Olivia Vieth
Where and when were you born?
Eau Claire, WI on May 28, 2007.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Throwing a bunch of water balloons at my teachers at Messiah.
What has been your favorite year at Immanuel, and why?
My favorite year was probably sophomore year because at that point I knew how the school and schedule worked, and we also got to experience new things like new profs and classes.
What is your favorite high school memory?
When we had a battle of the bands; also when Michael jumped out of the window in Religion 10.
What are your plans for after high school?
I plan to come back to Immanuel to go into the teaching program, and then go to UWEC to get my license in teaching.
If you could bring any song in band back, or play a new song in band, what would it be and why?
The Shrek Dance Party one because it was different from the jazz pieces, and it was very upbeat.
Any advice for the freshmen?
If you have the chance to go out with your class, DO IT!
Favorites
Food - Vegetarian Sushi
Drink - Mountain Dew
Class - Journalism
Prof - Schaller
Color - Black
Show - “Pretty Little Liars”
Naomi Story - Senior Spotlight
Kayla - When and Where?
Naomi - Unity hospital in Fridley, Minnesota. September 15, 2006.
K - What do you want to do after high school?
N - I’m actually coming back here for the teaching program. I’ve already enrolled and everything. Then wherever the Lord decides to take me.
K - What is one of your favorite memories in the dorm?
N - Freshman year when I roomed with Maggie Sydow, it was always crazy. Ellie was always in our room. It was the best.
K - What is your favorite year of high school?
N - I gotta say senior year. It's been really fun, and we feel like a family.
K - Any regrets?
N - Not trying out for track sooner.
K - If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be?
N - Ireland or Iceland. I heard it is really pretty.
K - If you could be a Barbie, what Barbie would you be?
N - Anneliese from Princess and the Pauper.
K - Cats or Dogs?
N - Dogs, one hundred percent.
K - If you had to change your name, what would it be?
N - Victoria
K - If you could pick any TV show to be in, what would you pick?
N - Any baking show, not cooking, but baking.
K - What did you name your pig in biology?
N - Basil.
K - If you could have any superpower what would it be?
N - The ability to teleport. I don't like driving.
Favorites:
Color - Lavender Purple
Food - French Fries
Prof - Prof Schaller
Class - Religion 9 or 2nd hour study hall
Verse - Ephesians 4:32
Hymn - 725 from the Worship Supplement
Spring Sports Poll Responses
By Zara Wales
“Which of the spring sports is most likely to go to state?” was the question asked in a poll recently conducted by the Flash. In third place was Softball, with 1 vote. In second place was Baseball, with 15 votes. In first place was Track, with 33 votes. Maybe it’s a sign! Thanks to everybody who participated in the poll!
Track & Field
From a Newcomer’s Perspective
One of my favorite activities in which I decided to partake this school year was Track and Field. It provides a structured daily, 90-minute workout routine that aids in maintaining fitness and good form.
We begin every practice with a warm-up run. The first run felt tedious to me, but once I got into the rhythm of daily running it seemed significantly shorter. We either run laps if we’re in the gym, or jog through the trails on the near side of the forest when we practice outside. After training inside for the first week in the gym, it was refreshing to practice outside in favorable weather for the first time.
Following the brief run is dynamic stretching, which consists of various moving exercises meant to increase flexibility and prevent injury. I recognized most of these from Cross Country last autumn, but a few were unfamiliar to me. I found that I prefer dynamic stretching to static stretching, because I can feel the stretch better in dynamic, and it seems to provide greater flexibility.
One of the most engaging parts of Track and Field is that the very beginning and end are relatively invariable from practice to practice, but the main portion of each workout is always something different from the last. For the first practice we did skills testing to figure out what events we might want to consider trying, but subsequent practices comprised a variety of physical activities that ranged from improving sprinting form to jumping backwards onto a blue mattress. Each practice consists of both familiar aspects that become habitual but also novel exercises that avoid monotony.
My favorite part of Track and Field is the abdominal workout at the end. It involves planks, side planks, and other exercises that improve core strength. It is challenging and takes some measure of endurance, but it helps with preparation for almost any of the events that one might choose to do. Despite the increase in the time we must hold the plank position for each occasion, the first practice was hardest and following ab workouts seemed easier in comparison.
Track and Field provides a very fun experience and I am quite glad that I chose to participate in it. I certainly anticipate the first meet and am looking forward to Track and Field next spring.
Teacher's Pet . . . Peeves
I’ve observed thousands of sporting events both as a contestant and a coach over the years. The strategies used and the skill level have improved in some ways during that time. One thing that doesn’t seem to ever improve, however, is the originality of cheers used by student fans. One would think that after decades of practice and “trial and error” that cheers would evolve as well.
Following is a list of tiresome standbys that I hear year after year. Feel free to expand this list with those you have heard. A closer look at these will reveal that these mundane cheers are primarily negative, aimed at the perceived shortcomings of the opponent and their fans.
“Fundamentals”
“Dribble, Dribble, Pass, Pass . . .”
“There’s a Net There”
“Over the Net, Over the Net”
“You Can’t Do That”
“Overrated”
“She’s/He’s a Freshman”
“Daddy’s Money”
“God’s on Our Side”
“Airball”
“Boring”
“We Can’t Hear You”
“Who’s Your Daddy?”
“It’s Not Soccer”
“I Believe That We Will Win”
“NaNaNaNa, NaNaNaNa, Hey-A-A, Goodbye”
I may be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve heard these cheers used by our fans. I’m thankful for that, and for the emphasis on cheering for our team rather than disrespecting the opponent.
I’ve contemplated how this situation could be improved. Perhaps at the Sportsmanship Summit sponsored by the Dairyland Conference that is held each year, participants could brainstorm some new cheer ideas that focus on the positive. These leaders could then return to their schools and implement a few of them. Maybe there could even be a contest in which the school with the most original positive cheers is awarded in some way.
Instead of chanting “Overrated” (since the school’s ranking is not self-generated) we could say ”Underrated” if they are playing particularly well. Wouldn’t that throw everyone off? Saying He’s/She’s a Senior might also be a nice way to recognize four years of commitment rather than one. “Daddy’s Money” seems a bit vindictive to me, especially since Daddy is also paying taxes to help support the local public school in the area as well. “Who’s Your Daddy?” calls into question a biological connection with the father. Isn’t that something where privacy is in order?
Rather than “We Can’t Hear You” what about “We Are Here For You”? Touching? If a team has no chance of catching up, maybe their fans should say, “I Believe That You Will Win.” Finally, instead of “It’s Not Soccer” it could be, “It’s not Soccer, nor LaCrosse, nor Hockey, nor Polo, . . .”
Enough said, Prof Lau
Senior Spotlight: Eliza Stearns
E: What's your full name?
L: Eliza Joletta Stearns
E: When and where were you born?
L: I think I was born in Mankato, Minnesota. I don’t know if I was born in the hospital or at home… August 19, 2007.
E: Socks to bed or no?
L: Yes, initially. But after an hour or so they’re off.
E: What is your favorite memory at Immanuel?
L: There are so many… One of my favorites would have to be when a group of friends and I stayed up really late and we got pizzas and a bunch of snacks out of the canteen. We had a goofy pizza party. It was one of those moments when you just feel like a kid again. I also loved long walks with friends and being goofy with everybody. (LARGE GASP) Formal night!!! Not the formal part, but afterwards I was so loopy and the things that happened were so crazy. It was so much fun.
E: You can travel anywhere in the world and bring three people with you. Who are you taking with you and where are you going?
L: Anywhere? (confirmed) Just three people? (confirmed) Can I make them want to be there? (after much thought, confirmed). I’m taking Alice Lau, you (Ellie yay!!!), and Grant Bernthal. Let me explain. I’m bringing Alice because she and I are like half of the same soul or something. You, because you’ll balance out our craziness and make us a little sane. And Grant so if we get attacked by a bear we have someone to feed to it. We are going to go… to… AUSTRALIA. Are there bears in Australia? KOALA BEARS. He’s gonna get eaten by a koala bear in Australia!! (*commence hysterical laughter). OH, and we are BACKPACKING. No hotels; we are camping this whole trip.
E: Sunrises or sunsets and why?
L: They are both beautiful and amazing, but sunsets because they help you reflect on the day and everything that happened. It’s so peaceful.
E: What are your plans for after graduation?
L: Oh boy, do I have a story for you!! I’m gonna start this off by saying that I have no idea what I’m gonna do or where I’m gonna end up or what God has planned for me. That being SAID… I’m coming back here for teaching and doing the four year teaching program. THEN I’m going back to college for Nursing which should only take me two years in the accelerated nursing program. So I should max two more years. Then I’m going back for business, so I can start a business with my two sisters. I’m going to get a ranch and do a whole bunch of stuff with that, and it’s going to be amazing!!! At some point I want to do travel nursing while I teach part time if I can make that happen.
E: What makes you the happiest?
L: There are a couple of things that are tied. Like when I’m doing one, I'm missing the other. But I’ll name the top three. The moments when I’m with my friends and we’re dying of laughter over the silliest things. But also being with my family, like my nieces and nephews and sisters and brothers. Last, but definitely not least, singing hymns in the canteen with a bunch of people. Even though I might not be the best singer, it’s just awesome to be with those people and praise God through song.
E: You're asked to do an ad for any product, what product would you want it to be and what would you do for the ad (I wrote these questions while I was watching a movie during ad breaks)?
L: OH (goes to her shower caddy and pulls out a bottle of CeraVe) “Buy CeraVe moisturizer, because even though your humor is dry, your face won’t be.”
E: What would your warning label say?
L: WARNING: She has a hard time filtering things and is mentally ill, but in a fun way.
E: What's an impact you want to make on the world or the people around you?
L: I want people to feel like they can come to me even if we’re not best friends. I want to be someone that people know that they can come to no matter what’s going on. And know that even if we’re fighting, I’ll listen to them and help them through whatever they’re going through.
E: If you were a superhero, what power would you have and what's the first thing you would do?
L: This is so hard… I’ve thought about this too. Had deep conversations about this. I’d want to be able to know how people are feeling and what they need to make them feel better. And I know this sounds so cheesy. But like you see someone who’s sad and you’re like, man, I wish I could help them. But what if you could? (Goes on a tirade about how she says too much and she should have picked not saying “like” as her super power.)
E: Between Samson (from the Bible), Mrs. Gurgel, and Kristoff (from Frozen): Who are you exploring the Amazon rainforest with? Who are you robbing a bank with? Who are you going to the red carpet with?
L: Kay… I am robbing a bank with Samson because I can’t do it with Mrs. Gurgel, because she’d be disappointed in me and that’d be very sad. And I can’t do it with Kristoff because he would just blow the whole thing up and we’d go to jail. I’m going to the red carpet with Mrs. Gurgel because hopefully she'd be willing to go all out on our outfits and we could do the craziest artsiest things ever, and it’d be so much fun. And Kristoff is in the rainforest because we’d just be best homies and we’d talk about Anna, his wife, and he’d complain and I'd be like “stop complaining she’s the; best wife ever.” And we'd just be so girly because he’s a little fruity, you know? And he’d kill the bugs. That’s the best part. He’d kill all the bugs.
E: What's one thing you want to do before you finish off your senior year?
L: I wanna leave my mark in some way. Like, just, like, whether it’s like, permanently carving my name onto the wall, just like if I come here in twenty years I can be like here I was. Eliza was HERE!
Favorites
Prof: Rodebaugh and Steve
Movie: Either Where the Crawdads Sing or Deadpool. They’re tied.
Candy: Those chocolate covered blueberries (Brooksie chocolate) OR KINDER BUENOS
Class: Art
Song: Right now… “Baby Doll" by Dominic Fike.
Restaurant: Chipotle… IS MY LIIIIIIFEEEEEE
Bible verse: Matthew 5:44
-Ellie Daub
The History on Leprechauns
If you’ve been to the store lately, you probably have seen the onslaught of bright green St. Patrick’s Day decorations. Among all that green you will find lots of leprechauns. But why are leprechauns associated with St. Patrick’s Day? If you’ve had History 10, then you know that Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and that St. Patrick’s Day is supposed to be a religious celebration to commemorate his death. So where do leprechauns come in?
​
Between 1700-1800 St. Patrick’s Day became more of a celebration for Irish things rather than St. Patrick himself. And since leprechauns were already a part of old Irish folklore by that time they became a symbol for the holiday.
​
Early leprechauns were depicted as little munchkin-like men who work as shoemakers and like to play tricks on people. They have a pot of gold they are supposed to protect and go around pinching people who aren’t wearing green. Irish tradition says if you catch one you get three wishes, but they are really hard to get and will trick people who try to catch them.
-Magdalene Seibel
What does everyone actually do during spring break?
Relaxing and sleeping won this year's spring break poll. In a recent student poll, “Relaxing/Sleeping In” was easily everyone’s favorite spring break activity, along with having no school as a close second.
But not everyone was relaxing during spring break. As the poll showed, a quarter of students chose Tour Choir, who often come back to school more tired than when they left. But as one Tour Choir member stated, “It was totally worth it.”
At the same third place ranking as Tour Choir, Family Time was also a favorite spring break activity. For most dormies, this is their first chance to go home and see their family since Christmas break.
Finally, 15% of people said that their favorite thing was vacation. A handful said their favorite thing was working and making money. A few students played video games, and one person established their residency in Eau Claire and paid their taxes.
While most people were relaxing and enjoying having no school, some were hard at work touring the country, and others were enjoying seeing their families again. And one person got their taxes done.