What a Year! (05-28-07)

Well, folks, it’s officially over. The 2006-2007 school year came to a eventful end with the Kansas State Track Meet in Wichita.

In case you hadn’t heard, we ended up with a 3rd and 4th place finisher, and all in all, it wasn’t a bad way to end the year.

We have much of which to be proud. Let’s review:

We began the year with the FCCLA Freshmen Welcome and the back to school dance and also were treated to a glimpse of the coming season with the Fall Sports Preview, though the football scrimmage was sadly rained out.

All of our fall Ringneck teams gave us much to be proud. The football boys began the season with a thriller against Quinter and provided us with several other close ballgames including two victories. Of course, we paid the price through some scary and serious injuries, and I got my first taste of what it is like to sit in an emergency room awaiting the fate of an athlete.

Our volleyball girls also gave us much to be proud, as did our cross country team especially at regional competition. I can still remember watching out wonderful pep club, with many donning red and black colors in a sense of wild school spirit, chanting as one, “Boom!” as one of our girls slammed home a kill. And I can still remember watching one of runners collapsing at the finish line, in the cold and wind, gasping and sputtering, having left every ounce of energy on the unforgiving course.

This led to State Cross Country on a beautiful Saturday, with the K-State Wildcats playing just a few miles down the road, and the Wamego golf course packed with banners and tents and teams both big and small. It was a glorious day and helped me to understand why so many love Cross Country.

About this time, our FFA kids were returning from national convention, regaling us with stories of walking across the big stage to receive the applause and honors of which they were so deserving. Also in this time period, student council treated us to a masquerade ball, and I realized just how badly I needed a camera phone to capture the wonderful Ringneck spirit of our incredible study body.

Then there was league music where the participants from our rival schools all came together as a huge chorus of song and good will. I will never forget the warm camaraderie I saw after the show, and it was nice to spend an evening not watching someone win and lose, but just enjoying our kids and all their talent.

Our talented stars shown all the brighter when the music department brought Broadway to town and treated us to a bit a musical magic. For two night, we filled our auditorium and stood and clapped for the hard work put into a stellar production.

After Thanksgiving, we began the long marathon known as basketball season, and I got my first taste of Ringneck Wrestling! I saw brave kids battling through injury and defeat to reach deep within and find the best they could be. We witnesses both human heroics and human error, and through it all we loved our kids.

Our FFA team continued their travels and their accumulation of medals and plaques at tournaments. I’ll always remember my first fruit sale and how touched I was to receive a complimentary fruit basket.

We also had our annual magazine sales and I marveled at the fine organization and hard work done by both kids and staff to raise money for our juniors.

We ended the year strong with a joint Christmas concert, a joyous student council dance, an FFA dance, and a student council Christmas party, which concluded our new finals schedule.

The next semester brought state scholars bowl to Hill City and I got to play Alex Trebec.
Soon, our halls were filled after school with practicing forensics students, most of whom were rewarded with a trip to the state tournament. Thanks in part to an amazing freshmen class, Hill City was able to field a full forensics team at the State Tournament for the first time in recent memory, and our team worked hard and did much to make us proud.

Of course, before that there was State music, followed with the dinner theater which was not only delicious but truly enjoyable for all involved. Who can forget the multitudes of music students performing the Mexican Hat Dance throughout the gym?

We finished the year celebrating our kids with the FFA Banquet (where we learned that our chapter would finish with the highest “gold” ranking in all rated areas!), the Athletic Banquet, the KU Honors Banquet, the Awards Night/Art and Woods Show and Ice Cream Social, not to mention Prom, Project Prom, Graduation and After-Graduation.

Oh, and I forgot about Homecoming and our Snowball Dances, all of which were wonderfully orchestrated by our faithful and exceptionally dedicated student council!

I also forgot to mention the KAYS Halloween trick-or-treating and Easter Egg Hunt. The FCCLA had a convention and the Community That Cares had a drugs and alcohol forum in their somewhere as well. And I would be truly remiss to leave out the 110 Art awards earned at Fort Hays and the dozens of awards earned at the Fort Hays and State Journalism competitions. And did I mention that our yearbook was once again selected for top honors? Whew!

The point I am trying inexpertly to make is that we, as members of the Hill City community, have so much of which to be proud. Our students were magnificent this year, in so many ways that I can not even remember them all. For those of you whose activities and events I have failed to mention in this column, I apologize. But the point of this column is not so much to review the year as it is to make a case for how lucky we are to have the schools, the teachers, the staff, the students, and the parents that we have.

Now that the year is officially over, it is time to look back with pride. Ringneck pride. What a year!