PHS MEDIA NEWS

Senior Hunter Roach shares his musical talents through many avenues. One way those talents can be seen is during a performance by the Pride of Paoli marching band.

This marching band season, Roach is featured throughout the show. In the first part, he plays the soprano saxophone in a duet with sophomore Michael Hannon, who plays the alto saxophone. In the second part, Roach performs another duet with Hannon and they both play the soprano saxophone. In the final part, Roach is a part of a saxophone quartet, in which he plays the soprano, Hannon plays the alto, sophomore Angie Ceja plays the tenor and freshman Brody Wilcox plays the baritone. 

“My favorite part of the show so far is in part two. ‘Gabriel’s Oboe,’ the music for part two, has always been one of my favorite pieces,” said Roach.

While he is featured numerous times in the show, Roach is no stranger to the spotlight. Roach has performed many solos and group features in past band shows, as well as in concert band. One of his proudest achievements was making it into the All State Band as a first part. After auditioning, Roach was selected to be a member, making him one of the top high school musicians in the state of Indiana.

“Being a senior feels a lot better than being a junior. I expect good things this year because we have a lot of potential as individuals, so all we need is to coordinate our efforts,” said Roach.

After graduating high school, Roach plans on going to study business at Indiana University.

“I will miss the large group of friends that comes with being in the band, but my message is to not listen to anyone because the size of the band makes no difference,” said Roach.

Story by Michael Hannon

This year, the Pride of Paoli has selected a new drum major, and senior Alicia Neale has been chosen to fill the spot at the podium. At the end of last school year, the POP held auditions open to anyone in the band who would like to fill the position. The audition process included writing an essay about why they wanted to be a drum major, being interviewed by the band and former band director Ben Werne and conducting the band through The Star Spangled Banner and the school song.

Over the summer, Neale went to a drum major camp at Ball State University called Music For All Summer Symposium.

“To help prepare for this season, I attended a drum major camp that lasted one week. It was very informative and it helped me improve my conducting skills,” said Neale.

Neale isn’t the only one in her family who has had the opportunity to lead the Pride. Part of her motivation to audition came from her grandmother and her mother who were drum majors before her.

“I wanted to become a drum major because I have had two people who were drum majors at Paoli many years ago. I thought it would be truly amazing to carry on the legacy in my family,” said Neale.

It takes a lot more than knowing how to conduct to be a drum major. For Neale, it also means being a role model for the rest of the band.

“What being drum major means to me is someone to look up to and someone to rely on, not only with the music, but also as a close friend,” said Neale.

Neale had to navigate a few changes when she transitioned from being in the hornline to being the drum major, including adjusting to a new director.

“Changing directors right before marching band season was very stressful. I was taught a lot of different ways to conduct the same music and it got very confusing. It was hard to tell who to listen to about my conducting style. Although it was challenging, it has gone quite smoothly since the change. Thankfully, we all adapted to the new director very quickly,” said Neale.

Neale looks to improve everyday and earn the band’s trust.

“I think the band, as a whole, needs to work on staying together musically because sometimes we tear apart. Personally, I want to improve on conducting well enough for the band to be confident in my tempo,” said Neale.

Even with all the new challenges, Neale is looking forward to this year’s marching band season.

“I am very excited for this season because we have a lot of potential as well as the talent of each individual. I see this season going exceedingly well and I hope that we can fully live up to our potential. I am so thankful that I have this position and I hope to be the best I can be for the band,” said Neale.

Story by Angie Ceja

For senior Tyler Griffith, the 2019 baseball season marks the end of a great high school career. His love for baseball was first discovered when he was eight years old. When Griffith had first moved to Paoli, he started in little league, and his love for baseball continued.

He currently plays many positions for Paoli’s baseball team, including pitcher, catcher and outfielder. The training required to get to where he is now gave him the opportunity to travel across the country playing baseball.

“Playing in high school has been a great experience, but I have a lot more memories playing travel baseball. I still have friends today from travel baseball that I would practically consider family. Growing up playing travel baseball has brought me closer to my family and teammates, and I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything else,” said Griffith.

While Griffith has been apart of baseball, he has accomplished a lot. In 2018,  the team won PLAC conference for the first time since 1994. Griffith has also earned individual awards.

“I have been all-conference at the high school level. I have also won the top defensive player award. During two years of travel baseball, I played for the Indiana Rawlings Tigers located in Clarksville, Indiana. I won the All-Tiger award. This award is granted to two outstanding players on each team. Playing travel ball, I have also helped my teams win multiple tournament championships across the United States,” said Griffith.

Griffith has learned valuable life lessons during his baseball experience.

“Baseball has taught me a lot about what it means to be apart of a team and how to work together in certain situations. I have developed a lot as a player playing travel ball through my high school career, but also as a person because I have learned how to be a good teammate and to always be supportive of others,” said Griffith.

With his many years of experience, Griffith would advise younger players to do their best, work hard and never give up.

Griffith is looking forward to his last year of high school baseball, but is sad to see it come to an end. Griffith strives for another conference title and a sectional title before he has to put high school baseball behind him.

“I’m pretty disappointed that this is my last year, but I’ve had some great memories. I will miss being apart of the sport more because I had made some many memories with different teammates over the years,” said Griffith.

Story by: Faith Wilder

Photo by: Karyas Slaten

Not a lot of people stay in their hometown their entire life, but this is not the case for PHS graduate David Padgett. Padgett attended Paoli from kindergarten to senior year and graduated in 1977. Following graduation, he went to work at Brittany Factory for 8 years. Padgett was then a student at Indiana University Southeast and earned his teaching degree. With his degree, he returned to Paoli High School and became a fourth grade teacher at Throop Elementary.

Padgett got married to his wife, Kathy, on June 21, 1997 and has two children. His oldest child is Nick, a senior, and the youngest is Libby, a sophomore.

Having spent a lot of time at PHS, Padgett has the ability to offer important advice to the students here.

“Enjoy school as much as you can and participate in everything that you can,” said Padgett.

In high school, Padgett was involved in FFA and really enjoyed going to the football games, basketball games and cheering on the Rams. Padgett’s biggest regret was not playing sports in school.

“You may not think it is, but school is one of the best things in your life. So enjoy it while you can and make many friends and memories before you graduate,” said Padgett.

Padgett has been teaching at PHS for 22 years, and at the end of year he will be retiring.

“I am looking forward to retirement. I hope to be able to go camping more, working in my yard and doing things with the family. I am going to also try to find a job so I can work some to help with the bills,” said Padgett.

Story by: Haley Owens