For many years, high school seniors at East Peoria have had the option to work off-campus for half of their school days; this program is called Co-Op. Multiple students have used this opportunity to pursue a job at Caterpillar. At Caterpillar, students that plan to pursue a career in business or STEM related fields have been taught valuable lessons that they will carry into the real world. The following students from EPCHS hold a job at Caterpillar while still managing school and extracurricular activities.

Clayton Bray, Logistics Intern

Maya Eaton, Transportation - Performance Intern

Sondra Gnehm, Inventory Management Team Intern

Blake Griffin, GDL Intern

Dawson Gill, Logistics Intern

Paul Peterson, Engineering Intern

Belle Rakestraw, Caterpillar Defense Marketing Communications Intern

Kara Steck, Project Management Intern

Zoe Zimmerman, SOS Lab Intern

On October 22nd, there was the final home game for 5 out of the 12 players on the volleyball team. The Lady Raiders were taking on the Pekin Dragons, which they had already defeated earlier in the season. Before the game, many fun senior night festivities took place. The 2019 seniors were Mo Hoosen, Eliana Burwell, Callie Paulson, Olivia Astbury, and Skylar Bouillon.

Even though the whole teamed was “hyped up” for the last home game of the season, the night was definitely one to remember. It was a hard-fought game, but the Raiders were defeated 28-26, 25-20. As the night was also very emotional for the girls, there was a great atmosphere present. The Tribe showed up that night and kept the girls going with their cheering.

Reflecting on their final season of volleyball at EPCHS, the seniors want to say thank you to everyone who has gone to one of their games and supported them.

Thank You Raider Nation!

Morgan and Katelyn have been doing cheer at the high school all four years. When I asked what their favorite part of cheer was Morgan said “I love being able to cheer with my friends and show my raider pride.” Katelyn said “I love the performances and helping the freshmen learn new things.” What they do at practices include learning new stunts, improving skills, and learning cheers for the games. I asked what they will miss most about cheer and Katelyn said “cheering alongside my friends and the hype of performances” Morgan said “our coach--Martz-- and cheering with my friends.” Some qualities of good cheerleaders are confidence, hard-working (on and off the field/court), strength and athleticism, and commitment and dedication to the team. If you are interested in trying out for cheer, there are tryouts in early spring so listen to announcements or talk to one of the cheerleaders for more information.

On October 25th, cold fans huddled together under the Friday night lights in support of the senior football players. They were recognized for their dedication to the program for the last four years. The seniors were Payton and Parker Bradford, Tristen Westbay, Caden Regan, Josh Orr, Brogen Stewart, Zack Willis, and Jackson Roger. The Raiders were defeated by Washington 14-49. Payton Bradford ended his season with his final touchdown, followed by a celebratory punt that drew a flag and many laughs.

On October 25th, everyone came together to celebrate the time and effort the seniors have put in the Marching Band program. The season started in July with band camp. Their first competition of the year was the Washington competition, and the last was on October 26th with the University of Illinois competition. This program has impacted the people who are involved in a positive way by helping the members be confident, knowing how to lead, and how to be better people.

An insider's scoop with Kortney Atchley!

How do you anticipate your season going? "good, I think we are going to have a good team."

What are your future goals? "Commit to college, participate and do good at state."

What did you do in the off-season to prepare? "Competed in a national tournament and open wrestling gyms."

The students packed into Allison Gymnasium separated by their class colors of red, blue, white, and black. After point totals were announced, students leaned forward in anticipation of who would be announced for the 2019 Homecoming court. The results were announced by Mrs. Lamb. Freshman attendants: Ella Nelson and Blake Mitchell. Sophomore attendants: Ellie Rosiak and Jack Knapp. Junior attendants: Mackenzie Thompson and Jerome Wilson. Senior attendants: Amanda Magarity and Sam Abbey. Lastly, the 2019 Homecoming Chief and Princess were crowned. Mrs. Lamb asked for a drum roll, and among the thundering footsteps she declared the winners: Princess Faith Bevard and Chief Aidan Cramer. Congratulations to all Homecoming Court nominees and winners!

On Tuesday, October 15th, the lady Raiders faced off against the Dunlap Eagles in a very competitive night of volleyball. The Freshman Lady Raiders lost to Dunlap two games to one, but it was a very hard fought loss. The sophomore team also lost to Dunlap two games to one, with the third game coming down to a two point loss for the lady raiders. The varsity team played very well but also lost to Dunlap in two games.

The boys and girls cross country competed in a 3 team race between Dunlap, Peoria Notre Dame, and East Peoria on October 1st. Keaton Vandel placed first in the race and both teams placed third overall. Due to the 93 degree weather, extremely muddy terrain, and a hilly course, many runners were unfortunately injured.

On Friday, September 27, we had our annual Homecoming week pep assembly. The assembly started off with the band playing our school song. After that, Mrs. Lamb announced the winners for hallway decoration, float building, variety show skit, and dress up days along with the current totals for class scores. Next, the four classes started the games to decide who would win homecoming week. The seniors started out with a decent lead ahead of the juniors but found themselves losing ground in the beginning. Towards the end of the games, the seniors managed to tough it out and win homecoming week by 175 points with a score of 1675 -1500. By the end of the pep assembly, everybody was certainly pepped up and ready for the homecoming game.

Students dressed to impress at A Knight in the Castle. This was the theme for the 2019 homecoming dance. It was a great way to wrap up a great homecoming week and you did not want to miss it. The dance was on Saturday, September 28. It was 3 hours of straight fun with music, dancing, laughing, and having a good time. It was definitely a “Knight” to never forget.

The Raider Games is held on the Monday of Homecoming Week to begin all the festivities. Students from each grade level have the chance to participate and earn points for their class. This year, students competed in a taste test, Jenga, Twister, chess, trivia, bags, basketball, and dodgeball. The seniors won 5 of these events and the juniors won 3. Winners for the seniors were Joshua Orr in trivia, Paul Peterson in chess, Amanda Magarity and Ryan Piraino in the taste test, Sondra Gnehm in Twister, and Zack Willis and Ryan Piraino in bags. Junior winners were Ali Zbinden and Grace Calvin in Jenga, Mitch Ball, Noah Campbell, Ryan Lahood, Jaxson Miller, David Hidden, and Braeden Brown in dodgeball, and Braeden Brown, Jayden Williams, and Noah Campbell in basketball. Due to these Raider Game wins, the seniors started the week ahead of all the other classes.

The East Peoria homecoming parade is not only an event for the school, but an event for the community! The parade features the marching band, various floats of teams and community led groups, and themed floats made for the homecoming competition held by the high school every year. Some teams, like the football players, raiderettes, cheerleaders, and cross country even get to ride on a fire truck during the parade. Candy is thrown out by people on the floats, which makes the parade fun for children as well! Overall, the homecoming parade is a great opportunity for the community to come together, and a fantastic start to the variety show!

If you want to travel to Ireland and Scotland, the EF tour with Mrs. Lamb, Mr. and Mrs. Fleming is for you! During this trip, you will experience major cities in both Ireland and Scotland, like Dublin and Glasgow. On these trips you will have expert guides to give you an amazing experience. If you go, you would be overseas for 8-10 days and space is limited. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, please contact one of the teachers listed above.

The enriched juniors of Mr. Diggle and Mrs. Otten’s American Studies class took the opportunity to visit Eureka college and it’s prized Ronald Reagan museum on Wednesday September 19th. Students utilized this trip to further their knowledge on the topic of Ronald Reagan and his presidency, as well as take an inside look at what Eureka college has to offer. “The reason we pitched this idea and other ideas like it is to get our enriched kids, our college bound kids, on college campuses,'' Mr. Diggle reveals.