Ranchview High School presents Once on This Island, the musical, by Lynn Ahrens. Our theater department at Ranchview, led by Mrs. Wolters and Ms. Johnson, has been vigorously working for the past 3 months with the help of our two choir directors, Mrs. Meyers and Mr. Feather, to produce an exciting and colorful musical for our school. Together these two groups worked long hours on choreography, music, costumes, makeup, and set. It is noteworthy that Once on This Island won the 1995 Laurence Oliver Award for Best New Musical! 

This musical is about a peasant girl who falls in love with a rich boy who makes a deal with the gods to save his life. This musical takes place on an island in the Caribbean. Throughout the musical, you will experience the journey of the young girl, Ti Moune. She faces difficult decisions, experiences betrayal, and a newfound life. She yearns to find her purpose in life, she defies tradition and strives to prove that love can conquer all boundaries. Once On This Island will give you plenty of twists and turns with a surprising ending. Without saying any more, let’s take a deep dive into what the musical has to offer!

To start, an important element of the show is the costumes. A creative choice includes the poor peasants on the island dressed in bright colors including neons, and the rich dressed in white and beige colors. This is executed to make significant characters like the gods truly stand out. From big leafy headpieces on Asaka to red and black feather pieces on Papa Ge. The costume pieces of these characters are well thought out, deliberate, and carefully crafted to portray the characters effectively. The set of this show stands to speak for itself. The technical director Ms. Johnson has used creativity like creating large rocks out of paper. There is even a beautiful swing covered in flowers for little Ti Moune! The technical elements are what really bring the show together to go hand in hand with the hard-working actors on stage. On stage or off, everyone is equally as important to the show.

Once On This Island appears to be another successful musical for Ranchview High School. When it comes down to it, it appears our fellow students have taken hold of an amazing musical and made it their own. The musical, Once On This Island, shows the magic of the human heart. So, mark your calendars for Friday, November 17th, at 7 PM and Saturday, November 18th for performances at 2 PM and 7 PM. Tell your family about Once On This Island, and hurry and get your tickets through RevTrack! Better yet, take a date!

Mr. Langton, the painting and floral design teacher at Ranchview High School, has been doing a plethora of projects with the small amount of art supplies he is allotted. People believe that art is fairly boring and that it isn't a subject that is prioritized, yet they have no true conception of what is necessary in order for lesson plans and activities to be fun for students. 

Langton’s upcoming plans for art students at Ranchview have to deal with navigating the process of vocabulary acquisition, which is the process of learning new words. He has a deep rooted care for the scholars at our school struggling with a language barrier, therefore he tries to help with that by restructuring the way he organizes his class and teaches his students. Langton would like to integrate more images in his learning lessons, while simultaneously adding more vocabulary words around his classroom. 

In order to show his students that art can be a career after high school. Mr. Langton wants to expose his students to art galleries and museums by adding field trips into his curriculum. Langton wants to give his students more hands-on activities and pure exposure to the craft. The conflict is the fact that Ranchview doesn’t have enough money in the school budget to bring these plans and ideas into fruition. It’s very difficult for him to teach certain subjects and techniques without certain materials such as working from perspective: “Accessing supplies at my last school was far worse than at Ranchview. That could be due to Texas just having an extraordinarily hard time funding the arts.” He still continues to strive through his lesson plans because he wants to emphasize the importance of the craft to the person “...as long as he has paper of any sorts, pencils, paints, and canvases.” He will always attempt to facilitate his art classes, but he would love to take his students' career a step further to ensure the great exposure of art happens.

By Marissa Montoya, Lead Reporter & Copy Editor | May 9, 2023

For the past seven years, most of the Class of 2023 has put in work and commitment to their fine arts, to their instruments, to bettering their voice, and to the roles they play. They have shown commitment to what they love to do!

With the class of 2023 graduating, many of the seniors and fine art teachers are emotional. When interviewed about what feelings they have about graduating, Soha Arian said, “I feel both happy and sad: happy that I am finally done with high school but sad that everything that I have done and committed myself to like Orchestra is coming to an end.” She has been in the orchestra since 6th grade, and she has committed most of her educational career to her instrument. These feelings are being expressed by many seniors: the feeling of something ending, something that they have been passionate enough to keep doing for nearly a decade. 

The seniors are not the only ones feeling sad. The fine art teachers feel that the class of 2023 has left a big impact on their programs. Mr. Towndrow, the orchestra director, said that he felt the years go by when it came to the seniors in the orchestra. “I didn’t see them ever graduating. In my eyes, they’re still freshmen barely out of middle school. But in their time in Orchestra, we have won many awards and have improved our program.” Mr. Carlton, the band director, has felt that his seniors have left a big mark in his program with the number of seniors who have gone to All-State. 

Furthermore, the seniors in fine arts believe that one of their greatest impacts in RHS has been that in fine arts. Aaron Jacob made 1st chair in the All-State Band, an accomplishment that took a great amount of time and work, leaving an impact in the band program that will inspire the underclassman to keep working and putting in the effort. 

Overall, the class of 2023 is not just academic weapons, but academic weapons who have a passion for the arts, a passion to create a better environment through music, theater, or art. They are both intellectual and artistic!

As the year inches closer to the end of the 2022-2023 school year, seniors are compelled to leave their last mark as Ranchview students. In the past four years, members of the 2023 class have made astonishing accomplishments in the Fine Arts program varying from three All-State Band members to making Area competition in the theater department. As these remarkable seniors graduate to their next chapter, Ranchview will honor these students at the various Senior Nights across the Fine Arts departments. 

Senior Nights are a high school or college tradition which usually celebrates senior athletes that are playing their last home game as seniors in the particular sport. These events honor seniors with a celebration of gifts to highlight their accomplishments throughout their athletic careers. Despite this tradition being well known to celebrate athletes, these customs are also known to celebrate musicians and performing artists. However, in the Fine Arts department, Senior Nights are celebrated differently. 

The Senior Nights are celebrated in different ways and traditions according to their respective departments. Orchestra seniors will perform their last ensemble which will consist of only seniors as they perform “Jupiter” by Gustav Holst. These orchestra musicians will then be honored by a rose as they called onto the stage by their name. In the theater department, the seniors are currently planning their senior directed performances to end their theater careers in the high school setting. The seniors in the Choir will be honored in their last performance with an honorary mention that will be announced as they are handed a precious flower. Despite these differences in traditions, the ultimate motif is honoring seniors for their accomplishments they have achieved throughout their high school careers as musicians and performing artists. 

Despite this memorable milestone marking a new chapter in these seniors’ lives, some seniors hold a bittersweet feeling about leaving their beloved passions behind in their high school careers. Senior orchestra member who plays the violin, Marissa Montoya, commented, “I feel both sad and excited because even though it’s my last performance in Orchestra. It also marks a milestone in my life: The ending of an era always leads to the beginning of one.” Yet, these seniors feel a sense of gratuity towards their Fine Arts program that allowed them to find a sense of community since they were unfamiliar with Ranchview as freshmen. Marissa Montoya added, “Keep going even when it gets boring or exciting. I have thought about quitting many times, but I met some of my best friends through Orchestra.” 

Despite the pandemic, the graduating class of 2023 has never failed to impress the Ranchview community with the endless accomplishments they have achieved regardless of the numerous obstacles they have endured. Now, the Ranchview campus will wholeheartedly allow these seniors to continue onto their next journey as they have gained valuable experiences as musicians and performing artists that will assist them in the near future.

By Damia Zuhaimi, Editor-In-Chief | February 14, 2023

Despite the month of February being known as the month filled with blind love to celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Ranchview Orchestra diligently worked towards an exceptional performance at Pre-UIL. They participate annually in UIL, the University Interscholastic League, to showcase their musicality through songs. However, the Ranchview Orchestra participated in Pre-UIL in order to gain criticism and to perfect their performance for the real deal, the UIL performance in the first week of March. The Varsity Ranchview Orchestra, Symphonic, has been putting together a remarkable performance to maintain their records of sweepstakes, known as the exceptional rating, at UIL.

Orchestra head director, Mr. Towndrow, strategically maximized the use of his limited class time to push students to their utmost potential for February 9th, the Symphonic’s Pre-UIL performance at Barbara Bush Middle School. As the date sneakily crept up to the Orchestra department, Mr. Towndrow and Ms. Wilder realized the immediate actions they needed to execute. Mr. Towndrow took into consideration his students’ extracurricular activities and personal duties and scheduled morning and afternoon rehearsals. 

In addition to the in-class and mandatory rehearsals, students like Gaurav Nimmagadda have been incorporating supplemental practice into this busy schedule as a senior: “I start with coming every morning to practice the UIL music, and sometimes I stay after school in order to practice in the practice room.” Fortunately, the students of Symphonic expressed their fondness for the three pieces they are performing: “Sanseneon” by Robert Frost, “Lullaby” by William Hofeldt, and “Iditarod” by Soon Hee Newbold. Nimmagadda expressed the mastery of the songs chosen this year: “The pieces are very balanced, and they have their own unique characteristics when playing them. “Iditarod” is able to give you a full story on dog-sledding in the harsh, snowy winter, while “Lullaby” is able to provide the calm peaceful journey [of] putting a baby to sleep. “Sanseneon’s” challenging repertoire is able to bring out our true skill in our performances. These pieces are a great selection for this year’s UIL.” This program allows the Symphonic Orchestra to exemplify its duality in many genres of music. However, the group of young musicians faced some boulders that may have hindered their progress such as certain difficult parts of their songs that require perfect agility and pitch. Yet, the members of Symphonic continued to persevere and dedicate themselves to mastering their music at a professional level. 

Like the other fine arts organizations on our campus, the Ranchview Orchestra has been known to bring back to Ranchview High School many awards and accomplishments to showcase their motivation and determination throughout the school year. Despite the challenges that suddenly present themselves in front of the Symphonic Orchestra, the students continue to strive with the guidance of their director and peers. 

By Anthony Finney, Assistant Photo Editor and Daisy Contreras, Photo Editor

The Ranchview Wolfpack Theatre Company has been hard at work for the past 3 months preparing for the premier of the musical,  Little Shop of Horrors.  This is a musical about a GINORMOUS AND HORRIFYING talking plant that grows and grows to take over the world. This musical will premiere on Friday, November 4th at 7 P.M. and the final shows will be  Saturday, November 5th at 2 pm and 7 pm.

Kennedy Jordan, who plays the character Skip Snip in the play, says “With everything in the school year that has been going on, I can gladly say the choir process of the show is my favorite aspect of the musical. I say this because Mrs. Myers and Mr. Heatherly are so ‘sweet and understanding’ no pun intended. They actually see the show for its strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. I feel like it's a great way to ease you into the mode of the show. Not to mention I’m a music lover, so really being a part of that creation peaks my interest.” 

Faith Lungu says her favorite part of the show is lighting and she loves helping put the show together with the process of doing lights and being a stage manager.