Looking back, third quarter was chock-full of special events and excitement, keeping students and faculty alike busy.
Second semester began with J-term, a nice way to ease back into the school routine after Christmas break. Students could pick from eight different topics to focus on for two weeks. These topics included basketball, urban living, flight training and piloting, and technical theater.
While the underclassmen were taking J-term classes, the seniors were busy job-shadowing and visiting Chicago as a class. Seniors shadowed everything from a barber to a radio DJ. Many seniors found the experience to be helpful when considering their future plans. Some of the highlights of senior trip were seeing Comedy Sports, eating different ethnic foods, and spending free time in Chicago. An article written by Ashley Brugh highlights senior trip in greater detail. The senior class returned feeling closer to each other and ready to tackle their final semester at Bethany.
After J-term, classes were back in full-swing. Everyone adjusted to seeing each other again as well as the few new faces in the halls. The last two weeks of January brought Little Sibs Day, the beginning of Emmaus’ performance season, boys and girl basketball games, speech and debate meets, and both vocal and instrumental solo and ensemble contests. A total of 15 high school students participated in these music contests, earning a total of 25 gold medals and three silver medals. Katie Shank (‘14) and Rachel Schrock (‘14) both went on to earn gold medals in the state vocal contest.
In February, things rapidly picked up. Students hosted their pastors for part of the school day on Pastors Day. That same week, the girls basketball team played in the sectional tournament, making it all the way to the championship game before losing to Fort Wayne Canterbury. They ended their season with an 11 game winning streak.
Girls sectionals were followed by SBA’s Teuqnab dance and performances of the high school musical, Oklahoma!. The cast gave four sold out performances, in addition to a matinee performance for the student body. Right after production week, the boys basketball team wrapped up its season with sectional play. They made it to the semi-final game before losing to Fort Wayne Canterbury.
Third quarter is the busiest time of year for the speech debate team. Members of Bethany forensics participated in seven meets since the beginning of the year. It’s been a pretty successful season for the speech and debate team. The team placed fourth out of the 11 teams at sectionals, with four individuals qualifying for the state tournament on March 23. Lena Yeakey (‘15) became the first person in the history of Bethany forensics to qualify for the final round of a state tournament.
March brought a transition from winter to spring. The softball, baseball, and girls teams all started practices. As winter draws to a close, students are beginning to look ahead to the busy and fun spring schedule at Bethany, which includes the Junior Class Fish Fry, Banquet, and of course, Spring Break.
~Sammy Kauffman