A reminder to all seniors last day is Friday the 20^th. The seniors get out on that day and I can’t think of a single senior that is not excited to be nearly done with school. Senioritis is kicking in, and it may be hard for seniors to concentrate. Hang in their seniors; your time is almost done.

This year’s Baccalaureate service will be held May 15^th in the Auditorium.

The next meeting for planning the service is May 1^st at 5pm at Faith Lutheran Church in Eldridge.

Baccalaureate is a non-denominational religious celebration of seniors’ graduation and oftentimes provides seniors the opportunity to give a testimony about their faith, read their favorite Biblical quote or even play an instrument or sing a song.

If you are interested in participating please contact Julia Jones at 285-4596 or jjones@stannslonggrove.org or you could talk to Kelli Golinghorst.

Please come and be a part of this tradition, absolutely everyone is welcome!

   On January 25^th, an RSVP meeting was held between a group of administrators and select North Scott Students. RSVP stands for “Raising Student Voices in Participation”. The group discusses ways to increase student participation in the making of school rules. The RSVP process is meant to create compromise, and has brought North Scott rule changes such as the ability for students to use their cell phones during passing time, which was clearly positively received.

   At last month’s meeting, administrators asked what issues were important to the student body. After gathering opinions from classmates, the student representatives produced a lengthy list of concerns. Among those presented were:  a possibility for open campus, improvements on bathroom quality, lack of daily announcements, lunch options, backpacks, posting of food nutrition facts, consistency of the room temperature throughout the building, and a less serious proposal for a Kool-Aid drinking fountain.

   Administrators reviewed these ideas and worked with students on possible solutions. Several conclusions were made on these proposals.

   In the area of school nutrition, administrators will meet with cafeteria workers in order to discuss more healthy options. Also, nutrition facts about school lunches will be posted in the cafeteria from now on.

   For the concerns on the lack of daily announcements, Mr. Knoche informed students that administration is working on creating a daily text message with important school announcements to be sent to students and parents.

   For many of the other student concerns, administrators gave the student RSVP members a bit of homework—to check the policies that other area schools have for parking, backpacks, and open campus. This research will help administrators decide whether these rule changes could be made successfully.

   The only student proposal that was totally turned down was that for temperature consistency throughout the building. Students were informed that changing this would require changing the school’s entire boiler system, a highly expensive renovation.

   RSVP hopes that their next few meetings will bring more compromise and positive changes to North Scott’s school environment.

Conferences will also be taking place in the commons on Thursday 10, 2011. This is a reminder to all students whose parents haven’t been to conferences yet; there will be another conference day on Thursday.

North Scott’s jazz choir, 200 South, will be competing at state January 31 at Muscatine High School. The ensemble consists of 5 sopranos; Lindsay Heinen, Analisa Percuoco, Emily Kolwey, Alyson Ragona, and Emma Wall. 4 altos; Audrey Mcdermott, Anna Schneider, Nicole McCombs, and Sarah Onken. 3 basses; Kellen Moss, Brady Frieden, and Logan Hienen and 3 Tenors; Sheldon Phipps, Branden Randleman, and Anthony Curlott. At least 3 times a week the group meets every morning before school to rehearse and prepare their 3 songs that vary from English ballads to vocal jazz.

The jazz choir has prepared 3 songs to perform at the state competition. The first called Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad with a little mix of jazziness added in. The second song is called Danny Boy, which is widely considered an Irish anthem. Oddly the song is more popular outside of Ireland than within. Prime Time Blues is the third song they will perform, it has the fastest tempo out of all three and is a very lively jazzy tune with vocal percussion throughout the whole piece.

Next Saturday, January 29^th from 8-11 p.m. the Pit will be transformed into a winter wonderland of blue and silver for the annual Bachelor Capture Dance, sponsored by the North Scott Student Government.

This year, the theme for the event is based of the popular song, “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Tickets will be on sale during A, B, and C lunches beginning next week, the cost is $12/person and includes a sporty, blue water bottle.

“I am especially excited for this year’s B.C. dance, because we have been working really hard to put it together. Plus, B100 will be there to play the tunes,” says Student Government Junior Representative Mitch Dierickx.

Senior guard, Brandon Voss, shoots over Cedar Rapids Prairie at a game earlier this season.

This Friday, January 14th Lancer fans will pack the Pit for the annual Cake Auction sponsored by the North Scott Athletic Boosters. This year’s theme is: “North Scott Lancers: Riding the Waves of Success.”

Activities begin at 4 o’clock as the sophomore boys and girl’s teams take on Davenport West. Varsity girl’s action starts at six and the Varsity boys will finish the night, tipping off around eight.

While the games are sure to entertain, perhaps the most anticipated match-up will be between the short but quick Varsity boys and the Falcons (5-1) 7-foot center, Nate Wells. It will be interesting to see how Coach Budde and his squad plan to overcome this nearly 8-inch Falcon advantage to maintain their second-place record in the MAC (actually tied with Davenport West) and chance at league champions.

But just in case the hardwood action isn’t enough, there will be plenty of uniquely decorated cakes waiting to be bought and devoured in the Commons. The event is a huge fundraiser for the Boosters; bring in thousands of dollars to support Lancer athletics.

So, whether it’s the sports or the sweets that attracts people to this year’s Cake Auction, it is a community tradition that won’t want to be missed.

This year for the Student Hunger Drive; North Scott’s Student Government has planned several events to raise funds, most of which will be familiar to students, such as Mr. North Scott and the Talent Show. One event however is brand new and is sure to attract attention: Powder Buff.

Powder Buff is (obviously) modeled after Powder Puff, but instead of girls playing football, our Lancer guys will be playing volleyball.

Sign up sheets for Powder Buff are in the Activities office. The event will be held on Friday October 22^nd at 6:30 p.m. in The Pit and aux gym. It is tournament style, so there will be three teams of 6-8 per class. The teams must be made up of members all from the same class. The cost for players is $5 each. To watch this awesome event? Only $2 or 4 cans. All proceeds go to the Student Hunger Drive.

So be sure to head to The Pit on the 22^nd for some great entertainment and a great cause.

The band performs at the 2009 Senior Show.

Written by Michael Harry

The North Scott High School Marching Band will perform its Senior Show tonight during the home game against Assumption.

During this performance, band members dress in Halloween costumes instead of uniforms. The band’s song set for tonight’s performance includes Move Along, Hey! Baby, and Good Thing. This performance highlights the senior members of the band by moving them onto the track to sing during the performance of Hey! Baby.

The Senior Show also marks the last marching band performance of the 2010 season.