First Day Monday, August 15th
Shen-Val-Lore The Student Voice of Shenandoah Valley Academy
May 22, 2015
Shenandoah Valley Academy
Volume 84, Edition 6 May April 29-3
Homeleave
5-10
Baseball & Girls’ Soccer Tournament
16
Final Music Concert
21-22
Senior Exams
23
Best of Everything
24-27
Senior Class Trip
25-27
Final Exams
29-31
Graduation Weekend
SA Banquet 2015: Alice in Wonderland Daniel Reyes
As we all know, Spring is closing up quickly and temperatures are rising. You begin to feel the humidity and summer heat on your skin. Those mornings filled with chilly air and fog have slowly turned warmer and warmer. Summer is right at the door, and you can feel the excitement in the air. Finals are coming up, and as scary as that sounds for you upper and underclassmen it also means that vacation will be here faster than you can imagine. So, since school is almost over we have to go through with the yearly SVA tradition during the spring—SA Banquet, brought to you by your very own Student Association. This year’s banquet theme was “Alice in Wonderland.” When the idea was brought up during one of the Student Association meetings you could just feel the ten-
sion and uncertainty. Decorate the gym, outside areas, and ad building for a tour that would require speaking in public, dressing up, and having to run around in this hot weather? It seemed crazy. This was going to be an enormous undertaking, one that would require hours of planning, memorizing script lines, cooking, and, worst of all, decorating. If there’s one thing that I am scared of it’s decorating for parties. I mean, there is nothing more grueling than standing on your feet for hours on end hanging up banners and lights, and taping and tying things down in order to transform the gym into a wonderland. As soon as the music department’s spring concert came to an end SA went right to work. Members involved with the music department quickly jumped out of their tuxes
and dresses and went right to work. The following morning all of the helpers showed up dreary-eyed at 8:00 A.M to finish the project that had only been half finished the previous night. As the day wore on, progress began to be obvious. And the gargantuan task of decorations finally came to an end thanks to the literal sweat and tears of all the SA members (but where was Reiss?) and all of the wonderful volunteers that dedicated their free time in order for the project to be done. The stage was set and everyone was ready. Makeup and costumes were finished and the students attending began to file in. When everyone was seated, the tours of “Wonderland” began. Students (and staff alike, if they wanted to) were escorted in a rather odd way, by a bunny that bumped
into Alice, the tour guide, and quickly ran off into a “caterpillar tunnel.” The students would then run into Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, who then noisily took them through the caterpillar’s tunnel and into the wise man’s chamber. After staying in a fluorescent-, bubble-, and fogfilled room for about 10-15 minutes, the tour then took people down the stairs, led by Jennifer Peña the Cheshire cat, and into the ad building where they ran into Mr. James Matthews, the Mad Hatter. The tour then took students to the outside games that were set up, and then back into the gym where they ran into Gabby Whonder, parttime SA president, part-time Queen of Hearts. The tour ended with Marceline Ndahayo, the White Queen, the one who told the whole tale of Alice’s dream and wished you
farewell on the rest of your night. All in all, the tours ran smoothly and everyone enjoyed themselves, despite the uncomfortable and stuffy room that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were running around in. When everyone was back in their seats and hungry from the trip around campus, the food was served. There was also a complimentary dessert table or should I say, tables, since it took three tables to hold all of the desserts. After the guests were well fed everyone was given time to walk around with their date, play games on front campus, or take pictures with their escort. Dean Azariah was in charge of the photography and he did an absolutely amazing job! Be sure to log on to Facebook if you had your pictures taken by him. Before the banquet
ended, there was one last treat that SA had planned for the night. Brian Bence the magician absolutely had the crowd on their toes by performing seemingly impossible tricks that left even Mrs. Dodge and Mrs. Griffin with their jaws wide open. It was a perfect way to end the night. The students absolutely loved it. After all the struggle of setting up and making preparations for the banquet, it seemed as if things would not go well; the weather wasn’t on our side, but then again it never had been (picnic). The odds didn’t look good. But thankfully, everything came together and all of the work was worth it. I would personally like to thank all of SA, Dean Azariah, Dean Cassie, Ms. Weidemann, and all of the wonderful volunteers that dedicated their free time to make the banquet come together. It was a great success.
Table of Contents
1 SA Banquet 2 SA Spring Picnic 2 Sophmore Trip to DC & MD 2 Conceptual Physics Trip to JMU 3 Baseball & Soccer
Tournament 4-5 Spread of Senor Pictures 6-7 Spring Concert 8 SA Banquet cont.
Banquet Pictures Compliments of Dean Azariah Anderson More Banquet Pictures on p. 8