Tag: Trojan Tribune

What does rock music and a Minnesota-based non-profit organization have in common? Mack Scott (11).
“I just felt like taking on some type of project for my band,” Scott said.
The idea of having his rock band, Carbon Handshake, play with some other local bands in a benefit concert came to Scott when he was lying in bed one night back in January.
“I see myself as the type of person that when I have an idea or something I want to be done, I’ll do what it takes to get it done,” he said.
What Scott hopes to do is raise $8,000 for Children’s Surgery International (CSI), formerly known as Operation Smile. This Minnesota-based non-profit organization provides surgeries for underprivileged children of the world who suffer primarily from facial deformities, such as cleft lips or cleft palates, as well as urological malformations and burns, according to their website.
Scott hopes to help this organization as a tribute to his 23 year-old brother who was born with Crouzon’s, a rare birth defect which causes facial deformities.
“I give him a lot of respect going threw so much from such a young age,” Scott said of his brother Andy Scott (2005 grad). Since birth, Andy has had 30 facial corrective surgeries. Although CSI does not deal with patients who have Crouzon’s, Scott said he feels they are helping people with issues similar to his brother’s.
Scott has been working to put together an event called Six Band City Sounds, which will take place on August 8, 2009 at the Hilde Performance Center in Plymouth, home of Music in Plymouth. Local bands Elemental Overdrive, Calhoun, Flow & The Mingos, Silent Agency, Red Eyed Revolutionaries and Mack’s band Carbon Handshake will play on the stage.
“Currently I am trying to schedule a meeting with Judy Johnson, the former Mayor of Plymouth, to see if she can help us make this a community event rather than a private event,” Scott said. If it is made private, the event could receive $4,000 dollars in financial aid.
Admission to Six Band City Sound will be free and donation tables will be set up at all entrances as well as in the park. All donations and all other profits will go to CSI. Mack hopes financial aid from the city will help decrease the cost of the event and in turn increase the donation. 2,000 attendants are expected, according to Scott.
Similar to the Music in Plymouth event, Scott plans to have food vendors and booths set up around the park. With the help of local businesses, CSI, the Plymouth Police Department, his committee of WHS students, and other members of the community, Six Band City Sound is on its way to putting a smile on the faces of many children in need. Scott would appreciate your support this August.

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Miss Congeniality is not only the name of a successful film, but the title endowed unto Wayzata High School’s very own Homecoming Queen, Lauren Wilvers. Wilvers (12) received the prestigious award on Sunday, April 19th, at the Holiday Inn Select National Airport.

Wilvers, eighteen other Minnesota contestants, and five Wisconsin contestants competed in America’s Homecoming Queen Pageant throughout the weekend of April 16th-19th to become the representative for their state.

After the first round of questions and the stage walk, the five representatives from each state were picked. Wilvers competed in the first leg of the pageant but was not selected to be in the top five.

The night before the final day of the Pageant, all of the contestants had a “jam sesh”, where they listened to music and got to know one another. It was after this that each girl voted for Miss Congeniality, the girl who had the most friendly and exuberant personality.

America’s Homecoming Queen Pageant began in 1981. It is a non-profit corporation promoting education and community service for high schools’ homecoming queens in all fifty states.

Only ten percent of the applications were selected as state finalists. The finalists competed in personal interviews and prom gown competitions. The pageant chooses not to do a swimsuit and talent competition because they are “looking for the all American girl who wants a career,”the committee for the America’s Homecoming Queen Pageant said.

“The competition/scholarship really promotes high school girls to be involved in the community,” Lauren said.

Throughout the weekend, the girls attended workshops to discuss and enforce the value of being an informed and involved citizen.

Lauren made her contribution to the community by volunteering over 130 hours for club Y.E.S. and the City of Plymouth.

“I am proud of myself,” Wilvers said. “I went out into the community asking for donations to help fund my pageant experience. It was nerve-wracking and sometimes I got rejected, but it made me a better person.”

To prepare for the pageant, Lauren received a packet with “pages upon pages” of questions that could potentially be asked during the interviews. It required a lot of studying and preparation.

Each contestant spent four minutes with each judge. “The first judge asked questions all about me,” Wilvers said, “The second judge was the most intense. You either knew the answer to the question or you didn’t, and she gave you very little time to think about it. The third judge asked questions about what I would do to make the world a better place.”

After each girl walked the stage in her formal gown, the judges narrowed it down to the top 5 finalists from each state.

“In all honesty, I’m glad I was not selected to be in the top five. I don’t know much about politics, which is a subject most finalists are expected to know very well.”

Pachea Vang, from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was crowned the 2008 Minnesota Homecoming Queen. She will now continue on in nationals at Disney Land this summer, where she will be competing to be America’s Homecoming Queen 2008 with the other 49 states’ contestants.

Though Wilvers didn’t win, she’s glad she had the chance to participate. “I’m bummed I didn’t receive the scholarships, but I am so glad I was picked to be a Miss Congeniality contestant this year, because it is so me.”

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By Erika Jarvey

Wayzata High School senior Kelly Eck recently took fifth place with her team in the Switzerland worlds synchronized figure skating competition.
Eck is part of a world known synchronized figure skating team located out of Braemar in Edina. “There are twenty girls on the team and fourteen of us are from different schools,” says Eck. “You could basically call it a dance team on ice.”
Making this prestigious team is no easy matter for any skater. Eck says, “Tryouts started at the beginning of our year which is in May and I had to compete with different members of the team to get a spot.”
This year the team went to sectionals in Colorado where they took first and then automatically got a spot at Nationals in Maine where they also took first. “It’s really cool to see that we took first in the nation,” said Eck. “All our hard work finally paid off.”
Typically the team practices around eight to ten hours a week. In the competitive season this is about four to five times a week says Eck.
Eck who has been figure skating since she was seven has put a lot of time and effort to get where she is today. “I have done the synchronized skating since I was ten and have been competing at a really high level since I was sixteen.” Eck says she found Team Braemar by skating at many different rinks over time.
Before nationals the team also participated in the world qualifying competition which took place in January. “You have to get in the top two in order to move on to worlds,” said Eck. “We got second behind a team from Chicago and so we made it to worlds!”
The synchronized figure skating world competition took place in Switzerland where Eck and her team placed fifth out of twenty different teams from ten different countries. “It was like a mini Olympics,” said Eck. “We were called team USA 2 and actually beat the other United States team who we got second to at the qualifying rounds.”
“One of the best parts about the team and winning is that instead of celebrating individually, I get to share it with a bunch of people,” said Eck. “It was very special for me, the team, and the coaches as well.”
Eck describes the experience of competing in another country. “It was very cool. In the rink all the spectators got to sit with people from all over the world.” Eck says how it was so interesting to communicate with skaters who were from different countries and cultures.
Before the world’s competition the team also had the opportunity to travel and compete in Italy. “This was part of our international assignment that we got from placing in nationals the year before,” said Eck. “It was a competition against twelve other teams and basically a smaller scale of worlds.” The team again will have another international assignment next year from taking first in nationals in 2009.
With all of these amazing opportunities Eck was out of school for about a month. “It was really hard to deal with missing so much,” said Eck. “I probably won’t skate at this level in college because it was plenty hard just during high school.”
With a sections, nationals, and world title under her belt Eck truly has a passion for her sport. “It has been such an amazing journey and is sad to see it end.”

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Written by Kelsey Merriam

Jamba Juice off of Vicksburg Lane closed down for good Monday, December 22nd.
Jenny Penk (12) was an employee of this Jamba Juice since April 2007. “The Jamba Juice Company is closing down a bunch of their stores,” Penk said. “We weren’t loosing money, but we weren’t making money.”

Another Wayzata student Morgan Rhodes (12) was also an employee of this Jamba. “It was never busy there on a week night or ever really once the school year started,” Rhodes said.

Jenny Penk agreed saying, “In the summer it was very busy, but now it’s not at all.”

The manager of the Vicksburg Jamba held a meeting for all her employers on Tuesday, December 9th to announced that their store would be shutting down in two weeks.

The Jamba Juice on Vicksburg had an average amount of business compared to other stores, according to employee Alicia. This particular location was shut down because the company as a whole needed to cut back on locations and the lease on the Vicksburg location was up.

Four of the employees are going to be transferring to the Ridgedale Jamba Juice, while the others chose to leave with their severance pay. “The severance is the average pay from two weeks,” Penk said.

Rhodes nor Penk are choosing to transfer to the Ridgedale Jamba. “I’m sad,” Penk said. “I really liked working there.”

Rhodes agreed saying, “It was a raeally nice job to have as a teenager.”

More than the Jamba employees will be missing this location. It is a stopping spot for many Wayzata students to grab a quick smoothie. Wayzata student Sarah Rocca (11) said, “I’m so mad they are closing, it was the perfect place to go after eating Buffalo Wild Wings!”

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Written by Erin Antrim

Written by Mallory Blanchard

Kai Wilson (WHS ‘08) was critically injured after falling off of a wall at a Halloween party at the University of Minnesota. It has been over a month since the accident occurred and Wilson has made enormous progress since being admitted to the Hennepin County Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit.

He suffered damage to the right side of his brain and underwent surgery to stop bleeding and to monitor his brain functions, said doctors. Several U of M students said at the time of the accident that Wilson showed signs of intoxication earlier that evening. “It was really obvious that he was overly intoxicated. He was really incoherent and stumbled around,” said Grant Sorenson back in October (WHS ’08), who knew Wilson well.

Wilson is no longer comatose. His eyes are open and he is conversing with friends and family. Wilson’s mother, Janie Dahl, said that Wilson is, “mostly tubeless.” After a recent brain scan, he had no scar tissue, and the swelling of his brain was down. Doctors do not anticipate any brain damage, and expect that, after rehab, he will make a full recovery. Wilson has started to remember the night of the accident, but still has many questions about his accident. “He has been trying to understand his accident and the time warp he finds himself in,” Dahl said.

Wilson was admitted to HCMC on October 25 and stayed in the ICU until November 13, when he was moved to Bethesda hospital in St. Paul. He is breathing on his own. While at Bethesda he is undergoing physical and speech therapy.

After a few more weeks of rehab, he will probably go to Courage Center where he will receive long-term rehab. “He will need 24 hour care for a while,” Dahl said. A lot of people have been thinking about Wilson since his accident. The website devoted to his progress www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaiwilson has seen over 30,000 visits from friends and family to date.

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By Jillian Benzen

WHS sponsored seven families through a program called Adopt-A-Family, a fundraiser organized by Interfaith Outreach, this past November. The holiday seasons of these families have been made a little brighter thanks to the community at WHS.

In total WHS raised $6400. It was a huge success and a big accomplishment for the student council members.

The council’s goal was to raise $3500. The members of the council went around asking their peers, teachers, and the community of Plymouth and Wayzata for donations.

The 113 student council members met the goal of raising $30. What started out as just asking for money led to a whole lot more as the council got creative and went above and beyond expectations.

Zach Sperry (11) held a competition between Mr. Miles’ and Ms. McIntyre’s AP U.S. History classes. McIntyre’s class raised the most, but together the two classes raised $140 for the cause.

Rachel Path (12) and Elise Path (9) are two members that also went beyond their duties. The sisters went outside the walls of WHS and asked family friends for donations. A birthday party was held within the family, and, instead of gifts, the girls asked people to make a donation to the cause. Their party raised $160.

Logan Kirst (11) raised a total of $238. Kirst asked many different people in the hallways, in class, and at lunch for donations. “The best part is that most people would simply give a dollar or two, and that is all it takes,” said Kirst. Class competitions and competitions among student council members were some of the ways Kirst raised money. “In one of my classes alone we raised $100 dollars in attempt to out-raise another block.”

Once the money was collected, the student council went shopping for the families. There was a mandatory shopping day where the students met at Mrs. Iverson’s house and were each given $100 dollars to shop for one person in one of the seven families. Each council member had a list of the wants and needs of the selected person for which they were shopping.

“My peers and I went to Target and bought pots and pans, as well as socks and sneakers,” Sperry said. He had the opportunity to watch the families open up there gifts on Friday, December 12. Sperry is involved in the orchestra at WHS. He and other musical members of the student council are apart of a string quartet that will play Holiday tunes for the sponsored family.

Kirst was able to attend the big shopping day. He shopped for a 35 year-old male and purchased work boots, a king size blanket and shirts. “After the gifts were wrapped and sent off to the families you realize that it is not just about buying the gifts, it’s about making somebody’s holidays. It is really cool to feel like you’re making a difference in someone’s life,” Kirst said.

Junior, Kalie Michael said, “When shopping for Adopt-A-Family I shopped for a 30 year old woman. She needed Tupperware, a wireless telephone for her kitchen, and she needed scented candles. We were able to get it all.”

“Kids just did it, we didn’t have to put food attached to it,” said Mrs. Iverson, the WHS Student Council Administrator. A Noodles night was planned again where all proceeds from the restaurant would go the WHS Adopt-A-Family fund, but unfortunately Noodles overbooked and the company donated $500 instead.

Student Council President Andrew Haertzen (12) and Vice President Lauren Wilvers (12) took a big part in organizing and getting the council ready. There main job is to keep there peers involved and make sure everyone is keeping up with their duties.

“My favorite part of Adopt-A-Family is the thank you letters we receive back from the families. It brings joy and happiness to what WHS did as a whole, I hope that the whole student body can see how thankful the sponsored families were,” said Haertzen.

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