A lot of us have a hard time starting conversations with people we don’t know. It can be awkward and uncomfortable, but it’s also something we all have to do. In situations like this, stepping out of one’s comfort zone is never a bad thing.

In an effort to help our students in these types of situations, our high school team organized a special lunch yesterday. Titled “Lunch Conversations,” our students had an assigned table they were asked to sit at with students from different grade levels and individuals they might not have known prior to yesterday.

Teachers and staff members were present at each table to try to get the conversations going. The goal: To set aside social expectations and use conversation starters to chat with some different people during this one day.

And the results were extremely positive.

Our students did a wonderful job of getting to know new people. The three lunch periods were characterized by positive conversation, little to no phone usage, and new connections for our students.

Thank you to our students for being willing to participate in this activity, and thank you to our amazing team of educators and administrators at the high school for taking an active and leading role.

Thomas the 3A State Coach of the Year, Staudt the Assistant Coach of the Year

The cross country season was award-filled for our teams, so it makes sense the coaches joined in on the fun once the season concluded.

It was announced on Thursday that both of our head coaches and boys’ assistant coach Troy Staudt were honored as award winners by the Iowa Track Coaches Association.

Staudt was the lone recipient of the Boys Assistant Coach of the Year award. Head boys’ coach Aaron Thomas was named the Class 3A State Coach of the Year, while girls’ head coach Laura Kautman was a 3A At-Large Coach of the Year.

A part of the boys’ program for seven years, Staudt has been alongside Thomas for three of the Tigers’ four state championships since 2014, including this season. Staudt earned the high praise through a nomination and vote by coaches from across the state.

“It’s a great honor for Troy,” Thomas said. “When he came in, he’d admit that he didn’t have a lot of knowledge about cross country, but he’s worked so hard to have a better understanding and he plays a big role in planning workouts, planning training, those things.”

Thomas says Staudt is key to the growth of the entire program.

“That (varsity) meet we go to at Boone at the end of the year that’s for our JV kids, that was his idea,” Thomas said. “He looks at the whole picture and does a nice job of thinking about what can we do for all 30 or 40 kids on the team and what’s best for them.”

Thomas earned his fourth Coach of the Year accolade, which he says is a reflection of the work the athletes put in throughout the season.

“It’s voted on by your peers, so it’s nice to be recognized by them,” Thomas said. “What the kids did this year, the award is a reflection of that.”

The boys’ team dethroned Pella in 3A to win the state championship. The Tigers also won 3A crowns in 2014, 2017, and 2018.

Kautman’s honor comes after a stellar season for the girls’ program as well. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 for the majority of the season, joined the boys as Raccoon River Conference and State Qualifying Meet champions, and completed the campaign with a third-place finish at state.

Congratulations to all three coaches on these awards. They are certainly deserving of the accolades.

The Ames girls’ swimming and diving team is good, there’s no denying that. There’s depth, there’s balance, and there’s plenty of talent.

But here’s the secret not everybody knows about — some of the that talent walks our Gilbert High School halls every day.

Ames will take a large contingent of swimmers to the state meet in Marshalltown on Friday and Saturday, including six Gilbert girls — seniors Reese Winer and Elizabeth Powers; sophomores Alex Powers, Lily Van Der Linden, and Jaylyn Light; and freshman Madie Hermsen, who will serve as an alternate.

Gilbert has sent student-athletes to Ames to compete on the swimming and diving team for a number of years, and it’s been a friendly and productive partnership. This fall, nearly half of the Little Cyclones’ state qualifiers are Gilbert students.

“I’m super excited that we get to bring so many representatives from Gilbert,” Elizabeth Powers, who qualified for state in four events, said. “The team wouldn’t be the way it is without the team dynamic we have, Ames and Gilbert swimmers together, and we’re all really good friends.”

“This is the year we’ve had the most Gilbert girls on the state team, which is impressive,” Winer, a senior who signed to swim collegiately at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, on Wednesday, said. “We make up almost half of it and that’s just cool to see. Just because you go to different schools doesn’t mean you can’t equally represent.”

The five Gilbert qualifiers will swim in 10 events inside the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA — seven individual events and three relays. Prelims will get underway Friday morning at 11 a.m. The state finals are set for noon on Saturday.

Winer will go it alone in two events — the 100-yard breaststroke where she’s seeded third and the 200 individual medley where she’s seeded eighth. She’s also on the Little Cyclones’ third-seeded 200 freestyle relay and fourth-seeded 200 medley relay.

It’s the second consecutive year Winer has qualified in four events. She bagged eighth-, ninth-, and 11th-place finishes in individual events in 2022, and played a role on Ames’ fifth-place 200 medley relay.

“I’m personally excited because I’m in the same events I’ve been in all year and there’s a senior drive to do better,” Winer said. “We are ranked higher than we were last year.”

Elizabeth Powers will also swim the 200 medley relay, as well as the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 400 freestyle relay. She’s seeded ninth in both individual events. She was a three-time qualifier in 2022, highlighted by a seventh-place result as part of Ames’ 400 freestyle relay.

Alex Powers will swim three times, once alongside Winer in the 200 freestyle relay and once against her in the 100 breaststroke where she’s seeded seventh. She’ll also compete in the 50 freestyle.

Van Der Linden will dive into the pool for a pair of long-distance swims — the 200 and 500 freestyle. She’s got the 12th-fastest qualifying time in the 500 freestyle.

Light makes her return to state in the 100 backstroke as the No. 19 seed. She was 17th in the same event a year ago.

Elizabeth Powers says the girls are prepared to leave every ounce of energy they have in the water. If that results in state medals, fantastic. And if not, as long as there are no regrets, she can live with the outcomes.

“I wouldn’t say there’s an expectation to do well, but there is an expectation for personal improvement,” she said. “That’s what we’re really excited for.”

Good luck to all of our swimmers this weekend, and good luck to the entire Ames squad, which will look to improve upon its fourth-place finish in 2022.

High School Musical Features 70 Students In Cast And Crew

What started in early September with auditions, followed by more than a month of rigorous rehearsals, will come to life this weekend when the Gilbert High School theater department unveils the musical Freaky Friday to audiences on Friday and Saturday.

The curtain will be raised in the high school auditorium on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a second show Saturday evening at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or in advance through TicketSpicket HERE.

With a cast and crew of 70 students, and directed by teachers Zack Hackbarth and Tanner Stutzman, Freaky Friday is sure to be an entertaining production from start to finish. Based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, the musical version of Freaky Friday was developed by Disney Theatrical Productions and debuted in 2016.

“It’s a compelling family story that has a little bit of magic to it,” Hackbarth, who is in his fourth year of directing productions at GHS, said. “It showcases a lot of things that are relatable to a lot of families about their relationships with their parents, their siblings, and with their children. A lot of audience members can see their own lives in the characters that are portrayed on stage.”

Following The Sound of Music and Little Women in recent years, the GHS theater department yearned to tackle a more contemporary project in 2023 and it found the perfect opportunity with Freaky Friday.

“The plot consists of a mom and daughter who have a conflict,” Thomas Barbier, a sophomore who portrays Mike in the musical, said. “Basically, the premise is, you should see how my life is for a day, and then they switch bodies. They come to learn and appreciate that their lives are unique and have their own struggles.”

Izzy Platts, a senior who portrays Katherine Blake, one of the lead characters, says it’s a unique musical that offers actors numerous opportunities to stretch their talents.

“It’s unique in that I get to play two different characters, and that was definitely a new thing for me to have to understand both characters,” Platts said. “I’m so proud of everyone who has worked on the show. It truly is amazing.”

With a larger emphasis on the entire ensemble rather than a few main characters, Freaky Friday allows a number of students to step into the spotlight. Detailed choreography is also part of the production, which presents a new set of challenges for the cast.

“Every single person who is involved matters so much,” Barbier said. “Every single person who is on stage has put in so much work and so much time. It’s incredible.”

To help bring the entire cast together, Platts and Barbier were part of a group that organized team bonding adventures outside of rehearsal time. All of the students got to know each other on a deeper level, and Platts says that has only enhanced the chemistry on stage.

“In previous shows, we haven’t had as much ensemble involvement,” she said. “This year, we really tried to cultivate a community of actors, and it’s just so good to be a part of such a loving and welcoming and diverse community. Everybody comes from somewhere different, but we can all come together to do this, which is something we love.”

Barbier says all of the actors and singers do a tremendous job, but the success of the show goes even deeper than what you will see on stage. He credits the students who work behind the scenes for adding an additional layer to bring it all together.

“This is going to be phenomenal, and I would like to give a lot of credit to the stage crew,” Barbier said. “They worked their butts off and there’s a lot of stuff you don’t see. The directors have been phenomenal and the pit band has been great. We have amazing musicians here at Gilbert, and it’s just great that we’re able to do this.”

Due to copyright concerns, there will not be a livestream available for either performance. So be sure to get your tickets in advance, or arrive at the auditorium early on Friday or Saturday to catch his amazing show by our students.

 

Freaky Friday Cast
Character/Actor
Ellie Blake/Lydia Weiler
Katherine Blake/Izzy Platts
Fletcher Blake/Canaan Stanton
Mike/Thomas Barbier
Gretchen/Bree Moore
Hannah/Lillian Dahlstrom
Adam/Evan Goetz
Savannah/Ashley Heimer
Parker/Charlie Mortimer
Wells/Aldo Escalera
Laurel/Alyse Beyer
Torrey/Danielle Vogel
Grandpa Gordon/Andrew Soupir
Grandma Helene/Gwen Pistilli
Danielle/Molly Weiler
Louis/Wyatt Jones
Dr. Ehrin/Maks Koziel
Mr. Blumen/Sam Ellingson
Pastor Bruno/Zeke Hatfield
Mrs. Luckenbill/Kylee Higgins
Señor O’Brien/Porter Searles
Ms. Meyers/Maddie Moore
Officer Sitz/Olivia White
Officer Kowalski/Emrick Ryan
Mrs. Time/Leah Mostek

Ensemble
Nora Bland, Ella Britt, Jahleeyah Garnica, Audrey Hilleman, Avalyse Julich, Dani Nlenanya, Brooke Peterson, Ava Price, Camille Rehbein, Jackson Riesselman, Elijah Sanford, Cece Schwager, Audrey Spiess, William Toupier, Joanna Stoker, Caitlin Strudthoff, Lydia Strudthoff, Scarlett Winfrey.

Stage Manager
Vanessa Rivas-Peña

Assistant Stage Manager
Cole Johnson

Stage Crew
Keagan Adams, Kyla Chance, Raylene Chen, Bella Johnson, Jocelyn Leiding, Madeline Lamm, Daniel May, Carly Saienga, Sidney Steenhoek, Jaden Wilson.

Sound Board
Jackson Dalager, Bayley Hintz.

Light Board
Nathan Tifft.

Spotlights
Sam Ellingson, Greyson Rehbein.

Pit Band Performers
Kayla Cakerice, Megan Lennon, Aldo Schwartz, Jonathan Stoker, Spencer Weydert, Jonah White, Shreya Srinath, Ethan Kwon, Amanda Jennings, Quinton Nespor.