Beauty and the Beast comes to life on stage

LeFou, Steven Kopp, raises the arm of Gaston, played by Joe Peck, to remind him how masculine he is. (Jered Engelking photo)

by Jered Engelking

Roses, love, and enchantments filled the heads of Montezuma Junior High students as they performed the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast for their fall play on Friday, Nov. 12.

Luke Goodman as the Beast, Sidney Ehret as Belle, and Joe Peck as Gaston filled the lead roles. Vocal Music Director Carol Behounek was pleased with the casting. “The students brought out the best of all characters,” said Behounek.

 Throughout the play, the audience experienced a roller coaster of emotions and was entertained the whole night.

Peck played Gaston, the hunter, who continually showed his strength by flexing his biceps to fight off the silly girls while trying to woo Belle. 

When Belle sang about wanting to fit in, Ehret’s strong and heartfelt voice drew upon the melancholy spirit of her loneliness. 

Goodman demonstrated a character in evolution as he changed from the Prince with a bad attitude to the Beast and back to the prince after his love for Belle broke the curse.

Narrators were Brady Cameron, Katie Maschmann, Alisha Arendt, Siara Broadston, Ceirah Catron, Fernanda Lopez, Caitlin Hicks, Megan Baker, Ashley Moore, Taylor Ives, Aliya Pargeon, and Emma Karnes.

The wolves were Skyler Romberg, Brody McKeag, Trent Salsman and Jake Shaver. Steve Kopp and Caleb Talbert were LeFou and Monsieur D’arque. Vanessa Minner, Mackenzie James and Cheyenne Peters were cast as “silly girls.”

Trevor Moyer, Tyler Geiger, Seth Fahlenkamp, Kerri Gregory, Clara Johnson, Travis Lewis and Cassie Farrington were various enchanted items in the castle.  Other villagers included Aliya Pargeon, Emma Karnes, Taylor Ives, Ashley Moore, Jake Shaver, Skyler Romberg, Kaylene Corbin, Trent Salsman, Brody McKeag, Megan Baker, Keira Blanke, Shayla Townsend and Brittany Bender.

The servants were Heaven Lorenz, Laci Brennan, Lexie Smith, Katie Maschmann, Fernanda Lopez, Siara Broadston, Ceirah Catron, Caitlin Hicks, Brady Cameron and Christian Schmitz. The statue guards were Cole Corbin and Frank Gillum.

The play lasted from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Conner Sirovy managed  the sound system while Sidney Roorda and Vincent Bushong operated the spotlights.

US Navy Band inspires MHS band

by Niamh Lyons

The United States Navy Band is a group of Navy officers who are skilled with instruments. The officers play jazz music but also incorporate a popular music style in their method. 

The touring group visited the Midwest and had a concert planned at the George Daley Auditorium in Oskaloosa. Scott Stanton, the MHS band director, saw the opportunity for the band students to hear a different style of music with the instruments they play. 

Eighteen band students and eight chaperones attended the Oskaloosa concert Nov. 15. One student, sophomore Kayla Werner, said the Navy band was “very fun to watch. They had fun, upbeat music.” She also added that she “especially liked when they played songs from each branch of the military for all of the veterans.” 

Another student, sophomore Norman Martin, said, “The band inspired me to keep working on trying to improve the Monte band. It was also an incredible experience to see such experienced players performing. The solos were amazing; one of the trumpet players was a Grammy Award soloist. I think that would be the best job in the world, considering you are also serving your country.” 

Sophomore Katie Benson found inspiration for her own future solos and said, “Many of the soloists were very confident in what they played.” She added, “The coolest part was at the end when the band played a song to commemorate each branch to recognize veterans.”

The other students who attended the performance were Ben Ahrens, Kaylene Corbin, Jade Crandall, Cassidy Ely, Luke Goodman, Clara Johnson, Jack Little, Jake Shaver, Shayla Townsend, Jacob Woodard, Morgan Benson, Elijah Bryan, Elizabeth Ostrem, Sidney Roorda and Natalie Wheeler. The chaperones were Pat, Harold and Allison Wheeler, Laura Ostrem, Andrea and David Martin, Pam Bryan and Scott Stanton.

Old bus barn belongings auctioned off

by Calli Zimmerman 

On Wednesday, Nov. 10 the old Montezuma bus barn’s belongings were sold. 

The school board saw the old bus barn as an extra on the school property and felt it still had value so they decided to have an auction. 

Since the family and consumer science program is no longer functioning, board members decided to combine the two areas and sell the appliances from each. 

They sold various items including furniture, computers, desks, dishwashers and other kitchen equipment. 

Mr. Versteeg said, “There were no high expectations; [all items] sold at fair prices.” 

M&M auction performed the auctioneering and about 50 people attended. Proceeds from the sale were $8,916 and will be used to pay expenses such as the auctioneer, cleaning up the site and other various tasks. 

The school board is hoping to breakeven with this project. 

Students solve nonprofit problems

Maddi Dawley helps her team solve the math worksheet given to them as an ice breaker at the Poweshiek Leadership Program Youth/Adult Conference. (Mrs. Wilson photo)

by Bryan Stanford & 

Alexa Wheaton

Local students formulated problem-solving ideas at the Poweshiek Leadership Program Conference in order to break the communication barrier between the youth and adults. 

Bob Mann, President of Grinnell’s United Way, presented information about the organization. The United Way is a volunteer-based organization which strives to improve people’s lives and advance the common good of the community by providing fundraising efforts to benefit human services in the Poweshiek County area. 

Four nonprofit agencies receive help from United Way presented problems they have encountered. 

The four agencies were: Big Brothers/Big Sisters Heart of Iowa, Galaxy Youth Center and STARS Programming, Domestic Violence Alternatives and the American Red Cross.

The students who attended the conference were asked to come up with solutions for the problems for each agency. For example, the problems the American Red Cross organization face every year are a lack of volunteers and the amount of funds available. 

The Big Brothers/Big Sisters Heart of Iowa organization has problems with advertising and marketing. The Domestic Violence Alternative also face problems with the number of community members’ knowledge of the organization. 

The Galaxy Youth Center and STARS Programming is in need of updated technology.  After each group of students thought of many ways to help each agency, they presented their ideas to the other groups of students. 

Most groups thought of various fundraising opportunities, while getting good publicity for each agency. One solution was getting local businesses to help with the printing of flyers, posters and the word of mouth. 

Montezuma, BGM and Grinnell students attended this conference at the Carmen Center, Mayflower Community in Grinnell on Thursday, Nov. 18. 

Montezuma students attending were: Shane Lyons, Breanna Johnson, Alexis Ferguson, Matt Armstrong, Connor Johnston, Maddi Dawley, Destiny Romberg, Spencer Roorda, Alexa Wheaton and Bryan Stanford.