CHS Panther Newspaper Blog
What's Up with Prom!
By Angelina Walker
Senior Prom. The last year a girl has a chance to outshine her friends and stand out, or not give a hoot and go as casual as possible. However, for my senior prom I had big expectations. With an awesome dress, a nice date, and a cool ride I thought, “What could go wrong?” Well…a lot.
The night before prom there was a softball game in Chapman. Before the game started we were in the outfield warming up with the coach. One of the warm ups involved us catching pop flies without a glove while the coach threw the ball “gently” a few yards from us. But I have difficulties with depth perception and I failed to do this simple task. As the ball flew closer to my face, my hands popped up ready to catch the ball, but the speed was faster than I expected so the softball slipped between my fingers and smacked me right in the eye. Pain shot through my face like a bullet. After all the commotion it was time to play ball and the soreness spread for the rest of the night. The next day was prom and my black eye was evident. My upper cheek was so swollen it looked like someone had injected a perfectly round marble underneath my skin and left it there. The dark red and purple colors also started appearing around my eye. That morning I had an ensemble contest to go to and my friends made remarks about how I looked half Asian, which didn’t help my confidence for prom. Later in the day, with a puffy eye, it was time for makeup and I learned to really appreciate the invention. My right eye was still darker, but not as noticeable as before. The only worry I had was others noticing my swollen cheek. After getting ready and pictures being taken it was time for walk-in. Everything went smoothly the rest of the night though there was much explaining to do about what happened to my face. My friend and I even fooled a couple people by telling them a story of how I got in a fight with the catcher on the other team who whacked me with a bat. Overall my prom night was fun, but my face was killing me!
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By Richelle Luongo
Prom 2011 was an overall success. I enjoyed dancing, laughing, and singing with my friends. After making it through the entire 3 hour dance it was on to After Prom. This year was the best one I’ve been to. As a member of S.A.D.D. I helped plan the event. We had prizes from gas cards and gift certificates to an HD TV and a laptop. The other exciting part was the games. We had an obstacle course, moon bounce, video games, basketball, hula hoops, jump ropes, and much more. Then to keep us awake and our energy going there was tons of food. There were Subway sandwiches, cookies, brownies, nachos, puppy chow and many other nutritious snacks. I went around with my friends doing as many activities as I could so that I could get lots of tickets. The tickets were for prizes. I put some of my tickets in for the TV and the X-BOX, but I put most in for the Garmin. At the end, it was time to draw for prizes. The first thing up was the Garmin. Ashley Thoman reached into the bag, pulled out a ticket, and announced my name! I was pretty excited to win that prize. I know it will come in handy next year when I go off the college.
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By Zach Beims
After after-prom, or AAP, is a dark and mysterious time of night. Taking place after the eloquence and beauty of Prom, and the vigorous activity and competition of After-Prom, after After-Prom is usually filled with unsavory activity. However, a few of my friends and I spent AAP in an unusual way. We spent the early morning hours sitting in the parking lot of the high school playing games and telling stories.
We arrived at the parking lot at about 2:30 am. At After-Prom, Kaleb Gerard won a game set that provided us with physical activity for our night in the parking lot. We played scoop ball, lacrosse, and badminton. We grew tired of these games at about 4:00, so we settled near our vehicles and began telling ghost stories. Time quickly passed and we were soon watching the sun rise.
We took a break from the parking lot at about 8 a.m. and ate breakfast. After eating, we returned to the parking lot and played scoop ball until noon. At that time, we all gave up and went home to sleep. By the time that I had fallen asleep, I had been up for 28 hours, which is a personal record.
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By Layne Lagasse
April 9th was prom for nearly every Concordia High School junior and senior. However, I was not in attendance at prom. I’d like to tell you it was because I got kicked out of school, got caught smuggling illegal items into the school, or even was put in jail. Yet, none of these were the case. I was in Kingman at a rodeo.
My weekend was very bland and was not eventful. I left for Kingman Friday after school and did not return until Sunday afternoon. I did not get anything done at the rodeo. However, it was enjoyable and I witnessed some parents having mental breakdowns. Overall, the high school rodeo was similar to prom: eventful, busy, and sometimes dramatic.
Although I did not ditch a prom date or get sprayed by Watson’s De-Lusting spray, my weekend went swell. Besides missing a student break his wrist, the half hour walk for walk-in, and the chance to hot rod a fancy car; I did enjoy my weekend and did not regret missing prom.
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By Ashley Thoman
Prom isn’t as easy as it looks. You have to get the perfect dress, flowers to match, along with your date’s tux and you can’t forget transportation. This year, my prom planning started off perfectly. Things were ordered by the end of Spring Break. Unfortunately, just because the ordering process went in, it doesn’t mean it will turn out the way you wanted it to.
The Thursday before prom, my date picked up his tux and found that his jacket was about 3 sizes too small, his vest had not yet been flown in from New Jersey, and his pants were too short for his 6’1” figure. To make matters worse, his mom forgot to make reservations for the limousine we had talked about.
On my side of the situation, the flower shop called me to go to the shop look at my flowers. When I arrived, the owner told me that they shipped in the wrong flowers so it wouldn’t be exactly what I ordered.
Saturday rolled around with no problems. We were able to borrow Andrew’s grandpa’s 2009 Chevy Silverado. The flowers turned out beautiful, and his tux fit comfortably. To make the day better, the weather turned out beautiful. Even though it was a little windy, but it would have been hot without it.
Thank you to the junior class for putting on a good prom! You did amazing!!
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By Suzanne Carlgren
Well the day started off kind of stressful because I took my ACT at eight in the morning (which to me is way WAY too early). After using all my brain power for the morning, I let my mind recuperate while enjoying some chicken tacos from El Puerto (mmm mmm good). Then my nail appointment that my grandma scheduled was at one o’clock at Monique and Co. My nails consisted of ocean waves with Vegas nights.
It was relaxing, but then I had to go home and take a shower because my hair appointment was at three o’clock at Fusions. The first thing my hair dresser did at Fusions was blow dry it which made me look like a troll doll, how lovely. But all in all she made it look ok. Although it took about an hour and a half I was still able to pick up Tiraa in time for the dinner which was at my house (Whoa). After dinner the dozen people at my house took pictures in my yard and by the barn. It’s kind of sad to say the best pictures of my date, Garet Koester, and I were in front of the cows.
Then we had just enough time to ride up to walk-in in The Falcon. What a day and the night was just beginning.
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By Ashleigh Johnson
Prom has been a big deal since our parents were in school, and even their parents before them. If you were trying to explain Prom to a foreign exchange student, you might tell them that it is a dance. While this is putting it into the simplest terms, it is far from the truth. Prom isn’t even an event. It is a season. The female species start their searches months in advance and miles away for the best bargains or the flashiest gowns. The whole package: dress, shoes, jewelry, hair, flowers, makeup, nails, and skin can end up costing a small fortune. The males are much less expensive and much more apathetic about the Prom experience. They rent a tux, complete with vest, tie, and shoes (if they aren’t lucky enough to be in Chamber Choir). They accompany their date to nod and agree as the girl explains to the florist the desired type of corsage and boutonnière.
Besides the dance, there are countless other tasks to complete. First comes the preparation, followed by pictures, dinner, Walk-In, Prom, and After-Prom. This conglomeration makes for one crazy and exhausting experience. Other activities are optional, including games and/or breakfast AFTER After-Prom, and even dressing up again to attend church the next morning with your date at some congregations. (The old ladies like to view the dresses and comment on how grown-up you are, and the old men like to make strange comments that sound complimentary but overall don’t make a whole lot of sense. EX: “Well bless my socks, you’re a peach this morning!”)
While it is a worthwhile experience (in my opinion), it would get extremely old by the 6th go-around. (Ask Bryan Longfellow. This was his 6th Prom attendance. He is glad to announce that it will also be his last.) The worst part is probably the sore feet afterward, and if you have any homework from Friday, forget about it. You can pretty much count on your entire weekend being shot. The free time you have Sunday will be spent recovering sleep. On the plus side, you get to make some great memories and eat some great “free” food. . .Besides the cash you forked out for the list of necessities mentioned earlier. . . OK it’s really expensive food. But it’s a small price to pay for Donna Brummett’s cake balls.
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By Natalie Hartzell
Prom. Yaaaay! I love prom. Everyone gets so pretty and acts so grown up. Girls and boys act nice to each other and act somewhat civil for a night. At least until everyone gets into the building. Then the raunchy music transforms people. It’s ugly. One moment everyone is a glamorous and mature, and the next they’re raving all over each other! No one wants to see that! Luckily, prom was sponsored by Mrs. Watson this year. She came up with the inspired idea of De-lusting Spray. Any individuals seen “grinding” were taken out! Okay, they were just sprayed with a type of Febreze for fabric… But it did the trick! This prom was a far less vulgar and much more enjoyable then the usual dance. Thank you Lora Watson.
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By Chelsie Monzon
Prom 2011 was the best prom I have been to yet. I attended prom in 2009 and 2010, but Prom of 2011 blew the previous two away. I liked the dark “afterglow” effect. It was simple, yet elegant. The fountain as you walked in was AMAZING! Whoever put it together deserves two claps and much more. So to them: THANK YOU! Also, the food was delicious. The food consisted of pretty much the same foods that were at previous proms that I have attended. I thoroughly enjoy the food every year so I am not complaining. The Oreo balls and chocolate covered strawberries were my favorite items on the food table, so two claps goes to whoever made them! The DJ, Mr. Emmet Rudolph, did a phenomenal job! Last year the DJ was bad to put it nicely. Mr. Rudolph could have made this prom, or ruined it. He definitely stepped up and made it great! Two claps goes to Mr. Rudolph! The Concordia Junior Class and their sponsors did a stupendous job putting together Prom of 2011! Two claps to everyone and their hard work!!
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By Leah Haden
I would have to say that prom this year was the best I’ve ever been to…well…except for a slight upset at after prom, which I will get to later. My prom night began at 1 pm when my date, Casey Smith, and Christa Denault’s date, Lane Koster, showed up at my house. A few hours later, Anna Morrisette, Will Strommen, Hannah Haist, and Bryce Young joined our group for dinner served by a gourmet cook…my mother. We were treated to Fettuccine Alfredo and homemade, decadent chocolate chip cheese cake. Wearing a suffocating, lace up dress and eating all that delicious food is not a good combination. But it was still yummy, so I really didn’t care.
With full bellies, we all ventured over to the Mother House to exchange flowers and for a photo shoot with our professional photographer…my mother (once again). After tons…and tons…and tons of pictures, it was finally time to head over to the high school parking lot to prepare for walk-in. We arrived in style on the back of James Reynold’s purple ‘68 Camaro. After walk-in we began dancing the night away. We were one of the few couples who stayed until the very end, and it was super fun. We also picked out our complementary rubber ducky prom favor from the fountain.
After prom, we attended the “after-prom” at the college. One of the main things I wanted was to win the Garmin GPS from the senior’s prize table. Casey and Lane decided they would give me all of their tickets so that I would have a better chance of winning it. After many runs through the obstacle course, jumps in the moon bounce, shots and the basketball goal, and a round of the hula-hoop, I had placed over 100 tickets into the drawing. I kept thinking I would win it, I most likely had the most tickets in it, but unfortunately, Richelle Luongo won it, with only a few tickets in the drawing. Grrrr…what a scrounge; she ruined it all, but I suppose she can still be my friend. When I thought all hope was lost on winning anything at after prom, I was surprised with a copy of one of my favorite movies, “She’s the Man”. So overall I can you could say that my prom night was the BEST prom ever! :)
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By Blake Woellhof
I don’t like prom. To me it’s just another dance that takes way too much effort to set up. As a junior, I got to help set up prom. I’m very glad I don’t ever have to do it again. My friends and I took the responsibility of setting up the ceiling. At first I thought it would be easy, but I thought wrong. It took us around four hours to complete it because we had to scrounge more materials to patch up holes. Another reason I don’t like prom is because you have to take pictures. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could just take a few, but that’s never the case. I took pictures with Derick Nordell, Connor Lamm, Skyler Muff, Hunter Powers, Paige Evens, Halie Steinle, and Dylan Bergstrom. We took pictures for over an hour. My mom brought two cameras just in case one ran out of memory. I was also sweating because I was wearing a black tux in 90 degree weather. I must admit that this year’s prom was a lot better than last year’s. The organization this year was great. Mrs. Watson did a great job in keeping everything running smoothly. Also the DJ this year was better than last year.
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By Wayne Lagasse
Spring break is commonly referred to as a week of fun and games. However, this was not the case for me. I spent most of the week hard at work. My week was devoted to building 5-wire barbed wire fence.
This is not one of the most enjoyable jobs. However, it pays very well and technology it has made it an easier task. The first day was devoted to tearing down trees and removing the previous fence. This was achieved with a pay loader and a pair of fence cutters. Overall, this proved to be an easy day of making money. The second day was the most strenuous. We devoted our work to building corners and braces. For those of you who have never built fence, this requires the most work. This portion of building fence often involves many breakdowns and failures. However, we executed it without flaw and after a hard day at work, had the start of a solid portion of fence.
Our goals for the third day included getting all the posts set, laying out wire, and stretching a few wires. We were able to accomplish this and had a solid foundation established for Friday, our final day of work. On the final day of work we tied up the loose ends of the fence and got all the wires set and clipped. Although we had a few small jobs to work on that afternoon the fence finished easily, and it was a successful week of work.
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By Blake Woellhof
Well, seeing is that I didn’t do anything over spring break, I will write about the things that I wanted to do over spring break. First off I wanted to go skiing in Colorado because I have never been skiing before. Some of my friends have been skiing and they always talk about how fun it is. Two years ago my family planned to go to Colorado, but the trip ended up getting canceled for some reason that I can’t remember.
I also wanted to go live off the land with my two friends Tyler and Zach. We were going to go out in the wilderness and live off the land for three days in preparation for this summer where we were going to live off the land for a whole week. We had everything planned out, but a turn of events canceled our trip.
Since I didn’t get to do any of these things, instead I mainly sat around the house and went to Dumbbells. I also worked on a speech and did some American History homework. The best part about my spring break was that I did go to Ottawa, Kansas to visit my friend Connor Goedert. It rained both days I was there so our choices of things to do was limited. Overall I would have to say that this spring break was the worst I’ve ever had.
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By Richelle Luongo
Monday: I watched TV and ran at the college with Anna.
Tuesday: I watched TV.
Wednesday: I went to track practice at 10:00. Later on I shot hoops at Hood Park with Melissa and Ashleigh. Afterwards, we made brownies, and played hide-n-seek with Logan, Andrew, Joel, Nathan, Dan, and Creighton.
Thursday: My family and I left to go skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado. The trip took 8 hours.
Friday: I skied for the first time ever and wiped out many times. That night I ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp for the first time.
Saturday: I skied some more with my brothers. I wiped out less this day. That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant and I got a tiny Mexican flag with my meal.
Sunday: We headed home. Eight hours later we were finally home.
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By Leah Haden
Over my fantastic week of having no school and being able to sleep in, I went skiing. I got to spend 4 days with my two “besties”, Ashlynn and Katie Lambert, at the Crested Butte ski resort. We left Kansas on the first Saturday of break. During that trip, I realized the only good thing about a 12 hour drive to the Rocky Mountains is the Starbucks that you can by in Colby, KS. I guess it really is the “Oasis in the Plains”.
After we arrived at the resort, we checked out our boots and skis, and the drove to our cabin to get a good night’s rest for our first day on the slopes. The first day of the slopes was nothing less than awesome. The three of us spent most of the day skiing down the slopes with tunnels, and ramps. Katie and I had a great time laughing at Ashlynn as she tumbled down the mountain.
The second day of skiing turned out to be a little more interesting. Brian Kemling wanted to take us on some harder blue slopes (for advanced skiers). Of course, we loved going down steep runs so we agreed. We rode a fifteen minute lift ride up to the tip top of the mountain. We looked at the big map and decided to find the “Ruby Chief” run. We took a trail that was supposed to lead us to that run, but eventually all we saw were black slopes (for expert skiers). We thought maybe we would eventually run into the blue slop we were hunting for. But no, we came to a rope that represented the edge of the ski boundaries. Off to our right was a black slope named “Hot Rocks”, which sounded scary by itself. We looked down and it was steep, full of moguls, with a few interfering trees. Even though we were dare devil speed queens, we did not want to go straight down that slope; I decided to go from left to right so that I wouldn’t ruin my track season by injuring myself. Katie on the other hand, couldn’t turn her skis and biffed it down the slopes, her skis flying everywhere. Eventually we made it to the bottom all in one piece, albeit a little miffed at Brian for misguiding us.
The day after that we left the cabin and headed back to Kansas. The rest of spring break we had to rise early and attend track practice. We dreaded it, but we were happy that we were not injured from our skiing adventure.
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By Ashley Thoman
Spring break, oh spring break. No school (of course), no homework, and sleeping in. This year’s spring break came at the right time. Stress and tension levels were high in my group of senior friends. Worry free time, that’s all we needed. Many of us make plans for Spring Break to make sure we get something done in the 9 days we have off. So……
I had my own list of things I needed to get done for the week and what day I was going to do them on:
Friday: Hang out with Brooke: Movie night with Andrew
Saturday: Work: Go running
Sunday: Work: Go running
Monday: distribute SADD Letters: Set up Prom hair and nail appointment: Hair cut: Run
Tuesday: Softball: Pick up SADD Donations: Run
Wednesday: Softball: Run: Clean Room: Go to Rock
Thursday: Softball: Run: Clean House: Babysit with Andrew
Friday: Softball: Make Graduation Labels: Movie night with Andrew
Saturday: Work: Run: Meet Andrew’s dad’s family
Sunday: Work: Run: Relax
This is what really happened:
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday went as planned
Monday: Delivered 3 SADD Letters and set up a hair appointment for prom
Tuesday: Ran
Wednesday: Went to Salina with Brooke
Thursday: Ran, Babysat with Andrew
Friday: Distributed SADD letters in morning and picked them up that afternoon. Movie night with Andrew
Saturday: Worked. Met Andrew’s dad and had a movie night.
Sunday: Worked. Relaxed
As you can tell, I didn’t get everything done that I needed to, but it was still the break I needed! Next step, PROM!
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By Ashleigh Johnson
It’s a tease. It’s the biggest catalyst to Senioritis. It inspires laziness. It’s like Summer Break’s baby brother who isn’t allowed to stay out very long. It triggers an unstoppable need to socialize. It reminds students what it’s like to have no obligations, no responsibilities, and no reason to stay cooped up indoors. It’s too short of a time to get a job, but too long to do nothing. And so, we do nothing. Spring Break. The best and worst invention rolled into one. Summer is just around the corner, but before you can enjoy the luxury of laziness, there are papers to write, projects to procrastinate, and tests for which to cram and then forget. You’re just getting used to having no homework; your sleep schedule is back on weekend mode: late nights and late mornings. Everything seems perfect. And then. . . BAM! Monday. School. The sound of your alarm clock hits you like a brick to the face. You try to roll over and go back to sleep, oblivious to the fact that the first school bell rings in 30 minutes. Your head pounds. This is three hours earlier than you had to wake up for practice over break. Monday is an overall blur. Teachers lecturing, bells ringing, and lockers slamming all contribute to the headache you’ve had all day. Who knew that Mr. Berger wasn’t kidding about that Circadian Rhythm stuff? You wish you’d listened. You vow not to mess up your sleep schedule next Spring Break, but you know that’s pointless. This happened last Spring Break, the one before that, and the eight before that. And probability says that it will happen next Spring Break too. This is Spring Break, and its love-hate relationship with the national student body – from elementary to grad school.
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By Zach Beims
Every spring, students receive a week off from school in which they can participate in a variety of activities. These include skiing, vacationing, and general relaxation. For me, spring break was to be composed of surviving. Off the land that is. Scheduled was a massive, three day camping expedition in which my friends and I would learn lessons such as how to find food and shelter in the Kansas prairie.
Starting on the first Monday of Spring Break, Tyler Snavely, Blake Woelhoff, and I planned to head into an uninhabited stretch of land owned by the Snavely’s. This land is known as “The Abyss”. Here we would learn the ways of the land and survive in the same ways as the settlers did 150 years ago.
Our diet was to consist of hot dogs and pop. Once these ran out, we would begin eating and drinking anything we could find. A tent would serve to protect us from the elements at night. Only a fire would provide us with warmth. For entertainment we would have skipped rocks, or maybe played tag.
Through our experience on the land, we would become better suited to survive in the wilderness. It is without a doubt that it would have benefitted us immensely throughout the rest of our lives.
However, due to a serious of unfortunate events, we were not able to live off the land. Instead we stayed at home and played video games.
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By Chelsie Monzon
Time flies, and I’m reaching the end of a chapter in my life. March 11, 2011 was the beginning of a pit stop before reaching my final destination in this chapter.
I left for Idaho Springs, Colorado on Friday, March 11. My family and I had some great bonding time for eight hours while in the car. When we reached Idaho Springs, we stopped at the ski shop and picked up our skis. After everyone was fitted for boots and skis, we headed over to the lodge where we were staying. The lodge was small, boring, and a little “sketchy”. My siblings and I thought we were going to lose our minds. So we left the lodge and headed out for a late night walk in the mountain town. A few blocks down we found a Safeway grocery story. We walked around the store for about an hour. It was possibly the lamest night of my entire spring break, but I enjoyed the time with my siblings.
The next day we woke up bright and early and took off for the slopes. We skied the south side of the mountain the entire day. My family and I rode ski lifts, weaved through the trees, and “tore up some gnar” (ski lingo) over the course of the day. About mid-afternoon, while weaving through the trees, I hit a rock. My skis veered the opposite direction, and I hit a tree. Not a small tree, a large tree. No big deal though; I’m still alive. The following day, we skied again. We skied the north side of the mountain this day though. We found a lot of great tree trails on the north side. Our second day of skiing was definitely the better of the two. Later that night, we met up with our friends, formerly of Concordia. The kid is my age. He’s my best friend, so it was terrific to see him. We ate at Beau Jo’s Pizza. It’s the best Colorado pizza you’ll ever eat! Our last day in Colorado, we headed back towards Denver. We shopped and ate another delicious meal before heading back to Kansas.
It’s always a bummer leaving the mountains, but I was glad to get back on track towards my destination. My last spring break vacation I had with my family was one for the books. As much as I’m ready to graduate, I’ll miss those family vacations.
