Articles from March 3, 2022

Fields of Talent, a major show choir competition hosted by Norris, took place on the Saturday of March 26. A wide variety of schools attended including Pius, East, Waverly, and Beatrice.

Although Norris was not allowed to compete since they were hosting, it was still just as tiring as a normal competition, if not more so.

For most students, the preparations began the day before, after school. A lot of them volunteer to host a show choir group, so they spent the evening decorating a classroom for their group. “We want the other schools to feel comfortable and welcome”, senior Maya Hutzler says.

The hosts spend the day of the competition leading their group to and from their warm-ups and performances as well as tending to their needs. Then, despite being unable to compete, all of the Norris choirs still perform for their guests. Their busy day ends with cleaning up the school.

The preparations for the people in charge are even more in-depth and start even earlier. They must create a schedule and prepare the stage for the show. They also have to communicate with the other schools and find volunteers to help run the event. The show choir directors, Mr. Boe and Mr. Hansmeyer can’t do everything themselves, so the numerous volunteers are one of the main reasons this competition is able to run so smoothly.

All this hard work pays off in the end because this competition is a major moneymaker for the Norris show choir program. They use the proceeds to help pay for costumes, choreographers, and trips for the choir.

Since they were unable to hold this competition last year due to COVID they had to cut back on their spending for this year. Boe said, “It was a big loss. We had to be really smart on what to do so we only bought one costume and we found little ways to trim our budget”.

This year’s Fields of Talent was another success; it was entertaining and exhausting for everyone involved and it will continue to help keep the Norris show choir program alive for many years to come.

As a student at Norris High School, I don’t truly know many of my teachers, and as far as knowing my peers, I tend to only know those in my friend group. So, I decided that it could benefit us all to get to know both our instructors and classmates, not just by the sports a student plays, or by the subject a teacher teaches, but by their hobbies and interests outside of school. The Norris community is so large and diverse that we often are blind to the traits we all bring to the table, so it is my goal that by reading about others in our community we can start new conversations with the people around us and build friendships to last the duration of our high school years, if not a lifetime.

Mrs. Seymour is a fifth-grade teacher at Norris Intermediate School. She teaches two sections of reading and writing. In the past, Mrs. Seymour has been a sponsor for the Girls On the Run program.

Mrs. Seymour has a couple of reasons for wanting to go into the education field. “My dad was a teacher and so he was a positive influence on me throughout my life.”

She went on to say, “I remember being a student in class, and I would always think to myself how I would do things or what I would do differently, so it's always something I've been drawn to. I really like kids and like working with kids. I really just like building relationships with them and helping them, so it's the perfect job for me.”

When asked about when she started developing an interest in education, “I've always been drawn towards kids. I remember my senior year of high school I was deciding what I wanted to major in the following year for college, and I remember I thought about doing nursing and teaching. I was kind of going back and forth between those two, and after some thought, I just kind of knew that teaching was for me.”

Mrs. Seymour is in her fifth year of teaching and said her teaching style has changed since her first year.

“I've always been driven by relationships, but my first year of teaching, I think I was so scared. I was just getting used to things. I’m a lot more laid back now and everything is driven by relationships so I would say relationships come first and then content.”

Most kids can say that their favorite subjects and teachers have had a role in what they like about school. Mrs. Seymour says the same.

“My dad was a social studies teacher, so I would definitely say I've always been drawn to history, but I do love reading. I've always loved reading books and so this is perfect. I'm definitely not a science or math person, so I'm okay that I don't teach those subjects!”

She continued by saying, “A lot of my elementary teachers I loved and had a great relationship with, a couple of my high school teachers as well. I still talk to them to this day. Throughout the pandemic, we've been in touch with just how that's affected their teaching and their year, so it's been good to stay in contact with them.”

While she has taught fifth grade for all of her teaching career, Mrs. Seymour says that she would be open to teaching other grades.

“I think I would do lower grades for sure. I'd be a little scared to do older grades and I’m not sure how I would feel about middle school, but definitely not older grades. I could see myself going to a lower grade eventually.”

When asked about what she would like students to know about her, Mrs. Seymour said, “I would definitely say one thing that I love to do in my spare time is travel. My husband and I have a map in our house, and we put pictures every time we go to a state. You put a picture on the date. The goal of ours is to travel to all 50 states. I've also been to France, Mexico, and Switzerland, so I would like to continue going to other countries as well.”

In the past five years of Mrs. Seymour’s career, she has had a major influence on her students, encouraging them to always to do things to the best of their ability. As the Norris community continues to grow, it is our duty to recognize the hard work, dedication, and generosity of those around us. Mrs. Seymour is an exceptional teacher, always caring for her students and welcoming them with a smile.

The Norris PBIS committee has made it a point to make all kids feel seen and appreciated by allowing staff to award them with a Titan Certificate. These certificates indicate how the student was being a true Titan. A titan is tenacious, innovative, trustworthy, accountable, and noble. These certificates are shared with families, teachers, and even gain students a free cookie! Although this system allows students to be recognized for their accomplishments, there are still kids who go unseen. In an effort to combat this, the committee has founded a student pilot group. The pilot group is full of teacher nominated students from all different activities, sports, and walks of the school. The pilot group will be allowed to nominate students, just as the teachers have been able to do in the past. The goal of this group is to recognize the students who aren’t seen and the ones who are kind and gracious behind closed doors.

The committee hopes that this group can be extended to the rest of the student body in the future, or that the group can become a staple in the Norris community. One student who was selected to join this group agrees, “the idea of allowing students to be more involved with PBIS is a great idea. It allows us students to get more engaged with the program and recognize our peers who are showing Titan characteristics”. Another goal the committee has is to include teachers in the nomination process. This means that students can award teachers who go above and beyond for the Norris community, inside and outside the classroom. The PBIS program has run assemblies, meetings, school fundraisers, and made sure that students are recognized for their hard work. By expanding the group, the committee can grow the program and the outreach. The pilot group is constantly on the lookout for students doing their best and exuding a Titan characteristic. This week will be the first that students will be nominating fellow students. Hopefully all students will have a chance to be recognized!

The Norris Titan Talkers speech team competed at Blair on Saturday, February 19, for the Eastern Midland Conference. The following weekend on February 26, they competed at Lincoln Southwest for the National Qualifiers. For EMC, the team sent 17 competitors with 29 total entries. The team then sent 13 competitors with 18 entries.

The Titan Talkers were EMC champs with a total of 234 points. For entertainment Brandon Groth placed 1st and Nick Boon placed 2nd. In duo interpretation, Gionna Weber and Elisia Frey placed 1st and Emma Stacy and Emily Glinsmann placed 4th. In informative Noah Niemeyer placed 1st and Gionna Weber placed 3rd. In extemp Noah Niemeyer placed 3rd. In humorous interpretation, Jade Chauza placed 1st and Emilia Frey placed 6th. In poetry interpretation, Elisia Frey placed 1st. In persuasive Abi Faz placed 3rd and Emily Glinsmann placed 5th. In the program of oral interpretation Emilia Frey placed 1st and Miranda Davis placed 3rd. In dramatic interpretation, Brayden Spilker placed 6th. Finally, in oral interpretation of drama Brayden Spilker, Haven Unger, Izzy Lewis, and Jade Chauza placed 5th and Brandon Groth, Nick Boon, Hays Gorham, Abi Faz, and Brooklyn Ivy placed 6th.

“Speech is such a special activity that not only brings us together as a team, but also as a family. No matter the placements in the end we were able to celebrate those who succeeded and support those who needed it,” said Emma Stacy, a junior, when she was asked what she liked about being in speech.

“Most people don’t realize, but speech has a really long season - October to March - plus any work you put in in the offseason. You start to grow as a team, and as a family, too,” Brooklyn Ivy said. “Not only that, but you have to put in the work and just seeing that pay off, not only at districts, but also the night before at Lincoln East, where that’s one of the biggest tournaments we go to and we got fourth out of over twenty schools.”

At National Qualifiers only the seniors - Gionna Weber, Noah Niemeyer, and Elisia Frey - and the juniors - Emma Stacy and Emily Glinsmann - made it to finals. In duo interpretation, Gionna and Elisia got 2nd and qualified for nationals and Emma Stacy and Emily Glinsmann placed 5th. For informative Noah Niemeyer placed 6th, while he placed 3rd in program of oral interpretation. Elisia Frey then placed 6th in persuasive.

“I think nationals went well for Norris. It was amazing to see some of our seniors qualify. All the seniors have worked very hard which definitely translates to National Qualifiers. I am hoping we can bring that same energy to districts and hopefully have some state qualifiers,” said Izzy Lewis, a sophomore, when asked how she thought the National Qualifiers went and then the thoughts for the next postseason tournament.

The Titan Talkers are now preparing for the state competition - after competing at districts on Saturday, March 5 - which will be held on Wednesday, March 16, in Kearney.