goes above and beyond to ensure everyone gets th...

By Kara H. This year’s musical for Roland-Story High School is going to be Anything Goes! It takes place in the 1930’s on the ocean liner: S.S. American. This ocean liner is trying to be the best it could possibly be and have the most famous passengers compared to the others. The first passengers we see are a nightclub singer, Reno Sweeney (Lucy Schmidt), and a Wall Street broker named Billy Crocker (Luccas Hart). Along the way they meet two gangsters: Moonface Martin (John Craig) and Erma Latour (Kara Harding), who had also snuck onto the ship as a getaway. The audience also gets to meet Hope Harcourt (Aubrey Britten), who is about to get married to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh under the watchful eye of her mother, Mrs. Harcourt (Marissa Oetker)! This musical is full of laughter and jokes, surprise dance numbers, and numerous love stories that have to go through challenges and triumphs; you can’t miss it! The performances are on Wednesday, March 5th at 2:30 p.m. with general admission; Friday...

By Olivia R. On March 1, many teams of FFA members made their way to Charles City to compete in competitions. Various schools arrived, adding to the sea of blue coats that filled the high school. This event is held after subdistricts and determines who will move on to the next level to compete at state. Districts is a test of leadership, personal growth, and success as a chapter. As each chapter entered the building, they were sent to the gym where they couldn’t leave or use phones until after their competition. While the members sat in the gym and the minutes ticked by, nerves were heightened. There was a consistent chatter and you could hear different speeches being rehearsed from all over the room. As time passed, the room started to clear out and the competitions began. The Agricultural Issues team (Delaney Paulson, Olivia Reitano, Addy Schmitz, Jack Mohr) was eventually called. Cael Paulson was also called to be a delegate for new officers.  During the competitions, the teams ...

By Hayden E. This wrestling season was awesome for our team with 10 wins and 6 losses. The development was extremely special. From the beginning of the season to the end, every single one of the Roland Story wrestlers improved a tremendous amount. A big part about wrestling is "showing up," Coach Johnson said, "All of our kids showed up to early morning practices, weights, and after-school practices, which is why we improved so much." A few wrestlers that stand out to me are Chance Georgius and Caiden Latch. Chance at the beginning of the season was not as technically good but as he kept showing up he improved a tremendous amount on his technical wrestling skills. Caiden Latch improved on the more mind set part of the sport. Caiden thought it was going to be easy and win a lot but then as he showed up and wrestled at more tournaments he realized this is not going to be as easy and I need to keep working hard and striving for excellence in practice or he will not imp...

By Story G. A wonderful way to kick off the new year after winter break was with a performance by our Roland-Story Choir! The choir performed a range of challenging pieces, all conducted by our very own choir director, Landon Stalzer. The performers were divided into several talented groups: the Bass Choir, Treble Choir, Mixed Choir, Chamber Choir, Thor's Men, and Valkyries. The choir students practiced daily during the fifth period. During these practices, they warmed up with various vocal exercises, such as singing scales up and down the staff. After warm-ups, students sang their choir pieces and received feedback on aspects like dynamics, consonants, sound quality, and more. Practices typically lasted 25 minutes but could extend up to 50 minutes. The choir rehearsed for two months before performing the selected pieces. The concert opened with two outstanding songs performed by the Bass Choir. This group is open to any male student who selects choir as an elective. Their upbeat s...

By Delaney P. From February 24th through 28th, the Roland-Story FFA Chapter celebrated National FFA Week. It was celebrated by planning many activities to do throughout the week. The FFA chapter officers worked hard throughout the month of February to make these activities happen. The activities included Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, Pet Education Day at the elementary school, a service project, and dress up days all week. For the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, officers and other members showed up to school early to cook breakfast for the teachers. The breakfast included pancakes, sausage, and muffins, and we had many teachers show up!  On Thursday, numerous members signed up to bring a pet to the elementary school for Pet Education Day. We had a variety of animals brought, including a snake, rabbit, dogs, and Ms. Zimmerman even brought her guinea pig, Betty, and her Chinchilla, Ozzy! The elementary students were very excited to see all of the animals, and it went very well....