Friday, November 8, 2013

What An Exciting Couple of Weeks!

There is no doubt that events of the last couple of weeks are likely to be some that our students will look back on with fond memories twenty years from now. It has been a ton of fun watching these young people flourish and show leadership in multiple ways!

Just this week we had the opportunity to witness the leadership of our students in the National Honor Society when they hosted the Director of the Iowa Department of Education, Dr. Brad Buck for an Anti-Bullying assembly on Thursday. The NHS has chosen to take this issue and make it the centerpiece of their work this year. I am incredibly thankful for their commitment to this important component of our school culture!

I also want to recognize all of our athletes who participated in fall sports. All three of our sports teams had successful seasons and enjoyed the opportunity to extend their play with post season competition. Congratulations are in order to the boys cross country team for their qualification to the State Cross Country Meet, and also to Amanda Cartney and Lexi Kolterman for qualifying as individuals on the girls side. You all represented our school with great pride and we are thrilled for your success! Both the volleyball and football teams enjoyed a great deal of success this season with a run in the playoffs. Congratulations to the volleyball team on your season, it was a great deal of fun to watch. Likewise, congratulations to our football team-you played so hard in the first round of the playoffs, you too represented Hudson well!

Our fine arts ensembles have also enjoyed a great deal of success this fall with a fantastic concert back on October 17th. We have such amazingly talented musicians participating in both band and choir. We are proud of Luke Huber and Laura Baridon for being selected to the Iowa All State Choir and Band on October 26th. Being selected for these ensembles is a very difficult and prestigious accomplishment. Way to go!

This fall is beginning to wind down and very soon we will begin to get ready for basketball and wrestling; and all that comes with the winter season. But before that happens I want to remind you of one other opportunity to see our students shine. This weekend you have the chance to see our fall musical 'Cinderella'. It will be showing on both Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 PM in the high school auditorium. I had the chance to see it on Thursday evening and it was amazing! This really is a must see show, and if you don't see it you will really have missed out on something special!

According to the notes in the back of the program, the production of this show required the talents of over 66 students, staff, and faculty members. While I would love to mention each and everyone by name, I don't think I could possibly do it justice. However, there are just a few folks that deserve special recognition. First to Olivia Griffith who played the role of Cinderella, awesome job! You were amazing and have such a rich singing voice! The Fairy God Mother was played by Peyton Higgins, and she is outstanding of course! Peyton has such great poise and natural ability-and appears so comfortable on stage! Christopher (AKA Prince Charming is played by the very talented and capable Luke Huber who is one of the most versatile young people I know! Thank you for sharing your talents with us!

I could go on and on, mentioning of course the outstanding performances of Maddie Hartleip, Lauren McCullough, and Alli Weaver. Your show stopping portrayal of the Step Mother and Cinderella's sisters were great! I was very impressed with your complex harmonies in Act II! The humor and wit of our Royal Family and Steward was well done, thank you Matt Bullerman, Quinton Griffith, and Bridget McCulley! Playing roles of the mice and cat can be a bit tricky and difficult to accomplish, but Tori Goodale, Kelsey Noel, Emily Kaus, and Abby Tjepkes made us all believers and you added the perfect touch of magic to the show!

Everyone was just perfect, and I loved it. I am looking forward to seeing it again tonight and would encourage you to attend. Believe me, you will not want to miss this performance! And as a final note, I want to mention and thank Mrs. Anderson for her hard work at putting this show together. As you know, I have first hand experience and know full well the complexities involved in producing a show on this level. Oh, and how about those costumes, were they unreal or what! Wow! I think we owe Mrs. Griffith a debt of gratitude for her hard work and what had to be hundreds of hours of work building these costumes! Were you as impressed as I was with the transformation of Cinderella!



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