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Dressed up for Halloween are aides Marjorie Chadima, Jean Utz (aka Judge Judy) and Cindy Kolke. Both Utz and Kolke are retiring at the end of this school year.
Aide Jean Utz has ‘25,000 reasons’ to retire after 23 years
By Jaiden Wilson
After 23 years serving as an aide at SHS, Jean Utz is saying goodbye, with ‘’25,000 reasons’’ to retire.
‘’I wanted to retire because my husband has retired, and it just seemed like the right time to do it,’’ Utz said. “We’ll probably do some traveling, and end up downsizing our house, ‘cause it’s just the two of us now, and we don’t need that big of a house.’’
She wants to be closer to her family and move out of Ohio, but her husband has a different idea of where he would like to go. ‘’We’re probably going to move further east,” she said, “although if it was up to him, he’d wanna go to Florida, but I wanna move closer to family, specifically my grandkids in Pennsylvania.”
Utz said she loves her students and it will be a challenge to not see them every day. ’’It’s going to be an adjustment, but I don’t think it’s really going to hit me until August, when we go back to school, because typically I have the summers off and I’ve always had the summers off,’’ she said.
Before Utz came to work as a school aide, she was a hairdresser in Florida and owned her own salon for 25 years.
‘’I decided moving up here, that schedule, having my young daughter, it would be better for me to have summers off, winter break, and just her schedule and mine were always the same,” she explained. “It was never a conflict. It always worked in my favor.’’
Utz is known among the staff for her jokes and comedy. ‘’One memory that stands out is having new people coming in the building, or new subs,” she said. “I always let them and visitors know if they had any questions, that they could come to me, and my name was Cindy Kolke.” Utz said she will miss Kolke and Marjie Chadima, fellow building aides, and all of her teacher friends, specifically social studies teachers Kris Gaug and Robb Kidd.
‘’My first impression of Mrs. Utz: We met in 1998 in an empty lot for sale in our development,” Kolke recalled. “She was wearing a matching linen short set blouse and vest. She had neatly pedicured toenails polished in red. Mrs. Utz had a very strong NY accent. I thought she said her name was Yutz. I told my husband when I got home, ‘our neighbors’ name is YUTZ!’ Obviously, she made a great impression on me, because we have remained close friends. She cracks me up. She is so funny. I always tell people, ‘you will never meet another Jeanie Utz,’ and that’s the truth. She is unique in many ways.’’Kolke remembered
Kolke joked that she will not miss Utz after she retires because, ‘’She is my neighbor and we are very close friends. We started working for SCSD the same year. We have so much fun every day at work and when we hang together at home. We will still see each other A LOT. She can’t get rid of me by retiring.’’
Gaug was able to get rid of Utz during second period when Utz would take a break for ”meetings” with math teacher Christine Srp, Utz joked.
Kidd, however, said he will miss “so many things,” about Utz, including: “Her help in the classroom, our daily scare competition, her borderline inappropriate jokes, the banter we share daily, the way she connects with kids, her true joy and passion in life….’’
He said their “brother-sister relationship that we have formed over the years” has been the best part of workin with her over the years.
While Utz had planned to retire last school year, a surgery postponed the decision
‘’I decided to stay because I had knee surgery last year, knee replacement, and that kind of just put me through things that I wasn’t as concerned about retiring,” she said. “I was more focused on my health, so I decided to just postpone it one more year, and now here I am.’’
The decision to retire was not an easy one to make.
‘’It was hard for me,” Utz said, “I went back and forth several times, and I had several discussions with my husband and other people. I wanted to make sure I was ready to go and make the right decision, but then I realized ’25,000 reasons’ why I should retire, and that's what I did.”
Kayaking, crocs and ziplining highlight Costa Rica Spring Break for 19 students
By Zianni Houston
Over spring break, a group of 22 other students and I went on a trip to Costa Rica. We were accompanied by Spanish teacher and trip organizer Holly Ushiroda, Intervention Specialist Heather Campbell, Visual Communication teacher Polly Dierkens and Principal Patrick Griffis. On our week-long adventure, all of us certainly had a time to remember. This online journal chronicles some of our first-hand experiences...
Entry #1 : Day 0 - 3/22/25
We got to the airport at 3 o’clock in the morning. We did the typical airport routine, Checked luggage, and went through TSA and got to our gate. Everything was moving smoothly…until it was time to board the plane. We found out that the plane was overbooked by six people! Instead of leaving a student behind, Mrs. Ushiroda was brave and decided to stay back and catch a different flight . The rest of us had a layover in Charlotte and from there we went to San Jose. We made a quick stop for lunch at McDonalds (which was one of our special requests) . We arrived at our first hotel and it was like a dream come true. I roomed with my two close friends, AB Houser and Camryn Wiggins.
That first night at the hotel, we searched everything high and low. You would’ve thought we were investigators. Not a stone was left unturned! There were many creative pieces of art and statues. For example, in the dining room there was a wall full of full body mirrors that were adorned with various vines and plants.
Entry #2: Day 1 - 3/23/25
On the first official day of the trip, activity number one was going to the coffee plantation called Hacienda Doka. During the coffee tour, we learned about the planting, roasting and packaging of coffee beans. The workers there are paid very differently than they are here in the U.S. They are paid using cajuelas, which is a type of coin they turn in at the end of the week. The amount of coins would correspond to the amount of money they would receive:1 cajuela = $2 USD.
We were joined on this tour by groups from a school in Defiance, Ohio and another from Los Angeles. After going to the plantation, we visited a beautiful waterfall where we could take pictures. We then made our way to our second hotel.
Sidenote: A group of us – AB, Camryn, Addison and McKenzie LaGuardia, Gabriela Salyer and a couple others – played a little trick on the kids from California. We may or may not have told them that in Ohio we all drive tractors to school and chase around chickens. Do we regret it? No. Was it hilarious? Absolutely
Entry #3: Day 2 - 3/24/25
Our second hotel was surrounded by different plants and greenery and it was located in San Carlos, Costa Rica. This was not like the traditional hotels I am used to, but more like cabanas, which I would compare to little houses. After breakfast, a group of students and I, including Mr. Griffis as our chaperone, went on a walk around the city. We roamed freely in little groups going into every souvenir shop we could find.
The walking did not stop there, as we teamed up with the rest of our group to head to Arenal Volcano National Park to hike a trail up the volcano. The weather was definitely not in our favor, as it was pouring rain the entirety of our hour and a half hike upwards. It was not until we reached the top that the clouds finally broke, showing a semi-clear view of the volcano.
After the hike back down, we ventured to the indoor Hot Springs where we relaxed our tired muscles.
Entry #4: Day 3 - 3/25/25
On the third day, we got up bright and early to make our way to the kayaking location.I opted to stay on the boat to take pictures of everyone, because they were surely braver than I was. If I’m being honest, I would have been left in the middle of the lake and/or capsized the kayak! After kayaking, we went to lunch at a place called The Garden. The restaurant was right across from a souvenir store, so everyone spent a good amount of time shopping around and getting things for their families. From there we traveled to the third hotel.
Entry #5: Day 4 - 3/26/25
Our new hotel was located in Parrita. Early in the morning of the fourth day, our big group was divided into two. Some people wanted to do yoga, and some people wanted to walk the beach. The water on the beach was beautiful and it was a nice breeze to combat the warm weather. Following the beach, we headed to the national park. At the park, we volunteered to help rake dirt, and pull weeds to clear fire zones. To be honest, I was a tad surprised, because I think the guides and I had very different ideas of “volunteering”. . . Nonetheless, most of us worked very hard in the heat and under the very hot sun. The next activity we did was a crocodile tour. We learned about many different native animals, including birds and lizards.
P.S.- Crocodiles are so scary up close
Entry #6: Day 5 - 3/27/25
The fifth day was by far the most calm. We traveled to the Manuel Antonio National Park and relaxed for three hours. We swam, tanned and enjoyed the sounds of the crashing waves. From there, we had lunch and spent time looking over everyone’s burns from our time in the sun. Cam and Addie definitely won that battle because someone (cough cough, *CAMRYN*), faked putting on sunscreen. Actually, we called her “Larry the Lobster” for the rest of the trip because of how burnt she was. After our FIRST dinner, a small group of us walked to a nearby pizza place and ordered take out. On our way back, we stopped to listen to a live band and were entranced. AB was feeling the music a little too much and flipped our pizza onto the ground, and of course we still ate it because $20 was definitely not going to waste! At the end of the night, a small group of us sat around and had a much-needed round of girl time.
Entry #7: Day 6 - 3/28/25
The sixth day was our last day of adventure.This was also the most exciting day because we got to go ziplining at Rainforest Adventures Jaco! We rode a gondola all the way up the mountain and ziplined the whole way down. We were able to get pictures and videos from our time zip lining. Later on this day, we went back to the first hotel for our last night in Costa Rica. As a treat, we took a bus ride 5,500 feet up to have a nice dinner overlooking the city of San Jose. At dinner, performers danced in beautiful outfits to traditional music.
Entry #8: Day 7 - 3/29/25
On our seventh and final day, we prepared our luggage and left for the airport. We made our flight to Miami, but had to feverishly rush through the airport “Home Alone”-style to make our flight to Cleveland. With that, the Costa Rican adventure came to a close
This trip was truly like nothing I have ever experienced and I am unbelievably grateful that I was able to experience it with my friends and dear teachers. I will never forget this trip and it is now a very special chapter in my life.
Talent show returns after eight years
By Calli Hahn
Whether performing to impress people, or just to have fun, students will have the opportunity to show off their hidden talents to the community during SHS’ first talent to be held in eight years. The show will be April 24 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Admission will be free.
“Kids in choir and band have the opportunity to perform but the talent show gives non-school program kids an opportunity to show off talents that no one would otherwise know about,” said teacher and performing arts manager Jim Boardwine.
SHS has not hosted a talent show since 2017, before moving to this current building.
As a result of former shows, multiple graduates have actually ended up doing something with their talents in the real world. Maddy Utrup, who graduated in 2012, made it to “American Idol” and was a top 70 finalist. She has also released some of her own songs, one even being featured in the hulu series “Dollface.”
Graduate in the class of 2007 Ryan Rosinski, who won the talent show back to back in 2006 and 2007 as a dancer, now owns his own dance studio. He also has a youtube channel where he shows his performances on the news and at many sporting events, including Cavs games.
Twelve acts were selected after two sets of auditions held in March. These acts are a combination of singing, dancing and playing instruments. Additional entertainment and introductions will be provided by senior emcees Harmony Brown and Matt Knuth.
The event will simply be a showcase of talents that could lead to something more, as shown by the success of previous contestants.
“I wanted to skip on the prizes because everyone is so used to being critiqued and I just wanted the talent show to be a showcase,” Boardwine said.
photo by Kenzie McIntosh
Senior Ben Watson, dressed up here for a fall spirit day, is one of the 13 seniors who will finish school April 24 to do a senior project with a community partner.
Thirteen seniors to finish here April 24, begin projects in community May 14
Thirteen seniors to finish here April 24, begin projects in community May 14
By John Imperial
Thirteen seniors will be finishing school a month early and heading off to do their Senior Projects at area businesses and schools. Instead of May 14, these seniors will finish school on April 24.
The senior project is a project optional for seniors to do. The purpose of the project, according to administration, is “to provide qualified seniors with the opportunity to explore individual interests and career opportunities in an extended community partnership.”
Assistant Principal and Head of the Senior Project ,Jeff Papesh, communicated to the seniors that this is “a valuable opportunity for students to apply their knowledge, gain hands-on experience, and develop critical skills like problem-solving, time management and communication. It enhances college applications and resumes, provides networking opportunities, and helps students explore potential career paths. By completing the Senior Project, students showcase their abilities, build confidence, and prepare for future academic or professional endeavors, making it a rewarding and impactful experience.”
Any student interested in doing the Senior Project must find a sponsor by reaching out to a company or person with a job or profession they are interested in.
The required time for the Senior Project is 10 days with a total of 50 hours.
Seniors need to fulfill the requirements between April 28 and May 9. Once all the shadowing is done, then the student is required to do the Senior Project Symposium, which is a presentation and summary of what the student learned and did during their senior project. The symposium will be presented to teachers and administration the week of May 12-13 during intervention.
Senior Ben Watson is shadowing a car mechanic for his project. Watson will be going to do his senior project at Summit Sound and Security in Twinsburg. He described it as “a tint and stereo place that works on cars along with home systems like home theaters and automatic window curtains.”
Watson said he chose to do this job for his Senior Project “because I love working with cars and I feel as if I may need this information in the future and It’s always good to learn something new.” He said that he stumbled upon this job just by “searching up places nearby that had the things I was interested in.”
Watson said his future plans might involve this type of work. “I plan on possibly opening a car garage with my friend Royal Petgrave. We both love working on cars and plan on this garage in our later future.”
Photos by Katie Blythe & Kristy Queen
NHS inducts 25 upperclassmen Feb. 12
By Calli Hahn
Twenty-five upperclassmen were inducted into the National Honors Society Feb. 12, bringing the number of students in SHS’ organization to 52. NHS is an academic honors program that promotes excellence in high school students.The organization focuses on, and intends to recognize, outstanding academics, leadership skills, community service and strong character.
Junior Avery Hunt was one of the new inductees. “I was interested in NHS because I knew a lot of people involved in it, and I knew it was a huge honor to be accepted, so I was really motivated to do my best to get in,” Hunt said.
Juniors and seniors with GPAs of 3.5 or higher are invited to apply for NHS each fall. Beyond the GPA, they are evaluated on how well they portray the three other pillars of leadership, service and character.
“I think the pillars that you have to fill to be accepted show how it benefits the school,” Hunt said.
Applicants are considered by a panel of judges who select the best of the best.
“The decision is based a lot on school involvement and community service,” said math teacher, Ryan Spence, who served as a judge.
While being involved in the organization does look good on college and scholarship applications, there are plenty of reasons students want to be a part of NHS. Junior Zoie Dunn said, “It’s not only important that students do a good job in NHS, it’s also important that they are setting examples and making future classes want to be a part of something so important.”
Being involved in NHS comes with extra responsibility added onto those students already have with school, sports and work. Finding a balance is important to be able to be involved in so many things at once.
“Time management was a skill that I had to learn,” said junior and new inductee, Cece Hall. “I used to procrastinate a lot but had to figure out a balance to make everything work.”
Senior Mar Fall, who takes AP classes and is involved in football and track, plans to work to make sure he is able to fit everything into his schedule.
“I’m definitely going to have to stay organized, but I think I can balance both,” he said. “Since NHS events are usually planned ahead of time, I can work around my track schedule and make sure I’m staying on top of everything. Plus, I can probably find ways to incorporate service hours into things I’m already involved in. It’ll take some time management, but I’m excited.”
Also adding insight into the importance of balancing their responsibilities is senior and class president Harmony Brown. “Balancing all of these responsibilities can actually be pretty tough,” she said. “I’m in four AP classes, [and have] cheer practice, games or competitions every day of the week, as well as being president of NHS. In order to keep myself balanced and reduce stress, I try making these responsibilities as fun as possible, studying with friends, or listening to my tunes while doing so, goofing around during cheer with my teammates. The more fun the better, and less stressful!”
photo by Madelyn Genovese
Sophomore Liv Willard participates in an activity during a fall pep rally.
Sophomore Liv Willard raises over $8K for LLS
Sophomore Liv Willard raises over $8K for LLS
By Jaiden Wilson
Sophomore Olivia Willard has raised $8,425 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in a fight to help cure blood cancer.
This spring she served as a “visionary” for this cause in memory of her great grandfather, who had lymphoma. A visionary is an individual invited to participate in a seven-week LLS campaign to help find cures for blood cancers.
‘’Being a visionary, to me, means getting to help those that are fighting for something bigger than myself,’’ Willard said.
Through this campaign, LLS helps patients access quality and affordable care while they deal with this challenging disease. According to its Web site, since 1949, LLS has invested more than $1.8 billion in research to cure blood cancer.
’’I think it’s really important for us all to fight for all types of cancers,’’ Willard said.
Her initial goal was to raise $2,000, but by the end of February, she had already surpassed that by $1,000.
‘’I was so excited when I surpassed my goal…” she said. ‘’My contribution definitely helped the campaign because every dollar counts, so getting over my goal of $2,000 [partway through] was heartwarming.’’
The campaign ended March 8. ‘’I'm already excited for next year,” Willard said.“To raise money for these kids, adults, friends and family just brings an extra joy into my life.’’
For more information about LLS visionaries, visit https://www.llsstudentvisionaries.org/.
New director strikes chord with Rocket choirs
New director strikes chord with Rocket choirs
By Zianni Houston
Choir has a brand new face and it has never been more alive, thanks to its new director, Alissa Mujanovic. Since stepping in, Mujanovic has opened the door to many incredible opportunities like OMEA competitions, singing at Monsters and Cavs games, even an upcoming performance at Cedar Point May 14.
“Choir is the most fun and enjoyable it’s ever been,” said junior Layla Tyhulski. “When we saw her interview, it was a no-brainer to pick her.”
Students say that the choir is closer than ever before, with an energetic, friendly and vibrant atmosphere. Mujaonic has created an environment where students feel valued and motivated.
The workload has increased, but so has the students' dedication. Every day they work hard on solfège and perfecting their tone for performances.
Performing beyond the school walls has been a game changer for the members. “I think we all like performing at home, but there’s a different energy when you perform in front of people you don’t know," said junior AB Houser. “This experience has affected me for the greater good."
Members encourage the community to engage in their performances and show support for them. Choir extendeds into the classrooms by students sparking up conversations that usually end with a teacher being asked to come out to a concert.
The involvement of the community has a significant impact on the choir, with members claiming, “It boosts morale because we need that support while performing,” Houser said.
With Mujanovic leading them, the choir is not just singing--they are soaring!
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