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A New Prowl of Jaguars Compete on the Court

A girls junior varsity (JV) volleyball team creates more chances for students to play 

“One!”  Co-captain of the girls’ JV volleyball team and digital media sophomore Sophia Milcheva yells out.

Her teammates respond in unison, “Two!”, with their feet spread out and their arms reaching to their left foot. Twenty-five minutes before the first ball is served against the Boynton Beach Tigers, Milcheva gathers her team in a circle on the court, dressed in a white jersey and black shorts, and leads them in their pre-game stretching.

On the last day of the girls varsity volleyball tryouts, a new JV team was announced, allowing for an entirely new team of girls to play volleyball this season. 

“JV is a great opportunity for kids who are interested in varsity to be able to get onto varsity,” JV player and vocal sophomore Neila Bhagwandeen said. “Not only that, but they're able to watch the varsity girls and see the level that they have to be at.”

Due to a “bunch of interest,” Athletic Director Matthew Vaughan explains, the coaches and himself collectively decided to announce a JV girls volleyball team. Neither Coach Vaughan nor The Muse know of a prior JV team in the school’s history. 

According to Bhagwandeen, it is more common for a school to have a JV team than not to. This season, the JV team will play against 15 other schools, each with a respective JV and varsity team. 

The Beginning

About 50 girls tried out for the varsity team this year, and when rosters consisted of only 15 girls, there were many students who were not going to be able to play school volleyball that season.

“Coach (Esopakis) told me there's a lot of talent out here this year,” Coach Vaughan said. “And if you have 10 girls that are worthy of just almost making the varsity team, they should be able to hopefully make it next year.”

With the JV team now using the gym Monday-Thursday and sometimes Friday, the varsity practice and game schedule has been pushed back an hour.

“I personally really liked the moved back practice because a lot of times before we'll start practice, since we have time after school, the whole team will go hang out,'' captain of the girls varsity team and vocal senior Madeleine Thron said. “And it's good for team bonding.”

The JV team has started with success, winning five out of the six games they have played.

“I was really surprised because Dreyfoos is an art school, but we beat sport-oriented schools,” Milcheva said after their second game. “We also didn't really know each other as a team; so, it was a surprising, but awesome win.”

Despite being finalized late into tryouts, the JV team came together quickly. 

“We already had extra uniforms, and a schedule pretty much made,” Vaughan said. “So the one thing we needed was to find a coach and it worked out. We did it all in two days.”

Within these two days,Varsity Coach Michael Esopakis knocked on several of his colleagues' doors, seeing if anyone was able to coach. He found a willing candidate in the room across the hall from his: the new social studies teacher Blake Ecker. 

“It is nice (being the JV coach),” Ms. Ecker said. “I feel like I'm a new student too, so I need to be involved to feel the community of the school a little bit better.”

This new team prompts an overarching question for the future of athletics on campus: Could students expect to see more JV teams for other sports? With limits on coaches, stipends, and facilities there are no promises at this time, per Coach Vaughan.

“It's a possibility,” Vaughan said. “If we see a lot of talent out there where we could actually thrive then possibly.”

The Key to a 5-1 Score 

At games, the varsity team sits in the bleachers, chanting, cheering, and supporting the JV team.

“Cheering them on gives them a sense of motivation and keeps them going,” Thron said. “I think it also lightens up the mood because since this is the first year of JV, there's also a lot of uncertainty about who you're playing, and how good the other JV teams are at other schools.”

Beyond the support from the varsity team, Coach Ecker adds that the team is successful thus far due to their mindset. 

“Everyone has a pretty good attitude, which is the nice thing,” Coach Ecker said. “I just really want to encourage them to have fun.”

Two of a Kind

The experience of high school twins

Out of every 100 births in the United States, approximately 3 are twins. Growing up with shared birthdays and genetic information, twins often lead lives side by side. For some of them, it also means sharing the same school environment.

In a Q&A with a set of twins from each grade, The Muse explored what it is like to be amongst that 3% of the United States population. 

Here are the twins featured: 

• Vocal and theatre seniors Madeleine and Emma Thron

• Piano juniors Jeffrey and Hannah Zimmerman

• Piano sophomores Anthony and Nicholas Stan

• Dance freshmen Madison and Mackenzie Sheehan

Q&A

Q: How do you feel different from your twin?

A: “Because I'm a girl and he's a guy, as we grow older, he's gonna develop different friend groups and different interests.” - Hannah Zimmerman

A: “I just want to put it out there that we do not look as similar as people think we do. They're always like, ‘Oh, we get you guys confused.’ But I don't understand, we've got different hair and different facial features.” - Anthony Stan 

A: “We definitely have different personalities. (Mackenzie is) more outgoing, and I'm more introverted.” Mackenzie adds on, ”Different styles too.”  - Madison and Mackenzie Sheehan

A: “I think in a lot of ways. (Madeleine is) definitely more of like a social butterfly, and I'm more reserved. She has a lot of friends where I value a few friendships that are close.” - Emma Thron

A: “Emma has always had a love for fashion and technical theater. I've really always liked music. We both used to do music in elementary school, but she's gotten out of it and found a different passion for tech, and I've kept that passion.” -  Madeleine Thron

A: “I'm not exactly sure. Probably not as good as him at math, and then I'm better at science.” - Nicholas Stan

Q: How do you feel similar to your twin?

A: “I think being a twin you're kind of considered almost as a unit. So growing up, it was always like, ‘Oh, Hannah and Jeffrey are going to go to this event together.’ So we always grew up doing the same things.” - Hannah Zimmerman

A: “Well besides our looks, we both like to help people that are in need. We love working with kids. We love the environment and the ocean. And a lot of our mannerisms are the same.” - Emma Thron

Q: Do you ever get compared to your twin, and how does that affect you?

A: “Obviously, Nicholas is better than me at some things. Sometimes I just have to accept I'm good at some things, and he's good at other things. And sometimes we just fill in the gaps between each other, we kind of complete each other.” - Anthony Stan

A:  “I would say I compare myself to him sometimes. It could be like a certain test grade, because we're taking the same level of courses almost with the same teachers. But most of the time, it's not usually a very significant thing. It's kind of like how I would compare myself to my friends, or how my friends would compare them to me.” - Hannah Zimmerman

A: “I do get compared to my twin. I didn't really let it affect me because I understand, and accepted that we're different.” - Jeffrey Zimmerman

A: “All the time. Honestly, it kind of always happened, but growing up, like you kind of get used to it. But I think it was kind of worse when I switched schools (junior year to Dreyfoos), because people knew her more than she knew me. So you're constantly compared, like who has the better grades? A better outfit? It's kind of exhausting, and it kind of sucks. And even sometimes last year when people would call me the ‘other one’ because they didn't know my name, or anything because I was new to the school. It kind of sucks to be compared, but it is also like a drive for me to be better.” - Emma Thron

A: “I think so, just because from the time we were born, we've always come in a pair. When we're hanging out with people, it's always like, the twins come to hang out. It’s kind of hard to create your own sense of identity when you know you have someone that looks just like you. Going to Dreyfoos alone (for the first two years), the new friends I made didn't know about Emma. So it was kind of like I was getting my own sense of independence in a way.” - Madeleine Thron

Q: Do you feel that being a twin has shaped you as a person?

A: “To be honest, yes and no, I feel like having a twin is also kind of like having a sibling. This person will always be there for you, and he'll always give you advice when needed, and he'll just help you out whenever you need. And I think he's had a big influence on me, not just values, but also interests like music tastes. So I do think he kind of influenced me as a person, but probably the same way as any sibling would influence their sibling.” - Hannah Zimmerman

A: “Definitely. It's a special bond, and I really enjoy being a twin, because you can do many things together.” Mackenzie adds on, “Same, you get more connections and experiences in a way.” - Madison and Mackenzie Sheehan

A: “100%. We both are growing together, because we understand each other so much better, compared to other siblings. We go to school together, we have the same classes, and we have a couple of the same friends.” - Jeffrey Zimmerman

Celebration of Collaboration 

The Winter Arts Medley (WAM) allows every art area to be showcased in one performance

The red velvet curtains of Meyer Hall swoop open, revealing orchestra director Jeffrey Adkins and the Dreyfoos Philharmonic Orchestra, and with a twitch of his baton, the stage erupts into the sound of Symphony No.3 in C Minor. As the music swells, dancers move in from the wings, twirling and leaping to the music created by the orchestra behind them. 

The Winter Arts Medley (WAM), held Dec. 8, was the first ever collaborative performance in which every single major was incorporated. In a 21-part performance, each major was showcased during the first annual WAM concert, including dance numbers, orchestral and jazz performances, poetry readings, theatre scenes, art pieces displayed in the Meyer Hall lobby, all hosted by communications seniors Arik Karim and Jasmine Mullings.

Vocal sophomore Daniel Jones

•  “It seems organized but it also seems last minute if that makes sense,” Daniel Jones said. “Everyone's in their place at the right time.”

Theatre junior Kentrell Taylor

• I think it's really cool. I mean, I don't think we do a lot of performances. like this where all the majors are kinda all together. 

Band junior David Aloni

• I think the most different kind of approach to this  is the organization of what's happening on stage, like moving everything on and off the stage. Like what do we do with all our instruments and stuff once we finish I think that's the biggest change.

Theatre senior Shaiden Tamim 

• The artist medley is something new this year and we all didn't really know what was going to go into it, so we only really had a couple of weeks to do it. But when we decided to do it, we went all out. We've had a couple of after school rehearsals during the week and in my free time, I've been memorizing the lines as fast as I can. We all work with each other to make sure that we're memorized and good and not clueless on stage.

Lip Sync or Swim

The newly formed Lip Dub Club brings changes to a tradition

The camera pans down to the entrance of Building 2. “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen cues. A student dressed in a tuxedo mouths the words of Freddie Mercury, leading the cameraman into the foyer with two dancers performing a pirouette. This scene marks the beginning of the 2019 Dreyfoos Lip Dub, starting a tradition that has continued to the current day.

2023, however, has brought change to the yearly event. At Club Rush, a new concept for the annual Lip Dub was announced with the Lip Dub Club, promising to split filming throughout the year and to change its format from a one-take shot to a multitude of spliced shots.

The First Take

The beginnings of the Lip Dub came in 2019 when Dreyfoos alumnus Adam Goldstick was a sophomore. He says he had the idea for a Lip Dub simultaneously with the Student Government Association (SGA). Goldstick was the videographer for the one-take videos as students sang along to the music while he “toured” the school. 

He continued this role for the first two Lip Dubs, until he became SGA Historian his Junior year.

“We started them with the intent for them to become a tradition,” Goldstick said. “Like a visual yearbook for us to be able to look back and see who was in our class and see the energy of the school.” 

Goldstick and his SGA co-historian Allison Robbert collaborated on the 2020 video, which is the shortest at just eight minutes but showcased many ideas, including a classroom set on stage for the beginning of the Lip Dub.

“We kind of had to play a lot, which is how we got the first scene where we make it look like a pretend classroom,” Robbert said. “Then we put all the walls and the desks away, and that's actually a dance number. That was kind of the craziness that we needed to save for the second year.”

This second year of the project went viral, racking up more than 600,000 views on YouTube and engagement on other platforms. 

“Even after Adam graduated, we didn't talk to each other as much because we went our separate ways, (but) we would still text whenever (the video) hit a new milestone,” Robbert said.

The “Rivalry”

Alongside the growth of the Lip Dub, the parallel tradition of Seminole Ridge High School’s annual Lip Dub continued, which predates Dreyfoos’. The unofficial rivalry between the schools has reached audiences on Twitter and local radio, where listeners have been encouraged to vote for their favorite of the two.

“It was kind of exciting amongst ourselves to have a little sense of competition,” Goldstick said of the so-called feud. “You know, setting the bar high as you’re working to create it.”

More development on the Seminole Ridge rivalry will come in future versions of this article.

Passing the Torch

The Lip Dub, like many school operations, was derailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the event being skipped in 2021. The following year, communications junior Lexi Critchett and communications senior Caroline Murray took on the project.

“Going into it my junior year, I don't think I realized just how much it entailed,” Critchett said. “It's a big undertaking, involving assigning teachers as supervisors, breaking down the songs, and making sure that you have the exact timestamps of where you're going to stop and start each song. You have the lyrics, and you have the choreography planned out with each of the singers that's doing it. There’s just a lot that goes into it.”

Critchett continued to film and organize the Lip Dub during her senior year, leading up to the most recent Lip Dub in March 2023. Through Critchett’s years as director, the Lip Dub continued to be filmed in one take during a “Lip Dub” allocated morning of Spirit Week, leading to long filming days with multiple attempts at creating the video.

“You need to be adaptable and just kind of be able to go with the flow and figure things out as they come up,” Critchett said. “Because you can never really predict what's going to go wrong.”

Critchett’s final year organizing the Lip Dub has led up to the current era. The event is once again run by an SGA historian; this year, the reins have been taken by digital media junior Eszter Veres.

The present and the future

While Veres has the ultimate task of completing the Lip Dub this year, this is the first time that there will be multiple shots filmed throughout the year, as opposed to one day during Spirit Week. As a co-creative director of the Lip Dub Club, specifically heading the videography category, the task of recording the Lip Dub falls into her hands.

“We definitely want to include the community more this year and make sure everyone's input was being heard and communicated,” Veres said. “Making sure (the Lip Dub) is more organized and just making sure that we have fun.”

Some students prefer this new change.

“It's a good thing because some years it feels like (the Lip Dub) is rushed,” vocal senior Emily McLaughlin said. “But I feel like (filming) throughout the year (will be) better, and it might help with preparation.”

Digital media junior Ella Front is the other co-director, but she focuses more on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the video: planning the Lip Dub, helping to curate the soundtrack, and editing it.

Some students, such as communications freshman Lian Dussie, are in favor of filming the Lip Dub through multiple separate clips, thinking that it “shows different events that we have,” but others are worried this might disrupt tradition.

“Idealistically, it's a great idea to break it up into parts,” communications senior and assistant director for last year's Lip Dub, Harrison Mandell, said. “But you also lose the core value of the Lip Dub which is the one-shot school spirit. But I think if the (Lip Dub Club) did it tastefully and in a way that looked cohesive, then it would have been just the same.”

But to some, trying to film and produce the Lip Dub just with a barrage of different clips taken throughout the year may be quite difficult.

“I think the idea is really good,” Mandell said. “But I've been talking with them a little bit, and it sounds like a lot of the stuff that they have been getting hasn't been so usable and so great. It sounds like it's gonna end up being a similar one-shot on the day of.”

So far this year, the Lip Dub Club has filmed segments of Club Rush, Dreyfoos’ Eras Tour Fun Friday, Fall Dance, and the “Mamma Mia!” production. But aside from just changing how the Lip Dub is filmed, the club is also changing what is in the final product. The Lip Dub Club also plans on having a Lip Dub premiere in Meyer Hall this year, with a documentary added on which will explain the process of how they recorded it.

With the Lip Dub Club initiated this year, it has allowed more students to be involved with videography, editing, and overall planning such as picking out the music that will be sung. However, some have wondered how including the input of so many people on campus may affect the production.

“I think the Lip Dub is such a big responsibility that I'm happy that there's more of a collaborative effort, and it's not falling on one person,” Mandell said. “At the same time, trying to take so many different people's ideas and opinions into creating one project and one video will end up being a little bit conflicting. But I'm really excited to see what they come up with.”

While more kids are allowed to help behind the scenes, it also allows club members to have a better chance to be featured in the Lip Dub.

“The people that are in (Lip Dub Club) have an advantage for being selected down the road to be featured because we have that connection already, and it's easier,” Front said. “But features are not limited just to the club; we really want to showcase the entire student body.”

If you are interested in joining the  club, follow @lipdubclub on Instagram, where you can find the Google Classroom code and meeting dates. On the Google Classroom, you can find places to voice your opinion on song selections for the Lip Dub.

1300+ students. Bracket elimination. Only one winner.

During the Music Genre Day of Spirit Week, March 14, all students will embark on — perhaps — the greatest journey of their lives, a one vs. one, life or death scenario: A school-wide rock paper scissors competition. One wrong throw of your hands, and you’re eliminated. Here is your chance to gain the upper hand: The ultimate rock, paper, scissors guide, by three-time gold medalist, five-time Olympic finalist, and internationally renowned rock, paper, scissor professional — Gavin Murray. 

As students enter into the battlefield of their first class on Thursday, which is third period, they will be handed their lifeline: a beaded necklace corresponding to their grade level (blue for freshmen, green for sophomores, red for juniors, and black for seniors). Throughout class changes, Lip Dub, and lunch, students will challenge each other to a best out of three rock, paper, scissors round, with the winner taking the other’s necklace. Remember no backing out of a challenge, fight with honor.

As students fall like flies, only the strategic students will remain in power. So it’s important to outsmart your opponents. Specifically for men, don’t let their sheer manliness dissuade you from going against them; in fact, use it to your advantage. Susannah Cahalan, writing for the New York Post, explains that “Rock is the testosterone choice, the most aggressive, and the one favored by angry players. It’s no shock, then, that most men play rock first. On your first throw against a male opponent, the best choice to play is paper, especially in a ‘one-shot’ match. Women, meanwhile, are most likely to throw scissors.” 

For this day, you are going to need a lot of stamina and energy to make it through the constant, stressful rapid-fire rounds. I recommend getting a good night’s sleep and eating the breakfast of champions. I personally eat bananas and drink orange juice; however, if you’re feeling a bit risky, you can get the Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs at school.

It would also be advantageous to get in as much practice as possible before this day. While your family members or friends might not be enough of a challenge, I tend to practice in front of my mirror. For some reason, we always tie. But being in front of the mirror is a great way to master your outward appearance and body language. Stare into their eyes, put one hand flat and the other curled in front of your heart, make your back straight to appear as tall as possible, and lower your voice in order to sound more assertive. It may take a while for this to come naturally for you, it took me the better half of my lifetime, but now no one dares to go against me.  

If you do not think highly of your skills, and you might not be able to beat professionals who have trained their whole lives for this, like me, I would suggest trying the art of “disappearing.”  With avid rock, paper, scissor competitors looking for blood, it might be in your best interest to stay clear of populated areas on campus and try more secluded areas during lunch. This way you can last longer throughout the day simply by avoiding playing.

The final survivor of each grade level will face off the following day, during the Pep Rally. In the end, only one player will be victorious, and only one class will win the first rock, paper, scissors competition.

For now, mysteries remain. What fan favorites will get knocked out earlier than expected? What underdogs will make it to the final few? Which grade will become victorious? All exciting moments to wait for next week. 

So what will your first move be? Rock, paper, or scissors?

An update has been made to the story March 27: The final rock, paper, scissors competition was not held on Pep Rally day due to time constraints in the schedule.