Pep band played at their first basketball game during the girls team’s 49-32 victory against Cathedral last night.  “The main purpose of pep band is to try and get the crowd hyped,” Bradshaw said.  While some students may have been in marching band and others may not have, pep band gives students the opportunity to all come together and make some music. “I like being able to hang out with my friends from band since the marching band session is over,” Bradshaw said. 📸Laney Brooks 🖊️Brette Bradley

Students Charlie Nethery ‘26, Angela Burke ‘26 and Ellen Nguyen ‘24 were selected for District Honor Band, a program that allows students with a passion for playing music an opportunity to gain more experience and improve their skills. It also allows them to meet and work with new people. “Honor band allows me to play with other people that I’ve never met before,” Nguyen said. "It also allows me to play with a different conductor, which is important because being able to switch between conductors' styles matters.” Being in district honor band comes with many challenges as students have to learn the material separate from their regular band classes and in a shorter amount of time. “The hardest part of honor band is learning 5-6 pieces on our own,” Nguyen said. “Then we work on it with the band just a day before we perform.” To be in district honor band, students have to apply and be approved by teacher Mike Bolla before becoming an official member. With all the hard work and time that the students put in, honor band means many things to the students in it, whether it is hard work or meeting new people. “We get to have all the people that are the best of the band meet up so they can create an even better sound,” Nethery said. 📸Payton Natfzger 🖊️Payton Natfzger

Students and their families gathered in the new Art Wing to experience creating with ceramics, photography, fiber arts and visual communications during the ninth annual Evening with The Arts. Junior Ashley Aldridge said, “I find it really special to be able to share my skills, the work that I’ve been doing in class, with my parents.” Evening with The Arts gives art students an opportunity to share the skills they have been developing in class with their families and community. Fiber Arts teacher Elizabeth Shackleford said, “Our art kids only get one time of the year at the end of the year, and that's why this night is important,” she said. “This gives them a time in the middle of the year to show people that this is what they’ve been doing.” The experience can add to students’ desires to grow as artists. Junior Sienna Richardson said, “I like how open it is, and everyone is really kind here. I recommend this night for anyone that has any kind of interest in the arts because it’s a truly motivating experience.” Parents are able to see the volume and quality of artwork produced by students from the instruction of our teachers. Assistant Principal Jacob Short said, “The teachers are dedicated, and they're doing this on their own time,” he said. “It shows how much their work impacts kids and how the kids impact their work.” 🖊️Tanu Kaur

Math teacher Christina Rose has had an unconventional start to her school year, starting in November after teacher Ashley Bennett left for a different school. "Out of college, I was working as a claims adjuster and hated it...so I decided I just wanted to start teaching," Rose said. Rose taught in Perry Township schools but moved to CGHS due to her family already having roots here. "When I saw a position open I applied because we live in the community [and] my kids go to school here," Rose said. While she said she is excited to teach at Center Grove, starting in the middle of the year presents some challenges. "It's very overwhelming to [learn] different technology and schedules and all little things, coming in in the middle of the year and having to learn how very thing fast." While starting in November has presented a challenge, Rose said she is very happy with her new position at CG. "I love the sense of community," Rose said.

Every year, Key Club partners with Versiti Blood Center of Indiana. to hold a blood drive. Students who are 16 years old are able to participate, but they must have parent permission. Students who are 17 or older are able to participate without parent permission.  Students who plan to participate must bring a photo ID with them in order to participate. Sign ups will be available in the cafeteria or in room 242. 📸Cira Mazdai 🖊️Brette Bradley

Since their grandparents took them bowling when they were little, seniors Sarah and Bre’anna Redden have been pouring their time into bowling. “When we were younger, my grandparents introduced us to bowling, and my dad really loved bowling growing up, so we decided to start bowling for a league.” While the Reddens have been bowling for awhile, they got really involved with it freshman year, the only time they had the opportunity to bowl for the school. “We started getting serious about it freshman year,” Sarah Redden said. “It was the one year we had a bowling team at school. We then had bowled in many tournaments with a first place title.” The Reddens have now been accepted to Grace College with a bowling scholarship. They said they fell in love with the school immediately. “We were pretty set on Grace, and we signed so early on that we only looked at one other college,” Sarah Redden said. “And they did not have a bowling team.” Bowling has made an impact on both of the Reddens' lives and has opened up many opportunities for them in the future.  “Bowling has become a passion,” Bre’Anna Redden said. “When approaching the lane there is nothing else going through your mind but the motions.” 📸Contributed 🖊️Luci Sendelbach

On Monday, Nov. 28, Environmental Club will host its annual clothing swap. "The swap is a collaboration between the GSA and Environmental Club," Environmental Club President Genevieve Konijisky '23 said. "We have been collecting clothes for about the past week that will be donated (most clothing is accepted, but winter items and gender-affirming clothing are encouraged), and this collection has been leading up to the swap. Students are encouraged to bring their own clothes, and to participate in trading and exchanging clothes with their peers." Both clubs are working together to spread joy through sustainable and environmentally friendly gifts. "The goal of the event is to promote sustainability, and to give used items a second life, rather than discarding them," Konijisky said. "Clothing waste is a massive issue and huge contributor to our society's waste, so making a point to prevent that is very important to the club." The swap will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. in room 233, and new members are always welcome. 🖋️: Kate Strunk

Over the span of two class periods last week, students from English 9 classes wrote thank you cards. “On day one students were asked to write down a gift they would appreciate receiving and a brief description,” English teacher Toby Rumple said. “Students then placed their 'gift' in a gift bag. My hope is that students enjoyed the process of writing thank you cards and will be inspired to write their own during the upcoming holiday season.” On the second day of the activity, after watching a video and reading a text about thank you cards and thankfulness, students wrote their thank you cards based off of a randomly selected “gift” written down by someone else. “After watching the video and reading the article, students pull a "gift" from the bag they put one in the class before,” Rumple said. “The final task is to apply what they learned to writing a thank you card for the 'gift' they just selected.” Once the students return from break, they will each get a written thank you card for the “gift” that they gave. “After writing the cards, students turned them in so I can get the thank you cards back to the gift givers,” Rumple said. “Every student who participated will receive a thank you card when they come back after Thanksgiving break.” Teachers could do the activity in different ways--teacher Karen Gerhart had students write thank you notes to give to family members--but overall, the activity gave students a chance to practice writing and thankfulness. 🖋️: Cira Mazdai

On this Thanksgiving Day, we are thankful for all the students and moments we get to cover. Happy Thanksgiving, Trojans!