Norse News

By Ryan F. On Tuesday, October 14th, Roland-Story choirs had their first vocal concert of the year, directed by Landon Stalzer. This concert featured our bass choir, treble choir, mixed choir, Thors Men, and Valkyries. Our choir worked very hard leading up to this concert, and it went very well. We had the pleasure of getting to work with two prestigious choir conductors, Allen and Dennis, and they were a huge help in getting our choirs ready for our performance. Our mixed choir sang three songs: Insanae et vanae curae, I am Glad, and Yotin. Our bass choir sang two songs, Bonse Aba and Beatti. Our Thors Men sang When the Earth Stands Still and our Valkyries sang Golden Hour. A few of these songs featured soloists; for example, in Bonse Aba, our bass choir had two soloists featured, Levi Britten and Alex Watson. Lucy Schmidt was our soloist in the song Yotin, and Jenna Birkland was our soloist in the song I am Glad. Our accompanist for this concert was Laurel Mizerak, who took over the ...

By Kara P. “WELCOME THE ROLAND-STORY MARCHING BAND,” boomed Kevin Masemann, as the band took the field for the starting of the game. “Under the direction of Kevin Masemann, Jen Masemann flags, Drum Majors, Kelsey Johnson, Lily Brunchson, and Jullianne S.” But what led up to this? How did the band get to this point? Many times, behind the scenes, the kids you see are meeting at least eight times throughout the week to get ready. From early mornings to hot afternoon practices, they are working overtime to get the performance ready. These kids are a part of the hardest working group of kids, always showing up.  The morning of homecoming starts bright and early for the band. Rolling into the band room at 6:50, to begin marching on the streets at 6:55. Stepping everyone off to the start of the whistles, everyone is bustling with excitement and still a tiny bit tired. Three clicks are given and the band is off, marching through the streets, performing and practicing. They work through tu...

By Kelsey J. We had been preparing for this one day for months. State came and went for the Roland-Story Jazz band. But it was the preparation leading up to it that mattered the most. The Roland-Story Jazz Band was set to compete on April 8th at 2:45 pm. The two weeks leading up to it were very stressful and filled with tons of practice. Between sectionals, full band practices, and clinics we were booked tight.  To be able to become better, you have to seek the help of the very best along the way. The Roland-Story Jazz band’s first clinic was with Bob Neunier. He came and listened to the band on March 31st. Bob is the Professor of Percussion & Director of Bands at Drake University, where he is the conductor of the wind symphony and director of percussion studies. The kids brought him in to help give tips and advice to the band. With his elite skill set, he helped to lock in the rhythm with the rest of the band. He gave new ideas and insights on how we could take our band from g...

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 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 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 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....

By Ana H. This year's Norse term was quite a surprise. Many changes were made, and some people liked it, and others didn’t. Though there were changes, Norse Term was still crazy fun. I was amazed to see all the different projects, from job shadows to college visits. I had the opportunity to see many people’s ideas come to life and what they want for their future. Some of these changes were that the Freshmen did a project at the school. Although the Freshmen had to stay at the school, I think they still had fun. I had a freshman friend who got to see firefighters and EMTs come to school and talk about their experiences and jobs. Other students got to play games and just have fun with no stress of deciding what they wanted to do for Norse Term. Some other changes include more community service acts, such as volunteering at Bethany or Affordables. I think overall Norse Term is a great idea, and it can help teach the R-S students what they want for their future. Norse Term teaches the ...

By Morgan B. Every year, around 3,000 Iowan FFA members compete at Nationals. But getting to nationals is not an easy task. The road to nationals starts with sub-districts. This year five members of the Roland-story FFA chapter had the opportunity to compete at subdistricts in Algona on February 11, 2025. Competitors included Morgan Bryan in ag sales, Mason Tice in radio broadcasting, Mya Oberender, Taylor Rechkemmer, and Hadley Carlson in chapter program.  Chapter program was the first Roland-Story team to go. Freshmen Mya, Taylor, and Hadley were the first people from Roland Story to compete in Chapter program since advisor, Katelyn Zimmerman, took over the ag program. They got a gold and placed 4th overall, but were unable to advance to districts.  Sophomore Mason Tice was the next to compete. He tried radio broadcasting for the first time this year after competing in Creed speaking his Freshman year. He received a gold rating and placed 5th overall, but did not advance to ...

By Nevaeh L. On February 8th was Roland Story's sweetheart ball. At the sweethearts dance everyone dressed up and came in a group of friends or a date. It was all anyone can talk about for weeks. The dance was from 8-10 PM. When you arrived at the dance they had the gym lit up with LED lights and a setup stand where the DJ had his speakers and equipment. There was a table with drinks and snacks.   Before everyone hit the dance floor and played any music they had a sweetheart's court of seniors and people got to vote the day before. They had announced who the winners were before the dance. The winners were Patrick Gomez and Kate Berggren.  After they announced the winners they shut the lights off and played music.  As the music began to play people filled the gym up and started dancing.

By Alexis R. FFA and FCCLA came together January 17th to celebrate the holidays together. The party was supposed to take place back in December, but ended up being postponed due to harsh weather. Luckily, we were still able to find a time to get together and celebrate! The party took place at Story City’s Carousel Lanes bowling alley. Everyone was provided with pizza and a couple hours of bowling. We had to attribute five dollars to attend;  this was just to help balance the cost of the dozens of pizzas.  After everyone was done eating, we split up into different groups to bowl on each lane. After a little bowling, we were all told to grab a gift bag, containing very random, but very fun, objects. People ended up with all sorts of things such as: floss, holiday accessories, wacky candies, and even ketchup! Overall, the party was a success! Everyone had a really great time together. We all got to relax and bowl, while catching up with each other and enjoying the holidays, even ...

By Isaac D. Every year before Christmas, staff and students work tirelessly to perform a breathtaking concert. The teachers often stay for hours after the school day is finished to help students improve the music. The Band Teacher, Mr. Maseman says, “All of the band students are doing a great job of preparing for the Winter Concert, which will feature the challenging selection: "The Polar Express.”  “The Polar Express” is a college level piece, containing the music from the movie of the same name. The band has worked hard perfecting it. Mr Stalzer, the choir teacher, is focusing on making this the best it can be. He directs the Bass, Mixed, and Treble choirs, and has them learn songs that are sure to take your breath away, along with using an unusual instrument, wine glasses! Thor’s Men and the Valkyries are student lead singing groups that will be performing. Thor”s men will be performing an interesting twist on a classic Christmas song. As you can tell, the concert is going to b...

By Selah H. The week of homecoming for Roland-Story this year was Sept. 23-27. The student council was in charge of all the fun things going on throughout the week, and they did a great job this year--everybody had a great time! Lots of fun pictures were taken, they passed out candy everyday, and decorations looked great.  On Monday there was a pep rally in the new gym going over what the week was going to look like. The cheerleaders led cheers, seniors stood up and talked for sports, the band played songs, and there was a game to finish it off. The dress up day for Monday was PJ day. Tuesday was powder puff for the senior girls who wanted to play flag football. Both blue and purple teams had been preparing for weeks, it was a good game but purple came out with the win. The student section was very loud! The dress up day for Tuesday was Adam Sandler day. Wednesday was lunch on the field. The student council planned that as well; everybody had a fun time on the field. Most people pl...

By Emma N. The 2024-2025 school year has been off to a great start this year. Students are excited and getting ready for homecoming week.  Homecoming gives students opportunities to get involved with others and get out of their comfort zone like asking another fellow student to the dance or just even going to the dance. Students are allowed to bring other students from other schools as long as they are of age limit.  Throughout the week of homecoming students get to dress based on that day's theme.  Starting on Monday September 23rd, students are allowed to wear their Pajamma’ s to school.  Tuesday- Adam sandler day so students are allowed to wear Long basketball shorts, oversized t-shirts, baseball caps, ect. Also on Tuesday Roland-Story has their annual Powder Puff game. Powder Tuff is a day Where The RSHS senior girls go out on the football field and play flag football while the senior boys coach them.  Wednesday- Iconic group/dou day, students are allowed to...

By Bradey H. On April 2nd, the Roland-Story Jazz Band played at the Scheman Building in Ames for the annual Iowa Jazz Championships. After placing first at the SCIBA (South Central Iowa Band Association) Jazz Festival to qualify for the championships, the band continued participating in contests and practicing four times a week to improve for this performance. Just a few weeks earlier, the band had clinics with retired Southeast Polk band director Ted Hagan and Drake jazz professor Bob Meunier. Using the advice from these two experts, the band finished polishing the four pieces they were going to play for the championships. The songs to be performed were “Hipper by the Dozen” by Al Horney, “Chicken Scratch” by Kris Berg, “Sagebrush” by Annie Booth, and “Hit the Bricks” by Gordon Goodwin. The band had only performed “Sagebrush” once before, so a majority of the practice time was devoted to it. In the final days leading up to the event, the band’s director, Kevin Masemann, made the final...

By Owen J. On March 2, the Roland-Story Jazz Band traveled to Waukee Northwest High School for the second annual Blue Note Jazz Festival. The jazz band has played a great year so far and had its best performance yet on Saturday. Competing against three 2A bands, Roland-Story finished first, with Des Moines Christian in second, West Marshall in third, and Van Meter in fourth. Along with the first place finish, Roland-Story received outstanding soloist awards for every soloist, which included: Aubrey Britten, bass; Wrigley Propp, bari sax; Mason Schnurstein, guitar; Brooke Thompson, trumpet; Aiden Tompkins, tenor sax; Samantha Warnick, flute; Caleb Watson, tenor sax; and the entire saxophone section. In this competition, the band added a fourth song to their set, "Sagebrush" by Annie Booth, a slower, contemporary piece that adds more variety. The other songs include "Hipper by the Dozen" by Al Horney, a swing piece, as well as "Chicken Scratch" by Kris Berg ...

By Evan V. Recently the Roland-Story Jazz Band performed at the Southeast Polk Festival at Southeast Polk High School on February 12. This was their third competition this year and by far their best performance at the time. The band won in 2A for the third year in a row maintaining their winning streak.  Every section in the Roland-Story Jazz Band won the Outstanding Section award, making each of them the best of their instrument out of every band competing. In addition, every soloist won an outstanding solo award. The soloists were Aubrey Britten, bass; Wrigley Propp, bari sax; Mason Schnurstein, guitar; Brooke Thompson, trumpet; Aiden Tompkins, tenor sax; Samantha Warnick, flute; and Caleb Watson, tenor sax.  A new addition to the itinerary this year was the “Masterclasses.” They were a set of clinics by talented and skilled musicians that focused on instruments instead of entire bands. For example, there was a Saxophone Masterclass, where all saxophone players from many dif...

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-...