PHS MEDIA NEWS

Paoli High School art teacher Chris Jones is continuing the tradition of making ceiling tiles for teachers this year.

Jones’s drawing 2 and Pre-AP drawing students are tasked with creating the tiles during the first semester of the school year. Every teacher is given the opportunity to purchase a tile to add to their classrooms. Teachers are also able to select a certain student to design their tile and can contact their artist to give them ideas or discuss their desired design. Tiles are $20 a piece, and the funds help the art department purchase new art supplies, computer software or any other necessity that the budget set does not cover. 

“Every classroom has about 100 boring white ceiling tiles. This project adds something a little more interesting. Bringing color to the space that could brighten up someone’s day,” said Jones.

Story by Amanda Bowles

On October 7 through 9, the Paoli High School Drama club will be hosting auditions for their fall musical, The Sound of Music. Auditions are open to any student in grades 7 through 12 and will take place in the Ruth Farlow Uyesugi Auditorium.

“The main consideration for casting is how you audition, who best fits which part. Other considerations are dependability, ability to cooperate, availability, seniority, what we already know about you,” said Drama Club Director Maria Wishart.

Anyone wishing to audition for a featured or lead role are recommended to prepare a karaoke or an a cappella song to sing for the audition panel so they can determine each person’s strengths.

Story by Michael Hannon

On October 10 at 6 p.m., the Paoli High School choir will be performing their first show of the year, An Autumn to Remember. 

Three choirs from PHS will be performing at the event. First, the junior high choir will be singing “Why We Sing” by Kirk Franklin. Then, the Singing Sensations will be presenting “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman and “When I’m 64” by The Beatles. Finally, the Harmony Singers will perform “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and “For Forever” from Dear Evan Hansen. Together, the three choirs will showcase “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” by Emma Lazarus and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. 

“Students have been working really hard to give a mixture of music from modern to music from musicals and some classic rock and pop. We try to do a variety of music for everyone to enjoy. There will definitely be something in our concert will connect to and enjoy,” said Choral Director B.J. Crowder. 

During the show, donations will also be collected. Junior Libby Padgett from The Harmony Singers is preparing to go to The National American Miss beauty competition in Anaheim, California over Thanksgiving break, and the money collected will help fund that trip.

“Admission is completely free, but we will be taking donations to help a choir member, Libby Padgett get to nationals for a beauty pageant in California,” said Crowder.

The choir is still hard at work in the weeks leading up to their concert. More information will be posted in the hallways of PHS as the date grows closer.

Story by Jozalyn Kempf

On Saturday, September 21, 20 bands from schools around Indiana will perform on Cook Field for the 38th annual Pride of Paoli Invitational. The event is hosted by members of the Paoli band and Band Boosters. There are four different divisions that bands compete in. Once every band has been showcased, the Pride will perform in exhibition to conclude the night but will not be competing. 

“I’m excited to host a bunch of really great bands, and I think it’s a great way to get the band and community involved, working together to be great hosts for these students and families from other schools. It’s a great thing to be able to provide an awesome panel of judges for these groups,” said Band Director Cory Chapman. 

Because Chapman is new to the Paoli band program, this will be his first experience with the Invitational.

“I am really looking forward to seeing our kids be positive ambassadors for our school and band.  I am also looking forward to meeting the rest of the area band directors, and seeing the results of their students’ hard work. While we are competitors week in and week out, the work all these students put in to their shows is incredible, and we should support them all,” said Chapman. 

There are many jobs that are assigned to band students and parents, such as guiding bands throughout the competition and helping them with anything they need and assisting judges. They also help out with parking, concessions, selling tickets, programs and buttons and filling up water at water stations for bands.

“I want to thank all of our sponsors, donors and supporters for helping to make an event like this possible. It truly takes the whole town to make this happen, and without their support, both financially and logistically, we couldn’t host this invitational,” said Chapman. 

There are over 60 businesses and individual sponsors who contributed financially to help make the Invitational possible. All of the money made from the Invitational will go towards the Pride’s marching band season.

Story by Angie Ceja

The 2019-2020 Honor Choir auditions were held at Forest Park on September 8. Every participant was required to go through an audition process, and only the best were selected by a panel of judges from the Indiana Choral Directors Association. Honor choir allows students to learn more difficult music and sing with students from other schools. “Awake the Harp” by Joseph Hayden is the piece that all participants used for auditions. The same piece will be performed at Fort Wayne on January 18 by the Honor Choir.

This year, three students from PHS’s Advanced Choir were selected: senior Megan Poe, sophomore Christopher Frias and freshman Ryleigh Anderson. These students will again travel to Forest Park on September 31 for a mandatory practice with all accepted Honor Choir Members.

“I was honestly shocked! I thought I did terrible on the audition and had convinced myself that I didn’t make it. It was a wonderful surprise to find out I had made it,” said Anderson.

Aside from the excitement of being selected, these students have a long road ahead in order to prepare for their performance.

“My practicing technique will not change. I’ll make sure to continue to use our recordings that we have and practice nonstop,” said Poe.

Choir Director B.J. Crowder was very pleased with the results. Although some members were not selected, they gained valuable experience through the auditions.

“My advice for the three honor choir members is to practice and challenge yourselves to be the best that you can. More importantly, cherish every minute of it, make new friends and create lifelong memories,” said Crowder.

Story by Amanda Bowles

After former head band director Ben Werne resigned, the band was on the hunt for new potential band directors. After an extensive interview process, Cory Chapman was chosen to be the Pride of Paoli’s new leader.

Chapman grew up in Evansville and attended Evansville Bosse High School. After high school, he attended Ball State University and spent five years in the marines before he was discharged. During his stint in the military, he worked in the intelligence and communications field as a special intelligence communicator and was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Him and his wife got married in January 2009, a couple of months after he returned from his deployment to Iraq.

They have been married for over ten years and have two children together. 

“I always knew I wanted to teach, and the military helped me to grow up a bit and mature in order to reach that goal. The lessons I learned in the Marines helped me become a strong leader with self-discipline and compassion for others. Those qualities really helped me to develop my skills as a teacher and musician, and the money the military provided for my schooling helped me to achieve my goals,” said Chapman.

Before coming to Paoli, Chapman had five years of teaching experience including jazz bad, marching band and concert band. His previous job was directing the band at West Lafayette High School.

“I have a deep sense of respect for this program and this school. I’ve had the desire to be apart of the community down here because I really like small towns and working at small schools where I can know each student overtime. I hope to get to know each kid a little bit better and find somewhere where I can raise my family that’s also nice to live,” said Chapman.

Story Angie Ceja

On Saturday, August 24, the Paoli High School Choir had their annual Day on the Square fundraiser. During this event, the choir members stand on the islands at the turns on the town square and collect donations from people driving through. The money raised is used to purchase choir shirts and to pay for the students to audition for Honor Choir. Overall, over $500 was raised during the four hours they were collecting money.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to do a fundraiser. The people in our community are so supportive. The choir students all did a wonderful job and were a shining example of PHS work ethic,” said Choir Director B.J. Crowder.

Story by Michael Hannon