The Fight Scene; The jungalbook cast performs The Fight scene with Heather Boutwell and Stephanie Weiss. Also in the scene are Allison Richards, Nathan Maxwell, Haley Laird, Rachel Hummel, and Jessica Palmer

The Warrior Theatre Department’s Jungalbook snagged the title of Most Outstanding Production at the Mississippi Theatre Association’s (MTA) annual competition. They will be attending the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) March 7-11. In addition to being awarded the Best Show, director Suzanne Allmon won Best Director; senior Xavier Martin won Best Actor; seniors Taylor Nace and Heather Boutwell, Allstar Cast; and the show, Best Costume Design and Best Fight Choreography. “These guys have put in lots of time and work and really deserve this win,” Allmon said. “SETC includes the top 20 productions in the southeast, so there’ll be some tough competition. However, these guys are prepared to do their best.” The cast and crew have already begun preparing for SETC with weekly rehearsals and extreme determination.“I’m really excited to be going to SETC. As a senior, this means everything to me, and I’m going to give it my all on that stage,” senior Rachel Jackson said. “This department is a family, and we’re going to work together to win SETC again.” The bond within the department is a definite advantage when it comes to working through problems calmly during
a production. “I spilled water in my costume pants during MTA, and I’m in a puppet,” sophomore Logan McCarty said. “None of us really had a choice but to laugh hysterically, in hushed voices, of course.” This is OGHS’s sixth state championship, and the last win was in 2008, where they won SETC that year as well. Since SETC will be held in Chattanooga, TN, the travel expenses will be costly. The Theatre Department will be presenting an encore performance of Jungalbook on March 2nd at the OGP auditorium, and tickets will be $7. In addition, they will perform The Grimm Brothers Spectaculathon on February 16-17 in the OGHS Black Box. Tickets will be $5 for students and $7 for adults. The department will also be presenting 39 Steps as a dinner theatre production on February 23-24 at the OGP auditorium, and tickets will be $18 per person, including a meal. Tickets for all productions are now on sale in the Black Box. The theatre students are also selling cookie dough to help off-set the cost.

On December 16, the Golden Spirits traveled to Jackson to the state dance competition, leaving with their fourth consecutive State Championship. They received 2nd place in the 6A jazz category and 1st in the 6A kick category, but it was their high-scoring kick dance that gave them the title of overall 6A Kick Champions, helping them maintain their title. Every year, the Golden Spirits attend the Mississippi High School Activities Association competition where they compete against various schools in the state. This year there were over 40 high schools competing in four different categories: jazz, pom, kick, and hip hop. For years schools in the 6A division have tried their hardest to out-dance the Golden Spirits with their dances, but none have come close. The Golden Spirits are not only recognized by other high schools but are also recognized by the University of Southern Mississippi. They will be performing their award-winning kick routine at one of the USM basketball games in February. This year was a huge difference for some of the older dancers, going from 15 dancers last year to 23 this year. “Having 23 girls was definitely a blessing in disguise,” senior Golden Spirit Catherine DeLeon said. “It was difficult to adjust, but it was worth it in the long run. Our kick lines have never looked so good!” The girls also welcomed a new sponsor this year, which added to the adjustments. Lexey Robinett, a ninth-grade English teacher and Golden Spirit coach, is more than pleased that the girls were able to keep their title. “I look forward to helping them win another one next year,” Robinett said.

The Golden Spirits dance team brought home another state title afer competing in the 2011-12 MHSAA Dance Competition held in Jackson, MS

Recently named 2012 Oak Grove High School Star Student, Daniel Beck, named Brandon Webb his Star Teacher./ Photo by Parker Brewer

Oak Grove recently announced Daniel Beck as the 2011-2012 Star Student. With a score of 35 on his ACT, achieving this feat was quite an honor.“I am so excited to be named Star Student. I originally heard about it my freshman year, but never thought I’d ever get it,” Beck said. “It’s nice to be recognized for your accomplishments.”
Beck plans on attending the University of Southern Mississippi to study business next year on “hopefully a Presidential scholarship.” That, combined with the Air Force ROTC Commander’s Leadership Scholarship will result in refunds for him.
“Making money while in collegewould definitely be a plus,” Beck said.
Beck chose Mr. Brandon Webb as his Star Teacher. Webb has been at Oak Grove for four years, teaching English, Spanish and speech classes.“I was blown away when I found out I was chosen,” Webb said. “It had been a running joke for years that he would pick me if he made it, but I never expected it.”
Beck has advice for other students hoping to be Star Students: “Read anything and everything, and challenge yourself with lots of AP classes, even if it does hurt your GPA in the long run.”
The Mississippi Economic Council and its M.B. Swayne Educational Foundation sponsor the Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Program in an effort to encourage scholastic achievement among the state’s high school sudents.

Running through numbers, harmonizing vocals, and perfecting routines every day, the OGHS show choir, Centerstage!, is headed to multiple competitions in preparation for the national competition in Orlando, Florida, at Universal Studios in March. The team practices every day during third block as well as a few nights 6:00-9:00 p.m. With 23 girls and 15 boys in the group, the show choir’s division placement is in Large Group Triple A for competition. This year’s show choir director is Mr. Darren Dale who took the place of previous years’ director Mr. Tim Breland. “It’s like a new year for us since we are a large group,” sophomore Sydney Green said.
The show choir’s theme includes upbeat music combining jazz and rock and roll. The show choir girls’ costumes consist of purple beaded dresses with a costume change of black leather corsets and black heels. The boys’ outfits are charcoal gray suits and matching ties with a costume change of black skinny jeans with black leather jackets. The groovy songs chosen this year are “On My Way,” “Price Tag,” “New York State of Mind,” “All of the Above,” “Shook Me All Night Long,” “I Wanna Rock,” and “Here We Go Again.”
The team is required to undergo choreography sessions instructed by dancers from Louisiana. The sessions are usually very time-consuming, but they are worth learning. Centerstage! performs one show consisting of eight songs equaling roughly 15 minutes. The routine involves high-speed movements as well as quick costume changes. The team is preparing for competitions by cleaning choreography, ensuring organization, and perfecting memorization of songs and dance moves. Many skills for the ambitious sport are required for each member to have. “I would say definitely dancing is more important than singing. You need to be able to learn quickly as well. It’s pretty difficult at first, but as the year goes on, it gets easier,” sophomore Mary Margaret Hyer said. “I encourage many people, especially guys, to try out because it’s very fun, and it’s a great experience.” The guys feel like it is a team sport and requires dedication and practice. “We practice often like the football team, and we have to go over it again and again to perfect our show. It’s always a work in progress that we work diligently at improving,” senior Gunnar Thorderson said. The show choir is indeed different from other sports but has a lot of similarities. “Show choir is a sport because we do just as much sweating as every other sport does. I wish anyone from other sports would try show choir,” senior Markos Williams said.

The Forensics team has begun the spring semester part of their season in an exemplary fashion. Since the beginning of the semester, the team has competed in the Pascagoula Singing River Classic Tournament, the National Catholic Forensic League Qualifying Tournament, and the Emory Barkley Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. The team has had a string of successes, winning the Individual Event Sweepstakes at Pascagoula and winning 2nd place overall, qualifying nine people to the Catholic Forensic League (CFL) Grand National Tournament in Baltimore this summer and having multiple breaks to the top 12 events at Emory, a national circuit tournament with over 300 schools in attendance and approximately 50 in each event. Notable names include Ashton Beightol, junior, who won Dramatic Interpretation and Prose Interpretation at Pascagoula, qualified to CFL Nationals in Dramatic Performance, and made quarterfinals at Emory; and Mary Ryan Karnes, junior, who qualified to CFL in Original Oratory (and also received the highest score of the six qualifiers), made semifinals in Original Oratory at Emory, and also made quarterfinals at the same tournament in Duo Interpretation. Her Duo partner, freshman Evan Woods, shares the last honor with her and is also the first freshman in the history of the team to advance at the Emory Barkley Forum. In the future the team will be competing at the Hub City Classic at Hattiesburg High School, the Tupelo Rock and Roll Classic at Tupelo High School, and will attempt to qualify to the prestigious National Forensic League Tournament which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, this summer. The team will also be competing for their seventh state championship in April. When asked about his game plan for state, Coach Shane Cole responded, “We are set to defend our title, and we hope to repeat as we have for the past six years.”

Sherakhan (Stephanie Weiss) convinces Grey (Nathan Maxwell) to see things her way in the Drama Department’s production of The Jungal Book. / Submitted Photo

In previous years, the Oak Grove drama department has put on several award winning shows, and this year is no different. This year’s show, “Jungal Book,” is a darker version of the Disney cartoon that came out in 1994. When asked about the choice for the show, director Suzanne Allmon replied, “I chose Jungal Book because it’s an ensemble piece but also has individual characters. I have a very strong senior class this year, so I wanted them all to have a chance to showcase their own roles without being just part of an ensemble.” The show stars senior Xavier Martin as naive Mowgli, trying to learn the ways of the jungle and staying out of the way of Sherakhan the Tiger, played by Stephanie Weiss, who would like nothing more than a bite of Mowgli. Along the way he is taught and protected by reluctant mother Bagheera the Panther (Jessica Palmer), wolf pack leader Akela the Wolf (Heather Boutwell), and teacher of jungle law Baloo the Bear (Andrew Adams). The enticing Kaa the Python (Taylor Nace), and the cackling Chil the Vulture (Lauren English) appear as well. Juniors Rachel Hummel and Haley Laird seem incredibly hyperactive as they shake and laugh onstage as the Hyenas. Allison Walters and Nathan Maxwell round out the rest of Boutwell’s wolf pack as Grab and Grey. Sophomores Will Thaggard, Keirston Murphy, and Baxter Rose Walters, along with senior Rachel Jackson make up a screeching family of monkeys, and the Lord of the Jungle, Hathi the Elephant, is voiced by juniors Logan McCarty and Miranda Rester. In designing the costumes for the show, Mrs. Allmon said research was key. “Since the show is based in India, we did a lot of research in Indian culture, which would be why we have the henna tattoos. We also took the Indian culture to create the costumes; each color matches up with the characteristics of the animals, so we tried to put a lot of the culture into the costumes instead of just making them look like animals.” This past weekend the drama department competed at the regional Dramafest competition at USM, in hopes that they would be one of three schools chosen to advance to the statewide Mississippi Theatre Association competition. Not only were they called to advance to the next level of competition, the cast and crew also picked up several additional awards, such as Technical Achievement for having the best overall tech crew, an All-Star Cast for Xavier Martin’s portrayal of Mowgli, and Best Physicality to Will Thaggard, Keirston Murphy, Baxter Rose Walters, and Rachel Jackson for their performances as the monkeys. Technical Director, junior Addison Arroyo, fondly remarked on the weekend as a whole: “It’s definitely cool to go to Dramafest because it’s fun to compare and see what your peers can do and to prove what you can do. And of course, there’s nothing like being called for MTA.” So far the drama team has been very successful and hopefully will continue to be as they bring a part of the Jungal to the stage.

Daniel Beck, senior, dutifully works on his novel. / Photo by Laura Prehn

Daniel Beck, voted Most Likely to Succeed by the senior class, recently had a major accomplishment other than his 35on the ACT. During November’s National Write a Novel Month, he wrote a novel. The book’s title is “No One Man Should Have All That Power.” Beck titled the book after the lyrics to a Kanye West song he was listening to as he finished the book on November 25th with five days to spare before deadline. When asked what motivated him to write a novel, Beck said that he considered it a personal challenge. When he thought he wouldn’t be able to finish it, he was motivated by the fact that he had already told all of his friends about the book, and he couldn’t give up. He enjoyed writing the 50,000 word novel though writing became stressful at times. He has considered sending the book to an editor after he further edits it himself. Beck gets much of his inspiration from his three favorite authors: Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Orson Scott Card. Most of their works are comedy and science fiction. His book is a satirical work about a man who stumbles into an epic journey to save the world from utter destruction. The book contains a talking tree, a character based on an Oak Grove alum named Isaac Yoo, a barbarian named Fred, and an alien race. Could a reader ask for more? The hero’s name is Beck, because its author “couldn’t think of a better name…because there isn’t one.” Overall, Beck’s book is hilarious, dramatic, and ironic, and The Warrior Beat gives it two thumbs way up.