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...