Junior Bennett Lang slowly walks on to the parking lot reserved for the Jasper Marching Wild Cats. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays I just have no time for homework.” he complains.

Some students complain that they don’t have enough free time. Try being Bennett Lang. This sixteen year old junior balances cross country, marching band, and school all together. Marching band requires Tuesday and Thursday nights from six to nine, but his cross country practices overlap. Instead of going to one or the other, Bennett will finish cross country practice then head for the last hour of marching practice. Saturdays are no exception to the craziness of the week. After hours of cross country competitions, he runs right over to marching band to compete and not return home until one in the morning. When asked what advice he could give to a student with a similar schedule as him, Bennett replied: “Just be good with time management, and get your homework done. Good luck.”

To fundraise for her mission trip Ball is selling threads of hope bracelets. The cards some of the bracelets come on were made by Balls friend, Olivia Ruckriegel. Photo by Sophie Ball.

While other seniors were applying for colleges, Sophie Ball was applying for a nine month mission trip around the world through The World Race. The World Race is a Christian based organization that connects college age students with mission trips around the world. “I had it in the back of my mind since my sophomore year of high school,” said Ball, “but I officially decided this would be the path for me after an experience I had working at a YoungLife camp over  the summer.” On the trip, Ball will be traveling to eSwatini, India, Nepal, and Guatemala to participate in different service activities. In eSwatini Ball will be working with children in schools and churches; in India educating women, and in Guatemala there will be different opportunities.

During her nine month trip, Ball will not be able to come home unless there are severe circumstances. “My parents are a little bit nervous about me being gone. But my parents understand that this is what I want. My mom was a foreign exchange student in high school so she understand the need to explore,” said Ball.

While traveling, Ball will be uploading her blog as a way to keep family, friends, and donors updated on her life. Her blog can be found at www.sophieball.theworldrace.org.

To fundraise for the trip, Ball has been selling bracelets called Threads of Hope for $2, $4, and $6. Ball is also asking for people to partner with her financially to fund her trip, or you can visit her blog and click the donate link to make a tax deductible donation.

Although Ball is taking a gap year, she can still get college credit through The World Race program. “I won’t even be that far behind,” said Ball. After the end of her mission trip Ball will study special education at an undecided university.

Featured image provided by Meghan Premuda photography.

Every image that is featured on the blog has been taken by Caroline. This blog is a way for Millie, as well as Caroline to express themselves through things they are passionate about. “Fashion has always been a huge part of who I am and I am definitely going to pursue a career in this industry. I don’t know where it will take me, but that is the beauty of fashion,” expressed Prechtel.

“Do your thing. Don’t waste your time concerned with what other people think about you. Be secure with yourself and know that you are good enough,” shared Barry.

Forty high school seniors from throughout Indiana came together April 27, at the Indiana Academic All-Stars (a program of the Indiana Association of School Principals) luncheon in Indianapolis to be honored for their academic achievements. Amongst these forty students, was senior class president, Jacob Barry.

Barry was selected from a field of 266 outstanding nominees from the state’s private and public accredited schools. Academic All-Star recognizes seniors who excel in the classroom first, but who are also actively involved in their schools and communities, and take on leadership roles in those activities. Though many think the Indiana Academic All-Star is a scholarship, it actually isn’t. It’s more about the recognition. 

“I’ve gotten scholarship letters from colleges who heard about this [academic all-star],” stated Barry. Learn more about the Indiana Academic All-Star at http://www.iasp.org/dsp/allstars/.

In addition to being student council’s senior class president, Barry is also part of the speech and debate team, student council, ping pong club, and four out of the five bands sponsored at our school (marching, jazz, pep, and symphonic).

“It [student council] has been fun because I get to interact with all kids of cool people who learn how to lead, make executive decision, etc,” explained Barry.

Barry will be continuing his education at Purdue University this fall. At Purdue he will be studying actuarial science and building his love for music.

Mrs. Milligan, coach, hugs Edwards after speaking at her signing.

Senior, Maddie Edwards recently signed a contract to play collegiate level volleyball at Hanover College. For someone who has been committed to this sport practically her whole life, for this to be happening is a dream come true for Maddie. Maddie is a leader on the court, and someone that many of the younger players look up to. “I’m definitely going to miss my team. I made so many great memories with them that I’ll never forget. They were more family to me than anything. I just loved the bond we had and how close we got. Especially my senior year,” said Edwards. Leaving behind high school and the volleyball program is going to be a challenge, but it is something Edwards has been waiting for since she was a little girl. “This experience is definitely a dream come true! I’ve worked for this moment since seventh grade. I was in fourth grade when I decided I wanted to play at the collegiate level and I wasn’t going to give up until I made that dream come true so I would say this has been a life long goal of mine,” stated Edwards. Edwards has been very successful so far in her athletic career, she reached the 1,000 kill club during sectionals at Harrison High School and her hitting percentage was second in the state her senior season.

“The live interaction is the best part of the entire thing,” said Lee about streaming. Through streaming Lee bonds with his current friends and makes new friends along the way. Photo by Robert McCarty

Senior John Lee has been streaming since June of 2017. In almost one year, Lee has been able to become an affiliate of Twitch.tv. To become an affiliate with Twitch, Lee had to have at least three viewers for an entire month, have 50 viewers, and stream at least eight hours across the span of a week. Lee currently has 300 followers and he recently had 65 views on one of his streams, the largest audience he has ever had. “[It] may not seem like a lot but everyone starts somewhere,” joked Lee.

Twitch is an online streaming service created in 2011. The service has become very popular with 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million viewers per month. Streaming is a live feed of a video, in this case a video game, that is broadcasted to viewers in different locations. Being an affiliate with Twitch means revenue can be earned by streaming. Before Twitch Lee streamed on youtube, but he made the switch to Twitch for a better experience.

Lee can devote anywhere from 10 to 30 plus hours a week to streaming. Despite the long hours, he doesn’t see streaming as a chore but a way to make new friends. “People watch Youtubers or Twitch streamers to find an escape for a bad day,” said Lee, “I’d like to be that escape for some people.”

This fall Lee intends on attending the University of Southern Indiana, USI, with a major in photography. Despite his future just beginning, Lee is determined to continue streaming. “I’ll still be streaming for fun even if I have a full time job. I’ll just have to find my balance,” said Lee.

Featured image courtesy of Twitch.

“Oakland City exceeded all my expectations and proved to be the place that I wanted to go,” says Blessinger. Gillian toured Oakland City last fall and she fell in love with it, which led to her choosing to further her career there. 

College signing season has officially begun. Gillian Blessinger, senior, was the first to have their “official” signing. Gillian has been golfing for quite a long time. Over the four years she spent on the golf team, she improved exponentially. She spent the next three years as part of the top three on the team. She helped her team win two sectional titles in her time, as well as receiving the Jasper High School Golf Mental Attitude Award twice. “I have come along way from where I started, and I know that I have the best golf ahead of me,” says Blessinger.
Gillian is continuing her golfing career at Oakland City University in the fall.

Lucas Eby and Park Wurster, both seniors, shake hands with their opponents from Vincennes Lincoln. The Jasper boys tennis team ended up winning the Senior Night match against Vincennes Lincoln 5-1 and their only loss in the 3 singles spot.

This senior night match was Lucas’s first and last match of the year. When asked how he felt about being a senior, he replied, “[It] hasn’t hit me yet.” His doubles partner, Park Wurster, spoke about that subject as well. He said that it felt like they were just little freshman getting bossed around by the upperclassmen, and now it’s their turn. This was not the first time these two have played together. They played together back in their freshman and sophomore years. This match against Vincennes proved they still have chemistry together. Everyone in the JTennis “family” has chemistry together. “It does not matter if we are on Varsity or JV, we are still a team,” says Wurster, “No matter where we are, we can always hang out. We are brothers.”

Now, Eby is taking his return back to tennis slow. He does not want to re-injure his knee again. “I’m playing it smart because I can still injure my leg,” he says. Lucas will not get the chance to play in the IHSAA tournament his senior year of tennis, but he will be right along side of his teammates, cheering them on. So far, Jasper has won sectionals and just received a win against the Northeast Dubois Jeeps to claim the title of Regional Champs. They will play the Semi-State match on Saturday, October 7, at their home courts.

Hannah Welps unique expression helped Huddleston to win an honorable mention.

On Tuesday, April 18 Jasper High School hosted quite a surprise for one student. Emily Huddleston received quite a shock when she was led to an awards ceremony for her instead of the class photo she was expecting. Mr. Elrod, the Jasper High School yearbook adviser had told the class to dress nicely for an updated class photo. Little did the class know what awaited them in the atrium of the school. As they walked into the atrium a line of people awaited them, the majority with cameras. It was there that Cam Bardwell, the Jostens representative for the region, surprised the junior by walking out the office doors holding two awards. Once the first award was handed out Huddleston was filled with shock, but when she was handed the second award she burst into tears and had to walk away from the group of her classmates.  “I felt pretty overwhelmed. I grabbed the award and I was like “Oh my god I can’t believe this is happening,” states Emily about the moment she received her awards. Huddleston recuperated with a luncheon with her fellow yearbook members after the exciting event. 

Jack Greener looks into the mirror at a play for the school theater. Titled “Forever Young,” Huddleston won first place in the “portrait” category.

Emily Huddleston has been a member of Interactive Media since her freshman year. Although she wasn’t technically a part of the class her sophomore year, she still helped with the making of the yearbook and her name is featured on many pages in the 2016 yearbook. Emily, also affectionately known as Pablo, became the 2017 co-editor of the “J” and has been a major force in the class ever since. This year has been a year of firsts for the quirky teen; first camera, first (but not the last) year as editor, and her first time receiving recognition for her photography skills. Huddleston placed first in the “Portrait” category of the Jostens 2017 U.S. photo contest, and received an honorable mention for her picture in the “Student Traditions” category. Cam Bardwell, a Jostens representative of 16 years said that “out of all the schools [I’ve worked] with in the area, there’s never even been an honorable mention awarded!”

Emily remained calm while receiving her first award, but after the second she broke out in tears of joy.

Huddleston is one student that deserves recognition the most. She’s always working hard on everything that has to do with the yearbook; from page layouts to tagging photos. Even when she isn’t at school, Huddleston still focuses on everything yearbook, and she does so with a smile. Emily is a student who invites others into things that she does, and she’s known for her jokes that make everyone laugh, like an email she sent out last year that had everyone that knew her laughing! “I saw talent in her in many different aspects. Yearbook is really different from other things because you have to be able to capture the pictures and the story, and for many things you only have one chance. Sometimes it takes a while to make the photos and the words work together in a single person and they could just be an okay staff member until senior year (or maybe even until they graduate). It takes passion and vision to be great and I could tell [Mila] and Emily both just had it from the start, even if you couldn’t see it [in] yourselves at first,” says Mariya Merkley, a three time editor of the Jasper High School yearbook, and the editor when Huddleston was a freshman. When it comes to the design of the yearbook, she knows exactly what it should look like. And although the school year isn’t over, she already has an idea of what next year’s yearbook will look like. Though she may only be a junior, Emily Huddleston has a bright future ahead of her full of design and photography.