Despite the deadly senioritis illness infecting our seniors, they’re pushing through the end of the year mainly for the senior events! First and foremost, seniors do not have to take finals for the first time in their high school career. Without the stress of studying for grade changing tests, they are catching a humongous break. Students also walk out of Longmont high doors for the end of the school year a week before the rest of Longmont high’s student body. Not only is there an early start to summer, the fun doesn’t end when they walk out of the doors! Senior night is held on May 22^nd in the gym for a senior slideshow of memories and many more activities and speeches from our fellow classmates. Only a few days later graduation is held on May 25^th on the track outside of Longmont High! Most importantly seniors have a fun summer to look forward to and their college career following. Jaedyn Martinez, Senior, says she is most excited to graduate because she gets to start a new chapter of her life in college. “I am going to the University of Northern Colorado in the fall!” Martinez also comments she is going to senior night, and senioritis is most definitely eating at her. Have fun seniors, the end is finally here!

On Friday, April 26th, Longmont High School practiced a lockdown and evacuation drill. All students were told to do a lock down, which mean lights must go off, and you must go out of site. Then police officers went around the school and let out each individual class. The classes had to walk the around the school and make their way to the field. Each subject in school had their own designated spot on the field. For math it was the 20 yard line. The drill lasted about 45 minutes, once everything was safe and secure, students returned to class.

David Hoffmaster, science teacher, hangs out with his class during the evacuation drill.

Leslie Noble, math teacher, guides her students to safety.

Students take a relaxing break during LHS evacuation drill.

Students and teachers wait to be let back inside.

Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Cito’s 6th block math classes wait to be let back into school.

Science classes gather on the 30 yard line during the evacuation drill at LHS.

Every year the Longmont High School Booster Club puts together “After Prom;” a safe and fun place for students who attended prom to hang out, eat food, and win awesome prizes. This year, our after prom was themed as the Wizard of Oz. There were many decorations hung around the gym making any after prom attendee feel as if they were actually in the fairy-tale land. There were many games that you could play to win tickets and enter for a chance to win big time prizes. Activities included: karaoke, twister, trivia, casino games, crackpots, and a money machine. Many people loved the money machine and were able to win instant prizes, and have a great time doing it! Prizes at After Prom included a chance to win an X-box, 32 in. flat screen TV, 2 ipads, a microwave, Beats by Dr. Dre, and many more. Most students who attended after prom walked away with something, whether it was a free ice cream from TCBY or Trojan sprit gear for future sporting events. Booster Club put a lot of hard work into making After Prom a success. Senior Heather Hamilton really enjoyed her visit to Prom and After Prom. “My favorite activity at after prom was the money machine because it was a lot of fun and also the photo booth because it was a great way to create and capture all the memories. I enjoyed both [Prom and After Prom] a lot, but I would say I enjoyed after prom more because there are a lot fun activities and it is a great way to have fun with your friends in a safe manner and a safe environment.” Upset that you missed After Prom this year? Make sure to attend it next year for many fun games, food and more!

Seniors, Heather Hamilton, Lilly Hansis, and Cailin Doran smile for the camera at the Wizard of Oz themed After Prom.

Cailin Doran, Senior, President of the Interact Club.

Helping the community is important. A club at Longmont High, Interact Club, puts some action behind this platitude. The club is led by Rotarians such as Ryan Mason and by Cailin Doran, senior, as president of the club. The club meets on the first and third Thursday’s of each month. During the meetings, members talk about community service projects, international service projects, and about how to get the club more well-known. A popular event that many members volunteer at is Pumpkin Pie Days in the fall and the Strawberry Festival in the spring. Both events take place at the Boulder County Fair Grounds and are more popular for the elderly population in Longmont. The festivals include antique items and strawberry or pumpkin featured desserts. The club made gift baskets to auction off at a  Rotary meeting on April 16th; with the profits going to a school and students in Africa to help better education in their country. Interact members made $2600 at the auction and from donations. The club’s international committee head Adam Wolford said, “I am so pleased with the results of the auction. We made double of what was expected and it is such a good feeling to know we are going to impact the lives of many and help them have a better education.” Wolford and fellow Interact members plan on continuing to help the school and teachers during the rest of the year and into next school year. The club members not only volunteer, but promote their club in the mornings before school and encourage members to bring friends to meetings as an attempt to increase the size of the club. With more people, there are more opportunities to help others.

Many children suffer from medical conditions that can cause permanent hair loss. Radiation in the brain stem to treat brain tumors, chemotherapy to treat cancers, and other auto-immune disorders such as Alopecia are just a few. Children often times feel self-conscious and withdraw from normal life because of their hair loss. There are several non-profit organizations that have made it their mission to provide custom wigs made of real human hair to kids so that they can have a level of normalcy restored to their lives.

Locks Of Love, or LOL, has been a nonprofit organization since 1997 and is the most well heard of charity that works to make wigs. LOL primarily assists financially incapable families and provide hair pieces to people ages 6-21 either for free or on a sliding cost scale based on need. The organization has been supported by celebrities such as Zac Efron, Russel Crowe, Portia de Rossi, and Katie Couric and Ann Curry of the Today Show. Each wig is made from a plaster mold of the recipient’s head so the wig forms a vacuum seal that can’t be broken unless the wearer removes it at the temples. Although very expensive to make, the cost of each being between $2,500 and $6,000, the custom seals provide a relief to children; they never have to worry about their wigs coming off. LOL says that “this sense of security allows the children to get back their self-confidence and be kids again.”

Sophomore Lexie Knutson

Each wig requires between 6 and 10 ponytails, and each must be at least 10-inches in length. Many people think that if their hair has been colored, then they can’t donate their hair, but this isn’t the case. The only type of hair that is not accepted in bleached hair unless it has been fully grown out. Men and women of all ages and races donate their hair to Locks of Love each year, but there is still a need for hair. Abby Levesque, sophomore, has donated her hair to LOL twice. The first time was in 4th grade, and the second time was only a few years later, right before 6^th grade. “I wanted other kids to have hair who didn’t. I am lucky to have hair that grows really fast and I didn’t mind cutting it off for a good cause,” she said. Eric Eiseman, a math teacher at LHS, has donated his hair twice. He grew it for about a year each time. “I didn’t plan on donating it, but they offered when I cut it. It was an opportunity to help someone out, so it was an easy decision,” said Eiseman. All and any donations help the cause, and can even be a fun challenge to do with a group of friends. For most of us, hair is a luxury that we take for granted. “Hair is just hair to us because we always have it. Our hair will eventually grow back,” said Becca Real, sophomore. Donating your hair doesn’t mean that you must have a pixie cut when you’re done. If you have a little patience, you can grow it so that even with the 10-inch cut, you’ll have medium length hair. “I would definitely donate my hair again,” said Levesque. “I just need a few more years to get it super long.” Donating your hair can help a kid feel like a normal kid again. If you are interested in donating your hair, you can visit www.locksoflove.org to learn more.

Colleen Peppler has been here for 30 years. She started out as a teacher and then became an assistant principal. She will be greatly missed, she has had a fantastic time being a Trojan and will always be a Trojan at heart. When Trojan News went to interview her she had many things to say when we asked her why she was retiring she said “I think that when you feel it is time it is time. I feel like this is the right time, it will be bitter sweet and a bitter sweet last month.” Hearing that Peppler is retiring is very breathtaking, no one would think she would be retiring because she is one of those administrators who is always there for the kids and trying to help. But she is retiring and after a very emotional interview Peppler has told us what she is planning on doing after she leaves Longmont High School. Peppler said, “I have other things planned [like] spending more time with my family, and taking up some other hobbies.” She then went on to say, ” I will be back to watch the athletics” Peppler said what she has heard from the other staff members was very humbling,  she will be missed and they appreciate every thing that has done while at Longmont, its been nice. Tyson Peppler, junior and Mrs. Peppler’s son, has heard very good things about his mom as well. Mrs. Peppler thinks that she will miss the “interaction with the students and the friendships I have built with the staff.” the most when she leaves. Even though she will no longer be in Longmont High School she is not giving it up, she will still be around a lot for all the sports. She will be greatly missed she has been a great administrator and will always be a Trojan at heart. A few students had something to say about Peppler senior, Tyler Pettibone said “I really like Ms. Peppler she is the best and I will miss her even though I will not be here I will still miss her.” CJ Franchini, senior, said ” I didn’t really know her I just saw her in the halls but from what I have talked to her and seen her she is really nice and I will miss her.”

Ms. Peppler hard at work

Integrals? Derivatives? L’Hopital’s rule? Sound like nonsense? Nope, it’s calculus! Josh Murphy and Breona Conrad are two actors who work for the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, in which they tour around and perform Calculus the Musical for students all across the country. Last week, these two math fanatics made their way to Colorado and performed for students in Silver Creek High School’s auditorium. Though anyone is welcome to the show, it is encouraged that calculus students attend as, not only will they understand the concepts being sung about, they’ll enjoy the witty and musically genius lyrics to such songs as The Limit’s Alright (in the style of The Who’s The Kids are Alright), Power Rule (in the style of Petula Clark’s Downtown), Without Riemann (in the style of Eminem’s Without Me), and L’Hopital: I have Calculus in the heart (in the style of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart). “I love Calculus the musical, it’s so much fun. I love the songs, I love the dancing, I love how they put mathematics to music. It’s really clever and I get it, and students will too,” said calculus teacher Charles Zander. Calculus the musical is a comic review of not only the history of calculus, but also some of the main concepts that make up the complicated subject. The musical originally started as a teaching device, helping students remember concepts and formulas by setting them to music. “I think this musical is a good review for Calculus and Pre-calculus students. If you know the concepts, it’s a fun way to review,” said Zander. The two actors make the show fun and appealing to students by using musical parodies that span genres, from hip hop, to rock, to opera. Jackie Demaline, journalist from the Cincinnati Enquirer, said “‘Calculus’ is smart and funny with geeky charm to burn,” (from matheatre.com). So if you missed this fun and humorous musical this time, make sure to see it next time it comes to town!

Shmoop is an online site/digital publishing company that uses different “methods” to help students from all schools that need to study while having fun. They try to “balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous materials to help students understand how subjects relate to their daily lives.” The company has been honored by the Webby Awards twice, and named “Best in Tech” by the Scholastic Administrator Magazine.

Our school Librarian Helen Robbins

According to our librarian ,Helen Robbins, Shmoop is “…a lot of things but the main thing Longmont High School is using it for is ACT prep. You can also use it for AP test prep and regular class topics. It’s individualized so you can use it to practice any skill you want to. It’ll try to make the test prep as fun it can be.” Since the ACT’s are so close if people are still looking for a study method Robbins said to get a lot of rest and to pay attention to any review you can in class. There might also be a last-minute study group or two near it.

For those of which who aren’t prepping for the ACT but still want to try out Shmoop it has student study guides from Literature, Dr.Seuss, the Bible, and Mythology. They also have an essay lab and writing guide for those of you who have no idea how to write-up your next essay or story.